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Iberostar Tainos - Varadero 07/30/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
Together with my 2 best friends (we are girls 25 to 27) we made a 1 week tour around Cuba's main sights combined with another week of beach fun at the Iberostar Tainos in Varadero. Especially after the tour, the hotel was really worth the while!
People who love to see a bit of the island and get to know the people and the culture, I would highly recommand to book an organised circuit beforehand, because the excursions out of Varadero are all quite pricy and also a rather long journey away. Especially Havana, Trinidad and the Pinar del Rio province were really worth while in our opinion!
Out of Varadero we only booked the Catamaran tour including snorkling and swimming with dolphins. Also a unique experience that I would recommand to everyone!
But back to the Iberostar Tainos. Compared to the rather modest accommodation on our island tour, the Iberostar Tainos was a real palace! Clean spacious rooms with all necessary amenities (though I recommend to bring your own hair drier as the the one provided isn't very powerfull - and good news for the Europeans, in the bathroom even our continental European plugs can be used!)
Also restaurants, bars and public areas are very clean! pool is not too large but nevertheless never crowded. We spend most of our time at the lovely wide beach with plenty of umbrellas and lounge chairs.
The buffets were always very well taken care off, refilled regularly and the choice is more than reasonable! We didn't try the 2 a la carte restaurants as the main buffet always was pleasing enough to us. Also the choice of pizzas, snacks etc by the pool was more than sufficient. The only downside is that drinks are poured from a "pistol" like device which could cause to have few drops of cola left in your mineral water etc... But that's just a detail. The coctails - with abundant rum - were delicious! And unlike many other resorts in the Caribbean, also foreign spirits like Russian vodka, baileys, Irisch whiskey etc are included in the all-in formula. It even caters for daily fresh bottles of mineral water in the room.
The entertainment staff is , like all the other staff, extremely friendly and polite, trying to get you involved into activities without being pushy!The shows in the evening range from average to extremely high quality. Some dance performances could compete with the professional cabaret we saw in Havana! It's a pity there is no disco in the hotel, but the entertainment staff is willing to take all the people who feel like to the disco of a nearby hotel.
Varadero center is 8km away, but then again there isn't all that much to see ther except for a few souvenir markets. You cannot see the real "Cuba" in Varadero. Try to at least catch a glimpse of Havana already!
All in all, an excellent hotel to spend a lazy beach holiday in a good 4-star resort. The hotel is small enough to be remembered by the staff and to easily get acquainted with other guests.
for any additional questions, feel free to mail me
PS If anyone made pictures of the entertainment staff during Summer 2003, I would love to see/copy!
Kind regards, Tania (Belgium)
Tania
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