Starfish VIP Palapa

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Franky C.

January 27, 2026

I don't even know where to begin to comment on this "resort". When my wife & I booked in the fall of 2025, this place had some decent reviews. Considering this "resort" is rated 3 star, we weren't expecting extraordinary.....however.....After our experience when we arrived mid January 2026, 3 stars is a HUGE over rating for this place! When we checked in, the front desk attendant told us we are staying "across the street", but in the best part of town, in a perfect location. We we put in a 2 floor villa, across the street yes, but, on a poorly lit street, 2 blocks away from the main resort (huge disappointment), next to the Varadero downtown "boulevard" (party zone) with loud dance music blasting until 3 am. Our room was musty, poor water pressure, toilet constantly running, barely able to flush. No headboard on the beds, & the balcony had no view or privacy, overlooking the residential shacks across the road. Worst still, us & 2 other couples we traveled with had, NO HOT WATER in all our rooms. The next morning we addressed our issues with the front desk & they said they would TRY to resolve the hot water issue in a day or so. That was it for us. We spoke with our Sunwing representative & after a few hours of negotiating & research, we were relocated to a much nicer ACTUAL resort (which happily I will comment on in another post). I STRONGLY do not recommend staying here.

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Kaidance S.

January 12, 2026

Honest review jan 2026, ONLY COME FOR THE BEACH!!! me and my friend had requested a ocean view or pool view room and got put across the street?! ( never knew there was a second hotel Sunwing doesn’t know ) there was black mold on our box springs and lamps the shower was covered in it, no fan for the bathroom when you shower so it just grows! We had to beg the maids for a new towels which we never got ( so we just took them ) everyone here expects you to tip every-time even though you pay a lot to come here , the hotel across the street has 2-3 security guys who kept asking my friend if she “ wanted to make change “ made us both so uncomfortable to even walk back alone to our room without someone that was male. Overall do not come here if you’re a young female and have body parts cuz you will be asked to make money and watched the whole time you’re here. We knew not to have high expectations for Cuba but that just ruined our whole time, also when checking out and filling out the form of how your stay was the reception will watch you to make sure you put 5 stars.

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Jeff D.

December 31, 2025

The best part of this vacation was the flight home. My wife got seriously ill at their cuban BBQ, and many other guests did too. Just look at some of their public groups on Facebook and you'll see for yourself. Quite a few people got salmonella poisoning. We went from Dec.23-30th. The staff is rude and you need to beg for water bottles or toilet paper. Good thing there's a store across the street to buy them. The gardeners will pester you to bring them beer and cigarettes. The rooms look nothing like they do in the pictures. They smell terrible, the washrooms are full of mold, and cockroaches all over the place. The maids don't change the sheets or towels, just use them over and over. The location is great. Right downtown Varadero with alot of discos and clubs nearby. That was the best part. The beach is nice too. This is definitely not a 3 star resort. More like a 1 star hostle. We have been to Cuba a few times and understand the challenges they have, but this is ridiculous. So many other great hotels nearby for the price. Double check the 5 star reviews you may read. They are fake profiles or staff leaving them.