This was our first trip to Varadero and we had a great time. Our only other experience down south was in 2006 when we went to Punta Cana. Cuba is a communist country so you should expect to not have some to the comforts that you would get in other places. The food was very bland and not very good, but we knew this going down, so it’s hard to complain too much about it afterwards. When we were there we had a wonderful time, the staff were great and beach was adequate and the weather was great. Upon returning we began comparing the trip to the D.R. trip and came away with the realization that we were disappointed, however after months of reflection and recently looking at our pictures from the trip we realized that it WAS a wonderful trip and we probably would go back. The big think about Cuba is that it is significantly cheaper than the D.R. or Mexico(which is where we booked this year), so you take the price point into consideration as well.
Again the place is fairly bland, the creature comforts just are not there, but the place overall is wonderful.
Arrival:
Our trip down was a bit of an experience. We left Charlottetown, PEI at 9am, to catch a flight out of Halifax at 4pm, w were delayed due to snow out of Halifax and didn’t get into the resort until 12:30am, but the staff were great upon arrival and we went to the pool bar (which was still open) and they made us pizza and fries.
Rooms:
The rooms were fine. The beds were not overly comfortable, but after a long day in the sun, we had no problems getting to sleep. THe A/C worked great, which was our biggest concern, and we gave a $20 tip at the beginning of our stay to the staff for the mini fridge and we were always stocked on water, soda and beer.
Restaurants and Bars:
We only used the pool bar, which was great. The lunch food at the pool bar was always sufficient. Our family could always find something to eat at supper at the buffet but it was usually the same thing every meal, if you are going to Cuba to gain weight and gorge yourself you may want to consider a new destination, as the food is sub par at best.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The pool was wonderful, the beach was great, the water was excellent in both. The grounds were kept very clean. I live on Prince Edward Island and we have plenty of wonderful beaches right here, so I do know a good beach, and this beach was great. We really enjoyed our time on it, and although it was busy, you were not sitting on top of one another.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
We went into Varadero one afternoon, which turned into a bit of a circus. The double decker bus taking us into town probably had 50 people over capacity on it, and it was 40 degrees out that day, so we didn’t last too long. We ended up taking a taxi back to the resort which was an adventure all in itself. The taxi looked like it came from a junkyard, but it ran and it gave us a good story to tell when we came home.