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Barcelo Solymar 07/12/02
Reviewers Rating:  Fair
Barcelo Solymar ñ 2 Star Max We just got back from Cuba after spending 2 weeks at the Barcelo Solymar resort, from June 23, 2002 to July 07, 2002. There is NO way this resort is a 4 star property. The beach and the ocean were fantastic and the hotel was nice and clean. The air conditioning was at best spotty. We spent the first 2 nights without a/c. The a/c was unreliable at best. We are not picky eaters and did not expect gourmet meals, but the only way to describe the food is, garbage! Even the so-called specialty restaurants were not much better. They basically served the same menu as the buffet, except that they served you and it took about 1 ‡ hours to be served. The times they served meat it would be ìnukedî beyond recognition, maybe not such a bad idea, just uneatable. The shrimps were over cooked and served with the heads on. I ordered the ìgrilled shrimpsî at the International restaurant and they came pan fried with the heads on! At the Seafood place their idea of tuna salad is half a can of tuna on a piece of lettuce. The menus for these two restaurants were basically the same. And there was no lobster to be found, apparently its off season for lobster. They have most of the ingredients but they just canít prepare the food properly. I would have been happy even if some nights there would be 1 item we could eat. Three or four nights we ate hot dogs and fries! They have a pasta station at lunch and dinner, the pasta is under cooked and the sauces they prepare are always the same three. The breakfast buffet is the best meal of the day. They have folks making the eggs and omelets but only ham, cheese and onions are available to make the omelets. The rest of the breakfast buffet consists of the same ìshakyî cold cuts and sliced cheeses. The baking is just awful! I must say that the mango there is excellent. The watermelon and other fruits were not. The Cuban people are wonderful and very nice. They take pride in serving you at the hotel whether you tip them or not. The workers are only paid the peso equivalent of 12 ñ 18 dollars a month, they also get a ration book that gives them 6 ozs of meat, 1 bar of soap and 1 tube of toothpaste, etc. Bring lots of single dollar bills and toothpaste and soap and stuff from the dollar store. When we went into town we would give the children some of the small toys we brought and just to see the look on their faces was worth the price of the trip. The locals donít chase you and beg like they do in the Dominican. Our tour guide told us that there is no violent crime or drugs in Cuba. From what I could see, Cuba is very orderly and clean. The people are very nice. You are often approached to buy cigars, but you just say no and they leave you alone. We where told that it is illegal to buy cigars on the street and if you are caught, you go to jail for 4 hours. The government is very strict about buying cigars on the street. They do that so that the quality of the cigars is kept high. Apparently the counterfeit cigars you buy on the street may contain some nasty garbage in them. We did the Havana tour, which included the Rum factory museum and the cigar factory. The Rum museum was all right and very hot. The cigar factory was a lot more interesting. Each of these places have gift shops where you can buy rum and cigars. Havana is a very interesting city. There are lots of vintage cars, some have been restored, but a lot are in rough shape. If you want to see Havana, then go to Cuba, but the resorts are much better in the Dominican republic. The landscape is tropical but not lush like it is in DR.
Zigmas Krujelskis
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