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LTI Costa Verde 12/21/02
Reviewers Rating:  Good
We travelled to the LTI Costa Verde resort Nov. 16-23, 2002. We booked this trip over the internet with less than a week lead-time in the hope of getting a good price. Part of the reason why we chose the LTI is that there is not much information available on that resort; we wanted to see what it's like and in turn, provide info for fellow travellers. Also, I was travelling with a friend; she and I are avid cyclists and the LTI features a weekly bicycle excursion with a guide from the hotel. This particular feature appealed to us and motivated our decision. Also, since we were both escaping families, jobs and responsibilities for a week, we decided to spoil ourselves a little and booked the VIP package. This package is supposed to include a guaranteed ocean view room, safety deposit box (otherwise available at extra cost), beach towels in your room, daily restocking of in-room fridge with beer and bottled water and fruit basket with bottle of rhum in your room upon arrival. Departure and flight information are pretty typical. Smooth airport procedure and Skyservice flight to Cuba. Nothing unusual to report here...You know, standard lining up and cramming into a sardine can for a few hours in anticipation of sun and fun for a week. We landed in Holguin at dusk and the formalities were pretty seamless and expeditious here too. Although the customs and immigration inspector who was studying my passport questioned me about my children and their wherabouts. They are all on my passport and were with me the last two times I travelled to Cuba. Each time my passport was stamped accordingly and this trip was no exception, I received a stamps indicating that I was entering the country NOT accompanied by three minors who appeared to be related to me. Anyway, back to Holguin...My luggage was one of the last bags to arrive and I was actually starting to wonder if it was actually on the plane at all. It took an unduly long amount of time and as a special bonus, I was selected for a "random" full inspection of my luggage, which means hoisting one's suitcase on a large table in full view of all personnel and other tourists and opening for a customs inspector to go through it with a fine tooth comb. I think that what triggered that special treatment was the fact that my suitcase contained several large bags of Halloween candy and a plastic bag containing about 100 mini flashlights that my husband's company gives away to their clients. The Cuban personnel was most intrigued by these items and questioned me at length about my intentions regarding those. I was eventually permitted to close my suitcase and move on and we boarded the buses that took us to the LTI resort. At first glance, the LTI is a very impressive place. The large and spacious lobby is filled with wicker chairs and couches, very inviting and cozy. Tastefully decorated. The main building is a 4-storey atrium which gives an impression of spaciousness and open spaces. We checked in and met the bell boy who was going to take our bags to our room for us. Given the hour, we were advised to proceed to the buffet (La Arcada) and eat before the 10:30 closing time, so we hurried there. There was very little food left, but we didn't mind; it was nearly closing time and the staff had already cleared much of the food and were cleaning up. What really struck me, though, was how dark the place was. The buffet is a large room and we both remarked how dark it was, but again, I assumed it was because the buffet was nearly closed and they didn't want to encourage people to come in. However, we discovered that this is the way the buffet is usually lit. In the evening, they would put candles on the tables inside (you can also eat oudoors on the terrace) which makes for a lovely atmosphere but really, they should increase the lighting in the room, it is very dark in there, almost uninvitingly so. Anyway, we then proceeded to go find our room, assuming that our bags had been brought up while we ate, but it turns out that the bell boy had been waiting for us. He guided us to our room and informed us that there was an extra charge for the safety deposit box. When we told him that we had booked the VIP package, he had no information to that effect and told us we would have to check with public relations the next day, or worse, the day after. There was no fruit and rhum, no beach towels, clearly no eveidence of VIP. The guaranteed ocean view was arguably provided...if we stood on the balcony, leaned over and craned our neck way out, yes, we could see the ocean. We decided to go back to the reception desk and sort out the situation, not to wait until the next day or two. The receptionist was not overly receptive to our request and made us feel like it was a lot to ask. He proceeded to punch keys on his computer for a good 10 minutes, clearly looking for a room that would satisfy the two Canadian princesses...finally he found one. He handed us the keys and told us that the VIP extras would be brought up the next day. Our bell boy friend was near the end of his shift, so he agreed to take our bags to the new room. In a different block, on a different floor, wet suitcases and all, away we went. We reached the new room, the bell boy opened the door and flipped on the light...only to discover someone sleeping in bed, rudely awoken from a peaceful sleep. He was not impressed, as you can imagine!!!!!!!!!! So back down to the reception we went, luggage and all. What a ridiculous situation this was turning out to be. We finally did land in a room and we were happy enough that it was vacant and available for us. Reception assured us that we would get our freebies the next day. So all in all a complicated and disorganized check-in mess that needs to be fine tuned. THe next day was our orientation meeting. Our Conquest rep spent most of his presentation on the check-out procedures and handed us pamphlets about the various excursions available. The first difficulty we identified is that the pamphlet did not list the days where each excursion takes place. We asked him about the guided bicycle tours and he told us that they went out on Mondays, while the bus trip to Guardalavaca went out on Tuesday morning. Those were out main tours of interest so we thought we would do these. It was Sunday, so we thought tomorrow bicycle, then Tuesday, bus to Guardalavaca. When we awoke on Monday, the sky was an even and menacing dark shade of gray and it was pouring cats and dogs. An absolute deluge. Not the best cycling weather. Assuming fthat the tour was cancelled, we went for breakfast and took our time, then made a beeline for the bar to get a capuccino and wait out the rain. In the afternoon, we met up with an animacion team member and asked him when the bicycle tour would be postponed to. He looked at us like we had three heads and told us that the bike tour was on MOnday morning. But it was pouring...no matter, we cycle on Monday and you missed it. We go next Monday. But next Monday, we'll be back in Canada...too bad, you missed out. If you like, we have a moped tour on Thursday. Hmmm...Well at least we can still go to Guardalvaca tomorrow, right? No!!!!!!! Our Conquest rep was mixed up and gave us wrong information. The bus to Guardalavaca is also on Monday a.m., so we had missed out on that too! It was very frustrating to deal with such a mixture of contradiction, confusion and inflexibility. So the only tour available to us was the moped trip which turned out to be a lot of fun. I rode with the guide and got a lot of side information about the area, culture, people etc. That was well worth it and the highlight, in my mind, was visiting a school where were gave away the goodies we had brought. My friend had small toys and school supplies while I had the candy and flashlights. It was really fun to interact with local people and visit with children. We also visited a Taino museum which was very informative and well done. On the resort itself: Food: No complaints. The buffet has a reasonable variey of foods that are presented in an appealing manner. Your usual egg/omelet corner is available for breakfast which is always a treat in Cuba. We rarely ate lunch at the buffet but enjoyed it when we did. The Laguna Azul bar/snack bar serves sandwiches and lunch fare and we tended to eat lunch there most days. One night the buffet features oysters on the shell and they were smaller than any oysters I have ever seen, but were they ever delicious. As I mentioned previously, the main drawback with the buffet is the lighting that makes it difficult to circulate throughout that room. Two a la carte restaurants are avaiable for lunch and dinner: a Cuban grill and an Italian restaurant. Reservations are required and limited to one visit per week but in low season, they will sometimes permit you to go more than once. Depends on the mood of the person booking the reservations. The Cuban grill is rather forgettable and not worth the effort to try to visit more than once...The Italian restaurant is the exact opposite. The food is delicious, the menu varied and of very interesting note, this restaurant offers an antipasto bar that makes for a very interesting and tasty dining experience. Drinks: We experienced the same mint shortage that made it difficult to obtain a mojito. I think we got one or two, maximum. The bartenders always seemed annoyed at the request, while they always favoured other drinks. La Laguna Azul always featured a drink of the day. Entertainment: As anyone who has visited the LTI Costa Verde will tell you, the major asset of that hotel's entertainment program is Andres, the pianist who plays every night from 6 to 9 o'clock. He is a very endearing and pleasant senior with a permanent cigar in the corner of his mouth. He plays by ear and has a very large repertoire. He loves Canada and will gladly entertain any special requests. Other than for Andres, the entertainment was pretty pitiful. The ever present rain forced the staff to perform on the indoor stage almost every night and my friend and I had the dubious honour to be invited on stage to be part of the Mexican night fiesta. Rather sad and embarrassing...we did get to see "Retorno" the famous Holguin band who comes every other week to sing cover version of various songs including lots of Beatles hits. Yes, the lead singer is a local heart surgeon. He liked me and dedicated a love song to me so I suppose I have to say the show was impressive. Well, it was, but not likely in the way they hope! By and large, the shows were pretty tacky and poorly attended. The animacion team was not as present and active as I have seen in other Cuban resorts. There was not aquafit, but there was aerobics on the beach. A large, boisterous group of German tourists put on their own waterpolo game in the pool each day, rain or shine. Beach/pool: The pool looks very nice, but the water was pretty chilly, which explains why very few people swam in it. We did go in a few times. The jacuzzi featured in the desciption of the LTI consist of a very small "c" shaped indent on the edge of the pool, large enough to hold 2 people, as long as they know each other well. One big plus for the LTI though, is that the children's wading pool area is clearly marked. The tile at the bottom of the wading pool is a different colour than the main pool, which makes it easy to keep an eye on little ones and for them to know how far they can go. By the way, there is a nicely decorated, very bright, children's club. I am told that they have all kinds of activities for little ones, but since we were travelling in November, there were very few children present on the resort. We never saw any in the kid's club but I imagine that is different in the summer time. THe beach is beautiful, but the water does have a ton of coral and volcanic rock. This is not a criticism or a complaint, simply a description. Therefore, there is no such thing as running freely from the beach to jump in the water. Entry in the ocean is slow and cautious, involves a lot of hand-holding and ouch, ouch, watch it...ayoye and more colourful language as one loses their footing and falls on the coral and rocks. After roughly 30 feet or so, then it's smooth sand bottom, lovely for standing, swimming, floating and snorkelling. We saw some beautiful fish and snorkelling was definitely the most popular water activity. The LTI has some catamarans, pedal boats and water canoes, but the nighbouring Superclub Breezes has much more equipment including large water tricyles. The equipment at Breezes is also more recent and looks in better shape. The beach also hosts a beach grill that doubles as the disco at night. That is another problem with the LTI...the disco is certainly far enough to not bother anyone tryin to sleep, but by the same token, one has to walk along a lengthy path in the dark to access it. Therefore, it is not very well attended. Besides, when we did go down there, the music was not always conducive to dancing and we heard virtually no Cuban music, which was disappointing. All in all, the LTI is a beautiful looking resort with tremendous potential, but I can't be sure that I would return. The administration needs to be a bit more flexible in dealing with issues such as rescheduling tours, enabling VIP guests to receive what they booked etc. We landed on the Saturday, and it was not until Tuesday that they brought us beach towels, rhum and fruit. No big deal I suppose, but minor annoyances that can be easily rectified. I don't think that I would bring my children there as the clientele tends to be older (that was fine since I was travelling with an adult). We had the opportunity to tour Breezes next door and it seems to me that Breezes would be more suitable to families. I think LTI needs to improve the animacion and entertainment if they want to develop a return clientele. The highlight of the week was the opportunity to attend a yearly carnaval in a local community. We rode a train to a nearby twon, about 45 minutes away and mixed with the locals in drinking, chatting and dancing for a few hours. I was the only non-German speaking person on the train, so I felt very isolated, but once we got there, my reasonable knowledge of Spanish allowed me to mingle with the locals and have a great time. Local homemade beer flowed freely...and all of us has ahem...lower abdominal repercussions for a while, but that was a fun day! Marie
Marie
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