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Bella Costa 06/08/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
May 24 to Jun 1, 2003. Weíre a couple from TO age 39 and 40; this was our fist visit to Cuba; hesitated many times, but were pleasantly surprised. We really enjoyed Cuba and Bella Costa (been many places from 3 to 5 star destinations and enjoyed them all.) Iíll point out as much info about the resort (not our vacation) some points not necessarily a concern to us, but maybe to others. Remember this was not busy season. Enjoy!
Staff: Every person working on the resort was very friendly and helpful. All very accommodating; good service. Check-in very easy. Check-out 5 minutes.
Rooms: Spacious, clean, bright, nice, comfortable. Air worked great; t.v. approx 10 channels, CNN, few movie channels, etc. Mini-fridge with large bottle of water daily. Big bathrooms; tiles can be slippery when wet; tubs a bit tall, narrow, watch getting in and out. Our room had 2 double beds pushed together (not bad). Had a great view of the pool and ocean, rm 376. No clocks, good closet space, not many drawers, lots of counter space, mirrors, floor length mirror, hairdryer, safe. Good water pressure. Nice balcony. At first bedding felt a bit damp with a very slight musty smell; once we ran the air it was fine; we also brought some air-fresheners and linen spray from home.
Grounds: Gorgeous, very lush, lots of trees, well groomed and always clean. The resort is not too large or set back; easy to get around, no long hot walks to beach; little pathways in different directions, some with a few steps, some ramps.
Beach: Calm turquoise clear water. Beautiful stretch of beach; in one direction thereís a nice cliff, in the other direction you can walk towards town past the other resorts. The beach restaurant/bar is perched on the beach; there are palapa huts along the beach on both sides of the restaurant. One side is wider and quieter; the other side (cliff side) narrower and livelier with music and activities; or walk to the cliff for total privacy. You donít have to walk out far for comfortable swimming; but could due to sandbars. Nice sandy bottom, very teeny tiny slope into water. Lifeguard on duty, beach always clean. Had a waiter on the beach for drinks. Few trees by the volleyball area and towards the back of the beach (not palm fringed beaches; rely on palapa huts for shade.) Some slopes and sand-hills on the beach, more to the narrow side. On certain days the odd cart-pushing vender along the shoreline, no one bothers you, nice to watch. Beach has lots of charm.
Watersports: Peddle-boats, kayaks, sailing, snorkel gear; free; were available everyday.
Activities: There was always something going on; water aerobics, volleyball, games, bike tours, etc. Youíll receive a roster at check-in.
Pool: Nice clean and refreshing, not huge but fair size. Loungers all the way around the pool, not much shade. Donít jump in, pool as shallow as 2 ft near edges, but gets deeper in the middle. No handrails to get in and out; but shallow and large steps to walk right in. Small kids pool also. You cannot see the beach from the pool due to the stage and trees; however the beach is just behind the trees (seemed the same at other resorts; some more set back; some thicker trees; Bella Costa is very beachfront; we prefer more open to the beach). Pool bar with lots of chairs and tables. At certain times the pool has watersports, music and dance lessons.
Play Area: Near the beach/pool an indoor kids playhouse; outdoor little playground. Picnic benches in the shade; ping pong shuffleboard. Can see the beach from here.
Lobby Area: Very nice and large with tables, chairs, sofas; piano player at night, plus a large lobby bar with lots of seating, good drink menu with both alcohol / nonalcoholic drinks, served in glassware. Shops: costume-jewellery; cigars; photo-lab; souvenirs; variety store with pop, snacks, liquor, toiletries, etc. Prices were good especially for a resort. Vender stands on certain days.
Food: Good and tasty, nothing was blah. Some ala-carte items were not to our liking. Good variety and choices on where to eat, food always being replenished. They have ketchup, hot sauce, HP, oil-vinegar; most condiments. Every restaurant has a salad bar; selection of cheese, bread, cold cuts, pickles, etc. (Remember itís not your Town and Country buffet or 5 star restaurant; but once you look it over there is something for everyone.) Cappuccinos, espressos, very good. Always a place to eat or drink at the resort. Every place served wine, poured at the table from the bottles. Only the Mediterranean had a wine menu with supplement. Lots of fish, calamari, shrimp-with heads; no lobster.
Main Buffet: Is indoors; serves, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Smoking section at the back (bit warm) cooler at the front, narrow, more cafeteria style, but clean and bright with windows. Burgers, fries, made to order stations; pasta at dinner, omelets at breakfast, (some items looked like they didnít belong) but had pancakes, waffles, bacon, cereal, pastries, fresh fruit, juice and much more. Good variety.
Beach Restaurant: Great view! Serves buffet continental breakfast (good).
Buffet lunch; (tasty; pizza, paella, pork chops, chicken, burger/fries, great ice cream; much more) certain days/times they have a barbeque which was very good. Casual, go straight from the beach; can also take lunch back to the beach.
Dinner; ala-carte, good soup, didnít care much for our meals; great ambiance! The other half of the restaurant is a bar so even if you donít get reservations you can sit and have a drink. Real nice!
Steak House: Ala-carte dinner. Itís on the other side of the wall to the buffet restaurant; no windows, no views, but done up nice enough. Found most beef dishes tough to chew.
Mediterranean: Ala-carte dinner. On the grounds by the villas; fanned cooled, floor to ceiling windows that open; canít see the beach thru the trees, a bit warm, nice little place. Wine menu at a cost.
Snack bar: Hut by the pool, looked like burgers, hotdogs and fries.
Late night snacks: Opened at 11pm (in steak house) salad bar, burgers, fries hotdogs; pastries; tasty (or was it just a few too many mojitoís ha)
Entertainment: Stage is outdoors by the pool, shows every night from 9 to 11pm. Very entertaining; ranging from good dancers and singers to silly audience participation shows. Lots of tables and chairs or lie on a pool lounger; good wait service for drinks. Pool-bar is large and lit up at night. On Fri and Sat they also had a band playing from 7 to 8 pm.
Karaoke: Room with large screen t.v; lots of chairs; 2 pool tables (no bar).
Disco: Closed for renovations; looked nice; itís at the end of the property by the cliff and has windows facing the beach (large parking lot so not sure it itís open to those off the resort. Not sure when it is re-opening.) Lots of people went to the lobby bar after the shows; always a good crowd.
Internet: $6 US for an hour or you can purchase less. Donít have to use it all at once.
Transportation: Cabs; horse and buggy; or yellow helmet looking 3 wheeled scooters (ha): prices are in US; easy to get right at the resort door. Also, car and scooter rentals. Lots of excursions (didnít take any...next time).
Fare to town: (Cab: $5) (Horse-buggy: priced per person $5pp)
Horse-buggy also offers a tour (1.5 to 2 hrs)
Plaza America: (other side of cliff), $4 cab ride; sometimes theyíll change the rate, ask first. Not much there; bank, ATM, grocery store (with everything), few restaurants; Pizza Nova, few shops. Nice place to walk around and see other resorts.
Can ride a double-decker bus up and down the peninsula. You can walk to the bus stop (bit of a walk) or take a $2 cab ride to the stop. Front desk has schedule, bus $2 pp and can be used all day; you can get on and off the bus. Fun and a good way to see things.
To Havana: They offer 3 different bus tours or; cabs $150 US.
Private-drivers (can set up by front desk or beach staff) $100 to $120 US.
We took a cab from the airport to the resort; $30 US.
Town: Varadero is different then most Caribbean towns; not many people out; itís a long street; places are spread out; flea-markets, a few shops, lots of little places to eat or have a drink; both indoor and palm-thatched roofs; ranging from cheap to average. One night we ate at the place with the old pink Cadillac (name?) nice place, palm-thatched roof, good food, nice atmosphere and live music ($32 US- dinner for with two with 2 drinks and 2 espressos). Fun to see the old cars driving by. Take the horse and buggy rides.. real nice. Youíll get serenaded at most places. Friendly!
Money: Front desk will exchange Canadian cash to US. No bank machines or credit card advances. We were told the ATMís and banks at; Plaza America, airport and in town, will distribute cash by use of credit cards only; do not accept bankcards.
Weather: Rainy season; had no problems. A few days it rained around 3:30 pm for an hour then cleared up and the sun came back out. You would see the water getting rough then the dark clouds rolling in. Nothing much; nice break anyhow. Just one day it rained in 1pm for an hour, cleared up then again at 5pm for the entire night - electrical storm; power went out 3 times, but back on within 5 seconds. Didnít rain everyday. Usually a nice little breeze; some nights muggy, others just nice. Mosquitoes at night, mainly towards the beach.
Other: Didnít see a dress code in effect; mixed crowd and mixed dress attire; mainly Europeans at this time of year. Didnít see ground floor rooms; just in the villa section. There are 3 large elevators with mirrors inside, or large bright open stairs. Power in rooms are run by your door key, which is actually a card. Staff will take tourists to discos; one fee gets you there/back and drinks (approx $10). Hotel has security; some resorts wonít allow you to walk around or take a look. Resort was only half full; so canít say for sure if there are enough chairs and shade for a full house, we had no problems; lots of empty loungers (looks like you could stick your chair in between huts if they are taken). Pool was pretty empty; beach had a good crowd. Check-out is 12 noon, for $30 you can have late check-out 6pm, which is the time the bus takes you back to airport for the Sat 9pm flight to Toronto (so not bad at all).
Bartenders would make up any drink you asked for; love those mojitoís! We brought the large mugs that we heard so much about on the forum; didnít use them till half way thru the week at the beach; they had no problem filling them for us. (Mojito: made with rum, soda water, lime juice, sugar and fresh mintÖ. real tasty)
Summary: The resort is very nice and done up tastefully. We walked the beach from town to Bella Costa (long walk), the beach all the way along is really nice, but we really liked Bella Costaís beach; more scenic. We also liked this location of the peninsula; resorts on the other side of cliff looked more remote. All the resorts looked nice from the street; but we were very happy with our choice!
This resort deserves its 4 star rating.
Happy Travels!
L & E
Ps: We always bring Pepto and take a swig every morning; coats the stomach, really works. Drink lots of bottled water. Had no stomach problems. Due to no incoming flights, airline changed the schedule and we flew home Sun morning instead of Sat night. Oh ya, guy with soft drinks at airport by buses ñ not free.
Enjoy, relax and make the best of your trip!
L & E
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