Iberostar Selection Varadero

Really good hotel. Great service and perfect location. We visited during the summer (July) and the weather was nice and breezy, although hot. Not a lot of loud tourists. The restaurants are good, but the buffet’s food is a bit bland (little salt, little sugar). Book the other restaurants early. They fill up really fast.

Honest and detailed review: Resort/location - 10/10 - Iberostar Selection Varadero offers a family-friendly and pleasant Cuban experience. The hotel is clean, constantly being kept, and the grounds are beautiful. There is tons of scenery and plenty of walking space. Beach/ocean - 10/10 - By far the best feature of this resort. The sand is soft, the water is warm and shallow, there are barely any seaweed, and we never had any issues finding a hut for shelter/seating. Service - 10/10 - All staff were friendly, professional, and courteous. Room cleaning service was excellent. We always had clean towels, bedding, and floors were mopped. Special mention goes to Melissa and Lia, who went above and beyond in their service at each encounter. Thank you for making our stay extra enjoyable! Rooms - 6/10 - Rooms were dated and our first room had a musty smell. As we had a baby, we asked for a change, at which point we were offered 2 options to choose from. The second room was better and we had no issues during our stay. There was warm running water and no power outages. Food - 5/10 - There was not much variety of food and for the most part the same stuff was prepared each day. The food was slightly bland and boring, and the desserts were not the freshest. However, we did not get sick, which was great. Note: this review is based on buffet food. We did not try the specialty restaurants, although they looked good. Overall experience and recommendation - 9/10 - We really enjoyed our stay and had lots of fun. I would recommend Iberostar Selection Varadero to anyone who wants a calming, relaxing, and quiet Cuban experience. As mentioned, the main feature is the beach/ocean. From all of the Caribbean destinations we have been to, this one had the best beach/ocean. The rooms are not luxury, but they are also not the worst. On the plus side they were clean and kept. The least attractive feature was the food, but the rest of the experience makes up for it. After all, people are usually there for only 7 days, therefore it is possible to endure.

I don't personally believe that this resort deserves 5 stars. We spent 5 days here in July of 2025. The good: - the property itself is beautiful and expansive - the beach is pristine and the water is incredibly clear and perhaps the best water I've seen in my life - there are things to do on the resort (but not much), there are a couple pools, a gym, tennis court (in rough shape), there's a private pool connected to the spa which is only for guests staying in a specific wing of the resort - the resort staff themselves were for the most part very kind, helpful and always willing to help What needs improvement: - for an all inclusive resort of this level, the food was severely lacking (which is maybe just a signal as to how the country is doing overall) - there were 3 separate restaurants outside of the buffets, however two of 3 of them were booked the entire time before we even arrived, how are you supposed to reserve a restaurant if not even available while making your reservation - We were kind of bored, aside from some of the amenities, there isn't much else to do in all honesty I could write much more but decided to keep it concise, the last thing I will say is it seems that there are a lot of, in my opinion, fake reviews for this property on google, I see a ton of 5 star reviews from accounts that only have 1 google review ever (for this hotel).