Arrival: May 17-24 We booked with Air Canada Vacations, and flew directly from Calgary to Varadero. Bus waited for us at the airport, and after about 30 min we where at the resort. Checking in was within a couple of minutes, and shortly after, our luggage was transferred to our room. Everything went smoothly.
Rooms:
The resort has 28 bungalows with 8 rooms each. It really doesn’t matter in which bungalow you are, as everything is within 5 minutes of walking distance. Our room was very clean and comfortable. What we really liked is the central air-conditioning system, as opposed to a window type at some other hotels, which was very efficient and noiseless. Furniture shows some ageing, but nothing of a serious concern. I’ve read some reviews, where people complained about mattresses being too hard to sleep on, but we didn’t find it to be true. They are firm, but not overly. Room service was excellent, and whatever you ask, you get. The only missing thing in the room was an alarm clock, so don’t forget to bring one along, if you need it.
Restaurants and Bars:
We really didn’t come here for food or drinks, but we were truly amazed with food. There are 4 al a carte restaurants (reservation required), main buffet restaurant, pool restaurant, and beach restaurant. They are all first class restaurants even by western standards. Variety of food was unbelievable, and it’s quality very good to excellent. Although, everything was within short distance, the best part was daily barbeque at the beach, with no need to leave the beach, or step out from your swimwear. There are bars everywhere. Beach, lobby, pool, swim-up. Drinks flow in rivers, alcoholic, or non alcoholic. We were told that the water from bar machines is purified, and even ice is made from it. We did not experience any health problems, neither with food nor water.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: The beach, resort grounds and pool is something what truly makes this resort stand up to it’s name Paradisus. There are dense and fully grown coconut palm trees on the spacious beach with numerous palapas, both proving plenty of shade. White powdery sand, turquoise crystal clear waters, and palm trees look exactly the same as you would find in best advertising brochures. The beach was very clean, and maintained. No glass or garbage to be seen anywhere. Right from the beach you step into the resort grounds, beautiful lush tropical forest, extremely well maintained. Wherever you walk, you are in the shade, surrounded by dense vegetation. Same in the pool area. You can even find shaded areas in the pool, while swimming. The pool is huge and irregular in shape, with swim-up bar, and with different depths suitable for all ages. Me and my wife are mostly beach people, but our 8 year old kid really enjoyed the pool. No battle for beach chairs, neither at the beach nor at the pool, at any time of the day, as this resort is capacity wise designed not to be crowded.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
There was plenty of entertainment. At the beach, pool, restaurants, lobby, with live music, dancing, shows, etc. Some excellent, some OK, but none of them too loud to be irritating. We also appreciated their Kids Club, where they (the staff) took our kid for a tour of an ecological reserve adjacent to the resort. There are also other kids activities. Very thoughtful of the staff, giving parents to enjoy some time of their own. Considering our short stay here (1 week), and our preference toward beach, we did not take any lengthy excursions. Outside of the resort we only visited the near-by Dolphinarium. The dolphins show was one of the best I ever seen and our daughter got a chance to swim with dolphins (for about $100 fee), which made here really excited and happy. It was well worth the money.
Other Comments:
The resort staff was extremely friendly, and forthcoming. I can’t think of a single problem we had at this resort. We tipped, not much, but often. One peso or two (equivalent to one US$) left in the room’s fridge, at the restaurant table, bar tender, or beach boy, goes miles long. And don’t forget the gardener. Clothes and other things you don’t need are very appreciated too, so don’t hesitate to bring them along. To summarize, this resort is very well worth every penny we paid for, and would highly recommend it to anyone, especially to families with kids. We would definitely go back again.