Iberostar Selection Bella Vista Varadero

First of all, I want to mention that this was our first and last trip to Varadero, Cuba, not returning again. We were there in Early May 2019 with a family of four for 7 days. Conversion rate should be.75 CUC per $1 CAD as per the information we got online before we left. We decided to get some CUC from Varadero airport and got a rate of $0.68/CAD. Later got some from the resort and got the same rate. So, don’t expect the highest rate as mentioned online. The weather was really nice around and over 30 degrees, had shower/rain almost every evening just to cool down a little bit. Beaches are WOW, white sand and blue water. I booked Iberostar line that I always have been when we went to Mexico and Jamaica, assuming that we’ll get the same service and food, but let me tell you that I was wrong. Food and service were TERRIBLE-TERRIBLE. Food was repeated all seven days we were there, only fish and chicken was grilled. The buffet was always cold, didn’t have much variety of fruits. Half of the buffet was always closed, it was very hard to find a table. We always had to choose the dirty table and then ask for cleaning. Never got any service in the buffet, everyone was grabbing their own water and drinks even cutlery was not set on the tables most of the time. I loved the coffee bar, they had some good coffees. My favorite was vanilla latte and I got it hot only the first time. Every other time it came warm even after asking for hot. But I still enjoyed it. We were only able to book 3 restaurants in 7 days. The line up was not that bad as other travelers mentioned; we were able to book right away. The food at the restaurants was mediocre. We’ve always enjoyed the Japanese restaurant elsewhere, but in Cuba, that was not the case. Food wasn’t that great even though chief cooked in front of us. They didn’t give us options for drinks only white and red wine was the options. Lots of people on our table left the table early with their plates full. Steak house was ok too, I think I ordered grilled chicken, but I got fried chicken. Cuban restaurant was not our favorite at all. Drinks were good in the main lobby bar and at the beach. Seating in the lobby was good with some sofas and bar chairs in front of the bar. The evening time bar was always busy, my husband and I always spent time there. Night entertainment was good. Beach was nice as I mentioned earlier, but beach chairs were occupied earlier in the morning. They were occupied by their own people who would put their own towels/shirts to make some tips. We got twice from them by tipping, I don’t think that was appropriate. Room service was good, our rooms were cleaned daily, and towels were changed. Room bar was filled on a daily basis with 2 beers and a water bottle. Havana trip was awesome, we hired a taxi with a guide, and they arrived on time around 8 am and the guide was very knowledgeable. He told us the history of every building we saw there and how the locals live in Cuba and their day to day life. Lunch at Chacon 162 was great.

This was my first time to Cuba, as I was somewhat apprehensive as I heard all the rumors about Cuba, food and lack of towels. I have always picked Punta Cana and avoided Cuba for years. Too my surprise I'm glad I went, the hotel was beautiful, the people are so friendly and the streets are safe to walk at night. We arrived and the bella boy helped us to our room. We are now planning another trip this year and we are Cuba bonund.

We got there May 27th, we got to the hotel at about 5PM. The hotel seemed a little busy which was fine by us. We got to our room and the safe didn’t work nor did the phone in our room so we had to walk all the way down to the lobby from the 4th floor since the elevator takes 20 minutes to come and only some elevators in the resort work. We got down there and they said they’d send up a tech to look at it so we went back to our room we waited 20 minutes for the tech who came and fixed the safe we reminded him about the phone in the room he said he’d go check outside the room so we waited for another 30 minutes and he never came back. By this time we were hungry from our journey so we went back to the lobby and told them that the technician never came back and that the phone wasn’t fixed still but we needed to eat. They told us we could and to come back after. We came back after eating they told us to go back to our room and wait. We sat in our room for another 45 minutes before we decided we weren’t just going to wait for them. We went back to the lobby and told again nobody had come and they we couldn’t wait anymore for the tech. They said the tech had gone home for the day but nobody told us. So the next day in the morning we went and told reception again that the phone still didn’t work they said sobody would look at it. To make a long story short we left 8 days later and guess what the phone still didn’t work even though we spoke to them every day. The food here? Horrible. Super bland never have any condiments and service in the buffet was horribly slow almost every day except 2. There wasn’t a lot of food in the hot tables in the buffet and what was there looked like it had been sitting a while. We lived off Pasta from the fresh pasta bar and French fries for 8 days. No the fresh pasta wasn’t good but it was fresh and edible. Hotel doesn’t have a proper bar or club and nightly entertainment seems more targeted towards kids no big deal there. Rooms are all warm and damp AC doesn’t work well but we had it set as low as possible with the fan on full blast. Still didn’t cool down the room. The night staff was super friendly and great about calling cabs for us to go into the city. Definitely appreciate them. They were definitely the best staff in the hotel also the pool bar ladies were awesome super helpful and friendly!! Saturday and Sunday the hotel is completely full of locals and the hotel is not staffed for this so the pool winds up being dirty from overuse and the buffet had insanely long lines and NO waiters. My Cuba experience was amazing but the hotel was not. Would I recommend Varadero? Absolutely! Would I recommend Bella Vista? Absolutely not.

Beach:nice but not enough umbrellas for all the tourists.Been there in August2018,so the resort was very busy. Reception:disappointed about all of them..They misinformed us about the disco and went there..The club was closed...even the cab driver didn't bother to tell us the disco was closed just took us there for nothing...be aware of the cab drivers,they over charged..I speak Spanish and I could understand them,and also always negotiated with them...All the receptionists should know all the information for the tourists or just have on a paper information about the discos for the tourists. Bar:good service&nice people Buffet:Very busy at that time,waiting for the table sometimes.The food was not to bad,but found a stone in the red beans...service was ok.The tourists from Cuba&Argentina are very rude&aggressive tying to cut in front of the lines...but not in front of me because I'm not shy to tell them...

Everything would be perfect or okay, except food. Beach and swimming pools are amazing. Kids entertainment part of the resort is fabulous. Staff is very friendly. The weather is comfortable to enjoy vacation. Beautiful resort! But food.. is awful: overcooked, over-salted, tasteless. Coffee is disgusting: bitter, heavy taste triggers heartburn. No seafood such as shrimp, calamari, salmon, or scallop; tuna only! I mean we had fun there, we enjoyed the beach, we met some new friends, but we left home with no regrets.