Valentin El Patriarca Varadero reviews
6991 TripAdvisor reviews
Unforgatable vacation
Jeine M on Mar 23, 2024
Roberto very Kind and gentle in the resort ,People very kind and helpfull Blanca Was realy nice to us,the masagge in the SPA Was very relaxing and calm the People in the bars Tony ,yula ,Roberto were very profesional I had a good tiene I wont forget.
July 2023 - Nice stay
jessica_by_the_ocean (Montreal, Canada) on Mar 16, 2024
We visited Valentín El Patriarca in July 2023. GROUNDS The resort grounds are big, and all the buildings are spread out. Expect to do a lot of walking. There was no a/c anywhere except in the rooms. Prepare to sweat. A lot. Our bungalow was the farthest, right next to a utilities setup. We could hear a loud buzzing from the air conditioner from inside our room. There were cute cats everywhere. There were signs around the resort advertising a giant cactus (cactus gigante). Although there is a big one along the path to the beach, it's not the official giant cactus they're talking about. I found the hidden path behind the beach and walked through the bushes all the way to the main road, but never found the cactus, even though the signs are still there. I guess it died during the pandemic and the hotel never bothered removing the signs. The hotel reception had no idea. ROOM The reception kindly upgraded our room when we arrived because it was low season. The outside of the bungalows is painted in lovely bright colonial-style colours, in stark contrast to the inside of the rooms, which were painted in black and aggressive colours like orange, red and lime green. Not very relaxing. The rooms are a bit dated, but relatively modern for Cuba. We had a few issues, like no hot water, no deadbolt, the sides of the bathtub that were much too high to step over, a patio door that wouldn't lock, issues with the door key, a broken showerhead holder and a safe that didn't work. The maintenance employee came by within a few hours and fixed everything. There were cute, harmless lizards in the room, and oddly enough, scented toilet paper. The mattress was hard. We had water bottles and drinks every day. BUFFET After walking into the buffet from 36-degree weather, the first thing I noticed was that there was barely any air conditioning. With all the heat from the grills, we were melting. For breakfast, there was an egg station where you could get omelettes (ask for a "tortilla"). I'm vegan. On some days, there were plenty of things for me to eat. Other days, they put butter or meat in all the vegetables and tubers. I was especially happy to eat fresh seasonal fruit, like mango, guava, mamey and anoncillo. (In Cuba in general, you can expect to eat locally grown fruit, local staples like rice and beans, and very few imported goods, like canned and marinated vegetables.) My husband liked the beer on tap (it can be watery at some resorts), the wide variety of meat on the grill, and the big dessert selection. The entrance door scrapes against the floor and makes an ear-wrenching sound. BEACH We always arrived late but were always able to get chairs and sit under a palapa. The sand is made up of lots of shell fragments, so it's not as soft as in other parts of Cuba. Mid-July, the water is a perfect temperature without too many waves, and there's a nice refreshing breeze. There was music and a bit of entertainment. All-inclusive hotels are supposed to come with free catamaran rides, but the employees just pestered hotel guests to pay to go snorkelling, so there were never any catamarans available for free trips. WI-FI We got 10 hours of internet to start, and the reception topped it up for us when we ran out. There was Wi-Fi in most public areas of the hotel and in the bungalows, but not at the beach. CALETA SNACK BAR They had fries, but unfortunately they were closed at 6:00 p.m. on some days, which is when we were hungriest and when the buffet was closed. Overall we enjoyed our stay.
Sisters trip
mlr753 (Charlottetown, Canada) on Mar 14, 2024
I visited Feb 2024 with my sisters with Transat out of Moncton. We chose Cuba because we've visited many times before and always loved it, and we went knowing the challenges Cubans are facing we were prepared for shortages. We booked solo, so we each had separate rooms. Check in was smooth and we were brought to our rooms by golf cart. Rooms: Initially we were very happy with our rooms. Air conditioning worked well, good quality toilet paper and lots of hot water in bathrooms all week. The fixtures in the stand up shower were leaky, but the shower head in the tub worked fine. Safe in the closet worked well. Mini fridge stocked with bottled water restocked throughout the week. Beds were firm, but comfortable, there were spare blankets in the room. TV had at least 4 or 5 English channels, and the wifi worked well throughout the resort but we often had to log back in. Problems with rooms: The lock on my door malfunctioned daily, it just wouldn't lock behind me when I left the room. Each day I'd report it to reception or guest services and it would get fixed, but the next day the same would happen. As a solo woman traveler this was a worry. My sisters toilet stopped working half way through the week, after several trips to guest services they moved her room. Bath towels were scarce also, instead I had 4 nice beach towels in my room that I made do with all week. Used ones were not replaced with fresh towels. Pool: The pool was smaller than I was expecting but it was clean. Chairs and sun umbrellas were scarce, many people laid out towels on the pool deck or grass nearby, or brought chairs out from the snack bar to sit. My sisters and I took turns getting up to reserve a spot, some days as early as 5 am, and many spots were taken by that time. There were activities at the pool daily like exercise and volleyball. Swim up bar, like all the bars, had a chalk board with drinks list each day that they could make with what they had available to them that day. As the day went on and the supplies ran out, they erased items. Rum punch was always there because it's rum and any mix available. We joked that we had rum punch 57 different ways. If you're open to trying what's available, you'll have a good time. Beach: I go to Cuba for the beach, but this was disappointing. A storm had come through a few weeks earlier and eroded a lot of the beach. What was there was a steep incline, exposed coral and lots of washed up Portuguese man o war. Went for a couple walks up the beach but never spent any time there otherwise. Food: Most meals were at the main buffet and we found if you go at the beginning of the meal time you'll have the best selection. Later on things may run out. We had eggs every day, pasta, bread, chicken pork and fish on the grill lunch and supper. There was no butter until the last couple of days, and no orange juice. There was a powdered orange drink like Tang the last 2 days. Many choices of prepared foods as well. Ice cream, pineapple and papaya every day, plus all the sweet cakes. The beach restaurant was a la carte and had delicious fried fish, we went there 3 or 4 times. We also went to the Italian restaurant twice and Gourmet once. The food was good and service was excellent. The snack bar by the pool had 6 to 8 different menu items offered daily, again on chalk board, erased as they ran out of supplies. Mikes Coffee: Daily visit to Mike's, they have a good choice of hot and cold drinks, with or without alcohol. I brought my travel mug and took my drink with me to the pool. Excellent service here. Lobby: Not enough seating in this area. Very nice live music and singing in the evenings and a popular place, but crowded. Piano bar: A very nice spot to sit with a drink, sometimes quiet, sometimes piano playing, only open in the evening. They seemed to be well stocked with everything there. Theater: We only stayed up a few evenings to see the show. Long days in the sun, shows only start at 9:30. Typical entertainment. We popped in to see the disco, spa and gym but didn't spend much time there. The clientele is mostly older here, if you want a party scene you'll have to make it yourself. The service here is excellent. The staff do as much as they can to make you happy. They have limited resources and do their best. We did not have the upgraded section and I dont think we missed much. Their pool area looked a little crowded. We paid for late check out $11.00 per hour until 4pm, $30 an hour after that. We were happy with 4 as our check out time. Overall it was just ok. You have to be flexible and willing to try new things. Don't have your heart set on one thing because it may not be available. Bring a travel mug for drinks. Bring a beach towel from home as a back up and to save your spot so it's not mistaken by someone else as theirs. Be willing to try new food, new drinks, participate in activities, and tip well for good service. A good attitude makes the difference. Cuba is beautiful and the people are wonderful but they are in hard times right now.
Felt home
Thalia V on Mar 14, 2024
Lovely and beautifull resort we are going to come back on june ,I like the beach and the pool ,people are awesome and rooms are clean I like the instalations and the grounds are well kept ,gardeners are very smily and kind I felt at home..........
Fun
Laza v (Varadero, Cuba) on Mar 11, 2024
There is live music everyday, and it was mainly great. There are morning beach activities, and afternoon pool activities such as sports, contests, and dancing. There are night time activities such as Bingo or a theatre (dance) show most nights. However, the schedules were not always accurate but there were always good activities .