Room Number:
1205
Room Block:
Building 1
Arrival: Arrival with Sunwing went very smoothly. Elite Plus well worth the extra. Very impressed with check in at the airport. Upon arrival we were given an envelope with our room keys, a map of the resort, guest registration card( to be filled out and given to rep on the bus)and the time of our welcome meeting the following morning. Our luggage was tagged with our room number for delivery by the bellmen at the hotel. No waiting in line at the reception desk!
After a short bus ride to the hotel, we had to find our way to our own room to wait for the bellman to bring our luggage. Not a very long wait at all. Buildings are hard to distinguish at night, but we found an employee in the lobby who pointed us in the right direction.
Rooms:
Our room was as requested. Oceanview with a balcony, but as in other places there is not a clear view of the water due to a row of trees. Room was clean with a stocked mini fridge( bottle of water, 2 beer, 2 pop). We found if we left a small tip and a note for the person stocking the fridge we got what we wanted. Coffee maker( no coffee, 1 tea bag), if you want coffee in your room I suggest bring instant with some Coffeemate. Small flat screen TV with good selection of channels. Bathroom stocked with amenities such as, body wash, shampoo, shower cap, sewing kit, kleenex, soap, faceclothes(we had 2 everyday, some people said they had none), 2 bath towels, 2 hand towels, hair dryer. Had no problem with power in the room, used a straightening iron and charged cell phone and camera batteries, didn’t need a converter.
Restaurants and Bars: We visited 2 ala carte resturants the Asian and The Florencia. Wouldn’t recommend the Asian, but the chicken was good. The Florencia was very good and the service was excellent. Our ala cartes were prebooked for us which was a nice touch, but inconvenient when our whole party of 8 were not on the same reservation. We basically all showed up to see if they would accommodate us and they did. The main buffet had a good selection, but as usual just not hot enough unless you visited the prep stations. Found there was just not enough staff for the people at the hotel. Snack bar was OK, they had a buffet until 3 PM and then you could order, sandwiches, fries, hamburgers. Pizza was available until 3 PM in the pizzeria. Bar service was slow, not sure what they would do if full to capacity. The wine was not the best, but the white was drinkable,must have been the most preferred because they ran out every night. All inclusive….maybe they should stock more. If you like the fruity drinks Miami Vice is quite tasty. If you have Diamond Club, there are a select few top shelf drinks such as Malibu, Baileys, DisArrono, Canadian Club etc. If you want Havana Club rum, you might have to beg for it, most of the drinks are white rum of another brand name.
I have been to several all inclusives and this is the first resort I have found to be quite frugal with their drinks. Most places free pour or at least that has been my experience, but not here.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: Beach is very rocky bring water shoes! Once you get out past the rock it is nice soft sand and beautiful crystal clear water. If you like to snorkel, there is a reef not to far out. There are 2 sections of beach, on each side of a boardwalk. One is for Diamond Club, but each side is used by all.There was always lots of chairs no matter the time of day. We had beach towels in our room upon arrival and we could exchange with the maid daily.(Diamond Club)
I would recommend bringing insect repellent, sand fleas are a problem if you are allergic like myself. Ended up looking like I had the measles from the knees down. They tried to tell me they were mosquitoes…but I wasn’t bitten anywhere else. Bring some Gold Bond or hydrocortisone in case you need it.
Other Comments: Not sure if Diamond Club inclusions were worth the price, we did have beach towels in our room, butler service on the beach,safe in room, late check out, but not much more.Pretty sure anyone who sat in the Diamond Club section of beach had butler service as well.
It is a nice resort, but needs some work to call themselves a 5 star. Have been to several lower star resorts than a 5 and have had a much better experience. Vacation is what you make it, don’t sweat the small stuff…it’s Cuba!