This was a lottery we won. Or we thought most of the time.

Check in: We usually sit back and allow most people to check in because, well frankly, we are tired and figure 'we are here, now we relax.'. We did see a few people having a time of it at the reception. " A room fit to stay in " was one of the phrases being thrown around. That was when I spotted the bar not far away. Our check in was fine, the drive in the golf cart was the fastest we ever experienced. Held on in the dark and tried to remember if we bought good health insurance.

Room: Was on the bottom floor and was great, nice and clean. The front drapes wouldn't open( we weren't there in the day anyways), The bedside table lamp didn't work(too tired from the sun to read), The staff used the room next door for watching sports and such.( not there in the day anyways) and the TV volume was defaulted on high (just didn't watch it). Overall it was great and our chambermaid was fantastic. We sat on the back balcony at times and remarked how we felt like we were in a remote cabin somewhere.

Beach: well..ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC Only encountered 2 sharks. swam and snorkelled. I did try to go out in the cataraman but everytime I asked, the guy told me I had to have at least 3-4 people with me and everytime I turned around I saw him taking a woman out alone. Everyday. Numerous times. He had his own little business going. So the free cats are not really free and accessible. You need to $$$ under the table.

We had one young fellow that worked the beach and he checked in every day to see if we wanted or needed anything. Great.

The pool: clean and refreshing.

Food: the lunch hour pizza is the best in the world. cheers to the staff.

The Buffet? the first 5 days were strange. You had to have a guy at your table to get any service. After asking around alot of women were relieved to find out it just wasn't them, I know it is a buffet but you need cutlery and drinks from the staff. I gave a $10 tip to the traveling minstrals at our table 0n the 6th day, they played their local music for me and the guitar palying was unreal. The word got out amongst the staff about the tip,,well, it was the tip I didn't give to the waiters in the last 5 days. oh well..I tip good service. The second week it improve. Don't know why, must have been all the complaints I guess. We avoided the buffet as much as possible. 1 meal a day there.

ALA Carte we didn't use.

The beach bar was a festive and fabulous place to have lunch and great drinks. Definetely go there.

The piano bar at night has the best bartender I have encountered in Cuba so far. She is purely professional and makes some mean drinks. The Piano players? Somewere good, some were not. It could have been the piano.

We met lots of great people and tanned slowly in the warm 50 C sunshine.
So you see we had a marvelous time and would recommend staying there. Hola!

Sol Cayo Santa Maria is a great place to visit and explore but is well off the beaten Cuban track and takes a really long drive (about 90 minutes) to get there from the nearest airport. We made this drive very late at night and it took me a while to figure out why our bus was often stopping or slowing down in the middle of no where. After I moved up front on the bus and watched out the front window I realized that a lot of cattle were wandering along in the middle of the road. Welcome to rural Cuba!

Sol Cayo Santa Maria isn't the prettiest Cuban hotel we've stayed at over the years but it rates as one of the most interesting after one has a chance to do some exploring in the area. The food is pretty standard for Cuban hotel food with some both good and not so good surprises. The staff here is very good and we met some really delightful and really helpful people. We enjoyed some awesome Spanish coffee and some great pina coladas - it pays to talk to bar tenders on a slow day sometimes.

Spent 2 nights at this hotel all inclusive whilst on tour.Basically it is a beach resort as it is miles from anywhere. The accomodation is villa style and it depends on where you are allocated how good they are. Ours was rather dark as the french windows faced North out onto thick undergrowth. The room was clean and a decent size but we found the bathroom strange. It had a full length clear plate glass window alongside the bath/shower. Add in a blind which would not stay down it made you glad of the thick undergrowth outside. The restaurant is a huge barn sized affair a bit like a holiday camp and does get busy, We had to queue at breakfast, but once seated the staff are very attentive. Plenty of choice foodwise and of decent quality. There are other eating places around the site but we didn't try them unlike the bars! No complaints whatsoever with this hotel which is ideal for those seeking a beach holiday but if you are sightseeing try somewhere less remote

This resort has a fabulous beach, beautiful pools and lovely gardens (including a biologically-complete concrete bull!). The food was generally good, including the buffet restaurant. The a la carte Cuban restaurant was the exception which was quite disappointing. The a la carte Italian has a couple of strange dishes (cold roast beef in a tuna sauce!) but on the whole was good and the wine was much better (and still all-inc). The lunchtime beach bar was good and the staff fantastic, however, the best lunch by far (and probably our best meal in Cuba) was the pizza joint - we were staggered this is not also open in the evening. Most of the staff were great and the lobby and piano bars were lovely. Our room was comfortable but very tired and really needed some maintenance e.g. the patio door that took two people to open it, the safe that wasn't bolted down and the bath that had been hand painted by Stevie Wonder. Overall, it was good but with just a bit more maintenance, it could have been so much better.