Pullman Cayo Coco

We arrived Nov 13 for a family wedding. Resort is amazing, food excellent, staff amazing, Beach and weather top notch. Cuba is struggling like everyone. The little things are missing, fresh fruit, fresh juices , white wine. We did experience no water (due to water main break) for 48hours. (But this could happen in Canada, heck we Survived No power from Fiona for 7days). All In all being your smiles , your presents , patience and enjoy!!!

4th visit to Pullman, and even with the worsening struggles in Cuba, they continue to do a great job. The staff is fantastic, coffee and drinks were great, and always lots to eat, even for a picky eater/seafood averse person like myself. Not sure how people can complain about lack of variety/repetitive foods, when there is still an abundance. Definitely didn't go hungry! Was excited to receive an invitation to the Sunset Cocktail reception in the Collection side, and it was really nice. My only suggestion would be more umbrellas or some kind of fabric shade on the pergolas around the pool, as they don't actually provide shade as they are, which is no good for my fair skin, lol. But not a big deal for me as I prfer the beach anyway, and lots of great shade palapas out there. 4 great trips to Pullman since 2019, and I would still return again!

My husband & I re-vacationed at Pullman and this time brought 2 other couples to join us for the week of Oct 30, 2022. From the get go we were all treated very well & were given the room locations as requested & pre-booked our restaurant reservations to be dining all together. They even arranged 60th birthday celebrations for our friends & hubby and I were showered with some extra treats. This was all made possible by Antonio Sabate and his outstanding team at Pullman. I would like to give recognition to the staff that stood out to us: Aileen Perez Verde, Vivianna at front desk, and staff in the buffet: Geisy, Alejandro, Armando Robert, Bernado & our singing bar waitress Yanella. We also had a reunion with the animation team: Richard, Julia & Keyler & Keyner (twins) that we previously met in 2018. And hola to our new friend: Choco ! We dined at La Perla (French), Il Piacere (Italian) & Cobo (Japanese). Our favorites were French & Italian. I recommend trying the Cuban restaurant if you can get a reservation. The drinks at the lobby bar were inconsistent (depending on the bartender) but our morning coffees, lattes & cappuccinos on the patio were outstanding. We were a bit anxious due to the looming weather forecast but it turned out to be sunny & windy all week so did not encounter any mosquitos. However we did get some seaweed washed up on the beach a few mornings. Nonetheless, the ocean was warm & swimmable all week. We did not do any excursions but did walk to the lagoon 3 times to get our fill of fresh coconut water from Yuseman. We enjoyed getting to know him & learning about his life in Cuba. There were some noticeable differences from 2018 but did not affect out week whatsoever. There were shortages on white wine, fruits & vegetables. The caliber of entertainment also changed (had a more varied group of singers & musicians in 2018). However I do understand that Covid dramatically impacted the hotel industry. Due to the economic situation that the Cuban people have to endure on a daily basis you will not find a more humble & sincere people on the island. We (Canadians) are fortunate to have the ability to visit their beautiful country so treat them with kindness and respect. Accor who currently manages Pullman Cayo Coco will no longer be doing so in 2023. Hopefully things do not change too drastically as I currently recommend this resort for the following reasons: weather, white sand beach & Cuban people. This was our first friends’ post-Covid vacation which was enjoyed by all and we hope to be back in the near future.

The good news is room was beautiful as was the beach! The bad : breakfast was horrible no juices same thing ever morning running out of ingredients for omelettes every morning coffee in the buffet was so watered down was disgusting!! drinks were basic and like the coffee the juices were limited and so watered down was disgusting we are frequent travellers to Cuba and this was our worst experience having visited 5 other resort’s would not return unless the price was extremely low hope this helps

My friend has been to Cuba 13 times and he highly recommended The Pullman. I ran into one guest who has attended Cuba 69 times and she only goes to The Pullman now as it is her favourite and she has a strong connection to the staff. Because it is an hour drive to the closest town of Maron there are no locals nearby looking to scam you. It is EXTREMELY SAFE. Some reviews we read before we went were amazing and others showed some deficiencies. We really liked it and recommend it. This is our review: BEACH-The beach was AMAZING and the chairs and huts were fine. If the hotel is full then go in the morning to get a chair near the resort otherwise just walk down the beach more - there was never a time with no chairs - they were always available. LITTLE BEACH TIP - go to the dollar store or Wal Mart and get some of those large beach clothes pins to hold your towel on the chair when the wind blows - they are very handy and can help you identify your chair if you go for a walk. ROOMS-The rooms were clean but certainly not new anymore - a little worn -insignificant things like a chip out of the corner of the melamine mirror but the cleaning staff were extremely friendly and kept our room very clean. The mattress was not quite primo but it was fine. BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS-The buildings are well cared for and the grounds are cleaned daily early in the morning. Management keep an eye on workers with cameras throughout the resort so workers always have eyes on them and are always doing something. LOBBY-The large open lobby is the main social gathering place and it nice and well maintained. POOLS are well cared for and there is a large shallow pool for kids and families or for anyone wanting to just cool off. The swim up bar is a bit of a party area but there are other pools away from that that are quiet and relaxing. The reclined tile chairs along some pools edges are a nice place to cool off and relax - I fell asleep in them a few times! FOOD and DRINK- As they say - "you don't go to Cuba for the food." We found the food at the buffet extremely fresh and a great assortment with the ability to get fresh fish cooked in front of you or have a not so tender steak. Buffet has lots of chicken dishes, fresh fruit and vegetables and a wide assortment of deserts. The international restaurants were good and okay. The Caribbean rock lobster is a far cry from Atlantic lobster from Canada, the French and Japanese were good. Your room fridge has an assortment of beer, pop and water and is filled up each day at no charge. The lobby bar is a coffee bar in the morning and is very busy with specialty coffees that seem well received. Be patient there can be long lines. Each person should buy their own BUBBA KEG and fill it with your favourite drink and get refills all day long. It saves multiple trips with small cup refills. CANTEEN beside the pool was not very good and had a limited menu-it is best to wait for the buffet to open instead of eating at the canteen. SNACKS- there is nowhere to get snacks so bring them with you if you really need them or crave them. Wi-Fi- the only place for wi-fi is the lobby -sometimes!! You are lucky if you are more than 30 % successful getting wi-fi in the lobby and you will not get it in your rooms. ENTERTAINMENT- Entertainers do a great job and take a lot of pride on their work. Shows with singers and dancers were extremely good. The band that plays in the lobby and in some shows do a great job and can be seen practicing in the daytime honing their skills. They do not discriminate between good tippers and bad tippers when roaming around the lobby playing- they play for anyone at any time and are very passionate about their music. STAFF-All staff were EXTREMELY FRIENDLY. We noticed they often wore the same work clothes in the garden each day but each day they were very clean-It appears they wash them in the staff laundry or take them home every day to wash them as they are all well presented. MONEY TIPS- DO NOT BRING ANY COINS AS TIPS- they are no good to the Cubans as the banks do not take them. Canadians give them coins and they place them on the counters of restaurants and bars as a sign that they want visitors to exchange their coins to Canadian bills. You can either tip with a $5 Cdn bill which is pretty high in their world or you can bring down a bunch of US bills as they like those. You can exchange your Cdn cash for pesos at the front desk but you will lose in the exchange. HOWEVER, you can get lower denominations in pesos so you are not always dropping $5 Cdn bills as tips. The lady on the bus that herds everyone on to the bus at the airport will also sell some beer on the bus and she is a great source to exchange money. You will NOT see her again after you leave the bus so take advantage of her offer to exchange during the trip from the airport to the resort. GIFTS: Just think these people live on a poor island far from any Wal Marts or designer stores so they greatly appreciate anything they cannot get there- clothing, sports gear (they love baseball-new ball caps and any type of baseball equipment is extremely well received), baby and kids clothing, anything for females- hair ties, scrunchies, nail polish, makeup and they also appreciate simple things like tooth brushes and toothpaste, deodorant. The also appreciate school supplies- pencils, colored pencils, coloring books, art supplies, school books. I have been to Cuba twice and many other poorer countries and I always bring cleaned used clothes that I collect from school "lost and founds" or from second hand stores - always good quality designer stuff and bring an extra bag - a hockey bag that I leave for staff. I also leave back packs that they love. BARTENDERS- I have travelled extensively and I thought that I would test the bartenders and not tip much or at all when I first arrived to see if they would treat me the same as big tippers. Of course human nature took over - it was not until I tipped more that they seemed to take notice of me and give me quicker and friendlier service. ACTIVITES; SWIMMING with DOLPHINS- there are two places to do this -one nearby which was closed but another better one with more dolphins about 20 minutes away. Swimming with dolphins may be a sensitive topic with some animal lovers but it was truly an amazing experience with beautiful creatures and well worth the money (around $120 per couple). WATER CRAFT- the resort info on-line indicated there were boats (Hobie Cats and kayaks) and fishing available but there are none - you have to rent from some locals. HORSEBACK RIDING- you can pay around $30 to go and ride slow horses along the beach then to a path to the front of the hotel- not too thrilling! SNORKELING- there is a dive shop down the beach but they only take you out nearby and the sea life is almost non-existent on a dead reef - do not waste your money there. There is a catamaran trip to book at the hotel the people said was much better snorkeling and includes a lunch -it is an extra fee to take this trip. SCUBA- I spoke with some divers who said this same shop did a decent job taking them on a dive. TOWELS - the beach towels are in your room and you are expected to keep them and turn them in when you wish but the guy at the pool shed is not always there to exchange towels and I did hear from some guests that complained they had no beach towels in their room and they could not get any at the pools shed as it was not always manned. WORK WEAR/TOOLS AS GIFTS - they would appreciate any work gloves or knee pads or even gardening tools - I am sure they go to the resort but they would appreciate having them to use. CAR RENTALS- there is a car rental office near the front entrance but there is rarely anyone there. Local workers can set you up with a friend to do a tour of the area but gas is very expensive and they charge $120 for a trip around the area and into Maron. If you want a safe, affordable place, with decent food, friendly service and an incredible beach to relax then this is great value. RECOMMENDATION- You can pay $10,000 each to go to a n expensive and ultra fancy resort in Turks and Caicos or you can pay much less to attend The Pullman and relax on a gorgeous beach and be guaranteed a clean relaxing place with friendly and overall efficient staff. I have travelled to 49 countries in the world and I recommend this resort - I will be going back.