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Melia Cayo Coco & Other Resorts 06/26/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
We paid $1600Cdn each for 2 weeks at the 5-star Melia Cayo Coco. Left on June 7th 2003 with Air Transat from Mirabel (Montreal) via Signature Vacations and selloffvacations.com. We visited almost all of the resorts in Cayo Coco and also the Melia Cayo Guillermo. I have pictures on CD if you want.
Flight & Airport
-Great flight, nice new airport with (wet) ceramic floor (I almost broke my ankle when I walked in)
-Security keeps asking for passports even after having past immigration. I got asked 3 times while waiting for my luggage!
-Shuttle was slow to leave the airport but Carlos (Signature Rep) was hilarious on the ride to the hotels.
Room
-Check in was a breeze but we were the only ones checking in and it was 2am.
-I e-mailed them before to ìhopefullyî have a lagoon room and we got one!
-Big room, very clean, all ceramic, king size bed, mini-fridge with 2 beers and satellite TV.
-No rum in room unless youíre honeymooning
-The lagoon is green and full of Jellyfish but itís a lagoon, what do you expect.
-Met Honeymooners who got the Lagoon Suite with a small living room and the beautiful painted walls.
Resort
-The resort is gorgeous! There is almost no grass to be seen. Full of flowers, plants and palm trees groomed perfectly. We saw some resorts where the grounds were running wild.
-You HAVE to go see the lobby bathrooms. So creative, but the humidity in there is like a sauna. They could install a fan.
Beach
-Itís nice but it has a lot of see-weed washed ashore and floating around in the water.
-You can go to the BEST beach in Cayo Coco. Itís a public beach between Sol Club and the El Senador that has no see-weed, fine white sand, gorgeous blue water, lots of chairs and nobody around (except on weekends, I think Cubans can go there).
Pool
Out of all the resorts we visited, this one has the smallest pool. The pool is shallow (to the waist max) so by 2pm the water is a like soup. It also doesnít seem to get cleaned much as there was thick mildew on the sides throughout our stay.
Food ñ Buffet
Opened for breakfast and supper only because itís low season. Thatís perfect because you can go to the Italian for lunch. For breakfast, they have fresh fruit juices, an omelet stand (ate that almost everyday) and you also have to be very patient for coffee (like other resorts). For suppers, they have Cuban, Romantic and Lobster nights. The hotel was below half occupancy so they did not have lobster night (Wednesdays) Shrimp can be found every night, but they do not take the heads or scales off. Plus their foot-long tentacles in the Paela donít look too appetizing. As for the meat, they had a good daily variety but they do not seem to know how to cut meat well. They REALLY need a butcher there. Hope you like pork .
Food ñ Italian
The Italian restaurant was open for lunch (no res) and supper (with res). We ate lunch there almost everyday, AMAZING! Tortellini, raviolli, meat and arabiata sauces, Mexican pizza, All DELICIOUS! It has AC so itís perfect to get out of the noon sun and cool off! As for supper, we went once. The menu is slightly different and they have tasty brushetta for entrees. Since you can eat there during lunch, we kept our reservations for the International a la carte.
Food ñ International Lagoon
-The restaurant is MAGNIFICENT! Itís not a 5-star restaurant by Cuban standardsÖ itís a 5-star by Canadian standards! We booked our reservations for 7:30 to see the sunset during our meals. Perfect service with a violin band. The wine list was vast, even had Dom Perignon for $90 (I suggest the $7 French Rose; Cote Díanjou). Red wine is served at room temperature, which in Cuba is 30C, so you might want to ice it a little, we just didnít want to bother so we drank mostly Rose.
-The entrees are artistic and creative; shrimp pineapple (a party in your mouth), young eel caesar salad (made at your table), lobster bisque (which I didnít like) and a few others.
-Main courses; lobster mille-feuilles (delicious), Tournedo and shrimp brochette (my fav, flamed at table), 2 kinds of steaks, a chicken dish and a few fish dishes.
-Desserts; crepes Suzette (flambe at table), Flambe pineapple (at table again!) and a few other desserts 
-This restaurant is the most ROMANTIC place. There ARE mosquitoes, but it depends on the humidity and time. Go there before 7:30pm so the sun is still up and you have less mosquitoes. Put some repellant to be safe and make sure to tip (so you can ask to come back again without a reservation, hint, hint). They could put up a screen around the restaurant but even paradise isnít perfect 
Toursits
This is pretty much a ìcouples onlyî resort (no kids allowed) and about half are on theyíre honeymoon. 75% European (English, German and Spanish) and 25% Canadian. Ageís are from 22 to 60. Most people here paid a little more to have a 5-star resort so theyíre arenít many trashy people around.
Staff
-ALOIS; heís the Restaurant & Bar Manager. Heís the guy with a red mustache and a walkie-talkie. His job is to make sure everything is ok, so you should talk to him. He hooked us up for a romantic lobster and shrimp supper at a beach grill between Tryp and El Senador. He took care of us like royalty. We got like 60 SHRIMPS in our plate and the lobster is only the tail (found out that caribbean lobster donít have claws).
-Lobby Bar Boys: Idalberto (Jimmy) was the coolest bartender (looks like a young Tom Cruise). He makes the BEST drinks (CUBATAS!). We gave the guys a bag of gifts for making our stay wonderful.
-Actually ALL the staff was great, no complaints at all! The animation team is fabulous, not to annoying.
Honeymooners
This place caters perfectly to honeymooners. You get a room upgrade, rum in the room, a Cuban wedding ceremony and a few other perks. You also get this romantic dinner up a tower with lobster and filet mignon. They also give you a free trip to a disco in a cave but ITíS FULL OF BATS! They donít attack but they fly right over your head, so some people can get freaked out. Itís INCREDIBLY humid, the shows arenít that great, seats suck, and the bar service is pretty slow. Your reps at the hotel like to push this trip and they charge $20US a person but itís not worth it. For free, why not.
Bar and Booze
As mentioned before, the Lobby Bar is the best. Great relaxing atmosphere and a HUGE selection of booze (even Canadian Club, but Iím a Crown Royal guy). Make sure you get a CUBATA and not a Cuba Libre. A Cubata is made with 7 year rum instead of the cheap stuff (ask for Cubay rum). The Pina Colada is DELICIOUS and the lime slush is refreshing. Bring a big glass or mug from home so you donít have to go to the bar all the time. They make Mojitoís also but Iím not a mint fan so I canít say much. The resort has sparkling wine everywhere from Spain but itís pretty bad.
Disco Sol Club
Tuesdays and Thursdays are Salsa nights but the place is REALLY packed and there is one bartender. The animation staff wants to go but they have to be brought in by a guest. They troll the lobby trying to get you to go. Thereís no harm in going. Found out El Senador guests can pay $7US to go, OUCH! We also went on a Monday and it was a STRANGE site to see. We came in and sawÖ a whole bunch of KIDS! In a loud disco at 11pm, it was just weird to see that. The people were of all ages and they played some old and new stuff. Surprised by some music they had.
Cigars and Stores
Honestly, the cigars stores in the Cayos DO NOT TAKE CARE OF THIER CIGARS. Itís hot and humid in Cuba, so the stores have AC, which takes away the humidity inside and dries up the cigars. They put the cigars on the shelves with wet sponges to TRY and keep them humid! You can find smokes in a humidor but theyíre not any better. Inside the Casa Del Tabaco at Tryp, it was so humid that some of the cigars had mold on them! At another store at Tryp, I saw a humidor that was at 90%! Even the Casa Del Habanos in Cayo Guillermo had a bad walk-in humidor. I found some Hoyo Double Coronas that were so dry the wrapper was falling off. The biggest shocker was when I went into a store at MCC and bought a cigar I really wanted even though it was dry. I cut the tip off and it crumbled apart! I told the girl they should take care of their smokes better. She took my cigar and LICKED THE TIP and GAVE IT BACK TO ME!!! UN-B-LEAVE-A-BLE. You also need to know that the people selling cigars don`t know anything about them! I helped some Europeans and Canadians pick some cigars for gifts in a few of the stores. You canít go wrong with Cohiba Siglo II (5pack=$25.75US) or Montecristo #2 (3pack=$15.15US). Itís the same price per cigar if you buy a box of 25 or just 1 cigar, plus you donít have to break you wallet for 25 of the same cigars. The best store in CC to buy your smokes is the Sol Club (store in front of the travel reps desk). They have a great selection of opened boxes and the ladies who work there are the sweetest. The airport prices are a little more and they might not have what you want (no individual cigars).
As for Rum, buy it at the airport. The cheapest rum was $2.25 at the airport versus $2.70 at the resort. The 7 year rum drops almost $2 at the airport.
Sol Club Cayo Coco
Great 4 star resort, Nice pool, SLOW snack bar and a friendly gardener.
Tryp Cayo Coco
Has a pool bar (was being repaired). The buildings are a little old. They have flamingos. Impressive high lobby looking down on resort. Least expensive resort so the guests reflect that.
El Senador
Tight security, the BEST beach around with mostly French Canadians and poutine at the beach grill.
Melia Cayo Guillermo
Beautiful lobby and restrooms with painted art on the walls. Best pool Iíve seen with a waterfall. Long chairs that are surrounded by white drapes. Coconut juice from coconut. Mostly Canadians. Long pier with hammocks on sides. Music by the pool and a younger crowd (kids allowed). A different kind of 5-star resort but amazing also.
Iím sold on the Melia hotels for life. The Melia Cayo Coco offers the best romantic spot with amazing service while the Melia Cayo Guillermo offers a great resort where you can have some fun with your friends. From either resort you can take a day-trip to the other for $5, DEFINITELY worth it. Even after 2 weeks, we didnít really want to leave. The food was great (breakfast got a little boring) and the guests and staff made this resort fantastic. I would go back anytime, maybe for my Honeymoon this time, it would be perfect! You can e-mail me if you have any questions.
Marty Mix
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