Iberostar Coral Ensenachos

This gem of a resort is our home away from home. My husband and I have been there 5 times now and are booked again for February. This is the perfect spot for those looking for a private and relaxing holiday. The villas are spacious and comfortable. The jacuzzi tub on the private deck is a huge plus with this resort. The staff goes above and beyond to make your stay as perfect as possible. If you are worried about the power situation or the food situation there is absolutely no need to worry at this resort. The cayos have independent generation and therefore power is not affected. The food is excellent here. If you are looking for more variety the buffet in the main resort is always available to you as well, but the a la carte options here are excellent. The beaches are beyond beautiful and offer excellent snorkeling without the need to leave the resort. A multitude of marine wildlife and beautiful corals can be experienced for those willing to do a little adventuring around the beaches. While this resort is not new it is well cared for and there are many restoration projects ongoing. I highly recommend this beautiful resort. We have never been disappointed.

Went to this resort for the first time for a 'sisters' vacation from October 24th to 31st. Everything was so great. Our butlers Michel and Yandry were welcoming and friendly. They accommodated all our needs and requests. All the staff; waitresses, maids, gardeners, bartenders were really nice and smiling at all times. The resort is old but I loved it because it has style and warmth and kept in good condition. Everywhere is spotlessly clean. The food is a la carte with a good choice option and well presented. We had lobster 3 times and was delicious ! We had a 2 bedrooms villa that was immense, with comfortable beds and all the amenities you need. We used the spa on the terrace. The beach restaurant is awesome with great views. The sea was rough but that was because of the passing hurricane a week prior. Usually the sea is calm. That was mother nature's call. The resort is quiet and is for a more mature clientele and that's want we wanted. Do not hesitate to come here. It is a real gem. We will go back.

My husband and I were back again at our favourite resort, the Iberostar Coral Ensenachos, our home away from home, on July 22nd to 29th. This was our fifth visit to this paradise resort and we had another glorious week there. Words cannot truly describe how relaxing and fantastic a week we had, enjoying the beautiful beach, the food, and most of all, seeing the wonderful staff, some of whom we know from previous visits and also getting to know new ones. These lovely people and the beautiful beach are the reasons we keep coming back! Although our week was glorious, we missed seeing some of our favourite people who were away on vacation. Butlers Diana, Yandry and Anita, and also Yaquenia (Jacquie) from the El Colonial Dining Room, we missed you, but we will see you the next time we come back! Thanks to our other special Butlers, Dismar and Michel, we were well looked after and taken good care of, and also by all the other fantastic staff. Our compliments and many thanks to the following staff who made our stay such an enjoyable, relaxing and memorable one: • Butlers Dismar and Michel, who as usual went above and beyond, were always pleasant and cheerful and willing to help, considering they were short staffed and were working alternate days of long shifts each. • Jacob, the Food and Beverage Manager, who greeted all guests in the restaurants with his friendly smile and personality, to ensure that all was good with everyone. • Restaurant staff - Yasmany, Yahimi, Amanda and Livan who attended to us at Breakfast in the El Colonial Restaurant and Lunch at the Beach Restaurant. Jany, Leinel, Javier, Beatrice, Giselle, and Wagner who attended to us at Dinner in the El Colonial Restaurant. • Bartenders in the Lobby - Ivan who kept my husband entertained by introducing him to all the exotic Cuban rums. Alejandro and Juan Carlos who were there on Ivan's days off. • Beach Bartenders - Agustine who is the best, walking the beach in the hot sun to get drinks for the guests. Diannie who filled in for Agustine on his days off. • Beach Attendants - Ariel who greeted us every morning on the beach and got us settled with our beach lounge chairs under a palapa. Adolfo and Alberto who filled in for Ariel on his days off. • Housekeepers - Diana (at nights) and Milexys (at days) who kept the Main Lobby area and public washrooms spotlessly clean. • Chambermaids - Rosanio, Yabo, Lisandra and Wendy kept our suite clean every day and at nights while we were at dinner. We love your towel artworks! • Chambermaid, Drosario, who was very pleasant, friendly and efficient when she had to come to our suite to clean up a broken bottle of water. • Hector, our Entertainment person, who did stretching exercises on the beach every day with the guests and afterwards trying to engage the guests in participating in games and activities on the beach. • Shuttle car drivers - Duvier, Mowgli, David, Alberto (Cookie), and Elvio. • Air Transat Representative - Yunier, who g

Firstly, it has a serious transportation problem, there are only two cars available and it cannot cope with the number of guests. Secondly, it is better to eat at the buffet that is near the central lobby where check-in takes place, they have practically the same variety and quality. Sometimes you have to wait more than an hour for them to bring your orders and sometimes they even forget. Finally, personalized attention was scarce or non-existent in our case.

FOOD: Food is important to me because I love to eat. It’s part of having a good vacation. Food at Iberostar Coral Level is terrible. We might as well be eating Corals, because this is another Level of terrible. I was wishing there was a McDonalds nearby, or any other food, really. They only served terribly prepared, unseasoned, cheap quality food. They cannot cook, whatsoever. I also went to the buffet at Iberostar Selection (the main hotel building) and it was equally terrible! In this review, I will tell you about each food category: Carbohydrates: Overcooked, unseasoned rice and beans. The rice had fragments of seashells in it, which I found out by hearing loud crunching sound when chewing. It was awful. No potatoes. Where are the potatoes??? Fries??? Mashed potatoes??? Nope. Sorry. There was some bread, but even the bread tasted hollow. It should come fresh out of an oven, baked to perfection, but instead it’s dry and hollow, with no flavor. How do you mess up bread? The pasta was also cold and drenched in terrible tomato sauce that didn’t taste like tomatoes. Protein: The meat was not cooked well; it had no color, and no flavor. Cheap cuts of beef were unchewable. There was unseasoned, bland pork, and overcooked, dry chicken. For some reason, the chicken is chopped up into nonsensical pieces. Why can’t they have thighs, drums, breasts? Seems like it was cooked by Freddy Kruger. No shrimps, crabs, lobsters, nothing! Are we in the Caribbean? Is there an ocean here, maybe? The only seafood they served was black mussels, but they taste like fish oil. Also, the mussels and clams were covered in flies at the Selection buffet, which was repulsive. It is the worst cooking and management I have ever encountered. Ham and cheese? Kill me, please. These terrible ham and cheese sandwiches are served all over Cuba—at the airport, at the hotels. They all have the same bland, terrible taste. Plants: They had pickled jalapenos, which tasted good, and were surprising to find. There were fresh cucumbers as well, thankfully. There were no other vegetables. No tomatoes, no potatoes, no onions, nothing. It was just sad. I don’t remember seeing any fruits, except papaya. Desert: The desert was bad too, lacking any moisture and sweetness. It was like eating dried bread. I am not kidding. Snacks: The store had no snacks to buy (no chips, no chocolate), but only terrible cookies and soggy waffles. Drinks: The coffee was good, but the sweet drinks were made out of cheap powder, knockoff of real Coke and real fruit juice. Awful taste, too sweet. I don’t drink alcohol, so I can’t comment on the cocktails, but I am sure they are just as bad. Cigars: While cigars are not a food, they are technically a gastronomic indulgence. I expected at least to find cigars at a Cuban resort. The cigar shop was closed, and there were no cigars to be found anywhere. Overall, I cannot stress enough how bad the food was. Someone needs to do something about this. I would g

Oh boy, I am so sorry to have to write this review (and it is a rather long one) because we have been repeat visitors to this resort since it was the Royal Hideaway, but DO NOT BOOK this resort! You will be extremely disappointed. We are very aware of the political and extremely difficult economic situation in Cuba and we love the Cuban people BUT when you are paying premium prices to go to this 5 star resort, then you expect at least the basics. It is particularly disheartening when you have seen it slowly but surely decline to a 1 star or 2 star resort at best, over the past few years. The only reason to go to this resort is for the beaches and the staff. They try their best to do their best but no real investment in this resort, their hands are tied. We experienced: - the most horrible food experience ever - there were often pieces of small stone in all the rice at this resort, no real eggs and much of the food was from a can or jar and the drinks were from a mix - variety of selections is minimal at best - flies all over the food - you used to able to enjoy good food at the restaurants and buffet, now it is practically inedible - we waited 2 days for face towels and fresh bath towels - you need to ask for beer, cola for your mini bar and even then, they may tell you they are not allowed to give them to you - everything in this resort is old, worn and very poorly maintained from the buildings, to the rooms to the beach chairs to the pool, it just is so rundown that it’s almost tragic as this is such a beautiful island and beach - the quality of the food and drinks is truly abysmal (it’s never been as bad as this) - the golf cart to transport you around the resort are so old and hard to get (there was one to maximum of two working for the whole resort) - the room service is down to basics due to fewer staff (they told us it is low season) - the Coral Level is advertised as 14+, yet we had young kids - no privacy lock or even do not disturb sign I really could go on but at this point it’s like beating a dead horse. I guess my difficulty with all this is that it used to be so wonderful, I mean Sting and Antonio Banderas used to come here! And I am not placing blame on any of the staff, the Coral Level staff, (a big thank you to them all!!) they do their best and we always tip well and bring gifts. My issue is with the fact that what they are advertising is well below what you get, and prices to come here have not decreased in accordance. We are not spoiled Canadians and understand that this is Cuba, but after coming to this resort countless times over the last twenty years, we cannot justify paying top dollar to go to the beaches, stunning and beautiful as they are. So it is with such a heavy and sad heart that we will not be returning to our once favourite resort in Cuba and we will no longer be recommending it to our friends and acquaintances in the future. I almost feel cheated out of my hard-earned money. REAL changes must be made at t