This was my first trip to Cuba and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay! First of all, the staff were extraordinary; with a special thank-you to Yaqulin our chamber maid and Lixander our pool server. Yaqulin made sure our room was cleaned daily, the beds made, the fridge stocked with bottled water and the bathroom clean and refilled with supplies. She also left a beautiful display with the towels on our bed daily including swans, hearts, flower petals, etc. She was so happy and energetic all of the time despite the heat and long work hours. Lixander was a wonderful pool server, he would ask you what you wanted to drink and would come by every 15-20 minutes to refresh your drinks and chat. He had an excellent memory and once he knew your favorites, they kept on coming! I will always remember these two staff members 🙂
Room Number:
1903
Room Block:
19
Arrival:
Despite arriving at 10:30pm we were still met at the lobby with fruit punch and a bell hop to take our bags and drive us to our room. We were showed where to find food and drinks at such a late hour and given a guide book and quickly informed of all of the daily activities and night shows.
Rooms:
When we cot to our room it was very clean and the air conditioning worked very well and was not noisy like the AC in hotels I have been to in Canada. The water pressure was great and we never ran out of hot water during our entire week stay. The bar fridge worked very well, keeping everything very cold. The beds were very comfortable for me (I am a firm mattress sleeper; the beds were firm but still soft) and the pillows were nice and fluffy. I did not see a single bug in my room during my entire stay.
Restaurants and Bars: The food was nothing extraordinary but you will find what you like and there are plenty of options to be creative so you don’t have to eat the same thing from the buffets all of the time. My favorites were the chicken, stringed beef and rice; as well as the salad bar and fresh fruit bar. There were a la carte restaurants for seafood, steak, Italian, Cuban and international; however, I only made it to the international and the food was good. There was also a pianist at the a la carte and the restaurant sat on the lagoon so you could feel the breeze off of the ocean and hear all of the birds.
There is a bar open 24 hours, a bar at the beach, a swim up bar at the pool and a lobby bar. It is important to drink at each bar to find out who makes the best of each drink, but despite which bar we went to all of the bartenders were quick and fun.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: The beach at this resort is amazing! It was so beautiful and breathtaking every day 🙂 There were corals right by the shore so you could snorkel right off the beach and see plenty of fish, crabs, and plant life all withing 100 meters from shore. The water was crystal clear and a beautiful turquoise colour from afar. The pools were kept in great condition, were always clean, had a constant exchange of water, and catered to children and adults. There were three pools, one with the swim-up bar, one for family, and an adult only pool which was conveniently located right in front of our hotel room.
The grounds were kept clean, I didn’t see any garbage laying around and during the day there were gardeners constantly pruning the bushes, taking care of the palm trees, watering the flowers and cutting the grass. The resort has a nice lay-out and it felt like a small village.