This resort is very, very large. You better bring some walking shoes and don’t expect the trolley to come by on a regular basis. We had no problem with walking, but even at check-out the trolley took over 45 minutes to pick us up with our luggage so we ended up just walking from the 30 block. The resort grounds were very nice though and the resort was in great condition. The biggest downfall of the trip was on the second last day when we both got attacked by either sand fleas, bed bugs or some kind of bug from the pool. I ended up having to go to the resort doctor and get antibiotics, steroid injections for the reaction and creams for the bug bites. My husband got the same type of reaction when we got home so he too is on antibiotics and our family from across the country had to seek medical treatment too. All I could get the resort doctor to say was that we shouldn’t go in the pools because they are dirty! YUCK!
The trip was a success all in all though, the weather was over 30 every day. Bring your walking shoes though because the resort is huge. If you don’t like to stand in lines for drinks, food, beach chairs etc, consider one of the resorts in town instead. I definitely will never stay at a resort this huge again. 200 or less rooms is good enough for me.
Room Number:
30301
Room Block:
30
Arrival:
We stayed at Sirenis La Salina from the 10th of April until the 17th. We arrived in the middle of the night so the check-in was a bit strange. They herded us into a hot room and we felt like cattle. The only good thing is it took only about 15 or so minutes to be handed an envelope with our room key and a bottle of rum. We took the trolley to our room because it was apparently 1 km from the lobby. I’m not sure if it was that far, but it would have been difficult to find in the middle of the night.
Rooms:
The room itself was quite nice and new. We were in 30301, which was near the beach on the top floor corner. Views of the loud pool and the ocean in the distance. This was our third visit to Cuba, and the room was by far the nicest we’ve had (twice to Varadero and once to Holguin). We actually didn’t choose this resort, our family did. We decided fairly last minute to meet them down there and found an awesome deal with this resort.
Restaurants and Bars:
As far as food goes it was really quite good for Cuba. The buffet had a variety of items to choose from and I was very happy with the cheese selection. Some nights they even had a brie type cheese – my fave. Service varied but we did end up having the same server in the buffet four nights in a row named Janet. She was awesome. Other than her, no one really went out of their way to serve us. It was definitely a three-star resort, not a four-star… but we already knew it would be like that when we booked. We never used any of our restaurant reservations either because you had to book so far in advance and the ones available were either too early or too late. I heard we didn’t miss much though.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The pools were huge and every time I looked at them I just thought to myself "what a cesspool." They weren’t really cleaned and on one occasion, they closed the big pool. I didn’t want to know why, but I can only imagine. I guess they dump a ton of chemicals in them every night, but one night we looked in it and it was covered with a disgusting sludge. We only went in about two times before we decided the ocean was a much better option because at least there is a current!
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
The beach was beautiful. The water is like a huge bath tub and you can see fish swimming in it. I love Cuba for its beaches and this one didn’t disappoint. However, the resort was at full capacity when we went, so with over 1,000 rooms there were about 2,500 people staying at the resort. Getting a beach umbrella was almost impossible if you went after 9am. Some people would reserve spots around 6:30am! I found the beach way to crowded and if you don’t speak French, you won’t be able to talk to anyone since about 90% of the people are from Quebec. Our favourite beach days were when we left the resort and went into Varadero to a public beach with a bar and bought our own drinks. We also ate at several restaurants in town and they were delicious! Last time we were in Varadero we went to Havana and did the jeep tour, and this time we went on the jeep tour again with our family. It was actually really fun. You got to do some snorkelling, have lunch at a ranch, drive a jeep and go boating. I’d recommend this one.