TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We have just returned from a week long stay at the Blau Varadero. The resort is well maintained and well run. Staff is very helpful and friendly. We stayed in the Select Oceanview room on the ninth floor. Room was very clean and spacious. The food and drinks were spotty in their availability, but they tried to accommodate us. Music was wonderful at this resort, live band in the afternoon , by the pool and piano bar at night. The Chill Out bar, exclusive to Select members was a great place to get a specialty drink and was air conditioned and very comfortable. The Select breakfast by the pool was a disappointment. We were there on the 15th of April and were told we could have one egg each or a very small omelet. We ended up back at the buffet and did not return for our reservation for breakfast on the 16th. The resort is very beautiful and plan on returning in the future.

Beautiful resort, entertainment was wonderful. Incredible musicians, staff are always friendly and helpful. Food is standard for Cuba. Rooms were clean, comfortable and we had a great view of the pool and ocean. We upgraded to Select and had a separate breakfast area and Chill out bar which we loved. International A LA Carte was really good. Musicians are so good. Food was good. Would definitely recommend.

I will start by saying I have never posted a review on trip advisor - after every vacay I always meant to, but never did. I feel compelled to do so after this vacation. For reference, I have been on Mexican vacations many many times. and this is my 4th vacation to Cuba - my most recent one prior to this vacation was a two week vacay at a 3 1/2 star in Varadero in January. This was the most disappointing vacation I have ever been on, and the most expensive Cuban vacation I have taken, which perhaps made it even more disappointing. We were there March 19-26th. I will start with the positive. The design of the resort is lovely. The lobby is beautiful, loved the pool, loved the layout of the resort, beach of course is beautiful. Our room was nice by Cuban standards, no mold, beautiful view from balcony, comfy bed. Had issues with the air conditioning, calls to to the front desk were responded to quickly by the maintenance staff. Clear glass elevators were a nice touch, unfortunately during our stay people got stuck in them several times, and one was shut down for over a day. Front desk staff, as well as servers and bartenders at the restaurants and bars were friendly, although they moved at their own pace. An exception to that were a couple female servers at the buffet, who I though were amazing. Now for the bad: We are by no means picky eaters, and have always made do with what the resorts had, with no real issues or complaints. Suffice it to say that at this resort there was not much for selection, a lot of shortages, and the food they had was sub par both in quality and preparation. The meat for example was either so tough you could barely chew it, or just plain tasteless. Ribs were fatty, you could get maybe a bite of meat off it. Hubby had a pork chop that was very undercooked. Fish - couldn't force myself to try it. Pumpkin (which basically cabbage or pumpkin were the only cooked veggies) was so overcooked it was mush. The week we were there, there were no eggs until the last day when apparently they got some powdered eggs (after day 4 we didn't bother going for breakfast). Thank goodness there was a pasta station, because that was basically lunch and supper - that or rice. The only decent meals were our two ala cartes. No vodka in the resort till the last full day. Pop was hit and miss, but they usually had coke. Smokers - awful. The lobby bar should have been a nice place for an after dinner drink, but we couldn't spend much time there. A lot of people were smoking, and that included cigar smokers. Rather than sitting towards the outside (as one side was open to the outside), they seemed to sit in close proximity to the bar area, and there was no escaping the smell or breathing in the fumes. Totally ruined it for us. Another observation we made. With the exception of Miguel (I think his name was), on ONE morning, the entertainment staff did not direct a comment to us, whether by way of greeting or to participate in any activities. They would walk around, either yell out or approach people on either side of us regarding upcoming activities, but not us. As the days went on, we didn't feel singled out specifically, we noticed that they only approached or spoke to younger people to participate in the activities - so it made us feel a bit better that they treated almost everyone that was I'd say maybe 55 + as unimportant lol. As I said, this was the most expensive vacation we've been to in Cuba (the same price for a week here as our two week vacay in January -this was a "bonus" trip for us for my birthday) and I did not expect the food to be great, but I did expect it to be at least similar to what we had experienced at other resorts. I read great reviews about this resort before I booked it, with the only shortage really mentioned being vodka (I'm a vodka drinker so thankfully I took my own) so I thought I had made a decent choice. I was wrong. Much as I love Cuba, I think this trip has soured us on future vacations there.

First off, this is my 8th time to Cuba. We know what to expect, we understand the food and drinks and have never complained until now. To say there are "shortages" would be an extreme understatement. We visited other resorts and had friends at others in Varadero while we were there and they had very few things missing (mostly TP and tequila). Shame on Sunwing and Trip central for selling this resort. The staff were even commenting on how bad it's gotten and how the quality since ownership changed has been terrible. We had no pop 6 out of the 7 days, no vodka, rye or tequila the entire trip, and the last day and a half no rum! We only had dark rum earlier in the week, never had white rum the entire trip. We paid for select service which gave us the chill out bar, and that was the only place the drinks were decent enough the drink but only in the evenings and during dinner so not much time there. The food, well again, we are not picky, been to Cuba many times and yet this was horrifying. I'm not sure if the resort or people involved are paying for reviews, but we booked here due to the good reviews, and this is far from the truth! Again, a party of 4, we are simple eaters and have been to Cuba many many times with no issue. The food was absolutely terrible. I can't believe we paid what we did for this resort and we are not happy. No drinks, no juice, no pop and not much for food. Buffet was really bad, although the bread was good. Same food reused from breakfast through dinner and not at the correct temperatures. No pizza, fries, or simple food you normally get. Raw chicken, NO fresh fish other than a black fish with so many bones you wouldn't be able to eat it. For 2 days they actually served the TAIL of the fish, not even the actual fish (gross). We didn't have hotdogs or burgers as they stated and we went many times to the "24 hour snack bar" and it was not serving any food at all. The coffee bar was the best part of the resort, friendly staff and great coffee. Definitely not worth all the money paid to go though. Sunwing has options listed that you get for select and they aren't even accurate and when the rep spoke with the desk, they said no and that they have told Sunwing to change the listing many times so not helpful to us. To say we are disappointed is an extreme understatement. Definitely got rooked, would say more but at the end of the day, buyer beware and stay away! Rooms and amenities are dated, but didn't care about that. It's the money spent for nothing. Go to Paridusus or Royalton right down the road, beautiful, no shortages and amazing food.

I don’t know where to start this review. Having been to Cuba before I know about all the food shortages and that they don’t have many resources to serve their customers at the hotels. Despite that I love Cuba and I wanted to visit again. My experience last time in Cuba was amazing from start to finish we stayed at wonderful hotel and I had no complaints. Planned this holiday about a year and it cost lot of money for staying at Blau Varadero for two weeks traveling far from Uk. The cleaning standards of the hotel are below zero. Not worthy for a four star hotel at all. The place itself is very outdated and not maintained properly by the owners. Upon arrival the room, it wasn’t cleaned well with dust at most places, in drawers, shelves, wardrobes, dirty mirrors everywhere had to use wet wipes that turned black. The balcony had broken sliding terrace door, we’ve also had broken bathroom handle door from the inside. Pillows with black mouldy stains and smelled damp. We went to complain about the broken door as we were gonna use the balcony often to dry towels, we were promised that it’ll be fixed and bedsheets will be changed, we checked twice and that wasn’t done. Several complaints to reception nothing was done the entire day and most of the next day. The receptionists seemed to just want to get rid of us at most. The next day they changed our room after prior complaint to TUI representative. Very often toilet stalls everywhere near the beach and at hotel run out of toilet paper and towels, that happens every day by 12:00 onwards, no soap to wash hands either, it’s always mixed up with water, cleaners often clean the toilets though they don’t stock them probably another shortage. The food there is absolutely awful. Again I know about food shortages but they had the food, they had all the products they need! Just the way they prepared that food was disgusting. The chefs at this hotel were absolutely clueless how to make a meal. Beef floating in oil and strange sauce, chicken wasn’t done properly, eggs always almost raw and runny despite asking them to be well done. Coffee is very weak too, they use the cheapest version. Rice had bones in it, big long queue for any kind of meat or fish, meat was often not well done and raw in the middle. Queues for lunch and dinner having to wait in the scorching sun outside to get a table for lunch, as the lunch restaurant is outside by the pool. Italian and international restaurant aren’t worth the hassle as the menu was always the same with very little choice of food definitely not prepared properly, always pre made, not fresh at all. Bread was stale, vegetables were dry and old I’m pretty sure they serve the same food morning, noon and evening also making the most of it the next day , possibly along the week. Cocktails at the bar downstairs weren’t their best, we’ve got much better cocktails at the hideout bar. They have Cuban day every Thursday which is absolutely shambles with very poor organisation. All the food sits outside around the pool on big stalls, for many flies to feast on, making you wait for everything to be put on your plate forming big massive queues and dancers dancing in your way making it difficult to move around, waiting in the scorching sun at 29 degrees during lunch time for food without any shade seems ridiculous to me. Trying to find empty table as it’s so busy and full of people. Didn’t see any point in this and the second week most of us didn’t go and had small sandwiches at the bar next to the beach, peace and quiet and no queues for food. Staff at breakfast lunch and dinner were wonderful, I personally think they’re overworked as they were always so busy and definitely not being paid properly. Good entertainment at evenings with animation team trying their best to make people dance and engage. Beach is lovely and beautiful, probably the only highlight of my vacation. Pool was often overcrowded. This is not a hotel I’d ever go back to, I’m surprised most people return here for several years giving their money for really bad food, dirty rooms and being overcharged by the owners that don’t invest single penny into this place and pay really low wages to their staff. I’ve been to other hotels in Cuba and I’ve had amazing experience compared to this one. Receptionists also need proper training how to deal with clients as I’ve asked for extra towel to my room and wasn’t given one, with a very poor excuse, they also didn’t deal with complaints in a proper manner, speaking with one another in Spanish in front of customers and laughing which is frankly offensive. Overall my holiday wasn’t what I expected it to be mainly because of how bad this hotel is. I’m honestly surprised how many positive reviews this hotel has, I guess everyone has different standards of food and cleanliness.