Brisas Guardalavaca

I have nothing but good comments about Brisas Guardalava. Rooms clean and tidy. Gorgeous beach and pool area. Grounds well maintained. We stayed in room 422 oceanview. You could watch the nightly show from the balcony. Stay in the villas or gardeview rooms of the hotel because oceanview rooms face all the entertainment and music playing until 1 am so if you like quiet, you're better off in the villas. We liked the action. Walk to the market in 5 minutes. Leave the lobby and turn right. There's also a bank and some shops across from the market. Bank gives a little better rate than hotel. Bring your passport. Fill your water bottles up at any of the bars. Nice walking beach or walk on the paved area that runs parallel with the beach. Paddle Boats, Kayaks, WindSurfers available. Staff courteous and friendly. Lots of restaurants and bars. Take the horse and buggy ride around. Holguin is a lot quieter than Varadaro and more authentic. Remember, you make your vacation fun. We had a great time. Don't be concerned about the food as there will always be something you like. You probably don't eat like Kings and Queens at home...lol Brisas must be doing something right as we met all kinds of guests that have been repeat visitors for many years. Families, Singles, Middle Aged. Lots of activities with the staff if want to participate. Snorkel from the beach but be mindful as it is quite shallow around the reef.

The resort is located in Holguin province, a much less commercial area than Varadero. It consists of the hotel and three-story villas. The resort is exceptionally clean. The grounds are very well maintained. The food was good, improved since last November. The grilled fish is especially good. Cuban beef is amazing, tastes organic. Pork, lamb and chicken, turkey were also excellent, but too well done. The risotto and pasta stations are always popular. Lots of fruits and veggies, amazing ice cream and pastries. There is nightly entertainment available in the lobby outside the main dining room and shows on the outdoor stage later in the evening. There are two, well maintained tennis courts. You can play with the tennis pro if you don't have a partner. Lessons are available for no additional charge. The tennis pro is a very enthusiastic, helpful guy. There is a games room with pool, ping pong, etc, and a gym. Kayaks, water bikes, snorkeling equipment is available on the beach. Beach volleyball is played and activities are run in the main pool. The bikes available to hotel guests are heavy, old, rusted “tanks” with one gear brakes in the pedals. They were always free, but this time they cost $5, which we did not know until we were returning them. We were very disappointed - not because of the $5, but because we felt ripped off (cheated). The majority of the tourists at Brisas are Canadian, the tv does not have any English-language Canadian channels.

Having a great time at Brisas. The staff is fantastic but a special shout out to Yovi from the entertainment crew who goes out of his way to ensure you’re having a great time. He is such a good person, full of energy and life, always smiling. We are looking forward to seeing him and the rest of the staff next year.

We stayed for a week again. We love it here because all the amenities are close together (ice cream bar, churro bar, buffet, snack bar, pool and ocean beach). We were disappointed for two days that they didn’t have fries at the pool bar, but, we made the best of it. They also didn’t have enough safe keys for us (you pay $2 CUC a day) when we got there. Went back the next day to get one from the lobby desk. If you’re taking your kids with you, this is an amazing resort to go to. You make your trip what it is. If you complain all the time, you’ll have bad time. Even though we had some hiccups during the week, we still had a great time. The staff are amazing here. They really care about the people (especially Canadians) and take care of their frequent guests especially.

This was our second trip to Cuba but our first to Brisas. And what a great time we had. I read some mixed reviews on this resort on this site prior to our trip so I didn't really know what to expect. Our room was in the Villa section, and I would definitely book that again if we went back. Our room was beautiful and spacious with a wonderful spanish architecture feel. Our balcony had a wonderful view of gardens and ocean. The room was extremely clean and the housekeeping staff kept it so, even though we often tracked sand into our room from the beach. The beach was beautiful and had lots of shade umbrellas (not sure what they're called) and small trees to provide the shade we were looking for, as well as areas for those loving the sun. All of the resort employees that we met on our trip were friendly and helpful - I can't say enough about them. The main building and grounds were beautifully kept. Many of the reviews I read complained about the food, but of the 5 of us in my party, we all enjoyed our meals at the buffet and our three a la cartes...The Cuban one being my favourite. My only "complaint" or disappointment was that there was a mojito mint shortage while we were there - only two days of our trip was I able to get a mojito...and that is not the resort's fault and nothing important. We loved the quiet of the villas and beach - we found the main pool a little busy for us, but My family trip included two seniors (one with mobility issues), a teenage boy and my husband and I - we all came home happy and looking at a return trip. Thank you everyone at Brisas.