|
El Senador, Cayo Coco 08/12/2005
Reviewers Rating:  Good
After reading some mixed reviews about El Senador, Cayo Coco, so I wasn’t too sure what to expect. Our only other visit to Cuba was in 2003 to Varadero where we stayed at the LTI Varadero (now Playa Alameda) and had a fantastic time. We booked El Senador for our honeymoon (July 17-24) because I found a great deal online and also, we got engaged in Cuba on our first trip so we thought it was fitting to return for our honeymoon.
We are pretty low-key travelers…basically, our standards are- if there is no dead body in the hotel room, we will sleep there. I just had to state that so readers will know where I’m coming from in this review. We did make the mistake of staying at the Four Seasons on our wedding night, so we kinda got spoiled a bit before we left for El Senador. Although, we definitely weren’t expecting the same standards in Cuba.
Booking- 10/10
We booked online through www.sunholidays.com and had no troubles. I actually called in to book through an agent. Our agent really impressed us with her level of customer service. When I made the initial booking, the flight times had not been announced yet. Once they were available, our agent called us to let us know, and then she called us again to tell us that there was a change in flight times (even though it clearly states on the ticket that it’s our responsibility to check flight times before departure). And she called us again to let us know that the “adult pool” at El Senador was closed for maintenance. Always quick to answer emails, Jeannette was a pleasure to deal with. She provided better service than I was expecting from an online travel agency.
Flight- 8/10
We flew Air Cubana. Departures were a few minutes late on each trip but made up for time in the air and we arrived on time at our destination and at home. My only complaint was that they showed the same bad movie (“Sahara”) on both trips. Drinks such as pop, juice and booze cost extra and they didn’t offer any bottled water like they did last time. A small meal was provided on each trip consisting of a bun, lunch meats, cheese, fruit salad, small orange juice and a dessert.
Check In- 8/10
They only had one staff member working at the front desk checking everyone in…and it was painfully slow (not that we were in a huge rush to get anywhere), but I just think they should have had an extra person working. We arrived around 11:30am and our room wasn’t going to be ready until 2:00pm. So we left our luggage at the front desk, had lunch and some drinks. Around 2:00pm, we got a lift to our room by golf cart but it turned out that the room still hadn’t been cleaned yet. We left our luggage in the corner, changed into our bathing suits and went down to the beach. By the time we got back around 3:30pm, the room was ready.
Room- 8/10
As it was our honeymoon, we were upgraded from a Jr. Suite to a villa on the lagoon. It was a good size and had a very cottagey feeling…it smelled like cottage and was as clean as one too. I cursed myself for leaving the Lysol wipes at home. Level of cleanliness- I did NOT want to walk around barefoot on the floor. Our air conditioning worked fine but a few other couples in the villas said that theirs was broken. The fridge was useless as it didn’t keep anything cold. On a few days we didn’t receive our bottled water refill so we would just go to the lobby bar or a la carte restaurant and ask for a new bottle. It would have been nice if we had received pop and beer in the fridge too, but we didn’t.
We didn’t receive any special treatment for being honeymooners other than the room upgrade and a warm bottle of cheap champagne left on our coffee table.
Maid service was adequate as our beds were always made and clean towels were provided on a daily basis when we threw the used ones in the tub. The clean towels and sheets were often stained…we knew they were clean as in they had been washed, but stains were still apparent.
We left cash tips and gifts for our maid but NEVER caught a glimpse of her. Most days, our room was cleaned by 1:00pm. One day, we left our room in a hurry for a day trip and forgot to leave a tip. When we got back to our room around 1:00pm, the room hadn’t been cleaned yet. We left a tip and went out for lunch. When we got back, the room was cleaned. Not sure if the maid was waiting for her tip before she cleaned the room or she might have been running behind that day.
There was a balcony in our room that over looked the lagoon. I’ve read a lot of complaints about the lagoon being stinky, etc. The lagoon doesn’t smell that bad…it has a bit of an odour but it’s not half as bad as say driving by an open sewage plant in Toronto. I thought the lagoon was really interesting…we would always see different types of fish, birds, jellyfish, turtles, and crabs in the murky waters. I think the lagoon is a unique feature of the resort. It smells like nature should smell.
We did need an electrical converter for any thing we wanted to plug in. Our room had a hair dryer but we were not able to plug in our camera recharger.
There was a safe with a key in our room but we didn’t use it. After reading a few postings on message boards about theft at the resort, we decided to keep all our money, passports, valuables locked in our suitcase and it was fine.
About insects in the room- previous visitors reported that they had ants in their rooms so we prepared ourselves by bringing some ant traps. They were not necessary as we didn’t see any insects at all. I saw one ant in the bathroom on the first day and killed it. End of story.
Resort Layout- 10/10
This resort is pretty expansive but we didn’t find anything to be inaccessible. Since it was low season, the Emperador side of the resort was closed. Our room, located on the lagoon, was quite central. It was a short walk to the beach, restaurants and main lobby. We did venture over to the Emperador side to have a look but we never felt we were too far from our home. For guests who have difficulties walking, then this is probably not the best resort choice. Although we did see golf carts that were constantly ferrying guests from one place to another.
Beach- 10/10
The strip of beach was the best! It was so clean, no garbage or jellyfish washed ashore. There were never any problems getting chairs or shade.
Beach towels were provided in our rooms and we could exchange them for clean ones at the hut by the main pool. It was nice to not have to leave a cash deposit for the towels as we had done in Varadero.
Pools- 10/10
Two pools were open during our stay…the main pool and then the “quiet pool” on the Emperador side. We noticed that the main pool was always full and the chair reservers were out in full force. At the quiet pool, there was never more than 10 people there at a time and the swim up bar was fabulous. Pools were extremely clean and water temperature was perfect.
Food
Buffet- 6/10
A La Carte Restaurants- 8/10
Since it was the low season, only the main buffet was open, but the food there was pretty scary, and I am NOT a picky eater! At breakfast for the first few days, they served Tang instead of fresh orange juice…and we had to stand in line to receive a small glass! I missed the self-serve freshly squeezed orange juice at our previous resort in Varadero. Towards the end of the week, they started serving fresh orange juice again. Breakfast choices included omelets, pancakes, sausages, crispy bacon and fresh bread…the buns are a bit crusty and hard on the outside but once I cut into them, the bread on the inside was soft and fresh.
Service at the buffet was minimal, and the silverware and plates always looked dirty. Linens were always covered with crumbs from previous eaters. In the mornings, we basically had to throw ourselves in front of a server to get a coffee.
For lunch, we ate at the pool restaurant and the beachside restaurant. Both were good but the beachside restaurant was better. And yes, the poutine was good- a bit different than home but still very tasty.
For dinner, we ate at the a la carte restaurants. Three were open: the Italian restaurant, the Cuban/Steakhouse and the seafood restaurant. In previous reviews, people mentioned that reservations were not needed since it was low season. This was not true. On our first night, we arrived at the Cuban/Steakhouse around 7:00pm…we were informed that reservations were needed and even if we had them, we would not be seated until 8:00pm, the next dinner seating time. The restaurant was empty…I think there was a total of 6 table occupied at the time we entered so I have no idea why we had to wait until 8:00pm to be seated. We went to the lobby to enquire and were told that we would have to return the next morning at 9:00am to book our reservations for the a la carte restaurants. The reservation process was relatively easy…we just filled out a form and checked off the restaurants, dates and times that we wanted. After that, there were no issues at any of the a la carte restaurants. There were no restrictions on how many a la cartes we could choose and we didn’t notice a strict dress code. Short and golf shirts were okay for the guys and ladies could wear anything that wasn’t beachwear.
The Italian restaurant was probably the worst out of the three…pasta was extremely salty and service was lacking. It was so bad that even though we had a reservation for a second night, we chose to eat at the buffet.
The Cuban/Steakhouse was very nice and service was alright. We ate there on Thursday night, which was the seafood night and we were served lobster. One thing that we noticed about seafood at this resort is that everything is drenched in a greasy pool of butter. We wished they had given the butter on the side so we could add it ourselves. We ended up eating here twice.
The seafood restaurant was the best. Portions were generous and we had a very sweet waiter who went out of his way to make sure we had the best meals.
We didn’t try to VIP restaurant as it had an extra cost of $25 CCP per person.
The best- Cuban coffees and cappuccinos.
The worst- Green tomatoes. At first I just thought that their tomatoes were just that colour, but upon tasting, I realized it was just because they were unripe.
Bars- 9/10
The advantage of going to Cuba in low season is that there was never a long wait for drinks at the bar. We enjoyed the virtually deserted Cigar Lounge for after dinner cappuccinos and a game of pool. The main lobby bar was a good place to grab a few drinks when we couldn’t stand to watch the nightly entertainment anymore. And the swim up bar at the quiet pool was great.
Service at the bars was adequate but we didn’t feel any love from the bartenders. It felt a bit “Soup Nazi”-ish…just order the drink and move to the side.
Entertainment- 6/10
Okay, it’s not Broadway, so we didn’t expect any fantastic performances. Three out of the seven shows was fashion shows featuring hideous macramé outfits (who wears these anyways?). There was a Super DJ show which featured Celine Dion and Britney Spears impersonators. On another night, they attempted to do some skits and comedy (that was the night we ended up doing tequila shots at the lobby bar). Thank god we had a TV in our room…and I never thought I’d be so happy to watch Pauly Shore’s reality show. We did enjoy the house bands that played before the shows each night and the more traditional dance routines.
Excursions
Boat Adventure (formerly Jungle Tour)- 10/10
Price- $39 CCP per person
I’ve always had a Miami Vice fantasy of driving a speed boat through mangroves. We arrived at a marina and each couple got their own small speed boat. Then, we were off, tearing through the mangroves with the tour guide like Don Johnson on a manhunt. After a 40-minute thrill ride, we arrived at a small inlet and were given snorkel equipment. The current at the inlet was quite strong but we saw some interesting fish. We also got to see a Cuban rodent, actually two. They looked like muskrats and ate the bread and bananas we fed it.
Half Day Catamaran Tour- 10/10
Price- $42 CCP per person
This was another good excursion off the resort. We left in the morning around 9:00am and were back by 1:00pm. The catamaran took us to two snorkeling sites and a sandbank. The snorkeling was fun except jellyfish were everywhere in the water. Weather was fantastic and the boat ride was relaxing.
Glass Bottom Boat Tour- 5/10
Price- $20 CCP per person
I would not recommend this trip. We were picked up on shore by the resort and driven out not too far to a snorkel site. I’m pretty sure we could have probably found this snorkel site on our own if we had borrowed a sea kayak from the resort. Plus, I got extremely sea sick and I NEVER get motion sickness…I have a stomach of steel but on this ride, I wanted to hurl. Not a pretty sight.
Money Exchange- 10/10
We exchanged money twice on this trip. Once at the airport as we got off the plane and once at the resort. The money exchange at the resort is located at a small building by the gym. No problems with either transactions.
Tip: The $1 denomination comes in a coin and bill form. When I asked for small bills at the airport, I was given 25 $1 coins, which made it heavy to carry around so I should have specified that I wanted it in bills, NOT coins.
Weather- 9/10
It was stinkin’ hot during the day! But we took full advantage of the pool and ocean to cool off. At night, it was quite humid and hot (do not bring any long pants, you won’t be needing them!).
On the days and evenings that there was a breeze, there weren’t too many mosquitoes. Once the wind died down, the mosquitoes did flock, but considering we were out in the bush on an island, mosquitoes were to be expected. There wasn’t any big city smog or pollution to kill them off. We did bring bug spray as advised by previous visitors but we didn’t use it as we didn’t feel the mosquitoes were that big of a problem. Though I did wish I would have brought a small citronella candle to burn when we were sitting outdoors at night.
Even though there was a tropical storm passing by the Caribbean the week we were there, Cayo Coco was virtually untouched by it. It did rain on a few nights and the thunder storms are amazing! And it did rain for about 20 minutes during one day.
Clientele
The week we were there, the resort was filled with a majority of families with young children (age 2-14), and a lot of the activities and entertainment was geared towards the kids. There were a few other honeymoon couples. Most of the guests were from Quebec. At times, we felt like we were the only English speaking people at the resort.
Final Words
For all intents and purposes, we did enjoy our honeymoon. It gave us some time alone to unwind after a hectic wedding, and I didn’t have to do anymore planning…in fact, I did nothing at all for a whole week! We had a good time because we were together…the location wasn’t too important.
Would we go back to El Senador? Probably not. The resort itself didn’t overly impress us. It was just adequate.
Would we recommend it to others? Only if you can get a really good price (I’m talking about ½ the regular price).
Would we recommend to other honeymooners? Only if you’ve been to Cuba before and know what to expect, if you don’t have super high standards and if you have high tolerance like us…people keep telling us that Mexico is better.
TravellerGal
|
