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sol rio de luna y mares 04/15/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Great
Date of stay: March 22 to April 5/03
Overall opinion: Nice resort, staff friendly and helpful especially the activity staff. Beach beautiful, with lots of palapas and trees for shade.
Rooms: We were told that the rooms at the Mares have been refurbished "recently" but it did not appear so. All the rooms at the Mares have twin beds. The closet space is small and there is only a small unit with 2 drawers. It can be noisy up until 2am as most of the entertainment takes place at the Mares. The Luna is quieter and may be preferred by families or those wanting to retire early. King sized beds are available. The closets are large and there is a chest with 4 large drawers. There are hairdryers in the bathrooms and portable CD players in the rooms. In the Luna they don't supply washcloths, so bring your own. Bathrooms in both the Mares and the Luna have a bidet. Room changes from one side of the resort to other were quickly accomodated.
Food: The Mares buffet is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Luna buffet is open for breakfast and dinner. All four alacarte restaurants are open for lunch and dinner. Reservations are required for dinner. They start taking reservations at 4pm the day before so be in line at 3:45 to avoid disappointment. There is a good selection at both buffets. Men are required to wear long pants for dinner at all restaurants including the buffets.
Hotel Amenities: The Mares has a sundry shop, liquor store, cigar store and a camera shop. Prices for liquor and cigars was the same as in Guardalavaca. The Luna has a sundry shop also. These carry suntan lotion, toiletries and t-shirts and some gift items
Entertainment: excellent most nights, especially the ballet aquatica and the Cuban and Caribbean reviews.
Snorkeling: This was disappointing. The water in front of the resort is clear, but there are no fish. You can take a free excursion twice a week with the activities staff to the other side of the Rio de Oro to snorkel. There was a good variety of fish, but few of them. The coral was nice and varied.
Excursions: The ones we took were:
Santiago de Cuba by bus - this was a long day (7:30 a.m. till 8:30 p.m.). It takes approximately 3 hours each way. On the way to Santiago we stopped at the Castro family plantation museum just opened to the public in the last few weeks. Visited revolution square, a fortress in the harbour and a rum and cigar factory and then free time in the center of town.
Challenge Tour - took jeeps into the back country and visited a medical clinic, a small one room school, a store and a farm where you could go for a short horseback ride. Then took a zodiac ride in a protected bay. We stopped for lunch at a hotel (not great). It was a great way to see the real Cuba and meet some of the people.
Aquarium: The swim with the dolphins was the highlight, but we did not know what to expect and therefore did not have someone ready to take pictures when the dolphins come up behind and push you up and through the water. The dolphin and sea lion shows were nice, but overall we felt it was overpriced at $77.00US.
You can go to Guardalavaca which is approx. 4 km away by bike, horse and buggy ($6.00US each way) or a train-like shuttle ($2.00US/per person each way)or taxi which is approx. $4.00US each way.
The Mares has 2 computers where you can access the Internet for $1.00/10 min.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay at this resort and would recommend both the resort and this area of Cuba.
Marj Hill
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