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Melia Cayo Coco 05/22/02
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
Just back from a glorious week at the Melia Cayo Coco. We originally booked with Air Canada Vacations(ACV) for a week(May 12-19)at the Tryp Cayo Coco, but due to a cancellation of our Super All Inclusive package, ACV offered us a partial reimbursement or an upgrade to the Melia. Needless to say we decided to go for an upgrade to a 5 star resort. Upon arrival at the Melia, we were greeted by friendly front desk staff who quickly informed us that they received no notification from ACV regarding our upgrade to the Melia, but this was not to be a problem since they had plenty of rooms available. A slight one hour wait was required until housekeeping was able to put a room together for us. The wait was well worth it. The room was fabulous. Very spacious and clean. The only faults were that one light fixture wasn't working and the in room safe needed repair. A quick call to the front desk resulted in a technician appearing at our door to fix the light fixture. The safe would have to wait till the morning. Again a call to the front desk in the morning resulted in a technician quickly fixing the problem with the safe. Once all technical difficulties were corrected, we were free to enjoy ourselves at the resort. The grounds were immaculately groomed, trees, shrubs, and flowers dotted the landscape. We were in a tropical paradise. The food was superb. The buffet offered a nice selection for the all you can eat crowd. It had a grill that featured something special everyday. The highlight being lobster towards the end of the week. The a la carte restaurants(French and Italian) offered a multi course menu. The food was very good and very well presented. We went to each twice during our stay. Reservations were required, but there was never a problem getting a table for the time we wanted. The beach grill provided our most enjoyable meals. There was a nice selection of items off the menu, including fish, beef, and pork. But the highlight of the beach grill was the fabulous paella. The chef cooked it right on the barbeque. It was a delight to see him put everything together and watch it boil on the grill. We could not get enough of the paella. The drinks(alcoholic) were plentiful in both variety and amount of alcohol. Took a few days to adjust to the amount of alcohol they put in the drinks. My favourite was the Havana Special. One drink that seemed to be quite popular was the Mojito. It was a drink that had smashed peppermint leaves in it. Had to try it because of its uniqueness, but did not enjoy it. Must have been the peppermint that didn't agree with my stomach. Nevertheless, many people ordered it. Activities were plentiful for anyone who wanted to participate. Ranging from dance lessons, to horse back riding, to catamaran rides. We loved the catamaran. Volleyball(in the pool and on the beach) was another of my passions. The entertainment/activities team were the greatest ambassadors for the resort. Incredibly tireless individuals. They would constantly encourage everyone to participate in the multitude of activities that were going on. They put on a variety show spectacle in the evenings. Then they were off to the disco at the Sol Club after midnight. And they would do it all again the next day. Very friendly and energetic people. Made me tired just watching them. Incredible people with incredible attitudes despite making only $10-20 a month. We never felt pressured into tipping. The staff were very friendly and courteous whether you tipped or not. But we did tip often because $1 to us may not be much, but to them its a small fortune. The only side trip we took was to Half Moon Island(Pilar Beach). Fabulous snorkeling (Coral Reef) and gorgeous beach with tourqois water and silky soft sand. We also ventured to the Tryp Cayo Coco since that was the resort we were originally booked at. Our experience there made us realize that the Tryp is not the resort for us. Its enormous. We found the people to be less friendly than at the Melia and the atmosphere just wasn't as relaxing and pleasant. The food also wasn't as nice(in our opinion). So we were quite happy we got the upgrade to the Melia. Our experience(first time in Cuba)at the Melia, made for a wonderful vacation. We would definitely go back to the Melia Cayo Coco and for 2 weeks next time. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a relaxing holiday with good food and great people.
Ray
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