TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Check In We arrived at noon, and although our room wasn't ready immediately we were given wristbands right away so we could take full advantage of the resort upon arrival. We were able to change out of our plane clothes in a small luggage room. We finally got our room at 5:30pm. The hotel itself was large and spread out, so we really got our steps in every day. The elevator wasn’t consistently reliable, so not the friendliest of places if you are mobility impaired. It didn’t seem to be a party place, and nights were very quiet. Guests seemed to be mostly Canadian and Russian. The Beach The beach was absolutely lovely. The best part about the hotel. There were lots of beach chairs in varying conditions and little thatched umbrellas for shade. Due to the shortage of towels, we never had problems finding a beach chairs in the shade. The beach was fairly clean despite other guests throwing cigarette butts in the sand. There wasn't a lot of plastic pollution which was a pleasant surprise. The hotel has only one single usable kayak that guests can use when the ocean is calm. We were told that the other kayak isn't seaworthy anymore. Internet The internet was definitely spotty throughout the resort and worked the best in our room. We often lost connectively and frequently had to keep trying to log in. We had to get a different Wi-Fi code on our second day which we thought was strange, but we didn't pay any extra for Wi-Fi. The room The room was clean, but very musty. We kept the fan going during our entire stay and with the extra airflow, my sinuses stayed clear. The downside of that was that one of our keys was needed to keep the electricity running continuously which meant that we only had one key between the two of us. The a/c did not work at all. It was at least cool enough outside that the room was a pleasant temperature at night as the fan brought in air from outside. During the day it was sometimes hotter inside the room than out. If I needed an afternoon nap, I just had it on the beach. There was one can of been in the fridge upon arrival. This was never restocked. Some days we were given 2 bottles of water. Some days we were not. The water pressure in the shower was good. Most days, the shower was warm, but never quite hot. Buffet Restaurant Cuba is going through an incredibly difficult time, and this is impacting the resorts as well. There was always a wide variety of food in the buffet restaurant. Some of it was great, some was average. The desserts were always good as was the bread when they had it. The grilled meat station was mostly not very good. The chicken was incredibly dry, and the beef so tough it was hard to eat. The pork, when they had it was consistently good. There was always some type of fresh fruit, but not a big variety. Sometimes it was papaya and cantaloupe. I saw guava and pineapple on a few occasions as well. All food was beautifully laid out. We could usually find hot sauce in the salad area. At breakfast the egg station was consistently good, always using fresh eggs. Sometimes the omelet fillings were a little strange like shaved carrots. Occasionally, they even had bacon to put inside! I also found that adding a couple slices of cheese to the top from the salad bar really helped. Salt and pepper were nowhere to be found. Spoons were surprisingly difficult to get. One morning, I requested a spoon four times before finally giving up and I ate my cereal with a fork. You always had to ask for one though. They were never just freely given or set on the table like the knife and fork. I don't know why. A la Carte restaurant The hotel advertises 3 a la carte restaurants. This is a half-truth. They do have 3 different menus used on a rotating basis: Cuban, Seafood & Italian. There is actually only one physical space used for the a la carte, which means that there was only 1 a la carte restaurant on any given day. The service was good, and the wine was better than in the buffet. We were lucky enough to try all three. You have to start lining up at 8:30. The booking person comes in around 9ish. The time kind of varied. Everything is written by hand on paper. Bars Each bar had its own speciality drinks. Some could do pina colada. Some could do margaritas. Juice was always powdered mix. My favourite drink was in the lobby bar. It was the iced Frappuccino with rum, it kind of tastes like Bailey's. Unfortunately, the lobby bar was enclosed, and the air inside was so full of mildew and mold that it felt hazardous to go inside. I really felt sorry for the staff who had to work in there. We never had issues with contaminated ice or food. Entertainment We didn't partake in any of the daytime activities but saw a couple of the evening shows. The Michael Jackson tribute was really good. The dancing was absolutely incredible and in perfect sync. Bring earplugs as the volume was almost painful. The Friday Show was also very good. Pools There are two pools in the resort. We didn't go in either one, preferring to play in the ocean waves instead. One of the pools had a swim up bar, but even though we walked past it many times, it was never once used as a bar. The actual bar was on the opposite side, facing the pool deck. What I wish I knew before going - Towels - Almost non-existent. The hotel hardly has any beach towels. We never did manage to acquire one. You can't even buy one. I looked in both Varadero and Havana. The only option we had, was to stand in the sun and air dry. Bring your own beach towel! - Condiments - Bring your own. Salt, pepper, ketchup, BBQ sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, etc. A lot of the food was quite plain. - Reuseable Mug - I've never been to an all inclusive before, so I just didn't know to bring one for bar drinks. Otherwise, you are served in a tiny plastic cup, which not only is a pain, but creates a huge amount of plastic waste. - Currency - Don't change your money into pesos. Nobody wants it, and it's a good way to get scammed. Bring lots of American ones to give as tips. The staff can't use Canadian coins anywhere on the island. - Top sheet - Some countries use top sheets to go under blankets, and some just sleep directly under the blanket. The hotel only had a bottom sheet which was barely big enough to fit over the mattress. We asked for a top sheet several times, but we were never given one. If you prefer sleeping under a top sheet, bring your own. I know that a lot of my complaints are fairly minor, especially compared to what the local Cubans are facing. Gas, electricity, and food shortages are becoming more frequent than ever before. However, they all add up to create a holiday that isn't quite what you expected it to be. I'm glad I had a chance to see a bit of Cuba, but I don't know if I'll be back anytime soon.

beautiful, well maintained, very friendly staff, good food (shortage of butter), Amazing beach, gated resort (very safe, no begging from locals). good drinks, not a big "party" scene, but lots of music and dancing during the day, Fresh Aloe grown in gardens for those sunburns, 5min walk from good fishing (bring a travel rod). For Canadians remember to tip with US 1$s or Canadian Bills, Cubans cant exchange loonies/toonies. *Dont forget to tip*

This is our third time coming, and planning on a fourth next Feb for 14 days next time as 7 days is not enough. Everyone is amazing and kind, Betty at the front desk is the most amazaing kind woman who has become a friend. The beaches and ocean is gorgeous, the pools fresh and clean. I cannot say enough good things. Yes there are shortages as the country has been hit very hard but we come for the sun the people relaxation and sunshine. You will not go hungry, there is always a great selection of food to choose from. I have a shellfish allergy and the staff always go above and beyond to ensure my food is safe. I truely am sad everytime i have to leave as sirenis and the people here have become family. Our house keeper Dariana was also so amazing. Until next time . Xxx Sarah and Kelly

Please read this whole review, even though it’s long! Canadian traveller review: Check in- we got to the resort at around 7 pm and it took over 2 hours to check in . There were lots of people around the desk complaining about wifi, complaining about their rooms etc. (this was only the start of a terrible experience) Only 2 girls were working and only one could speak limited English. So check in was difficult. Other people said they had been there since 3 pm and still didn’t have their rooms. We were not given beach towels on arrival either. Apparently you are supposed to so we never did get beach towels. Our Room- was right beside the loud elevator that squeaked very loud whenever it was used ( so it squeaked a lot, and kept us awake at night) The room was dirty. The sheets and blankets had blood stains and other stains on them. ( I hope they were washed but I honestly can’t be certain with the stains on them) The towels stink and you won’t get new clean towels. I put ours on the floor to get new clean towels and the cleaning lady just hung up the old dirty towels. Didn’t get clean towels or bedding our entire stay. The room smelled SOOO musty I was stuffed up at night. On their website it says the fridge is stocked with coke, beer and water. All we got the whole time was just 2 bottles of water everyday. We asked for a new room and they said there was none and that we needed to check everyday. I went everyday and Finally on day 3 we got a new room. This one was a tiny bit better. Didn’t smell musty but had stained sheets and blankets, dirty, fridge not stocked and our shower didn’t work. We asked a few times for it to be fixed and no one came. We finally gave up. We used the small shower head and had to hold it over ourselves to shower. The toilets stink very badly. Food- we had been to Cuba before and so we knew the food wasn’t great going in to this trip, but this time it was WAY WORSE. You can get chicken and pork but the pork is very tough. Also at the meat stations they use the same tongs to cook raw and cooked meat. So there is cross contamination. Not much for fruit other than pineapple and passion fruit which was very tasteless. The bread was good. They served sardines with no eyes at breakfast and salads. You can get eggs but they have some sort of filler in the mixture or they are powdered so the eggs don’t taste good. The first few days there were no napkins on the table, the next day we got half a napkin, ( actually torn in half) then started getting whole napkins. No spoons at the table so IF they had ice cream for dessert, ( chocolate ice cream only) you eat it with a fork. There is cereal ( corn flakes) but they put the powdered milk in ahead of time so it’s soggy and it’s warm milk. And you eat it with a fork. Good luck! Very Gross! Also there are zero condiments. There was pancakes a couple of mornings but nothing to put on them. No ketchup, no jam or peanut butter for toast. On the website, They say you can get A LA Carte’s but you have to go down to the lobby everyday at 8 am and stand in a line to try and book it. You aren’t supposed to go till 9 am but people start lining up at 8 am. ( Their website says their are numerous A LA Carte’s but that is not true) they only open ONE of them a night so it’s slim that you will even get one due to the amount of people going every morning to book it. We did end up getting one during our stay ( originally we were booked for 10 days, but I’ll explain more about that) at the Italian restaurant and were served the same spaghetti you get in the buffet ??. ( except it had Parmesan powder on it) and it was the size of a small bowl of cereal. We also only got 2 of our 4 entree choices we ordered. We ended up walking out as the dessert was the same as the buffet also. So disappointing! The website also says there are 2 buffets to eat at. There is but what they don’t tell you is that you get a green band or a black band at check in. The green band only allows you to go to the one buffet. The black band lets you go to both. If you try to go to the black band buffet they will kick you out. So if you have booked a standard room then you are a green band. We knew people that had upgraded and they said their rooms were very dirty and the food was the same at the black band buffet. Pool area - is nice but water is cold. The website says there are 2 pools. That is false, there is only one. Beach- is beautiful ( best part of the stay) However there had been a rainy and windy couple of days before we got there. It had brought in some weeds, garbage, etc that the workers didn’t rake up or clean up. People smoke and leave their butts in the sand and I saw workers but no one cleans the beach. Bars- the website says there are 7 or 8 bars. But only 4 of them are open just fyi. There is no swim up bar as stated on their website page. Wifi- does not work. I went to the front desk to ask about it. They said it’s because I had an iPhone that it doesn’t work. I talked to other Canadians in the resort with Samsungs and their wifi didn’t work either. I had to pay $16 a day for Telus roaming to get wifi. Currency- when you want to buy something it is all priced in American dollars. They don’t want Canadian money or Cuban pesos. If the off chance they do take it, they will give you a terrible exchange rate. Leaving the resort- as mentioned, we were booked 10 days. I ended up getting sick ( I’m pretty sure I got food poisoning) so we ended up booking a flight out 4 days early. The Cubans will tell you ( even the tour guide in Cuba told us this) that they were hit hard during Covid and that they are trying to rebuild back. And while I do feel bad for them. I am paying GOOD money to come and stay there. And the resort was fully booked, refer to my comment above as to how there were no rooms available for us to move. There is no excuse, including COVID as to why facilities, bars, cleaning staff, and services should not be at full capacity and with the revenue they are bringing in. I should be able to come to a clean resort with good food when I’m paying them for a service. Many Canadians said you can go to Mexico for about the same price , have very good food and clean accommodations. ( and beautiful beaches) So we will try Mexico next time or somewhere else where it is clean and we can enjoy good food. Unfortunately we won’t be back to Cuba. On the tour bus to the airport home we talked to other Canadian travellers who stayed at different resorts. They all had similar experiences. One lady from Canada said she had cockroaches in her room and had to sleep with the lights on all night. Others said their rooms were dirty, the food was awful, they had no toilet paper, and they ALL said they would not be back to Cuba. Just about everyone on the bus said they couldn’t wait to get home. If I can help one person to not go to Cuba from writing this review it will be worth it. We are sick that we wasted our money on this vacation. It makes us so sad as we looked so forward to it! Please trust me and go somewhere else!

Been to cuba many times. This is the worst resort Ive stayed at in cuba. Staff many are too busy mingling and talking to each other. The cups used in the main area are the cups other resorts use just for the beach and beach bar area. Many times we were told their dont have wine / serve coke etc and literally we had to tell them we just saw someone else they served the same thing and they then go “oh” and you then would be given it. Last year we tipped over 400 in a resort in holiquin because the staff was outgoing and friendly. Literally they give the tiniest amount of rum/ alcohol in the already small beach plastic cups. But the same servers will walk in the bar serving area and serve themselves and each other generous amounts in their cups. 24 hour bar and only at a certain time will serve a toasted bread with a slice of ham Other resorts at least had four options Lucky we brought our own soap as they have given us two tiny facial soaps for the week and no other soap for the shower. The front desk forgot to give us our beach towel slips ( infact not a shock that day we checked in they were too busy chatting with each other to care to check us in properly. So instead of even telling us to go to the front desk they forgot to give you the slips the towel guy told Us he can sell us the towels instead What a joke ! Anyways just booked our selves a week at another resort that ive been to before. So glad i would bot have to spend the second week of my vacation here