The overall trip was excellent. I had read the previous reviews and was a little nervous. We had a lot of fun and relaxing and were more than able to find both drinks and food that we enjoyed. There were three couples together on the trip. We flew direct from Fredericton to Varadero through Sunwing. Arrived March 22/2010 for a one week stay. All of us enjoyed the stay and would consider returning to the same resort. The weather was perfect, 28-30C every day and sunny with a light breeze, the first couple of days it was a little windy with some larger waves (fun).
The resort is large, there are about 20 buildings (3-floors) with 50 rooms per building. Two very large pools, both with swim up bars and a snack bar adjacent to the pool. There were shows every evening at 9:30 and usually a local band and dacing just outside the theatre. Local vendors were also in courtyard just outside the theatre in the evenings. Pleasant and clean.
Your Arrival: The flight was about 1.5hrs late leaving due to some difficulty at the Fredericton Airport. We arrived in Varadero airport, no problems with Customs or security, got our bags, go some changed at the airport and headed around back to find our bus. After a little bit of confusion a lady found us and put us on the correct bus and headed out the peninsula to our resort (30-40 minutes) while making a couple stops other resorts along the way.
At check-in (probably 12:30am local time) at Salina I showed them my e-ticket, they checked me off the list, gave us our room keys and a bottle of rum (5-minutes total). Oh yes, a waiter came around with a tray of drinks during check-in as well.
Rooms: The rooms were nice. We were on the third (top) floor in building #21 (closer to the main entrance). The room was clean with a short King bed, desk, a couple of chairs. The patio looked out onto the shallow pool and pathways and had two plastic chairs and a table. The bathroom had a large mirror, single sink, large counter, and large/high tub.
The air-conditioning worked well (only operates once the patio door is closed). The maid comes by every morning and cleans the room and restocks the mini-bar with a bottle of water, a couple beer and a couple cola and fresh towels.
Restaurants and Bars: Restaurants: The main buffet is very large, with lots to choose from. I stuck with what I knew and wasn’t adventurous and I enjoyed what I ate. We brought our own ketchup which sure helped. In the mornings you can make your own toast and have the chefs prepare yummy omelettes, there is fruit and baccon and pancakes (there was syrup for only half our stay). Lunches and Suppers: We ate either at the beach or snack-bars for lunch. The sit-down restaurant/snack-bar by the beach is excellent, probably my favourite buffet type food on the resort, hamburger/hot dogs/carved-meat/grilled fish & chicken/sandwiches. The large buffet for supper was really good. The bread and pastas are excellent. Bars:
The main bar is great and makes the drinks a little fancier. All bars are good, if want good/fast service or like a lot of rum in your drinks, give some good tips (some $3 bills at the beginning of the day if you going to be back to same bar often). Remember your thermos-mug, the cups they have at the bars are small plastic.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: Both pools are huge. The one closer to the main entrance is shallow, quite and not as crowded. The pool closer to beach has a volley-ball net in the water, a water slide and some activities in the afternoon. It is more crowded and more fun.
The beach/sand and water are incredible. It is crowded and sometimes hard to get chairs/shade. If you have a group of people it would be good to have a few of them go early to get a spot and chairs. The sand is beautiful and hot. There is beach volley-ball net setup on the way to the beach.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel: Beach Volley-ball is fun but gets very hot very fast, a good morning activity. The activities in the slide-pool in the later afternoon are fun and there is usually some people hitting the ball around in this pool. CATARAMAN $99 CUC. Fun and beautiful day (8:30am – 6pm). Nice catamaran (not much for washroom) and a litte crowded. Visit/swim with dolphins for a hour-hour or so. Snorkel for 15 -30 minutes (not very good). No colourful fish or coral (both are dark). The snorkel they give you leaks so it was useless. If you have your own snorkel, bring it. Visit a small beach and have lunch. This was beautiful and there is pretty good snorkeling at the beach. The lunch was great, lobster tasted like our lobster in the maritimes. Open bar on the boat plus sandwiches at the end of the day.
Havana day trip $65 CUC. Good and long. 2-hour bus ride there and 2-hour back. Good and quick tour of the city with a stop at the fortress at the mouth of the bay, old-Havana with a walking tour and stop at a museum. Stop for lunch at the fortress (okay). Drive through new Havana and a stop at the market for about an hour.