We just returned yesterday from the resort. The weather was fantastic! This has been our second time in Cuba, last year we went to the Villa Jibacoa in the north and decided to go to the south because of the weather 'guarantee'.
The reason why I am giving only 3 stars is that I found the hotel could be better run - it seamed that they weren't trying as much as the other one we stayed at which we found disappointing.
At the airport there are many people that try to help with the baggage and of course want way to much money for it, don't get sucked into that if you can. If you like you can purchase cold beer at a stand there, mind you i found out when we left that the beer is purchased at the cafe just a few meters further, but sold for more than at the cafe... you can exchange money to the left coming out of the airport. There is exchange at the hotel as well, but it's a hit and miss, sometimes they don't have any. Bus ride is about an hour to the hotel, very scenic. Check in was quick and there were bell boys helping with the suitcases which is great because there are soooooo many stairs (well it's on a hill). That said, like all other comments, if you have trouble walking or a heart condition, this hotel is not for you. The elevator was working maybe 20% of the time during our stay, and there are 98 stairs from the beach and to our room (615) another 53 - great workout.... if you like that.
The room: only 220V electric service (there are a couple of 110V outlets at the pool bar to charge up computer/phone etc.). Our room didn't have a mini fridge (i guess you get that with the VIP service so i was told which might be worth it at this place). There's a hair dryer available. The paint in the room was flaking and new paint just looked 'slapped on'. I know they are repairing the building still, but it would look much nicer if they put a bit of care in their work. We complained about the balcony door not locking but nothing was done about it. Shower was working but low water pressure, toilet was flushing extremely slowly - broke last day.
We asked for 3 beds because of our daughter, our beds were ok, my daughter had a cot that she found extremely uncomfortable. View from the room was beautiful.
Beach was ok, water is murky and the ground has lots of algae and uneven but safe enough for kids, the beach is much nicer a 5 to 10 min walk further down but i wouldn't really leave any clothing unsupervised there... the water is also a bit warmer there (due to more waves which are fun). Some people went snorkeling but said the water wasn't clear enough. The beach bar is open until 5pm, there are horses for riding which belong to Alfredo, it's 20 Cucs for 2 hours either in the mountains or on the beach, we rode a bunch of times and were invited to Alfredo's home, please have some things for him (he doesn't ask for anything but appreciates gifts - if you have leather belts etc, he can use them to make horse gear as well). There are also a bunch of people begging right there (as it's the end of the resort beach) from what we were told by many cubans, they are lazy and don't want to work - it's funny, the women begging tell you all kinds of sad stories, but smoke and have their finger/toe nails done nicely... something to keep in mind!
Food: Much better than the other hotel we stayed in but still not great, well it's cuba, i like to cook so i'm very picky....there was something for everyone for sure but not lots of anything, i found a couple of things at the buffet i liked but so did everyone else and they replaced those empty bowls with something else so i didn't eat too much there at all. We didn't go to the a la carts as i didn't want to get pinned down to a schedule. As all food there, probably something overcooked. Word of advice if you have small children: If they make a pig on the spit they don't cover or secure the hot ashes! during our stay a toddler walked right into it and needed medical attention in Santiago - couldn't walk for the rest of the week so be careful! We had lunch at the Oceano restaurant just down the road once (walk out of hotel driveway, turn right and it's on the other side of the road) Cheap, good service, give it a try and some word of mouth advertising (i think they are suffering a bit from too little guests currently but worth going). the beach restaurant (el rancho) just reopened a couple of days ago as well, nice place but no special food really.
Tours: We would have liked the moped tour but the lady booking it made a mistake (which she didn't want to admit to so that was upsetting since we were looking forward to it) so we didn't get to go. We took a taxi into the village 15 km away which cost only 25 Cuc and was ok. We booked the catamaran tour to Santiago, it was nice, awesome snorkeling at an old ship wreck on the way, the water was very rough! this is not a good outing for anyone getting seasick easily - two ladies were really sick the entire time. Some people were enjoying the waves on the nets in the front of the boat, but one guy fell right through, he was lucky to hold on and not going under the boat and into the engines....don't know how they fix it so watch out for repairs/holes. Trip included lunch in Santiago (was ok...) and an hour time on your own, i wish we would have gone to Santiago on our own, looked like lots of fun, but also lots of people asking for stuff there... the trip back was by bus. Other trip by horse to the bat cave was great - guess you can just take a taxi there as well. There are bicycles available if you want, you can rent mopeds (if you can get them) and a few other tours.
Entertainment: not my thing... lots of dancing, i find it boring personally but that's a matter of taste. We liked playing pool in the games room upstairs of the pool bar (there's also ping pong and tables for playing cards etc.. The pool was clean enough, kind of cool water, many playing volleyball etc. there wasn't a ton of animation which i liked.
We met people from many parts but there were also a lot of locals, one thing why i also gave the place only 3 stars is that the locals always got the better treatment/service - drinks available to them were not available to us, we notice on many occasions that the drinks they didn't have for us went by the bottle to locals....
I would go back to the area and even this hotel as the price is right, but we are not that young and the stairs are just a bit too much, but i'd say you get fair value here.
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