|
Brisas Del Caribe 02/26/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
Flight :-)
Flight from Ottawa left late but made up the time in the air. Arrival at Brisas Del Caribe went smoothly since we were the only couple from Ottawa staying there. I witnessed during the two weeks we were there that when big groups showed up there seemed to be no problem. We were located on the third floor which is actually one floor above the lobby (Cuban ways :-) ). We needed a refrigerator for medicinal purposes and they were quick to get us one.
The Room
It was a good size for us with a king size bed. It was a bit musty smelling but that didn't bother us. I hear the rooms in the new section are bigger, but we didn't need anything bigger. You don't stay in the room that much anyway (unless you are the drunks down the hall from us). We had a good limited view of the ocean. This has to be the best bathroom we had in all of our trips down south. The size of it, shower hot water, water pressure and electrical. I had only one day were I had to do the shower dance, but I think that was due too the fact we had brief power outage while I was in the bathroom (of course). The location of the room was great. You were close to everything, unlike the new section were you had a distance to walk to the beach, buffet and lobby bars. Last but not least a special thank you to Barbara, our maid. She kept our room in fantastic shape each and every day, with a pleasant smile and Hi, how is your day going, each day.
The Grounds
The overall layout of the resort is nice, but they could use more washrooms. They should open up the area around the Grill Restaurant. They should cut a few trees down and install a bathroom there. In my opinion it would then be used more by the guests.
The Pools
Great, you had your choice , whether you were in a quiet mood or loud mood. They had a kids pool, main pool, quiet pool in the new section, a small fountain pool and hot tub, whatever you wanted.
The Beach
What can you say about the Varadero beach, it was fantastic, but that's coming from a guy who for the past two months has been looking at a snow covered lawn . I will have to say though, that Breezes Varadero has a bigger and better located beach, but not as clean as the one at Brisas.
The Restaurants
Well, here we go, everybody's favourite gripe against Cuba, the food. This year we went with a different attitude than last year. We did not compare it with the DR but with our experience from last year and we were pleasantly surprised. The Buffet was excellent. The variety was good from the pasta, fish, meat, to the fresh fruit, however the a la carte restaurants could use some improvements. Fantasia has to be the best restaurant they have. The Italian and Grill Restaurant need more variety ex: surf and turf = chicken and fish ???
The Bars
Numerous, were ever you are, the pool, the beach, the evening show, the new section and the lobby bars. If you want international drinks you have to go to the Arabica bar in the lobby, but if you want Cuban beer and drinks you can go to the Caribe bar in the lobby, it is not as busy. Say Hi to the best three bartenders and our friends at the resort, Marianela, Joaquin (Jack) and Julio. If you or your spouse have a birthday while you are there, tell Julio, he will set something up with the roaming musicians and champagne. Sandy loved it. We miss those guys already.
The Staff
What can you say, the staff at any resort makes or breaks your holiday experience. We will have to say that the staff at Brisas went out of their way to make our vacation one of the best we have had.
Excursions
We only went on one of the excursions offered by the Resort, that was the Sunset cruise . We heard that the river cruise was good too . The highlight of the sunset cruise was the dolphins swimming by the boat, the sunset was nice too.
We did the Havana tour which was awesome as we did the taxi way, instead of the bus tour.
Kids Program
We do not have any kids, so all I can do is comment on what we saw and that was that the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves so much, that they didn't want to leave to be with the parents.
Leaving Cuba :-(
Our plane was an hour late leaving, but it only took us three hours to get home to the cold .
Final Statement
I would also like to thank Estela Arenosa, the Sales Manager, who kept me and everybody else on the Internet, up to date on the renovations that were being done at Brisas Del Caribe. She was so accurate on her statements. Also we would like to thank Mario the Signature Vacation Representative who was there with helpful advice when you needed it. Finally in our opinion we would recommend this resort over Breezes Varadero when it comes to getting value for your dollar.
will
|
