The development of the island was carried out from west to east. The first three hotels to be built on the island were the Sol Cayo Santa Maria, Meliá Cayo Santa Maria and Meliá Las Dunas and they are administered by the Spanish hotel group Sol Meliá.
All buildings in Cayo Santa Maria are the exclusive property of the Cuban government (Gaviota).
Barceló Cayo Santa Maria will be the largest resort in Cuba. The project is similar to the Barceló Maya in the Riviera Maya (Mexico), It is divided into four sections. The Barceló Maya counts 2,196 rooms and 2,640 for the Barceló Cayo Santa Maria.
All hotels have direct access to the beach. To get to the beach, you walk on a footbridge, a little elevated walkway to minimize the impact on the environment.
The hotels are located north of the island. The south is made of marshes and mangroves.
All hotels offer an all-inclusive package « meals, drinks, activities, entertainment, non motorized water sports, etc » and they all have carts for transporting tourists and luggages to the rooms.
The only hotel with a nude section on the beach is the Sol Cayo Santa Maria.
Click HERE to know more about development on the island.
Click the hotel's thumbnail below to see infos and photos!
The Sol Meliá hotels are located in the western sector of the main beach. The Sol is the first hotel. It opened its doors in December 2001, then the Melia Cayo Santa Maria in December 2003 and finally the Meliá Las Dunas in December 2006 for a total of 1.584 rooms.
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Miscellanous informations about the Sol Meliá hotels ...
Click the hotel's thumbnail below to see infos and photos!
The first phase of the project, the Barcelo Santa Maria Beach, opened its doors in December 2008 and the Barceló Santa Maria Colonial in December 2009 for a total of 1,308 rooms.
Barceló Santa Maria is the first hotel in Cayo Santa Maria of 3-floor bungalows. It gives the best view of the sea for the oceanview room ($).
The project will have a total of approximately 2.640 rooms. Phase 2 is under construction (spring 2010) and is scheduled to open late 2010 with its two sectors: Tropical (west) and Caribe (east). IMPORTANT! Although the Phase 2 project is under development (2010), we do not hear construction noises from the opened phase.
The COLONIAL and the BEACH sectors and are in use, but are not sold separately by the Canadian tour operators. Please note that according to occupation level reach at the resorts, one of the integrated hotels (Beach & Colonial) is exposed to temporarily close. The gym and the spa are located in the new « Pueblo Cayo Santa Maria » between the Beach and the Tropical sectors of the Barceló Cayo Santa Maria. It opened its door in December 12th 2009. It offers with many services. It is operated by Gaviota tour (not Barceló). Click HERE to know more about this small village.
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This section of the Barceló complex is under construction (2010). Information on the distribution of rooms to come. |
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This section of the Barceló complex is under construction (2010). Information on the distribution of rooms to come. |
During our stay, Nersy of the public relations, gave us two beautiful poems, which we are pleased to share with you. Here are two poems, hug and le le long de la plage (in French) along the beach. We know Nersy from our first stay in 2002 at the Sol Cayo Santa Maria. She is a lovely person. Great her from Lily and Normand.
We loved the band Trio Pasión at the Barceló Santa Maria hotel. They are excellent musicians. We bought their CD and it is one of the best CD of our collection of Cuban music. If you meet the band, greet them from Lily and Normand and do not hesitate to buy their CD. Click the play button below to hear the song « Como un Bolero », it is an EXCELLENT song! The CD also contains « El Tumbaito », a song written by Iroel, a musician of the group. Two thumbs up!
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