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Villa Cuba 09/09/02
Reviewers Rating:  Fair
First off, sorry for any typo's I'm typing this quickly to get it all done. To begin, this was my 4th trip (Left on September 1 returned on September 8) to Cuba in 3 years and my 12th time to the Carribean so I have alot to compare Villa Cuba against. I have always made it a point to stay at 4 or 5 star hotels to ensure (or hope to ensure) a good time. However, Villa Cuba shot down that theory quickly. We arrived at the hotel at midnight on September 1, 2002. Our room was 2701 which is in the main building on the 7th floor. It was your average room with a king size bed, oceanview and good size bathroom very clean. Now keep in mind the hotel was only at approximately 25% capacity so one would expect everything to run well. To keep it short here's a list of why I would NEVER recommend this hotel unless you are looking for a 2 or 3 star property. 1. When showering before dinner you have have one of 2 choices - Hot Water or enough water pressure to keep the shower going. The only time you get both is either after 10pm at night or before 10am in the morning. 2. Not once did we see anyone keeping on top of cleaning the pool. Granted it was partially vacuumed about every 3rd day but then it was left in the pool for a few hours and never finished. Not once did see anyone cleaning out the bugs etc floating around in the pool. Needless to say when swimming you were constantly pushing the bugs, leaves and the odd plastic cup and straw out of the way. 3. If you want reservations at one of the restaurants, again there are 1 or 2 choices. You either line up at 8:15 - 8:30 in the morning for when they open at 9:00am when they are suppose to open (it's usually around 9:15am) or when they tell you the restaurant is full and there is no way to fit you in, offer them a few dollars and it will amaze you how quickly a spot opens up. As well, if there are locals staying at the hotel they apparently receive automatic entrance to any restaurant at any time. 4. Breakfast each and every morning will consist of the following: Scrambled eggs that can be eaten as soup, 5 minute hardboiled eggs, french toast (deep fried bread)or very rubbery pancakes depending on the day, unripe fruit, "meat crouquettes" which appear to resemble deep friend spam, boiled hot dogs (yes hot dogs) and an omlette station and salad bar.which is apparently adequate at best. There is NO way the food served at this resort is anywhere close to a 4 star rating. A 2 star would be fair and a 3 star would be pushing it. 5. We had a very good first impression of the front desk service. Check in was efficient and friendly. On day 2 I said good morning to one of the front desk personnel and asked if I could make a quick inquiry. The response? Can't you see I'm busy, go talk to him" pointing at her co-worker who grunted when we approached his counter. When we checked out we turned in our room key and that was it. No "thanks for staying at our hotel, how was everything" etc. I litterally said "Hola, we would like to check out" and handed the man our key. When I asked if we needed to sign anything the reply was "No" and that was that. On our last day our bus was 30 minutes late. I asked the front desk to call Air Transat to see if perhaps they missed us and was told in no uncertain terms to "Go sit down for another 30 minutes and then maybe i'll call" The bus arrived 15 minutes later so that took care of that. I must add that the maid service is very good and the maid left us a very nice note on our last day. This was a plus. Over all, the hotel is very old and very tired i'm surprised that with all the new resorts popping up around Varadero Villa Cuba doesn't try to compete. My honest advice to a fellow traveller? Take your hard earned money and spend it somewhere else. Stick with the Melia or Breezes chains, I've never had a bad experience with any of them. If your expecting a 4 star hotel with 4 star food and service, you won't be getting it at Villa Cuba.
Concerned
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