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Barcelo Solymar Our second time at Barcelo Solymar in Varadero Cuba. The hotel had a makeover. The new color looks much butter than the color yellow. The hotel is walking distance to town which is perfect. A nice option is you can stay at Barcelo Solymar and you can use the facilities at Arena Blanca resort which if very close by. Check-in/check-out: The staff is awesome. Front desk in the lobby, Dayris greeted us with a smile and remembered us from our previous stay. We were very touched. She is very professional and efficient. One time waiting to get the internet password (PS: internet is free) I noticed Dayris working at the main lobby desk and she was happy and courteous to all the guests. So I guess it wasn't just us. lol Bellboy: Abel (bellboy) brought our luggage's to our room, Very friendly guy. He spoke very well English and to my surprise he spoke French. We met him the next day and he stopped to say hi and asked how was our stay. So of course when we would pass in the lobby he would wave to us. The bellboys work very hard with those heavy luggage. Coffee bar: Barcelo has the best coffee bar in Varadero. The cappuccinos are excellent. It's a coffee shop/bar in the morning and in the evening it's a Lobby bar/coffee shop. The staff work very hard and are very nice, the majority of the time it's very busy and they always manage to have a smile and say hi. I would like to be able to name them all but my memory is not that good :) I do remember Jorge and Lisandra. They have nice table that make it look like a coffee bar. Those two cappuccinos ever morning was a nice way to start the day. Hotel Room: After hearing horror stories about some hotels. I have to say the Barcelo Solymar rooms (hotel rooms) were very nice and spacious (I don't know about the villas). I stayed the first night in one room that was facing the road and the next morning I switched rooms and the ocean view room the view was incredible. If I had to change one thing in the rooms, it would be the bathtub. It was cleaned but pretty seen it's better days. Food: Again after hearing horror stories. I was surprise, there was always something to eat. In the morning there was Omelets, ham (no bacon), bread, etc. The croissants were the best I've ever eaten. The first night (buffet) the lasagna was excellent. We could always find something to eat (rice, chicken, ham. etc). The à la carte restaurants were very good. Maybe not a big selection, but what they severed was very good. Wine: OMG to my surprise, the red wine was from Spain, I believe it was Entre Rios and it was excellent. I stayed at 5 stars in Mexico and wine at Barcelo Solymar is much better. Thumbs up to them. Liquor/ Beer: Beer on tap is very good. One afternoon they didn't have any beer on tap, they were opening cans of Stella Artois. I preferred their beer on tap better. I'm not one that's drinks hard liquor a lot, but I do like a nice drink once in a while. The resort only had Pina colada during the last two days of our stay. I discovered a new digestive liqueur called Anis. It tastes like Sambuca. It's pretty good on ice :). Beach: Well what can I say, it's on the Varadero stip. One of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbeans. Very clean beach, no seaweed, clear blue water. In the mooring they have beach activities. Pool: Very nice clean pool. In the afternoon, they animation team would do they activities at the pool. Would I go back to Barcelo Solymar? Yes, in a heart beat.

Well we kept our promise. Mid-March we returned to Cuba, and as promised last year, we returned to the Barcelo Solymar. After the way we, as a family of 8 adults and 2 children, were treated we could only go back to see if we would be as well treated even if we were only an elderly couple, minus the family. Believe me, we were not disappointed, and are making plans to return. My wife has been to Cuba on 12 occasions and I on 11. (My wife went once with our youngest daughter.) We were happy to renew with the Community Manager, Alejandro Florat. This year we asked for a room on the 4th floor. We had hoped for an ocean view, but none were available. Made no difference, we had the room at the end of the hall, so opening the door we had our ocean view. What a pleasant surprise to find that we had the same maid that we had last year. Sonelys is a sweetheart who does a great job of keeping your room clean. We certainly hope to have her on our next visit. We were told by friends who had been there a couple of weeks prior to our visit, to bring bread and toilet paper. We know the problems that Cuba has encountered what with the Americans’ questionable embargo so our expectations are not grandiose. We know we can eat, enjoy a drink, enjoy the beach, enjoy the ocean, but above all, enjoy the people. During our stay, we did not use our toilet paper, nor did we use the bread. Of the 20 odd meals we had there during our week’s stay, we had bread rolls most meals. On a couple of occasions there were slices of bread instead of the rolls. I believe there were 2 meals in the whole week where there were neither rolls nor bread slices. It was great to renew with waitresses like Claudia, Ariana, and Jose. They remembered us and were most happy to see and serve us again, as were any new acquaintances. The same at the lobby bar, George recalled who w were and was more than happy to see us. And we certainly cannot forget Yacquelin, still working hard to keep the lobby area clean. We are looking forward to returning to the Barcelo Solymar.

I had a great trip!! The staff were incredibly friendly and very welcoming especially Roniel, Osniel, Yadian and the rest of the animation team who were always full of energy and making sure everyone is having a good time. The hotel itself is not the best i’ve stayed at but the staff and the location definitely made up for what it was lacking.

Amazing place, loved all the staff and service of the resort, made really good friends there like the pool keepers, they do an amazing job, they are Dairon, Juan Pablo, Javier, Damir and their boss El Titi, also the staff at the bar are awesome. I recommend this hotel to everyone who is visiting varadero, I'll be back soon for sure

I have been travelling for over 40 years and I have never seen a Resort so run down. 1 elevator out of 5 that works and you have 4 floors and sometimes no elevator at all. The doors would not close properly so the wind would be howling all night through those doors. Bedbugs in the room and had to fight a whole day to change rooms then the bites stopped. The food was terrible even for Cuba which I am used to always cold food.No variety at all, always the same thing even at the beach restaurant.