Mercure Playa de Oro Varadero

The resort had the most heartfelt attentive staff, great pork and fish barbecue, beautiful very large clean pool, and the best section of beautiful sandy beach out of all the other places. The ocean was such a beautiful blue like never seen before. The weather was sunny and hot. Very good coffee.

I had an amazing time here, don't be discourage by negative people who expect royalty. For the price point, the beach and the friendly staff it was truly amazing and will be going back in the near future.

Very great buget friendly deal.
Prior to my booking I was reluctant to book at this hotel due to people posting bad reviews on food but I felt so great that I tried this experience on my own.

Food:
Food was great with tons of variety and creative dishes. In meats they had beef strip steaks, friend/baked chicken, ham, pork steaks, whole roast beef, tons of fruit vegi salads and deserts along with different type of bread.
I know people are complaing about food but be mindful this is Cuba and they have to provide you with limited resources. For example if you are expecting mangos in winter season that is not going to happen because they have limited imports and no cold storage facilities. Even if you are willing to pay thousad dollars, this is simply not going to work.
No fish option available in buffet but you can reserve a booking at alacart and they have fish available their. If you are luckly to get the cocunut pudding, you will love it.

Room:
Very great spacious room with fully functioning AC, grest balcony view. If you need extra towel speak with room attendent.
They only bad part the elevator wasnt working.

Staff:
Great friendly staff. If you like something dont forget to ask for a chef and thank him directly in person.

Beach:
Very convenient location barely few steps away from room along with beach beds available.

Sadly, there are so many shortages, from day to day, you don't know what it will be, butter, coke, eggs, coffee, wine, the staff do their very best with what they have on hand, games used to have rum as the prize...now it's a 15 min massage, this goes for beach games and bingo, the beach remains the very best and so relaxing, they are trying to get management to get more blue chairs at the beach...keep asking...

First time in Cuba and it was amazing the food was great. The room was clean and the whole resort looked taken care of. All the severs and bartenders were so very friendly, even got to meet the owner. Such an awesome place. Definitely recommend this place.

Definitely coming back! This place is one big ❤ full of LOVE, beautiful worker's starting from amazing, helpful, receptionists loving lady's, cleaning lady's, kitchen worker's, to Dennis Boss, and of course Boris Boss, Alex 😘 (and their BEAUTIFUL entertaining crew, DJ Jose, Eduardo, Roberto, Diago, Coffe bar staff and all worker's!!!! .. I wish I could give more than we left behind. CUBA 🇨🇺 is simply the best!!! (🇧🇷🇨🇦 Erik&Grace- my gorgeous wife) Thank you so much MUTHU)!!!

Just went here for my first time in Cuba since I was a kid. Loved it! Most of the staff were great, really funny. Met tons of cool people on the resort and had a great time hanging out with them. The beach is beautiful, beach staff were hilarious as well. Definitely take advantage of the hop on bus if you're there for a few days. Food and drinks are good, 2 am ham and cheese from the snack bar is where it's at.

Beautiful resort! Would return again and again!

Was such a great time. Would definitely go back again! The beach is so beautiful and so clear! Saw many fish in the ocean, even an turtle egg for the first time. The entertainment was amazing! The people was very nice. Meet two of the entertainment guys named Jerial and Nicki very nice guys. Was always with us and having a great time. Became like family now. The food there was okay. Not bad. The room service could have been better. I guess my girl wasn't in a working mood? Lol but overall was a good experience. Want to go back already!

The staff is amazing, the food is divine. Rooms are clean. If you want good service, TIP. We were known to tip and our service went from them just doing their job (3 star), to throwing open V.I.P doors for us, and rushing to please us..(5 star treatment).. From the start we were treated like returning friends from long ago.
A snack bar was open at 5 am when we arrived and staff was very willing to help us feel comfortable. We wondered when we booked this resort as it had recently changed hands. From what we have heard and experienced, this new management will make this a 5 star in no time. .Cuban days at resort are worth sticking around for.on Tuesday. Know. All issues were handled fast. The entertainment director even lowered the bands volume after we mentioned how hard it was to actually enjoy as it drowned out any conversation with dinner companions. This was a huge improvement and we sat to watch the show.

Amazing Resort! Friendly Staff! great food, beautiful pool and beach! very clean this is one of the best resorts in Cuba. I love the lobby bar with a live band ever night. The buffet has a great selection. The room cleaning service was great the even made a swan on the bed out of the blanket! The beach was beautiful with lots of lounge chairs to tan on! I will return to this resort in the future! It is a bit far from varadero main strip for stores but you can get a day pass on the bus for 5 cuc

You get way more than you pay for at this resort! It is relatively small with many experiences staff. Both times I've been here have been excellent vacations with an incredible beach and lots of excursion choices.

If you expect Cuba to be like other sunny destinations, you are being willfully ignorant. So, if you want lots of packaged, familiar foods and non-stop access to Internet, do those of us who love Cuba a favor and go somewhere else.

Traveled in January 2016 and can't wait to go back for the 3rd time. The staff are very nice, the beach very clean, safe country to visit. Entertainment is amazing, lots to do. Food was good, never went hungry. I had a terrific time. Cuban ppl are beautiful and friendly.

First off, anyone who has to complain about going on vacation needs to give their head a shake. People forget how lucky they are to be able to even do this. Anyway, this is beautiful place, with kind and amazing staff. And there was such a huge variety of food, there was literally something for everyone. The rooms were cleaned daily, beds made, towels changed, hot water at non-peak hours (just like anywhere on earth), and everyone was very helpful. I would recommend this resort to anyone, of any age. Whether you just want to chill on the beach, go look for adventure, or party all night, this place has it all.

Great staff! We loved our time at this resort. The food was great, I was always able to find something to eat that I enjoyed. Sangria was amazing! Will be back next year!

Love it
Not a large resort, just big enough. Nice big rooms, 2 buildings up to 4 floors, elevators work, everything in a good walking distance from the lobby to the beach and pool and rooms in between. Food was good had different places to go to choose from. Personnel friendly, games, dance lessons and Aquagym super fun, more things on the beach. Beautiful beach. The only thing that did not like was not enought of is the parappa on the beach by 8 everything taken. Loved my week and will be back.

This was mine and my fiance's second time at this resort and we LOVED IT! This time we were there for 5 days, 4 nights!

We have both been to Cuba a number of times but Playa De Oro is our favorite resort in Cuba. The workers are so helpful and kind, entertainment is amazing, the food is excellent for Cuban standards and the beach is breathtaking!! We highly recommend this resort to anyone who is looking for an affordable get-away.

We are already planning a trip back for next year :)

First time going to this hotel, I enjoyed my stay there, interacting with other ppl, the staff who are so polite, friendly, always smiling, saying "Hola" 😀. They always get you involved in doing different activities, salsa dancing, aqua fit, volleyball, and games. The employees who taught us the dances were always supportive ❤. The good was good. their hamburger at the snack bar was the BEST.. they have different spots where you can grab a drink. My favorite drink was Pina Colada, Blue Moon. I made lots of friends here.. they had a show every night at 10pm which was pretty awesome to watch, at 11pm they had a Disco party ( club) they played good music, they had an awesome Dj 👌 who was on point with the music, never disappoint.. 👍 I would definitely be back to visit you all.. ♥🇨🇺

This is Cuba, so you are not expecting high levels of luxury. We got a room that didnt smell with moisture (we had to change the first one), it was moreless clean. There is always a place to get something to eat (either bar by the pool or restaurants in dinning time). The beach is beautiful and only a few steps away. Drinks could be better, but again - this is Cuba, so even limes could not have been taken for granted. Live music with every lunch is awesome

Very nice resort for the money, have been here twice and am planning on going again, mainly because of the staff... Hebert is your entertainment man, if your into games and stuff, Yanet at the Pool/Snack Bar is an absolute sweetheart, be sure to look for Orlando in the buffet, he makes the best coffee and is very friendly and accommodating, extremely helpful when setting up large groups in there, just have everyone meet at the Lobby Bar and take a head count, wander in and find him and let him know how many in your party and a half a cervesa or so later he'll have you all set up. Really nice guy!
The hotel has been purchased by an outfit from Singapore as of Jan 1 2018 and is now called the MGM Muthu Playa Varadero, I've been told they have redone the beach snack bar due to the storm damage and are updating the restaurants and kitchen areas to better serve you. Looking forward to going again this year.
P.S. the big burly looking dude at the Lobby Bar is really a Teddy Bear the girls in our group had him smiling like a Cheshire cat in no time ;-)

Update: First that trip was 3 yrs ago, we were there again 2yrs ago and in Cayo Coco last year???
When we were there two years ago it had had some very nice upgrades to the beach snack bar, so much so it was now the evening a la carte and our friend Orlando had been moved there, it was good to see him again and he introduced us to some new friends Pedro, a tall slim young fellow who called me his Grandpa Lol, Ironeda, a lovely lady, very warm and kindly, and Geida (pronounced Haiti), who, along with Orlando, hosted our group for the a la carte down there one night. I had mentioned earlier in the day that one of our couples in our group was having an anniversary, when we got there they had a special dinner prepared for us, the ladies all got white roses made from napkins from Orlando (which most of them still have), they produced a bottle of sparkling wine/champagne for us all to share and an excellent meal topped off with a nice little cake! We all took a group photo and it was touching how emotional our celebrated friends were at the end of the evening! Thank you Orlando and Geida, and all the staff for making it a very memorable evening for all of us.
We are returning for our 4th trip to the Muthu Varadero in about 2 weeks and were looking forward to seeing you all again.
The food at the resort was very good, people seem to like to complain about the food in Cuba but we have never had any trouble here finding really good food, there are lots of meats being grilled at the beach snack bar where we ate most lunches, the buffet has plentiful amounts of great food and of course the Omelette and Pasta stations are always there.
All in all the Muthu is a wonderful resort, the beach is amazing, there is a wonderful band playing live music thru lunch times at the beach snack bar, its small enough to not have to walk forever to get somewhere but big enough to have lots of personal space. The coffee bar in the lobby makes all kinds of wonderful concoctions such as a Spanish Coffee...which one of our travelers likes to have early morning everyday! Right Ron? (we call him El Ron de Cuba) and the staff, for the most part, are wonderful folks who do their best to make sure you have an awesome time.
We love Varadero because you can get on the Double Decker bus for 5 cuc and travel around the peninsula getting on and off as many times as you want, there's a mall where you can buy beer as you shop, lots of nice little bars and restaurants downtown, some with live music, there is the Beatles bar with live music every night. Some travel tips we take a small ice cube tray, clamato & fixings, damp traps & Lysol for the room, raid for the balcony, bug spray, small condiment packets, ketchup, mustard, vinegar, salsa, salt and pepper, Montreal steak spice for the cook who'll take good care of you for the week.
Final advice, don't be in a hurry, kick back and enjoy your trip and roll with the flow. And be courteous to the staff they're just doing there jobs and you'll find you'll reap what you sow!