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Villa Cojimar 09/14/02
Reviewers Rating:  Great
>Anyone been to the villa cojimar at cayo guillermo? cant seem to find many reviews about it anyone have any opinions or have been there recently? My family (47,42,13,11) went to villa cojimar the 1st week of august 2002. We had the most relaxing and pleasant vacation. Villa cojimar is a 3 star and I think if you go with realistic expectations you can have a great trip. I will make a few comments on areas you might be interested in. Grounds - They are in the process of renovating right now, which didn't disturb us but they had piles of renovation materials around-we felt this could have been organized better. Rooms - Are in mostly one story cabanas with two units per cabana. Many (maybe half) have been renovated. The renovated rooms are referred to as superior and the european guests (mostly british) are given these. The older rooms referred to as standard are given to the canadian guests. The side of the hotel with the renovated rooms seems more upscale. We tried to be switched to the superior rooms but were told that JMC (the british tour company) packages are sold with these rooms and we were sold standard rooms. When I explained that in canada we were never told that there was lesser and better quality rooms and we would not have picked a lesser quality room in a 3 star they explained that their hands were tied and JMC had a lock on the better rooms and only if JMC did not fill all of these rooms in a given week then they would be given to canadians. As the first rooms we were given had probs with the shower in one room and toilet in the other as well as not being adjoining as requested they did change us to better located, functioning rooms. The older rooms have older window air conditioners which are louder but worked well. The beds were comfortable and the rooms and bathrooms(shower only) were large. The t.v.'s and mini fridge (not filled) worked well. The beach - fabulous! white sand beautiful green water (shallow for a long way) and warm warm warm. Lots of chairs for those who wanted them. The beach is pretty much the same for all the hotels on c.g. with the 4 stars maybe slightl better groomed but we enjoyed the more realistic appearance of our beach. Watersports - 2 nice catamarans, several nice pedalos,2-3 windsurfers and a # of kayaks. You can pay them to take you snorkelling on the reef for about $20.00 US (for the 4 of us). The pool - large salt water with lots of loungers - could be better landscaped. Low key bar where afternoon snacks are served. The food - after all I had heard I was really prepared for horrible food. We were pleasantly surprised. You are not in Canada and if you go with an open mind we always had an enjoyable meal. Our kids thought it was great. There were certain things we never saw -lettuce (although there were always cold salads), onions, and bacon come to mind. Do not bother with the a la carte restaurants (italian and cuban)- there was very little choice they had the same food at the buffet. Staff - Always friendly even when we were complaning about our rooms they were pleasant and tried to make the best of the situation. Animation team were low key and helpful. Maid service was great (we left her $1.00 US every day for each of the rooms and she left flowers and decorated towels etc.) The area - we did not do any outside trips as we were only there one week and did not find they offered us anything we were desperate to do. We did take the shuttle train to playa pilar which is a beautiful unspoiled beach - this cost us $5.00US per person and was a lovely afternoon. If we had been just the two of us we would have done it by moped. All in all we had a lovely vacation and felt we got our moneys worth. We paid about $850.00 cdn per person as a last minute special with Heritage Travel from Montreal. We flew Air Colombus which were great. In all honesty, the sol club guillermo which was simialar in price looked like you were getting better value for your money. The difference for us was that for about the same $ we could get 2 rooms at villa cojimar and we would have to share at s.c.c.g. As nice a time as we had (and we are very laid back travellers who always have a nice time on vacation) i would have to admit if its going to be the same price or a manageable difference its a safer bet to go to s.c.c.g. or iberostar dacqueri. However, if its the difference between going or not as someone elso told me the sun, beach and water are just as beautiful at the 3 stars as 4 stars. Enjoy!
Diana
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