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Coralia Club Playa de Oro 09/23/02
Reviewers Rating:  Good
I will do this review in English, mais si vous voulez des renseignements en franÁais n'hÈsitez pas ý m'Ècrire. I came back from Varadero Saturday. I was there from September 14th to 21st. I won't talk about Hurricane Isidore since we weren't really affected except for the bad weather the last two days. I'll begin by saying that my sister and I (in our twenties) chose this resort primarily because of the great deal we had on it. We paid 798 can$ for a week, and I heard some had paid 750. Now, this is really cheap, so all in all I can't complain. However, this was my fifth trip in an AI resort, and I'm sad to say it was the worst. (I've been twice (!) in Mexico last year, at the Barcelo Maya and the Royal Decameron Complex, in DR in 2000, at the Casa Marina Reef, and in Guardalavaca Cuba in 1996.) I think my biggest disappointment is the fact that I expected a 4* resort, while in fact it was not more than a 3*. But maybe the standards are different in Cuba. I knew that the food in Cuba wasn't as good as in Mexico and DR, but even then I managed to be disappointed. Hear me, it is not awful, but it's very ordinary. To give an example, the fruit juices at the buffet were merely water. Also, I particularly enjoy fresh fruits when I go South, but there I only ate pineapple twice, and it was dry and tasteless. I didn't bother to try the other fruits. At breakfast, the best option was the egg station, where you could have your own omelet made. The pancakes were also good. For lunch, you could go to the grill Rancheon, next to the beach, but the choice was more than limited. We usually had hot-dogs and fries at the snack near the pool (at least they served it hot!), which was open til 6pm. The buffet was better for supper, but the best choice was definitely the restaurant ý la carte Rancheon. You obviouly had to reserve early in the morning. The food and the service there were great, although the menu never changed and everything was always served with rice and veggies. Now I'm done with the food, let's talk about the positive sides... the room was nice and squeaky clean. The maid did a great job and made something new with the towels everyday. We left her money and gifts and she even wrote us a thank you note twice (in English). The animation team was awesome, although the shows were not very entertaining, but then they are not really to blame. Most could speak good English and a bit of French, German and Italian. Overall, the service was good, except at the buffet where you could see employees but to me they only seemed to chat together. It was often hard to find a table with clean utensil and napkins and they didn't offer offer us water or coffee, you had to get it yourself (by the way I loved the coffee machines). The beach was beautiful but small. The sea... well it's hard to beat. Shallow turquoise water for meters. It was a treat. Unfortunately the shadow was scarse, so there wasn't any space between the loungers, which meant no privacy. There weren't many longers either, considering the fact that the hotel was certainly not full at this time of year. It was a little bit easier to find shadow at the pool, which was nice and very warm. By the way, before the hurricane, the weather was sunny and extremely hot. I must say that I met many friendly people there, mostly Europeans and Quebekers. Everybody was in a happy mood, and I didn't hear many complains, so I may be too critical... As for the activities, we only tried the catamaran, which was GREAT! We gave a few dollars to the instructors to have them drive us since we don't sail. We went to the disco almost every night, it was fun and the dance floor was always full! I didn't talk about the drinks. I am not a big drinker, and I found that every drink was too strong, that must be because they serve it in tiny plastic glasses. Even the "female" drinks like Pina colada and daiquiri had a strong taste of rhum. We had the barman at the pool made us "special" drinks, they were yummy but be careful, his goal always seemed to get us drunk (he was always proclaiming his love for my sister! nice man notwithstanding). I think I could go on forever talking about my trip... oh yeah don't forget the Off, the mosquitos were hungry! So my conclusion: it was a nice week altogether, but I'm not sure I'll go back to Cuba soon, I had much better experiences in Mexico and Dominican Republic. Feel free to email me if you have questions!
Julie
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