My favorite is Sol Melia Rio Luna y Mares. It’s in Guardalavaca the area Josh suggested. You fly into Holguin and it’s about an hour away by bus. I’m going back in December for my 5th visit at that resort. There’s tons of stuff to do lots of it such as horseback riding at no extra cost. the staff are great, the beach fantastic and the food is also good, lots to satisfy everyone., there is also a kids club. Check the links below tripadvisor has lots of reviews. edit: some good last minute sites: Check a few out, my experience is some will have better prices than others.

Hello Dear
I would highly suggest the Melia Cayo coco
We’ve just returned from 2 weeks at the Melia having had a great holiday..The hotel is 10 minutes from the airport (but don’t worry about hearing plane noise because there just wasn’t any). Check in is very quick and your bags are brought round by the bell boy later on. The hotel is pretty big, but it is a bit tired looking and in need of a caring touch. They obviously know this as brand new furniture arrived in the lobby bar at the end of our first week which smartened it up a lot. They are also refurbishing the main buffet restaurant and extending the lobby. The rooms can best be described as adequate. They are comfortable enough and the maid service is very good, but they are certainly not 5 star luxury.

Food - not really sure what to say about this… The buffet restaurant is out of action and their “plan B” (the beach restaurant) was damaged in the hurricane and they are very slowly repairing the roof. As a result the buffet is served in the pool bar and the number of times you can use the a la carte is unrestricted. We therefore ate in the buffet twice - food again is adequate but nothing special. The Italian is nice. good service and food is good (steer clear of the lasagne and the cannelloni and you’ll be fine). The International on the lagoon is their attempt at fine dining but falls very short of the mark. Having said that the food is absolutely fine, just not the high standard that they are aiming for. I also get a dodgy stomach on holiday but wasn’t ill once at this hotel which really says all you need to know. There is nothing wrong with the food, but it won’t blow your mind.

One word of warning - take lots of mosquitoe repellant. I have never known anywhere like it for mosquitoes. They spray the whole hotel morning and night but it really is dreadful. My advice is not to go out for dinner in the evening until at least 30mins after they’ve sprayed otherwise you really will be eaten alive. It’s very unpleasant!!

While out and about on various trips I got a sneaky peak at the other hotels in the area and i can confidently say that ours is the best on Cayo Coco. It’s worth mentioning that you also get the use of the Sol hotel which is next door. I know a few people who weren’t happy with the eating arrangements used their buffet instead and i heard good reports.

The beach is the star of the show in this hotel. It really is beautiful and the sea is very safe to swim in. There’s a little bar (included in AI) and lougers etc. Theree is a dive school but its not PADI or BSAC so my partner decided not to do any courses with them as they wouldn’t be recognised anywhere else. I saw a couple of lessons in the pool and the instructer seemed very good. Apparently it was very good value but this is probably becuase they aren’t registered with an internationally recognised company.

I also really liked the pool at this hotel. Its not very deep, but its great for cooling off during the day and its a nice place to spend the day sunbathing. There are plenty of loungers but not really enough umbrellas and the sun really is too strong to sit out in all day unless you want to look like a lobster!

We found the AI to be excellent in this hotel. Even the drinks in the mini bar (coke, sprite, beer and water) are included and are topped up every day.

It’s worth mentioning that the Cayos are very isolated and there is literally nothing on them apart from hotels. There are no other restaurants or shops or anything really so bear that in mind before you go because you really will be spending the majority of your time at the hotel. We did a few trips including a trip to the mainland (a must for everyone just to see the real cuban life - very different to what you see on teh cayos), spa, deep sea fishing (now dubbed “Sailfish Saturday” by the crew after my partner caught a huge sailfish!!, catamaran and snorkelling trip, trip to deserted cayo (Cayo Mortero), horse riding on the beach at sunset and a trip to Pilar beach. I can recommend all of these trips but be careful with the horse riding. I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone who hasn’t ridden before, the horses respond to voice commands from the leader and you do canter or gallop down the beach. If you’re not happy with this there’s not a lot you can do until the leader decides its time to stop. I loved it, but those less experienced would probably have found it a bit scary!!

I can also recommend the trip to Pilar beach. It costs 5 pesos each (£3) for the 50k bus ride to the beach on Cayo Guillermo and it is well worth it. It is supposed to be the most beautiful beach on the whole of the cayos and is worth a few hours of your holiday to go and see it. The bus goes every day from the hotel - reception can give you the times.

There is no spa at the hotel. Rather you can pay 49 pesos (around £27) and have a few hours at the spa nearby. There will probably be quite a few people that do this a