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Las Brisas Guardalavaca 07/27/02
Reviewers Rating:  Great
Hola Amigos! Just back from Las Brisas where my family and I stayed for 2 lovely weeks - I wish it had been 3. We stayed in a villa suite, it was enourmous, and very clean. The Villa side of the resort is emaculate, beautiful flowers and stunning grounds,with a very pretty market style restaurant, and large pools and an Aquabar. There is also a stage for evening performances (which alternate nightly with the hotel stage)and a desk and shops.This side of hotel is quiet, and is occupied by families and topless sunbathers looking for privacy. The Hotel side of the resort is more lively, it has a very large restaurant, an outdoor snack bar, a disco, and an enourmous pool. There is a stage for nightly shows (alternating with the Villa stage), an Italian restaurant, and a pool bar. This side is where most of the days events take place. Aquafit,dance lessons, craft lessons, and many more - check the daily schedule.There is also another restaurant near the beach which does breakfast and lunch on some days, and does seafood at night. Now to the review. For the first 3 days of our trip we felt like lost lambs in this resort. This place is BIG ! Many of the people who write about LasBrisas have been going there for years, and believe me that helps. We always seemed to have just missed things, just missed people, gone to the wrong place, or found the plans had been changed ! It was very frustrating. There are activities posted in the hotel lobby and the Villa lobby, and kids activities posted outside the kids club, but in low season these things are not written in stone. The kids club starts at 9.00 and my kids found that too early, if you don't register before 9.30 you can't do the club! So we did the only thing we could do, we started talking to the staff and making friends. this makes all the difference in the world. All of a sudden we were in on things, finding neat things to do, and getting caught up in the LasBrisas action. For my husband that consisted of hanging out with the wonderful Pool Bartender Jose Pupo all day, exchanging stories and goofing around, grooving on the fabulous sounds of the band at dinner, and then heading to the public beach to party all night in the sand. My kids hung out with Alex and Yassir, they are really funny, ate fries and hamburgers 24 hours a day, and danced at night with Jordania and Yuendsi from the show, in the disco. We let ourselves go, loosening up alot, realising that making an effort to talk to the staff, and being outgoing off the resort could make a huge difference to our holiday. We also got to know some tourists from all over the world (Steven, Christine,Stefanie,Lou,Serena,Helgi,Linda, Dana, Mike, Jarrod,Jay, Steve, Adam, Mick, Kirsten,Mark, Elaine , Jason, Ann,Thomas,Trevor, Ashley and Sian). One night the staff put on a comedy called Christopher Columbus, it was HILARIOUS ! Everyone was really good, and very proffesional. Another night they had an accapella group that were incredibly talented. I kept looking for instruments, they were great. The house band is terrific, we got to know many of the musicians,most of all: William, Agara, Julio and of course our friend Luis. The public beach I would have to say , was our favorite part of our trip. In the daytime there are many Cuban families relaxing in their own special way, having fun and relaxing, and at night it explodes into a magical beach party. On Tuesdays and Thursdays during our stay, they had live music and an AfroCuban show that was not to be missed. The kids even came, and really enjoyed the show , it starts at 11.pm. Now a little more about the Hotel...there were many trips out of the hotel,to Holguin, Santiago, Boat trips, horse trips and of course a trip to swim with the dolphins. Eveyone who went to the dolphins with Vladamir raved about it, and reccomended it highly. We thought that the prices were a little high, and we had been to Cuba several times before so we didn't do any hotel trips. We are used to going to eco areas in Cuba, and the trips seemed a little commercial, although I think the boat trips were very nice. There are horse and cart trips available that take you out to the sugar cane feilds and to visit some farms, this is real Cuba. It would be safe to say that you could go to this resort for a month and never see a lick if Cuba, many never ventured beyond the hotel gates. We urge anyone going here to at least go on a buggy tour or go to the beach, just to see a little bit of Cuban life, Cubans are wonderful, the town of Banes is about $30-40 usd in a taxi. Just over from the hotel beach there are some houses, the people are really nice, and they will invite you in to chat and even have dinner.If you go you should bring drinks, beer and rum,pop if they have kids, and water for yourself. The food in the resort was standard. There was an amazing assortment of weird looking salads, I don't eat meat, and there did seem to be meat in just about everything. But I never went hungry, there is always a pasta bar, lots of fresh fruit, and sandwiches and fries to order. The problem we came across was knowing where we were supposed to eat. The resort advertises 24 hour food, but it is alternated between all of the restaurants.We did however, really like being able to get a poolside sandwich at 2 a.m. when we returned from the beach. The seafood restaurant was dissapointing, my kids really like seafood, but they did not care for the crumbly shrimp and rubbery lobster. At breakfast they had lttle hotdogs? a omelette bar and lots of fruit and yoghurt, the kids tried the namebrand cereal and informed me that it was stale. Cuban coffee can't be beat for a good kickstart, and that was served all day, and just about everywhere. The pools were very big, and they had pool polo and a mini olimpics for the kids. I think the water could have been kept a little cleaner, there seemed to be a lot of leaves, bugs and hair floating in the hotel side pool. The villa rooms were big and kept very clean, but the decoration was unstimulating, and the sheets were always damp.The maids were amazing, hard working , and very nice. The waiters and waitresses were very polite and friendly, Julio was my favorite, my husband really got on with Mr. Pupo in the pool. The hotel has a sign that says "No Lifeguard" I suppose so people will watch their kids, but on 2 occasions kids got into trouble in the water and a lifeguard emerged and saved them. Please people- if your kids can't swim keep an eye on them! The dancers that put on the show are very proffesional, the big show on the hotel beach was like being in Havana. We got to know Jordania and Yuendsi from the dance team and they are really lovely girls. My 8 year old son even learned to dance! Down on the beach they have a nautical center. Leonardo and Pedro work long hard days to keep everyone safe and happy. The catamaran trip was the very popular with our group, and the snorkelling trip was a favorite. Even off the beach there is good snorkelling, my daughter went out for the first time (she's 12) and loved it. My son and husband came out to snorkell from a paddle boat, this can be tricky if the waves are high so it's probably smart to go out with the proffesionals if it's your first time. The beach at the hotel is not very good. It looks really pretty but there are alot of big sea urchines and the coral is sharp. Bring water socks and goggles. The public beach is very clear and beautiful, its about a 7 minute walk from Las Brisas. At the public beach there is a nice craft market with very good deals, I reccomend that if you see something you like you should buy it right away though, the vendors change daily. there is also a man called John who sells drinks from his gentle donkey "Toto" this was the highlight of our sons trip. Toto likes Bananas, John likes candy. We brought our boombox which was fortunate, the poolbar had no music for most of the day, and Jose Pupo was very glad to play his CD's and ours too. Well to sum up our stay I would say that we would probably return to this hotel now that we know the people, not for less than 2 weeks though. I think the food could be improved, although the variety was massive, the quality was lost perhaps because they tried to make too many things ! Also the pools should have been cleaner, the beach needs work, and the rooms could use redecorating.The hotel rooms were decorated very nicely though. The people would be the reason to return to this resort, but I could very easily see how a less adventuresom family could leave LasBrisas not knowing anything more about Cuba than how to mix a Mojito and how to fold a towel into the shape of a swan. Get out, get to the beach, go on the tour , meet the people, and don't be afraid to leave the hotel...Cuba is wonderful !
Myla Mesquita
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