New here, getting married in Cuba over Christmas. Trying to decide on a resort!

[AlexsBride]

We checked prices on all of the resorts you mentioned and one that you didn't--Sirenis La Salina. We are strongly leaning towards that one because of the huge difference in price. When we asked our agent why the price difference was so big (it was $500 less per person) she explained that it was because it is a very large resort and it is fairly new.

[Fireweed]

Hmm... yeah we were considering the Sirenis la Salina too but the recent Trip Advisor reviews have kind of turned me from it... hmm..

[christmasincuba]

We are heading to Cuba in two days and are planning to check out Sirenis la Selina so can let you know what we think! We are trying to keep costs down for us and our guests so we probably won't be doing 5 star I don't think.

[Tilly in the Sun]

We were in the same boat when we were deciding. We liked all of the ones you mentioned, and than had it narrowed down to either the Melia Varadero and Iberostar Laguna.

 

It took some time for us to finally pick - we just read as many reviews as we could (kinda hard because ILA is brand new, and at the time there weren't any reviews). I actually asked a lot of my guests to share their opinions on which hotel they liked best, and where they would rather stay. Most of them thought it would be awesome to stay in a new resort. After about a month or so of going back and forth we went with ILA.

 

The best advice I can give you is to know that whichever resort you do pick will be amazing and you will have a beautiful wedding. For me, picking where to go was one of the more stressful parts of the planning, but once you do decide it feels great, and everything else will just come together. I hope that helps

 

Good luck and let us know where you decide!!

[AlexsBride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fireweed Hmm... yeah we were considering the Sirenis la Salina too but the recent Trip Advisor reviews have kind of turned me from it... hmm..

I hear ya...But the thing with reviews is that they are only that...one persons experience. And it has been told to me by a couple of TA's that if someone has a bad experience they will write a review about it and post it everywhere they can. However if they have a good time, they might not even think about writing a review about it afterwards.

It's the same in real life when you think about it. If I have a bad experience with a phone company, I will write a bad review about them online or write a letter to the company. But if I have great service etc. I will just leave it and not bother writing anything.

Also, with the recent reviews of SLS, with the wedding stuff in particular, the wedding coordinator was off work recovering from a car accident for two weeks, so they had someone fill in. Granted, it wasn't as organized as it usually was.

You can not write a review on a resort and base it all on a bunch of idiot guests who unfortunately were staying there the same time as you! Don't go on vacation during March Break or Reading weeks...it's a given you are going to have some loud, young, beer guzzling guests there! But it's not the resorts fault ya know?

[Melidell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexsBride I hear ya...But the thing with reviews is that they are only that...one persons experience. And it has been told to me by a couple of TA's that if someone has a bad experience they will write a review about it and post it everywhere they can. However if they have a good time, they might not even think about writing a review about it afterwards.

I agree with this to a point, too. You can really drive yourself crazy on tripadvisor and there are always going to be people who write bad reviews- for every resort. I always try to look and see if the same type of complaints come up over and over- then you know there may be a problem rather than just an isolated incident. Complaints that don't bother me: the food was bland, the staff don't speak English (come on, people!), I was bored, other guests were loud/rude. Complaints that I do think about: the place was really dirty, my things were stolen from my room, the staff were very unhelpful... Just take it all with a grain of salt and try to read between the lines.

[Fireweed]

Thanks everyone, we've narrowed it down to 4 resorts so we have an appointment with our travel agent April 10th and she should have the prices for us then.

Hopefully that'll help us make the final decision!

[AlexsBride]

Good luck! Let us know what you decide. We have not booked anything, we are waiting until the prices come out as well.