This is a marvelous choice for vacationers seeking a laid-back, unpretentious à la carte hotel on a lovely beach. Run by the Gaviota group, it offers a magnificent location too. Tucked into a broad cove, the narrow and curling sugar-white beach immediately east of the hotel shelves gently into turquoise shallows. The beach is never crowded, as the small hotel has it all to itself.

Opened in June 2006 with the otherwise virginal Playa Ensenachos all to itself, this massive and elegant all-inclusive has a prime location and combines superb facilities with a spectacular beach. It outdoes the rival Meliá on adjacent Cayo Santa María with a broader selection of facilities: more restaurants (including an Oriental option serving sushi and tepanyakki), more pools (three), etc. And even the quality of the food here reaches towards international standards.

The most upscale of the Meliá group´s three Cayo Santa María properties, this visual stunner rivals deluxe all-inclusive resorts elsewhere in the Caribbean, at least in ambiance and decor. The setting, of course, excels. The white sands here are stupendous, as are the turquoise waters, although there is very little shade. The grandiose lobby, with its open plan and reflecting pools with fountains, sets the tone with a dramatic welcome.

A cut above the neighboring and smaller Sol Cayo Santa María, this all-inclusive resort offers a modicum of luxury and is well worth the extra splurge. The setting on a gorgeous beach on a reclusive isle some 30 miles from the mainland tantalizes—you won´t find white sands or waters or purer turquoise anywhere in Cuba.

This little hotel is housed in an 18th-century building overlooking the main square. It was here, on February 1, 1899, that General Máximo Gómez and Robert P. Porter (the U.S. Commissioner) met to negotiate the terms of the dissolution of Cuban forces at the end of the Spanish-American War. Now run by Cubanacán, the hotel is popular with tour groups and individuals and makes a splendid base for exploring Remedios and beyond.

The nicest hotel for miles around, this rural enclave, about two miles west of town, is themed after an indigenous Taíno village. It is popular with tour groups and reservations are thereby recommended. The heart of affairs is the swimming pool served by an open-air bar and games room. There´s also a tiny gym, and small beauty station where massages are offered.

Cuba´s Islazul chain recently sank good money into restoring this aged hotel for the tourist market, with a focus on health-conscious guests. You´d have to be an undiscriminating spa buff, however, to get a thrill from this isolated facility, which reflects Cuba´s purely utilitarian approach to health tourism. Being focused on serious medical tourism, it has none of the flickering candles, fragrant scents, or other romantic touches that spell (and are essential for) “success” for spas elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Hotel Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria Beach resort has a privileged location in one of most beautiful islands in Cuba.
This property will eventually be the largest hotel complex in Cuba, with a total of 4 hotels each named after a different Cuban city. The complex will be opened in 4 stages. First hotel – Barcelo Matanzas that offers 624 guestrooms is already opened.

An all-inclusive packed with European and Canadian package groups, this four-star property run by Spain´s Sol Meliá group was the first of the big hotels to open on Cayo Santa María. The hotel backs a gorgeous white sand beach and is surrounded by sea grapes and low scrub, with not a palm tree in sight. However, the beach is studded with thatched umbrellas for shade and palms shade the landscaped hotel grounds.

First the good points... This hotel enjoys a superb position on the north flank of Lago Habananilla, a lovely lake framed by the dramatic Sierra del Escambray mountains. The hotel is also a good base for hiking or horse-back rides into the mountains, or for fishing. And your fellow guests are sure to be restricted to Cubans, so it´s a good chance to mingle with locals. Now the bad points. Let´s start with just getting there, which is a harpy.

The only hotel within the town center, this 10-story, mint-green high-rise is perfectly poised on the main square, Parque Vidal. Built in the 1950s in modernist style, it has not been kept in good repair. A general renovation is long overdue, for which reason most tour groups opt for the far nicer Hotel Los Caneyes, outside town, leaving this hotel to Cuban honeymooners.

17 apartment hotel located on a beautiful beach at Santa Maria. A great budget option

This hotel, set in handsome grounds amid groves of Royal palms, about two miles northeast of town, is a twin image of the Villa Los Caneyes, on the other side of town. The architecture is inspired by the indigenous style and includes rooms in two–story thatched duplex sextagonal cabins.