Blau Costa Verde Beach Resort in Banes

Run by the communist regime do not go here!

(TWINKSXX/ RAZZLEXX)💜HOLIDAY IN HEAVEN💜Senior Reviewer on Trip Advisor so please read reviews there too. REVIEWED ON T,ADVISOR❤️ PRAYING TO GO BACK THIS YEAR WOOHOO❤️WENT IN 2015/16/17/18/,,,,,,,19 v soon 🎈🎈🎈😄Review from that holiday.THIS HOTEL/RESORT IS WITHOUT EXCEPTION THE MOST AMAZING PLACE TO GO TO FOR A HOLIDAY.THERE IS NOWHERE THAT EVEN COMES CLOSE!I AM A SENIOR REVIEWER & HAVE BEEN ALL OVER THE WORLD,SO DO NOT WORK FOR ANY HOTELS ETC.THIS RESORT/AMENITIES/FOOD ETC AND STAFF,ESPECIALLY STAFF MADE OUR HOLS THE MOST MEMORABLE WEVE EVER HAD.WE ARE SO EXCITED TO BE RETURNING YET AGAIN NXT MTH.SO IF YOUR GENUINELY LOOKING FOR A HOL TO REMEMBER THIS IS WHERE YOU DEF WANT TO GO.5* EVERYTHING..I GENUINELY CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH OF AN IMPRESSION & PART THIS HOTEL/AMAZING PPL MADE IN CREATING THE WARMEST INCREDIBLE HOLIDAY WEVE EVER HAD!THIS IS THE 1 WORTH SAVING FOR BUT IS V V CHEAP,I PROMISE YOULL HAVE MEMORIES THAT WILL BE IN YOUR HEART FOREVER.PLEASE PAY IT FORWARD IF YOU HAVE A FAB HOL AND LET OTHERS KNOW.THANKS TO ALL AT BLAU,KINDEST REGARDS ALWAYS AND SEE YOU ALL IN NOV :-* xxx💞😊 PLZ LIKE IF HELPFUL, REALLY APPRECIATE THE FEEDBACK, THANKS SO MUCH💞😊

Hoping to get back soon. Love this resort and the people. Food is great. Beach is nice but lots of coral so make sure you wear beach shoes in the water.

Spent 1 week at this resort and the food was great. The service was good. The best part was the beach, amazing clear blue water, you can start snorkeling pretty much 20 ft from the shore and you can see all variety of fish near the reef. They have free kayaking, paddle boats, catamarans, wind surfing. We had a blast.

Great staff. Quality of food was below the level of the previous year, probably due to supplier issues, but Cubans are fantastic at improvising!

Its been four months and cant wait too go back for my 6th visit. The now fiesta Americana is better every visit. Love and recommend this place.

We booked for a girls trip and ended up moving down the beach to another resort. When we arrived it looked nice enough the lobby was pretty dark though. We paid extra to be put in a room in the main building, it was under construction so they couldnt accomadate but refused to compensate us. We asked for them to apply the credit to a VIP package, letting us go to the other pool, where almost the entire resort was, and we would pay the difference they refused. The non cup pool literally had not another person around it. We were so annoyed with the construction, and there refusal to compensate us for the extra we paid, that our sunwing rep moved us. Thank goodness we loved the new resort and the new resort didnt have a sewage smell on the beach that this resort had.

Fabulous all inclusive Now the Fiesta Americana. No having to book Al la Carte restaurants and u can go as many times as u like. Beautiful beach but 5ake water shoes for a bit of rocks in Ocean

My 6th visit and wont be the last. Love the staff and grounds of this hotel. Food is excellent. See u shortly

We have been there in November 2016.Lovely place with beautiful beach.Food is delicious, staff is great!5 star experience!

Great place to stay in Cuba the staff is great so is the food.

Returned from our 2nd visit there. Food...well its Cuba. Beach is rocky but thats why we go there. Rocks equal fish and snorkeling. Best of our 12 trips south. Walk to the next resort to the left and there is a rock wall. We saw octopus, sting Rays ,squid and hundreds of small fish plus a barracuda. Rooms are great. The place is large so lots of walking. Say hi to miguel in the pool bar.

Recently renovated and looks in good shape. More access to pools and ala cartes now. But the food still need some work. The last 4 days of our stay there was no pancakes (a first in 5 trips to Cuba), no potatoes for several meals, no rice for several meals, no chicken for some meals, no bread for about 80% of our two week stay. That was also a first in 5 trips to Cuba.

We spent two weeks in April. This was our second trip to this hotel. As always on Cuba service was very good, rooms clean and nice, swiming pool in Plus site great. Food in restaurants "alla carte" very good but buffet require improvement. Evening shows better than two years ago but definitelly needs improvement - most shows are running with more than half of sits empty . This hotel has two treasures - if you are photographer you can take wonderful pictures of birds. Between Blau and Playa hotel is a mangrow swamp with the bridge connecting Playa resort with the beach. You have different birds walking ih watter with milions fish. Second - if you like scuba - scuba diving center is at the hotel with extrimelly nice iinstructors and dive masters and if you go under watter it is many thing to see.

This resort has potential to be 4 stars but rooms need renovating, food is getting simpler comparing to our previous visits. Entertainment is excellent! Beach is great too.

I noticed a big difference from what was advertised in the pictures online. The hotel that I felt was being advertised as a 4 star looked like a 3 star in real life. The first room we were in had no hot water so myself and the three children had to shower in ice cold water for our first night.The room that I was moved to was an adjoining room. My main concern about this was that there was no lock. So either room (myself or the one connectedcould open and enter the other room if they wanted. This is very scary especially for a woman travelling with kids. By our third day I noticed the water became scorching hot, so hot it was very difficult to even shower. I literally had to take the bottles water provided by the hotel, pour out some in the cups in the room then add the hot water to it to get a good temperate water to be able to shower in it. That same day the toilet stopped flushing. I called Front desk when I noticed the problem they said they would send someone up to check it. For two days I was told someone was coming to fix it and each time I returned to my room I would discover that no one had done so. it took me once again approaching the front desk for them to have the toilet and the unbearable boiling water corrected.Overall the resort was okay but not 4 star worthy. This was my third trip to Cuba and I must say that the staff at this particular resort are very rude and unhelpful. It was not just one or two that we caught on a possible bad day. We were there for seven days and encountered the same people throughout our trip. The majority of the employees appeared annoyed and irritated with everyone. This made for a very unpleasant experience especially for the children as this was their first all-inclusive experience. The beach area is very rocky and a bit dirty. The hot tub is not hot at all, the water is actually really warm more on the cool side. They had a Christmas show on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day that was very interactive. The event staff that helped games and activities throughout the resort were wonderful and definitely kept the resort lively during our stay. The children’s club is not much to speak on, the four children we traveled with spent all of 5 minutes in it. It basically is a club house on grass. The food quality was to be expected, we did very much so stick to what seemed safe. The French fries and pizza were the safest options for us. The architecture was very outdated, the furniture as well. The cleaners did do a very good job in switching out towels on a daily basis (even when it was not needed). The refrigerators come with one or two canned soda and that was all we were given for our week long stay. They did provide you with large bottle waters on a daily basis for self-explanatory purposes.The Aftermath: Two of the children started itching really bad by the second last day before we left to go back home. At first we thought it could’ve been mosquito bites. When we got home the itching for both kids continued and had become unbearable. We started to notice little red bumps appearing where the itching previously was (back, chest, thighs, breasts, arms and legs). By this time some of the bumps were looking like circles with cuts inside. I showed my doctor a few of the marks on and she let me know that we have what looks like scabies.

This hotel and resort was in the middle of being taken over by a new management company and this really showed with how some of the staff werent really interested in their jobs even if you tipped them. The resort is in a great location on a really nice beach but is in need of some TLC which Im sure will happen once fiesta Americana has completed the takeover.

Terrible resort, no entertainment, and when they did have it, it was very late at night and extremely noisy until late into the night. Staff were very unfriendly, had to chase the waiters for a glass of wine to have with our meals, they made sure to make us feel like we were a great inconvenience. And the final straw, I got invested with bedbug bites. Never going back, what a waste of our vacation time and money.

Im not likely to come back. The roofs are there to provide visual comfort as for when it rains they dont do much to keep the water out. Food is passable with the exception of a la carte restuaruants, some of which are just excellent. The beach is nice. The pools are nice. The kids playground is "okay, I guess". For a person visiting to Cuba for the first time there is the overwhelming feeling of everything being tied down with a shoe string and then painted over to look good. I guess its just a general testament to a political/economical system and not a particular resort, although Im told there are excellent resorts in Cuba. This one isnt. And I wouldnt blame the staff either - they all seemed very nice. They just seem to be making do with what they get.

I live in the U.S. and made the reservation in one of the parks in Holguin. The woman that made the reservation never told us that there where a PLUS section to the hotel and told us that the rooms where really cold. When we got to the hotel the 27 of December the room was super hot because the A/C didnt work and was change to 3 other rooms where the air conditioner didnt work. The customer service and the reception were awful and wanted more money to upgrade me to another room in the PLUS section and it took the whole day of fighting with the customer service. I told them to give my money back because I was disappointed with the service and they told me that because it was after 5 pm I had to pay a fee. Later that day another customer service representative came and gave us a better room in the PLUS section without the right to the PLUS section. I was also supposed to have a triple bed and when I got to the room it only had two. Because I am Cuban they treat me really bad once I told them that I lived in the U.S. their treatment change, I felt discriminated. I feel bad imagining how the cubans living in the country are treated when visiting the Hotel. When they brought me the additional bed it had a hole in it and became sick after sleeping on it.

If you go, dont expect the standard of a 4 star hotel in the UK. That said, we had a brilliant time, the place was clean, well kept and the staff were really friendly. To make the most of your holiday, take some money and go on the trips run from the hotel. We took the time to explore Cuba and it was amazing.

Arrived Dec 15th, Immediately switched rooms as my ocean view room was looking at a bunch of trees, and upgraded to a Plus section room in block 27 which i had to pay about $100cnd for. (Should have been a no charge upgradeRoom was excellent and close to the VIP bar which is only open from 6:00pm. (no good imported beers available that i could seeIt is a very long walk to the beach. The entertainment at night is terrible and very loud most nights and could use a lot of improving. A group of students (200from Africa over-ran the resort in my last few days. They were to stay for 3 weeks I was told. I think events like that should be posted somewhere so it can be seen before booking a vacation. All the staff is great except for the front desk which is slow and customer service who have no answers, simple question was: are there sand fleas on the beach? Answer: I do not know. Many of us had red bites on our legs, but may have been from Mosquitoes. Foods were great for being in Cuba, Always something to eat in the buffet and no reason to be hungry..

Loved this place friendly staff great resort the food was ok ..24/7 snack bars .. i would definitely go back to this resort again .

Not really a 4 star resort my UK hotel standards but it could be a lot worse. VIP rooms are large and comfy with huge ensure but no bath. No kettle only a coffee percolator.Several restaurants and all were fine or good. Main buffet hall has dozens of options every meal. Fresh salads are nice. VIP bar is the best on resort. Small, quiet and better drinks.VIP pool is large and never crowded. Sun all day. Private beach. Nice staff.

The buffet was horrible. No fruits for breakfast, same rotten banana for couple of days, coffee really disgusting and nothing interesting beside the eggs

Amazing hotel and service, they are amazing people and love children they never fall back on there service!

This is the 2nd time to Holguin and I have been to Cuba 6 times in total. This is by far the worst customer service we have ever received. Aside from my darling omelette lady, everyone else was as if we were an inconvenience. The locals that took over the resort were the rudest people Ive ever come across. The food waa only good at the a la carte restaurants. I wont go back.

Beautiful resort full of great friendly and dedicated staff. We became friends with a local gardener who would go out of his way of his daily work to bring us and cut open coconuts - absolutely amazing. Great food with variety. Within the resort are several upscale thematic restaurants available should you get tired of the buffet food. Also, several bars are spread all throughout the resort; authentic Cuban spirit and liqueurs available all day long, and if that is not so much to your taste, other activities such as snorkeling, kayaking, paddleboats, etc. Are definitely worth checking out.

A huge resort with many different things to do everyday, great food at every restaurant as well as such kind and understanding employees. Although, is pretty far for the city itself it is an amazing place to stay and will definitely recommend it to friends and family.

PROS :Great hotel from all aspects really, even for people who are hard to please. Modern rooms, good beach, nice pools, bars, food and service above Cuban average, good food choices, clean premises and beautiful vegetation.The standard version includes a good amount of amenities.The Plus section is much more worth it however, it offers better value than the standard: Two additional pools, a hot tub, two additional restaurants, an additional snack bar, much newer, better, and quieter rooms.CONS :S-Trip company on the premises that organizes parties for large groups of students from across Canada. No problems with that but the students take a lot of space in buffets, pools, beaches, and bars. Crowded resort but nothing fatal.The standard version rooms are close to the lobby, two show stages, a pool, two bars, a restaurant, and far from the beach. Noise and light all night, walknwalk all day.I noticed that if you speak even a bit Spanish the service is actually worse, like they are only trained to treat foreigners better.Buffet choices could be more diversified, but no one goes to Cuba for fine gastronomy. Hours somewhat tight but not fatal.OTHER THOUGHTS :We switched to this hotel coming from the Memories Holguin. The difference is night and day. I left a review for the Memories for comparaison.The beach is artificial, made of ground rocks the sand is very fine. Water very rocky, few places with clear sand. It isnt Varadero, dont expect Varadero. Snorkeling here is great however. Fishes in the water!BOTTOM LINE:The pros of this hotel far outweigh the cons. If you are in doubt, you will not regret this choice. Its a great resort for Cuba, I will definitely consider returning here again. Blau Costa Verde is a good memory.In Cuba, management and age is everything. The plus section was built around 2010, and this hotel is Blau-managed. Other well-managed chains are Iberostar and Ocean by H10. Consider those as well.

Stayed in the old section. Nice beach. Lots of waiting for everything. Food was ok...breakfast had a lot of leftover from dinner. More like 2 1/2 star. Definitely not 4 star.

Was here 2 times. Id go back....Dont forget to bring watershoes as there is coral in the beach area. Makes for real nice snorkeling so close!

Ive visited the Blau Costa Verde many times and resort and friendly staff keep us coming back every year. It is a great area to get off the resort and see the real Cuba. The staff and management have always been very helpful and accommodating. I can not think of any bad experiences that we have had at this resort or area of Cuba. Please remember that it is Cuba and the experience is second to none.

Where do I start. The only good thing about this hotel is the sand and the water which they cannot take credit for. The beds were lumpy with springs jutting into my back- woke up sore and stiff every morning on the nights that I could get any sleep; The constant blare of the DJ and the bad music (although a matter of personal preferencekept my bed thrumming from the bass.The grounds smell like sewage. The food was ho-hum and cold- the previous days dishes showed up the next day re-cycled. The staff will not serve you unless they anticipate a tip so you need to hold cash in your hand when ordering a drink or coffee. (And I was ripped off at the currency counter). If you want a quiet relaxing vacation - forget it. The staff think they need to need to entertain you with their constant barking over the pool microphone to dance and have fun. I felt like I was at the Canadian Exhibition- lots of distortion and feedback too.There was no respite at the beach either- high volume and giant speakers carried the aspiring DJs demands for miles down the sand. One morning three staff members arrived at the beach dressed as clowns-- yes clowns. The lifeguards did not pay attention to the bathers. They spent their time chatting the tourists and blowing their whistles like they were at a rave. There were no restrooms at the beach. The sewage stench of beach restaurant restroom was unbearable. We counted down the days until we could go home to Canada. So - if you have low standards, have a drinking problem and a frat-boy mentality - this will suit you fine. We are done with Cuba.

Vacationed with family of 7, Feb. 3 to Feb. 13. 2017 for 10 days.The standard rooms at this place are old and in need of major renovations! First night no hot water or water pressure to shower.! Beds are rock hard with springs popping out!! stains on pillows! Bathrooms rusty with mold! Bugs all over bathroom sink crawling into makeup!! Broken tiles on steps and floors leading to rooms. Pop and beer only available first day you arrive in your mini fridge! Only water the rest of the time, and even then I had to ask for it! We tried to upgrade to plus section where rooms are newer, but they wanted to charge 10$ extra per person per night!! With the old rooms as disgusting as they where, they should of offered the new rooms for no extra charge!! No way was I giving this place another cent! !Food at buffet cold most times and same thing every night! most food had a bad smell!! Staff at buffet rude with poor customer service ,always had to ask for napkins and drinks constantly.Staff did not look happy!! Starving cats all over outdoor buffet begging for food every night! Cats loved the buffet food!! At least I kept them well fed !LOL !Cubin restaurant was so bad , we walked out! Food was old and had bad smell! Bread was stale and butter spoiled. Must of came from buffet!Not enough staff! No interaction with staff and guests! 24 hour snack bar staff rude and miserable! I was totally ignored by staff at the bar waiting to order a drink!! Gave up and walked away! Grounds of resort not well kept! most things dirty and broken! No restrooms at the beach. Public restrooms disgusting. Dirty, with bad rotten sewage smell.Only positive thing at this resort was the weather and the beach!

Spent two weeks at this resort and absolutely loved every minute. The staff are extremely lovely and helpful. Two minute walk to the white sand beach, glorious sunshine and fun entertainment.

having been to Cuba at least ten times, I know how disappointing hotels and food can be, but not this place. It is an excellent hotel with great food and drinks. Well worth the upgrade for a great hotel in a beautiful location

I stayed in this resort and the hotel for a week in August for the first time and enjoyed it very much. It is a great place for families, single parents or couples. very clean rooms and very friendly staff. Great entertainments for children and adults during day and night. varieties of food and great displays. The only thing that I didnt like in the dinning room was that as soon as you take a table the staff come and move the clean win glasses if you dont use them right away . I really dont understand the logic of this practice. The other negative experience was the cut of running water in the room, which happened at the last night of our stay in this resort, which I can understand can happen in any place, but we had to leave the resort the next day without taking a shower. I dont really know if this happens often or just was my luck. however my child really enjoyed the pools and the friendly staff at the bar that gave him any drink that he requested, specially the aqua bar guys by the pool.The hotel is very secure for children to play and go around.I do rate this hotel 4 star hotel and I will recommend it to others.Thank you

Excellent welcoming, excellent service excellent food.Poor internet, who cares though, 24 hr service and lounge. Lifeguards could be a bit more attentive to swimmers and children instead of selling cigars on the low.I would go back again and would recommend any family seeking a beach holiday to visit this resort.

Best experience. This hotel is amazing and I recommend this hotel to al the other individuals that havent seen the best hotel. Id give this a total rating of: More than 5 stars.

A horrible experience. I do not recommend to anyone. I am beginning because I paid for the all inclusive service and it turns out that on arrival I was told not had access to everything. Because there was an area where plus had to pay more and if he paid the plus area then if he had access to all-inclusive service. Very bad service minibar. I had to ask because when I arrived was not set . Towels not changed daily and pillows were very smelly . The service was lousy waiters . Most of the time were very serious as if they were upset. After 11 pm the hotel entertainment was scarce. The club was in a restaurant away the chairs and that was all. For me to be a 4 star hotel quality is horrible, bad and very bad . I do not even consider it a 1 star hotel . Finally were the worst holiday of my life . I was so disappointed by the service and the poor quality of the hotel. I do not recommend anybody because I think its a money thrown away .

I was surprised how good the food was here. Really had no complaints at all. I would recommend this place. Every hotel in Cuba probably has the odd problem here and there. Dont let the few negative comments bother you. If you want perfection, go to Florida, Mexico, or Hawaii. Cuba has so much character and things to see that it far outweighs any minor problems. Notice how clean the Cuban peoples clothes are and how respectable they are. Its a poor country really trying to impress you. Considering the houses that they live in and their limited ability to get to work its a miracle that they can provide resorts like this. Staff are working 12 hour days and then have to hitchhike home. These hard working people are somehow super happy. Every trip to Cuba will be a different experience. The food at the hotels that Ive been to in Varadaro did have some bland food. You had a learning curve to find the good stuff. One had no hot water for a few days. No problem here at all. The beach is great for snorkeling with amazing fish and coral to easily see. A short bus ride to Playa Esmerelda will take you to a 100 per cent sand beach that is locally known as the best around. Both beaches were amazing in different ways. The cars! Wow its a time machine to go here. No other place on earth can make you feel like its 1959. Probably the safest country you can visit with regards to crime. Nobody is going to take your stuff at a beach/hotel or harm you. Only minor crimes in the larger cities. Not as many excursions as Varadaro and far away from Havana but I would go here if you already saw those areas. The excursion to Santiago DE Cuba was possible from here and we did that. Do that.

Jan, 2016 First impression was, what have I done. Celling tiles where damaged the rooms were run down the beds were hard as rock. All the mosquitoe bites I received there where while I slept. The food was the worst Id ever had in Cuba! The entertainment there was not entertaining. The drinks where watered down. The staff were friendly, but really the place sucked. The beach was nice

Other than burger and fries the food is terrible! The reception does a horrible job of informing you about the facilities and services. They pretty much leave you to figure it out for yourself. Cockroaches in the room and the bedding wasnt clean! Make sure to bring cash as there are no bank machines and they only do credit card cash advances. The entertainment and pools are good, well except for the fact that they pumped drum and base over the stereo system until 3am. Cant say enough bad things about this place.

Stayed here for 7 nights for our honeymoon in Oct 2015, check in at the airport was diabolical!! Took 2 hrs for our suitcases to come off the plane. At the hotel we upgraded and had to change rooms 3 times due to balcony doors not locking, air con not working, fridge not working and no running water. Whe you report an issue to the reception it takes hours of hanging about for someone to attend and then you end up packing and unpacking again when you have to change rooms. When we changed rooms the issues were not fixed, new guests were booked into the rooms and they also complained and were moved about. Too much of our honeymoon was spent unpacking and packing up again to move rooms!The food was ok but everyone at the hotel had diarrhea during their stay.On a positive note the staff were all very friendly and the vip pool/bar is well worth the upgrade fee.This hotel has ruined our honeymoon experience and this hotel should not be recommended by any travel agents.

A well-trained front desk staff welcomed me and checked me into the area I had requested -36 building- which was clean and quiet. We were given a ride over to our unit by Adrian who is very helpful and took great care to offer to carry the bags and be of service. Even the day I left, he spoke with me and made sure all was well. Our cleaning staff accommodated our requests for extra towels and a fridge full of water and beverages was kept replenished.I did not like the big hard pillows or the squeaky bed (due to a plastic matters cover but that is just my preference. I think I could have asked for a softer pillow.We had no trouble with bugs or mosquitoes except a few ants when someone put a banana peel in our garbage.I was overwhelmed with the food choices. The only thing I did not see was chocolate so if you have to have good chocolate, bring some. The buffet hall is huge and there is everything from oatmeal to sushi. Yohenis who oversees the day shift, is AMAZING. He keeps an eye on everything and he tok great care of us. The wait staff are attentive and efficient. I was impressed with the language ability of the staff, many of whom speak at least three languages. We all have our favourites but I must commend Guillermo, Lianus and Michel. Knowing my preference for cappuccino over the regular coffee, Lianus made a few early morning trips to the bar to make sure I had my brew.I was also surprised to see alcohol being served everywhere. The staff are well-trained and do a great job. I would prefer not to see children and adults at the same bars. Having a bar in the pools seems a bit much to me but Im sure others like it. I was VIP so we had access to a more private bar but it was not open long enough hours and I did not find it all that welcoming or big enough. Eduardo is a super bar-tender and quite a showman flicking ice cubes behind his back and juggling the bottles.The beach was easily accessible and has public access so gets crowded. The chairs are collected rather early and I felt sometimes I was inconveniencing the chair-person when I came for a late afternoon swim. I snorkelled for hours and saw a beautiful seascape. If I have any negative comments it would be about the beach area and how smoking is handled. There are boats for resort use stuck right along the sandy beach areas and the boat drivers did not seem to care if they were sailing across the swimming areas and a few times I was scared I was going to be hit. There is no reason for the boats to be along this small beach area. There are other areas where the boats could be stored. I suggest moving that storage area away from the sandy beach are completely and making a nicer larger beach area. I think that is why people come to Cuba - for the beaches so it should be much larger and safer. The boat drivers were inconsiderate and used up to much beach area. There was a lady on the beach topless which I thought was very selfish as there were children around.The pool closes at 8 which is too early. It opens at 9 which is too late.Cuba and our resort are very safe and I felt secure walking along the beach at night. The guards are wonderful. Cesar was particularly thoughtful and made sure we felt acknowledged and safe. The medical centre (Nivea especiallywas super. The salon is good too.There are non-smoking areas but people smoke there. Im from Canada; because of the strong enforcement of smoking laws, this was very noticeable to me. When I asked the staff about it they did not want to ask people to move. If smoking is not going to be monitored, just take the signs down.Cuba is hot; there are few places to go for refuge besides the room. The air-conditioned computer room was damp (dripping wet actuallyand mouldy. Big fans in the lobby and sitting areas around the performance stage would help. I came to Cuba thinking I could dance every night but was very disappointed. There was only a small disco at 11:15 and no good dance area. I did not like having people come around selling tickets.

We went to this resort in late Jan 2015. We spent a lot of time choosing where to go because wed heard good and bad things about most of the resorts. Eventually we chose this one based on a recommendation from a friend. Well, it was perfect. So good that were probably going back. Forget the stories about mediocre food - the buffet was so extensive it was never boring, the food was fresh and well-prepared and the specialty restaurants were mostly fantastic. My friend reckons she had the best meal of her entire life in the Italian restaurant, while I think the Cuban one was spectacular. And of course, we ate lobster dinners at least three times that week!Our ocean view room was a dream come true in Feb and worth the extra to upgrade to the plus section. However, the regular rooms were just as nice and closer to the main hotel area. Dont go for ocean view if you dont want to walk - its a fair 10 minute stroll every time you want food. Also, the ocean view rooms dont have elevators, so if you dont want stairs then stick to the regular blocks. Plus section also comes with mini bars stocked daily with beer, pop and water, but next time Ill take my mini-Keurig with because their little coffee machines arent great.The staff were wonderful, and almost all exceptionally friendly. A special shout-out to the Air Canada Vacations staff we dealt with - they couldnt have been more helpful. Given that they deal with a new group of people every single week, their attention to detail was remarkable.The beaches are pristine, the grounds and pools are lovely. The only "complaint" we had is that you cant swim after 9pm in the pools. In terms of value for money, it was a bargain second to none.The day trips were great, if a little expensive, but now that weve done them once we probably wont bother to do them again. We def wont do the Holguin trip on the last day again - the city is grubby and run down and not much to see, and we didnt find it particularly interesting in any way. The extra $25 to have access to the VIP lounge at the airport is a must, though, unless youre ok with being stuck in a teeming, sweaty crowd in a hot room with insufficient seating for several hours without a break. The VIP lounge had aircon, refreshments and enough seating, at least. And believe me, even in winter we needed that aircon.All in all, the trip cost us around $900 each including flights and taxes, plus we spent around $600 each on souvenirs, shopping, and five day trips. The trip to Cayo Saetia was particularly lovely, as was the Dolphin tour. Im sure you can go for less but then you cant expect the same level of quality.

Really enjoyed everything at this resort. Beach is great and clean. all the resort was spotless. Food was excellent with good service - theres plenty of tables and room to lounge. Only issue was our room was on top floor of block 2 - and rain blew in above the patio window. that and the mattress could be better.

Had a great time. Definitely worth the upgrade to the *deluxe*..for only $60. Had VIP lounge. 2 extra dinners. Also our own VIP swim up bar as well. Fantastic people. Did the Dolphin tour which was fun for kids. Also did the Jeep tour with boat ride and horse back riding.

Our trip was Jan 2014. We stayed in the Plus section, 2812 was our room number, not as close as we would have liked but not too bad. If you can get the 1600 or 1700 section thats the best. Service here is fantastic - especially our friends in the cafe bar Alex and Eddie!! We never had to wait long for drinks at any bar we went to, and the restaurant always had tables available. The food was good, not amazing but consistently as good as expected in Cuba, and better than many weve been to. The resort is on a beautiful long, white sand beach, great swimming and snorkeling right off the beach. We would definitely visit here again!