Wonderful time! 3 Star for sure but this only means no 5 star snazzy bar, restaurant or room. All facilities clean and comfortable. Pool fabulous. As Jibacoa beach is enclosed by a coral reef the swimming was great. If the red flag is up this would be due to windy conditions meaning the jelly fish show up. Food was good - and according to other travellers to Varadero resorts it surpassed what they offered. Previous reviewer mentioned the omelettes being great - I totally agree!. Was leery of them because when I was in Acapulco all omelettes smelled like oil, oil, oil - yuck.
I am definitely returning. Take the Nature Walk - spectacular view. GO FOR THE MASSAGE!!!! Wonderful - $10 pesos for 1/2 hr. Go up the road for a lobster dinner - $ 15 pesos. Check out Mantanzas - Crystal Beer is the best!
Upgrades needed at this resort: Bottled water every day pls. Altho the water at the buffet restaurant is super. Vino -available lunch & dinner only - none at bars. Little store next to Lobby carries a decent white for $9.50.
Things to be aware of: Tipping - $1 on average per drink served, table waited on, room cleaned per day, and for tour drivers too. This was not a problem as far as I was concerned - the average Cuban earns $24-30 bucks per Month.
Keep in mind the resort only gets cash once a week - as a result they run out of pesos - so try to either drink 3 to 5 drinks in a row (3 peso or 5 peso tip) or hand over the hand cream you brought down for your maid........LOL
The extra allows them to buy "luxuries" - tooth brushes, soap, nail polish, - get it? I went down with school supplies & emery boards, makeup brushes, lip balm etc.
Take your "Go Cup"! Things stay cold/hot that way & otherwise you get plastic at the pool or "to go" - ugh but necessary due to safety factor. Also (LOL) they have a lack of Martini glasses of all things -so if you want that daiquiri to look as good as it tastes grab some martini glasses at the dollar store & take them with you! (told you it was 3 star!)
All in all -great fun! Enjoy!

We just got back from Cameleon Villas Jibacoa (Villa Tropico) 2 days ago. We enjoyed our time very much. It was relaxing, the weather wasn't too bad, our room was more than adequate. The staff all over the resort were amazing. Everyone was super friendly. We really have nothing negative to say. Chances are we will be back if we ever go back to Cuba.

This was our second trip to Cuba (last year we visited Varadero) and we'll certainly be back to Jibacoa!
The Location
The resort is small and intimate, and a lot more isolated than the Varadero strip. I think the beach was just as nice as Varadero but far less crowded and with a much more varied landscape. The hills and trees and rich vegetation around the resort make it a gorgeous setting for a tropical getaway. Each morning, we woke to the sounds of all the beautiful birds who live on the grounds. There were definitely mosquitoes so if you're sensitive to bug bites bring some bug spray. We didn't have a single red flag day and I only saw one jelly fish. I didn't snorkle but my husband and our friends did and they say it was fabulous. The proximity to Havana is another perk - it's only an hour's drive. We paid 70cucs to go in a private taxi. Umberto, spoke very good English and knows his way around.
The People
Because the hotel is so small, it's not long before the staff know who you are. They are very friendly and outgoing and I never felt like this was an attempt to procure tips -just genuine people. We travelled with our children (aged 15 and 20) and the staff were particularly warm and responsive to our 15 year old son with autism. Staff went out of their way to greet him and make sure he was enjoying himself. The staff must be happy working there - many have worked there for many years including one of the buffet waitresses who has worked there for 40 years and is retiring this year. To me that's evidence of a good work environment! Because of it's proximity to the Cuban Campground were the locals stay, there is an opportunity to meet many Cubans just down the beach. We met many friendly and outgoing people who were keen to practise their English and speak to Canadians
The Rooms
I liked the bungalow/villa plan of the resort - it means everyone has their own little patio area and you open your door to the beautiful outdoors rather than a hallway. The rooms are basic but exceptionally clean. It was nice to have a fridge in the room to keep bottled water etc cold. When we arrived in our room there were bottles of water - both plain and sparkling, a bottle of rum, a package of coffee and ham and cheese sandwiches in the fridge. The beds were comfortable but if you're used to North American style hotels with piles of pillows on your bed you'll be sad to see that's not the case here.
The Food
I know there are a lot of criticisms of Cuban resort food and for sure it's not fine dining but we never ever went hungry and I never had anything I didn't enjoy. As others have said, there is always pasta with either red or white sauce, delicious bread and rolls, grilled meat - chicken, pork, or fish, lamb and beef stews, rice, potatoes etc. The vegetables are a little more limited but there is a salad bar area - just not a lot of selection. The snack bar at the pool serves hotdogs, hamburgers and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches which all make a nice break from the buffet food which can become repetitive.
The Drinks
Lots of good selection of drinks, some very nice cocktails. Obviously they are known for their Spanish coffee as noted in many reviews of this resort but they also make great pina coladas, and mojitos. I also recommend the chocolate monkey and the special # 4 from the lobby bar - they're delicious! The lobby bar is a great place to hang out in the evenings - we played card games many nights either right in the lobby or on the patio just outside it. I would definitely recommend bringing cards, board games etc as a nice way to pass the evening. I would also recommend insulated travel mugs for bringing your drinks from the bar to the beach-more environmentally friendly than disposable cups, keeps your drinks cold and sand free, and instead of having to keep going back to line up for refills you can lay in the sun! The lines for drinks were long at times but that's an indication of the time and skills involved in some of these drinks - these are premixed junk.
Overall, we were very pleased with our stay at Cameleon Villas Jibacoa. The price was exceptional, the flight and service on Canjet was great and the resort gets top marks from me. If you're looking for luxury, this isn't the resort for you but it is great value for money.

My girlfriend and I just got back from Chameleon Jibacoa in January, we're 22 years old, students, and picked this resort because at $530 (taxes included) for the week from Toronto, it was the absolute cheapest vacation anywhere in the world for the week we wanted to travel. We weren't expecting luxury, but go it anyway; the location, the hotel, and the staff were all incredible. The beach and the resort grounds are exactly what you immagine the carribean will look like: pristine blue water with a coral reef that starts 8 feet from the beach, royal palms reaching over the pool... every photo is a postcard.

If you look really hard, you can find the places where money is being saved: The shows were probably less glamerous than at a larger place, although they did have a resident band with a full horn section that was really impressive. Fancier resorts may serve shrimp or lobster with every meal, here you'll get chicken or pork, but the food was always plentiful and appetizing, maybe a bit bland and unremarkable. Think of an average-ish wedding buffet. Always lots of pastas and rice and salad, with a few meat dishes that changed every night.

But we were also be surprised by the places where no expense has been spared: there are brand-new fixtures in the room bathrooms, and brand-new ultra-quiet Haier Air Conditioners with wireless remote controls (they were in the process of replacing the last few rooms while we were there in January 2012, they really are BRAND new), satellite TV in every room carrying lots of Canadian english-language channels, and North American style 110 volt power outlets everywhere. The rooms are really gorgeous, not run-down at all. Comfortable, clean, spacious.

The whole place has a feeling of comfort, renewal, friendliness and un-pretentiousness that might furstrate someone who wants to feel ritzy, get drunk and dance at a crowded club until 3am, but which we found really refreshing and welcoming.

There's a lot of talk on tripadvisor about "red flag days"... maybe we just got lucky, but the whole time we were there only one afternoon was red-flagged and we never saw either a portugese man o war or a mosquito. We travelled January 16th - 23rd.

It would be so easy to write a ton more, but what it really comes down to is this: Don't worry at all about going to Chameleon Jibacoa, it's not a dingy or rundown place, and it certainly won't disappoint anyone but the absolute hardest-to-please luxury traveller. We would happily go back... I wish I was there now!

A few tips:
1.We took a photo of the map of the resort and will upload it to tripadvisor with this review, you may want to print it and bring it with you, it will help you get oriented initally. The resort oddly doesn't have any maps to hand out.

2. At high tide, you can wade to just past chest height before hitting the reef, which is beatiful, but could be frustrating if you want to go for a long swim. However: there's a break in the reef where the stream between the Chameleon and the Breezes cuts the beach in half. There, you can wade out much further (you can actually see the break in the freef in some people's tripadvisor photos from the hilltop hike)

3. Don't miss the hike. It's not too streneous, and offers a GREAT view, and then a visit with local farmers. The souvenir vendors that you'll meet along the road at end of the hike have the best prices that we saw anywhere in Cuba for similar items, jewelry etc was half the price of varadero/Havana. There's a fellow who sells cigars from his house. He's legit; we bought a small pack of cigars, in their original boxes with the gov't seal still attached, to give away as gifts at a better price than the specialty shops.

4. Don't take the nolitours bus to Havana. It was fast-paced, over-priced and really a bit disappointing. Instead, do what the seasoned travellers do and rent a car and driver. They all speak English. Talk to the hotel staff about this, not the front desk staff, but the pool bar tenders, servers, etc. Expect to pay 70CUCs.

5. The exchange rate at the hotel is EXACTLY what the airport offers, they're not making any money on this. We got 94 canadian cents on the peso, which is an excellent rate. Save yourself some stress and change small amounts of money at the hotel instead of a ton of money at the airport.