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Added by Jopie, at 15 November 2016
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25 Reviews
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11 May 2018
Staying at this resort was the worst 7 days of my life. Go here if you enjoy 100's of flies all over all your meals not to mention the rotten smell while you're trying to eat. I had to survive on bread and butter the whole trip. Not to mention the staff won't even serve you drinks at the bars unless you flashing money in front of them. Cuba itself is so beautiful but I didn't get to experience it while staying at this resort. I am not picky person but this was not acceptable.
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28 March 2018
Amazing beach. Lovely pools. Really enjoyed the square lap pool that was much quieter than the main pool. The resort is certainly dated, but the price was right and the weather was fantastic. Most staff were awesome. Took quite a few days for the snack bar staff to be friendly. Pool bar and beach bar were both amazing. Would definitely consider going back. The food isn’t great but it’s Cuba and about what I expected. Tip: get a cappuccino in the lobby in the morning!
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26 March 2018
The staff are fabulous. The resort is pretty big and our room was a nice size. As far as Cuba goes I'd say this is 5 stars 😊
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14 March 2018
The resort is old and definitely needs updating, which I understand is happening this year. The beach is stunning , and well patrolled, the staff are lovely, there is yoga on the beach and salsa lessons if you're interested. If you just want to lie on the beach on a lovely lawn chair and enjoy the sun you can do that too. Wonderful wonderful place. Mostly I met South and Central Americans, not a lot of English spoken. A family-oriented Resort but was wonderful for someone traveling alone
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18 February 2018
Accommodation is tired and worn out. Beach however is fantastic and one of the best spots. You cab use the services on sister hotel Coral and thus is much newer and still fresh.
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10 February 2018
It was the worst experience ever. The place is basically a dump. Rooms are not nice. Really needs serious upgrades. The people were very accommodating and did the best they could. The beach is beautiful. Food is mediocre. No tacos, no bananas, no salmon I could go on. Not really handicap accessible. Ramps were basically made for easy moving things by staff. Large resort with lots of walking. Would never go back again.
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21 January 2018
Beautiful little spot, lots of shade. Close proximity to night life and activities. I really enjoyed the food too, surprisingly. A little dated but we had a fantastic experience over all. Would definitely come back to this place.
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08 January 2018
Had a pretty terrible experience, would NOT recommend unless to someone I really dislike. The administrative staff were rude, food and drinks below average. Next, the elevator was out of service and no one informed us of this, we had to go back to the desk to be told someone could come bring our things up but it might be a while! Then on our first night a bed bug! And they moved us about 2 rooms down the hall, which was less than reassuring. After one sleepless night we contacted sunwing to switch hotels.
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06 January 2018
Sadly, this place lists itself as a 4 star but is more like a 2 Star.very dirty rooms, bathrooms, overall unclean facility in general. Walls and windows look like they have never been cleaned, staff are not very concerned about guest issues. The Italian restaurant was the only place I'd recommend eating, however several restaurants listed on the website aren't currently open. Bars didn't have enough cups to serve drinks, was made to reuse plastic and glassware. I've traveled all over the the Caribbean and Asia and never seen anything quite like this place, I'd advise elsewhere.
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26 December 2017
***DO NOT GO HERE***
Bad on Sunwing The rooms do not look anything like the photos even paying $200 Upgrade for "Best Rooms" still all broken, see below.
This is NOT a resort anymore, may have been in the 80's not now
BAD STUFF -
1) We spent big $$ for an upgrade and still, everything is broken
2) Elevator broken for 5 days
3) No water in rooms for shower
4) Became very ill from E Coli on 2nd day of trip, food servers do not wash hands, no soap, (E Coli from Feces)
5) Bugs everywhere in rooms, floors, restaurants, cockroaches, flees, bed bugs
6) The food is terrible, besides getting sick from it. they simply cannot provide quality food, this is below hospital food because if they allow quality cuts of meat, high value vegetables then the staff will see how the free world eats and will cause problems to communist leaders.
7) IF you stay at RIU or Barcelo you will still receive poor quality food due to supply problems although the hotel will be finer in quality
EUROPEANS
1) IF You are French, British, Croat, Serb, Polish, Hungarian, German, Ukrainian, Canadian YOU WILL have problems here because a large portion of this hotel is owned by the Russian Military who still send Sr Ranking Officers here for vacation from Russian Military and they will hear your language and verbally abuse you and your children when they over drink and become angry at anyone not Russian. Dozens of Russian Officers are here throughout the facility.
2) This is a hotel for drunk teenagers to party at with no quality or elegance, not for couples or children
SAFETY
1) Throughout the facility, hundreds of electrical plugs are not covered and 220V electrical wiring is exposed. IF you children touch this, they will die instantly - 220V is 2x what is in the walls in Canada/USA.
Case in point, next to pool, stage, coffee bar, rooms, stair cases,
2) There is no or almost non-existant lighting on stairs, walkways, hallways, hundreds of trip hazards everywhere
3) Trip hazards exist at every corner for anyone over 50 yrs old
If you have to go to Cuba, pay Cancun money level.
Poor on Sunwing to false advertise
5 Star is 3 Star Rest of World
3 Star is 0 Star Rest of World
You don't have to listen, but we just came back from our first and last time ever trip here (we have been on 7 cruises, to every island in the Caribbean and every resort city in Mexico for trips across a 30 year span. This by far the worst place we visited and if I could give a "0 Star" would do so.
GO HERE IF
Go here if you are on welfare, drink a case of beer daily, smoke weed, have no job, live in a home with roaches, think chef boy ardee is good food and you don't think bed bugs and flees are a bad thing. Normal to you.response / report this review -
21 December 2017
Dirty, poor service, beach was filthy, rooms were dirty and needing maintenance.
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10 December 2017
If your looking to stay at this resort Don't . If you do bring cash to upgrade We read reviews before we went and thought to our self that can't be that bad some people just like to bi**h about stuff we found out that they can write books about how bad this place is
We arrived at this place Nov 20 and we had the Oceanview rooms first off one of the two elevators was broken , then card lock was broken The bellhop finally got us in and said he will send up a mechanic to fix it. We had to be in are room for him to fix it so I waited 2hrs well my mother and my girlfriend went explored. He came and fixed the door then he wanted me to pay him because he fixed it "pay you ?" "Yes I fixed your door" I finally gave in and payed him 10cuc to get out . That night we found out all the hall lights are out so you got to find your room in the dark,no temp lighting nothing just a bit of moon light. We go to crawl into bed and the sheets are dirty. ( I have seen cleaner sheets in one of those 1hr motels) the next morning we go for breakfast now both elevators are broken we are on the 5th floor. We called are travel agent crying to get us out here she helped us and we moved to Laguna Azul and loved the rest of our vacation
To sum up 90% of the stuff that is wrong with this place is not from Irma the staff is not the nicest and none of them seem to care the food is terrible and the dinning room has long waits for food a lot of the pool chairs are cracked so they pinch you buttthe beach is nice but there not much shade and very few chairs the bar doesn't know how to make drinks most are just straight rum (good to make you forget how bad the place is ) night time the pathways have very few/no lighting
If you looking for something I would look at the Iberostar places there at the nice end of Varadero or if want something cheap look at the Islazul there in town and on the beach..best food is in town and is about 20-40cuc for dinner for 2response / report this review -
23 October 2017
We have about 20 in our group. The hotel is old and is not properly maintained. The lift is making a lot noise and slow. It is also very dirty. The room doors are cracked all over the place and are very difficult to open or closed. The rooms are mediocre at best. The rooms that are directly above the kitchen are terribly smelled of food. Other rooms do not have very pleasant smell. The showers are broken in many rooms. The food is not very nice and the restaurant is really busy. The staff are friendly and this beach is good. But this couldn’t not lift the overall experience.
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10 September 2017
So many aspects to this hotel, where do I start?
I booked this resort since I saw that it is part of the Melía chain and I've never been disappointed with a Melía in any other country. I guess there is a first for everything.
Arrived by a Sunwing flight and upon arriving took the bus the hotel. Waiting time for the bags was over an hour. This isn't in anyway the fault of the hotel or the airline. Just thought I'd throw this in too.
I'll start with the good aspects and finish with the bad:
Pro:
The beach is the best I've ever experienced! White sand, warm water plenty of lounge chairs and palm umbrellas. There's a basic bar on the beach too. It's like heaven on earth!
Unlike other resorts here in Varadero, there are people offering hats, beads etc to the sunbathers. Personally, I don't mind this but I'm sure that this might bug some people. I asked about the prices and they're about the same as what you pay in the town of Varadero. Remember to always ask for a discount since they'll normally drop it a bit.
The bars are well stocked (nothing premium) and the bartenders and kind and friendly.
Cuban resorts are all becoming aware of the necessity of wifi, albeit only in the lobby and you pay per hour. As I didn't purchase this service I cannot comment on the speed. But it's an improvement from just a couple years ago.
Some of the aspects that keep me returning is how safe the country is. As a tourist, you don't see crime, theft or prostitution ( although it is readily available if that is what you're looking for).
The tours and excursions are on the pricey side but if you speak to the employees at the hotel they can set you up with something with far better value. I guess I'll write another review on the day trips to Havana later. Feel free to contact me for the contact we used while on the island.
Con:
Got to the ("four star") hotel and after the check-in I realized that my room hadn't been cleaned yet. Towels on the floor and used sheet, etc Went downstairs and they assigned me to a new room after an apology.
The new room was so run down that I almost went to complain. TERRIBLE! Everything is broken or damaged.
The cards that are used to open the doors are not safe! Woke up to a Russian ( or German) woman throwing up on my washroom. After confronting her we realized that her card worked to open my door, she was on the wrong floor.
The buffet is anything but efficient. The line for the grill approximately a 20 min. wait before you get your food. The salad bar is pretty good and well stocked and the ability to create an almost infinite combinations of pork and rice is mind-blowing! The food is a let down but nobody comes to Cuba for the food.
To finish,
If you're a first time tourist to Cuba you will fall in love with the beachfront and the Cuban people. Just don't forget that due to years of economic sanctions and limited access to modern amenities, the hotel star rating here doesn't mean anything. A four-star resort vacation lands you in a seedy motel with unlimited drinks, terrible food and the best beaches you might ever experience.response / report this review -
04 September 2017
This place its great for Cubans living in cuba spend their vacation. This place its not for turist or for cubans living out of country .. hotel its really old , rooms are old and things are broken. Air conditioner does not work well , does not cool .. the food and drinks are horrible , no protein to serve yourself, you need to make a huge line to get some
Protein That its more bone than meat or super salty or super hard to bite . For one cup of water at the bar u have to wait tha they finish serving people drinks there its no enough employees at the bars .. no server at the beach ..the restaurants are even worst than the buffet menu . Horrible customer service and they charge u a lot for everything I wont ever go back .. this place was probably good 5 years ago but now its dirty without air conditioning in all areas , food its horrible , drinks horrible just the beer its good . The beach i have to said its nice but its free u can go to a nice apartment in varadero by the beach and eat in a paladar ( cuban Restaurant and u will spend way less and have better room with air conditioner and eat way better )response / report this review -
30 May 2017
Our experience was fantastic..the food is amazing..specially the people that surrendered you..the staff was very nice..one of the kind ..they are SO welcoming and made you feel at home..from Canada you guy are in our hearts. Thank you for making us feels good and have our time there special
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27 May 2017
I went here about a month ago. Our room was dirty, the bed had blood stains and the staff were disrespectful and the worst thing of all was to food. It was so bad that there were some days I didn't get food. It would make me feel so bad. It also looked horrible and tasted horible.
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24 May 2017
As Cuba goes I though it was really good. The buffet was the best of all the theme restaurants. The Beach and service was fantastic. Could have been over served..
Rooms were very Cuba but had what was necessary. Easy to walk around the resort. Always seemed to have activities for you to do.response / report this review -
12 May 2017
I liked this hotel. Beautiful beach. Pools. This was good vacation.
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03 May 2017
The hotel needs serious maintenance. The food was terrible. Most of the staff was very nice and helpful. The stretch of beach in front of the hotel is wonderful.
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04 March 2017
Needs maintenance. Staff trying to sell you stuff unofficially. One guy from the beach staff even tried to convince me to sell him my shoes
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25 February 2017
My experience at this hotel was amazing , we landed monday the 13th. The hotel room was good but the view was beautiful . There were no bed bugs nothing , i see people writing about the pools and other things about this hotel and when i went i saw nothing wrong? What do you expect them to do when it rains? the whole hotel is all open so yes water is going to be in the walk way for the elevator and stairs , they also put out rugs so guest do not slip . the pool is chipped yes but right now it is a bit busy so they cant just drain the pool and paint it , then you all will complain about the pool being closed on a hot day . The staff were friendly and amazing as well , i absolutely loved this hotel and my first experience in cuba i will defiantly return to this hotel for sure in the future i am hoping april .the maids were great too , always kept the room clean , they were so friendly to us.
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16 February 2017
Disgusting. Run down, everything's broken. Staff are unfriendly and incompetent. What is worse, they don't expect tips, they demand them for their service. One bartender didn't want to serve me my drink before I put a tip in the tip box. The food is mostly inedible. I had to sort through a pile of plates to find one that wasn't smeared with grease or had bits of the last meal sticking to it. They have 1 pair of serving tongs per buffet table, so guests grab the food with their hands.
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14 February 2017
Out of date, mouldy bathroom, worn beds, not a single towel replaced in 3 nights, dirty tables and chairs at the buffet restaurants and poor quality food. No need for all inclusive when the only edible food is rice and bread. However, the beach is beautiful.
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22 November 2016
I really liked the staff. They try their best under challenging circumstances. The beaches are amazing.
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