Recent posts by travelchick | Debbie's Caribbean Resort Reviews Forums

eeeefarm, you are incorrect when you say that the Park and Spa guests cannot use the bar at the end of Ensenachos Beach. Everyone is welcome to walk Ensenachos Beach and when you finally come to the end, a refreshing drink certainly is a treat. The bar serves that purpose. (I believe GM Brenda even made a comment about this on T.A.) However, that is where the hospitality ends for the P&S guests–the Grand Village and its facilities are to be enjoyed only by its guests. There are sunloungers at both ends of Ensenachos Beach, and it would seem logical that those nearest the Villas should be utilized first by the "Village People".

I really don’t see the need for this topic to have been brought over here to Debbies. Surely it has been discussed ad nauseum over at T.A. with negative comments/barbs being hurled at fellow member(s). It would be lovely if all the strum und drang could be dropped and this topic (Ensenachos) left behind: it’s a horse that’s been beaten to death, imo. I hope I won’t be slammed by a certain person here who seems to want the last word….but I doubt it.

About 2 km behind…

What a smarta*s! ;D Perhaps someone else will give me a more pertinent and helpful response.

	Boy, I have three addys now. ;D The one steffie gave me did not come back but perhaps I should try Spunky’s too. However, I bet I won’t hear from anyone at either one.

Hola,We are heading to the SCL soon and I have tried unsuccesfully to email them at at the address listed under resort contacts here. Does anyone know what could be wrong or, better yet, have a correct email addy for me?With thanks,

Travelchick

	You folks on the Wet Coasts (both sides :D) certainly deserve better deals than we who fly out of COTU are able to access. I hope it works out for you all even if it means tight quarters on the plane….

The insurance company had the van towed to a local garage for repair and took care of returning my rental car back to Buffalo. Those were the good old days when your insurance took care of you.

I would be in agony if that happened now.I’ve parked in Buffalo since then and no problem. I had a friend who had his van stolen out of Park n Fly valet in Toronto. It was out of the lot and headed south even before he got checked-in at the airport. They found it in S. Carolina. He was in Florida when he got the call. Gee, if they had only left it a bit farther south …. BTW, we’ve had a few resorts in Cuba where the patio door cannot be properly locked at all and a few that are very difficult to lock correctly.

Last time we were south, I hid the passports in a great spot because the safe looked really unsafe. We spent an hour tearing the room apart looking for them on our last day. I had forgotten where I hid them. Duh.

You know, these incidents can happen anywhere~Toronto, Buff, etc.

We never, ever get a ground floor room as they can be problematic with easy break-ins. It would be like us, as well, to hide our passports and not remember where we hid them. LOL However, any resorts we have been in have had very secure safes so we’ve not worried. We do put some things we value in one of our suitcases and keep it locked during our stay…. Several people enter the room: maid, the person who stocks the fridge, possible maintenance people. It’s just smart to not tempt anyone by leaving items around that you treasure.

Oops – forgot. I parked at one of the Buffalo hotels while away on a flight for a week. Returned to the parking lot and my van was missing. No biggie, insurance paid for a rental car for a month as I had to wait for 30 days before it was replaced. I had ‘new for old’ policy so I stood to get a new van out of it. Cheektowaga police called on day 30 – they found the van. It had been used for B&Es throughout the region for a few weeks. Same thing, popped lock, screwdriver in steering column. The repair guy showed me how to break in, start the van and drive off in under 20 sec. OUCH.

Live & learn but sometimes you can’t do much more to protect yourself.

This is quite unreal to hear, dax. We do fly out of Buffalo (love it, btw) and were shocked to hear your story. Pretty awful mess for you. We live quite a distance from Buff so it would be quite an inconvenience to have to return there to pick up our vehicle if it had been stolen and recovered….

The VIP lounge in Varadero is fabulous–relatively new as I understand. It is tastefully furnished, comfy and offers good drinks/sandwiches. Being escorted through all the lines truly like a VIP is wonderful. ;D Agreed: well worth the money!We were disappointed in the Cayo Coco lounge on our most recent trip, however. First off, it needs a remodeling and refurbishing now. It was quite tacky after having been in Varadero’s. We received grilled ham and cheese sandwiches which were great and my dh enjoyed the Cristal. One thing I have to mention is that since we were the first bus at the airport for departure, nothing and no one was ready. Therefore, we had no real special treatment as per the escort. And not even the Customs (Aduana?) agents were ready in their "boxes" It was so disorganized, we could not believe it. That’s the first time in all the many trips we have made to Cuba in which we were surprised at the lack of readiness by everyone at the airport, from ticket agents to Customs officials. Wild….

P.S. We have only used the Maple Leaf lounge in T.O. once. It was very nice but we didn’t get to enjoy any of the drinks as we had a morning flight. I don’t think that would have been a problem for others, but we didn’t indulge….

Any "Gone With the Wind" fans out there? If so, you’ll surely smile when you read these:

Scarlett: I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow.

+++++++++++

Prissy: Lawzy, we got to have a doctor. I don’t know nothin’ ’bout birthin’ babies.

+++++++++++

Scarlett: Rhett, Rhett… Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?

Rhett Butler: Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a darn.

We were at Memories Flamenco as Sandy swept by out at sea. We had torrential rain and high winds for about three days. Some Holguin tourists were evacuated to our resort. The beach was really hit with sand being eroded so more coral was exposed. Some of the poorly built palapas were knocked down. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t use the beach all the week we were there because of Sandy and then the continuing winds…. No damage to the resort was apparent. It was an experience we were glad to have had, but that’s our last trip during hurricane season.

Hollydog…. Getting a cheque from a Travel provider…. definately priceless… I do hope the cheque clears…lol
So true!

Congrats, Hollydog, for "beating the system". Way to go! ;D

I don’t drink beer and didn’t appreciate smelling like a brewery, but I’ve heard that some European spas offer various beer therapies at great expense, so I guess I got a free spa treatment as part of my all-inclusive package on that vacation.

Hysterical. ;D Thanks for the chuckle!

	zen, I hate when that happens. Snow is one of my favourite things and rain just puts a damper on it. (lol)

Yes, of course, we can mention Martian’s ‘departure’ here. Why ever not?! I also received a "Hail and Farewell" type message from him. I will miss his articulate, informative, and witty comments here. That is not to say that I agreed with every post he made. However, of the most well-versed in Cuban matters, he certainly was the kindest member of Debbies. I certainly would not say this of other former members who purported to be Cuban experts…. Godspeed, Martian!

	Okay, people! We have had snow today, October 11th, and even though it probably won’t last past 24 hours, I am wondering how you all are faring. Can you check in with your snowfall? ;D

Hey Spunky, "High Five"!! Our name for this OT is a combination of both our brains. ;D

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