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Iberostar Daiquiri 05/20/02
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
Just got back from Iberostar Daiquiri TODAY! Great vacation! The hotel grounds are lush and compact. The beach is easily accessible to the Beach Restaurant which is a few steps to the pool. You can easily get drinks without having to walk too far. Snacks are served a.m. and p.m. between meals in the pool cafeteria. Snacks include pastries, sometimes bread, salad, and in the p.m., everyday, a cook would set up a cooktop that pan fries wiener sausages (hot dog, cuban style) and you can order cooked onions, ham, cheese, bacon...the works and he'll custom prepare them for you. All the workers I ran into were friendly and helpful. Mind you, they might still have a lot to learn before they can do it perfectly ( such as sometimes you'll have to ask them to refill drinks or they may not speak very good English to carry on casual conversation), however, you know they are trying their best and always reassure you with a smile and make you feel welcome. The rooms are average size and since I have a 12 and 9 year-old, I have booked 2 rooms so I don't have to deal with stress of crowded space and fighting to use bathroom etc... and it worked out perfectly. When we first checked in, we were given ground floor rooms (I think my travel agent have overlooked my 2nd/3rd floor request) so I called up the receptionist and we were switched the next day( no rooms available until the guests checked out the next morning). Also the patio door lock was not working. We made a call to the service desk and almost instantly a hotel employee knocked at our door to tell us a technicianís coming and then in no more than 15 mins., repair was made. Very efficient. The first day when we were playing at the pool ( slam dunking basketball, just horsing around with our kids ), one of the young workers came and introduced himself and invited my husband and son to try out the ping pong table. After the first round, my husband won the match, then comes challenge from the employees ( I can't remember their names because they're quite long in Spanish). While they're duking it out, my daughter and I ordered "slushi"s (available in 4 flavours - pina-colada, cherry, orange and lime,all yummy rated by my daughter ) from the pool bar and started playing with the giant size chess board just steps away from the ping pong battlefield. After the games were over, we jumped back into the pool, which is warm as soup. Around the pool(s), there are umbrellas made up of wood pole and thatched top layered in dried palm tree leaves and lots of beach chairs underneath. While we were resting, one other employee walked over to a groupof 2 families in the water that looked like they knew each other and invited them to water polo. In the middle of the conversation, somehow he got tricked and pulled into the pool, made a big splash!!! He was all wet, shirt and socks and sneakers!!! We were all laughing. He 's a good sport - 2 minutes later, he brought the water polo hats to make up 2 teams and jumped in and play with the gang. Other days, I see water aerobics exercise classes, more pickup basketball games etc...There is, however, always a corner of the pool that you get a quiet dip if you wish. In other areas of the ground, I see aerobics, archery lessons, some ring toss games, scuba diving lessons etc...all free. The employees are there to setup and create the atmosphere for guests to play and not pushy at all. We liked to take it easy so most of the time spent was just lazing around the pool and beach. We brought our own mask and snorkels but we can't find fins in stores around where we live. At the beach hut, we can borrow fins but there's a one hour limit and they close at 5:00pm. Masks and snorkels and life jackets are also available to loan. We paid this local cuban who hang out at the beach hut ($10/adult,$5/child) who took us off the beach about a 5-10 minute ride on a catamaran and he has a spot marked w/ a red buoy. We jumped in and see the most wonderful fishes. Since I can't swim, I wore a life jacket and fins and basically put on my mask and snorkel and dip my head down and saw the most amazing underwater world. This is just a very small reef but the corals are absolutely gorgeous and many different kinds of fishes, big and small, some travel in schools of 10-20, some just hide behind the leaf life coral and flow with the currents. Before we went on the catamaran, our guide reminded me to bring bread. He'd throw a small chunk and create a spectacular underwater display of color and motion. He kept throwing crumbs of bread about a few feet away from us. We didn't do the feeding so I don't know if the fish bite! Some of them are at least a foot long and they come in yellows and blues and stripes...feels like I'm watching "Discovery Channel" with high res panoramic view big screen TV. The sea was calm and the sun was bright so the aqua clear water shows all the colours within 10 feet and beyond... The variety of food is good but they tend to be overcooked. My favourite food is fish and chicken and rice and it happens to be the typical cuban dishes so I have no problem at all. I'm just happy I don't have to cook for the entire week. They serve lobsters (2 meals), smoke salmon (2 meals), mussels(4 or 5 meals); fish, shrimp, calamari, chicken, beef, pork, sausages, bacons all the time.Of course, there are pastas, pizzas, eggs, vegetables salads etc... My kids love the fries and pastas and they always find something they like. The beef is almost always very tough, chicken is good and I always have fried fish ( very delicious ). Two evenings they have a grill setup outdoors and food served are calamari, red snapper, shrimp, pork chops etc...We booked one dinner at the a la carte Mexican restaurant on Tuesday and my kids don't enjoy it too much because they can't pick and choose like at the buffet that they have a second chance if they don't like their original choice. They didn't eat much of the chicken/pork/cheese they ordered. My husband and I both ordered the same dish, salmon, and we eat some of the food from our kids plates just for taste. The same night my husband felt like he came down with either a virus or food poisoning but none of our kids or me got sick. We brought medicine for the diarrhea but it didn't seem to work. He basically stayed in the hotel room for the next day and not eat anything for 24 hours and fed on bottled water only. It still doesn't work. So I tried to have him stay entirely away from cuban source water. That night I brought Sprite and the next morning I took 2 big mugs of fresh orange juice ( yes, non-diluted fresh pressed orange juice, not the blended with peel kind of pure but bitter tasting orange juice from store shelves here) and I put the juice in the fridge for him to get thru the day. Miraculously he sprang back to health. So from that day on, he's strictly drinking only Sprite, Coke(processed in Mexico) and orange juice and hot tea or coffee. He could eat anything and didn't get sick for the rest of the vacation. My kids and I kept on drinking our "slushi"s and water at the restaurant and we're all well. We also took an excursion to Moron and a mangrove swamp. The tour guide, Luciano from Cubanatour, is very knowledgeable. He used to be a professor of translation and he spoke very fluent English and French. The bus trip was about 90 minutes and on the way to town he explained history, culture, animal and bird species, landmark of cuba etc...and on the way back he let us ask questions from his personal life to educational system to average cuban family life etc...His answers were very to the point and you can just feel the pride and love of his country. Speaking of local Cubans and their livelihood ñ I was talking to this cook named Paez while he was serving hot dogs at the pool cafeteria. His English is pretty good and when we started talking, I asked him about the hotel and the workers seemed to be so happy so the management must be treating the employees well. He then told me heís not an employee. I was of course puzzled. He told me he worked partime in the hotel for free. He is a student and he works few days free in the a.m. for a hospital and then in the afternoon for the hotel because on average he gets about $15 tips a week, a much better pay when he used to wash dishes for $7 a month. On the 3rd day of my stay, the same maid came and cleaned my room. I had this one cotton dress that I think would fit her so I asked if she would take it. She didnít understand English so it took me a while to make her understand it is a gift for her. She thanked me and after she finished cleaning I gave her the everyday tip as usual and she refused to take it. The same with the bus boy when I left some pens and beach toys with him before our departure (he has no use for them but he told me he knew many children he can give the things away), he refused to take the tip from me because he said we already gave them so much. After much struggle he stuffed me back with a few American quarters ( not legal tender in Cuba, only dollar bills are accepted). Other activities we do have to pay to enjoy such as horseback riding is a bargain($8/hr/person). Only my daughter is interested so I took the ride with her (separate horses). We have a personal guide. The horses looked well looked after, very tame and intelligent. After we get on the horses (first time riding), I asked where weíre going and our guide told us they knew where to go. He was using a small branch with some leaves to îshuî our horses at first when theyíre still trying to get used to us. The horse my 9-year old daughter was riding was a little big and her short feet just wouldnít reach the pedal and fit snugly so after about 10 minutes she wanted to go back. Our guide was very patient and keep making the adjustments. After a few complaints he switched his own horse with hers. She was really happy with her new horse ( I forgot their name, each of them have a long Spanish name and our guide keep talking to them when heís not talking to me). His Englishís fine so we talked about his family and Canada etc...We rode behind the hotel on concrete and then onto the beach and on the way he explained what some buildings are... When we got back, it was at least an hour and a half later, no extra charge. The ride was so enjoyable my daughter canít stop talking about it even after we got back. One inconvenient thing worht mentioning about vacationing in Cuba is that my husband thinks that itís tough not being able to check e-mail and get access to the internet, which is available in most hotels rooms in the U.S and Asia. We are self-employed and although we informed our clients of our getaway and asked they talked to our assistants in case they need immediate help. However, after we got back he checked his e-mails and one of the clients sent him an e-mail on the 1st day of our vacation needing some time sensitive project done and of course he didnít c.c. our assistant. So, my husband basically have to switch right back into work mode as soon as we got back while Iím still basking in my thoughts and sweet memories of Cuba.
Mir
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