Resort Review: Memories Flamenco Beach Resort – Cayo Coco

For two years in a row, our family stayed at the Memories Flamenco Beach Resort. After having stayed at many different resorts, the Memories Flamenco is the only resort we have returned to because of their friendly staff and great service.  These are some of our impressions of this wonderful Cuban all-inclusive resort.

Memories Flamenco Cayo Coco Resort Review

Location

Located off the northern coast of Cuba, Cayo Coco is a perfect destination for families with young kids. The beaches are simply beautiful and there is a dedicated airport centrally located close to the resorts.  Memories Flamenco is about 15 minutes from the airport.  After a long flight with kids, it’s nice to avoid a long bus journey to the resort.

Check In

One of the best features of this hotel is their no-hassle check-in process.  When you arrive at the airport, hotel staff personally great you and provide you with your paperwork and room keys.  This thoughtful touch eliminates the need to line up at reception to check in.  Your luggage is also tagged and brought to your room for you.  All you need to do when you arrive at Memories Flamenco is enjoy the warm staff welcome and refreshing cocktail!

Kids Club

This hotel not only has a kids club, but also a baby club – a feature that is offered at very few resorts.  The kids club building is nicely set up  with a great area for the bigger kids and a separate room for the toddlers and preschoolers.  There is also a small room with cribs so parents can put their little ones down for a nap and still enjoy the pool!

The resort also features the Berenstain Bears as well as Toopy & Binoo!  Kids love meeting the characters in the afternoon around the pool and then watching their show during the mini disco one evening a week.

Memories Flamenco Cayo Coco Resort Review

Pools

Even if you don’t use the kids club, there are always activities around the pool for the kids.  A highlight of the week was the clown show by the poolside one afternoon.  We saw the clowns again this year at the Pullman Resort and they were still a big hit!

The kids pool is located beside the kids club and is perfect for toddlers.  While the pool itself is in full sun there is a ton of shade all around the pool.

Memories Flamenco Cayo Coco Resort Review

Dining

The food at the Memories Flamenco is surprisingly good.  The main buffet had lots of food stations where you could have your food cooked to order.  There is also a snack bar by the pool, that is open 24/7, where you could order all your favourite foods, such as hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza and POUTINE!!!

We found ourselves eating breakfast in the main buffet and having an early lunch at the snack bar so the kids could nap. For dinner, we ate at either an à la carte restaurant or the buffet.  All of the à la cart restaurants all featured kids menus which was a nice touch.

There were plenty of high chairs at the resort and the staff were wonderful about finding a high chair for you if none were in sight!

Accommodations

The rooms at Memories Flamenco are spacious and well designed.  They have actual cribs that are low to the ground (potentially from Ikea).  You can also request an extra bed for bigger kids.  Then you can have a king size bed instead of two doubles.

Whenever we stay at an all-inclusive resort, we request a room on the main floor.  This allows us to avoid navigating stairs with our stroller.  That said, plenty of people with kids had rooms on higher floors and simply left their strollers in the stairway on the main floor.

All the rooms have a balcony or terrace, which allows parents to enjoy the warm weather while the kids are napping.  The housekeeping service did a great job and made sure to clean our rooms in the morning to avoid interrupting nap time.

Beach

The beach is beautiful and shallow for quite a distance, making it great for the kids to play in.  The beach shoreline was full of coral during our 2013 visit which made it painful on our feet. During our 2014 stay, the resort had a machine grinding up the dead coral.  I would recommend bringing water shoes just to be safe.  But the coral really wasn’t an issue for us, especially if you use the pier to enter the water. (Note: According to their website, they have completely refreshed their beach.)

Also don’t miss out on the chance for a catamaran ride especially on a windy day!

Overall Impressions

We love that this is a small resort that really catered to families.   The kids club and the staff who work there are amazing with the kids.  Always lots of activities are taking place to entertain both the adults and the kids.

And the kids will love the chocolate ice cream!

Memories Flamenco Cayo Coco Resort Review

P.S.  Cuban’s love babies! From the minute we touched down at the airport in Cayo Coco, we were always rushed straight to the front of every line because of our baby.  This was especially helpful when a meltdown was about to happen while waiting in line for security!

 

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