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Cuba Hotel & Villa Reviews

Gran Caribe Puntarena 04/17/2006
Reviewers Rating: Great
This was our first trip to Cuba and we got a great deal on this 3.5 star. We had a wonderfull time and really enjoyed the resort!!
Flight: Were hoping for Westjet but got Canjet instead as the flight times seemed better. The flight was uneventful. We did end up leaving a half hour early on our way home. Could have gotten Westjet with night time booking, but I think the morning arrival at the resort is good, plus you then don't have to pay for late check out if you want to keep your room ($35).
Resort: For an older resort, it is well kept up and very clean. The elevators can be bad, with only 2/3 working during the best of times, and only 1/3 sometimes. We were never in much of a rush though anyways, afterall....we were on vacation...who cares about elevators...!! We were informed that the resort will be shut down for 2 months this summer for renovations. They will be replacing the elevators and re-doing the rooms which I think will make this even a better place!! We only experienced the oil refinery smell on the canal-side room one night. To walk from lobby to the beach only takes about a minute; very convinent to go back to the room if you forgot something. The grounds are well kept with lots of greenery inside the lobby as well. There are lots of pool tables, ping-pong tables, foosball etc...in the lobby as well, although we didn't stray far from the beautiful beach.
Room: Never thought the housekeepers could make so many arrangements with towels....!! Elephants, swans, boats on water, hearts, and a nice "BYE" with flowers for our last day. The rooms are very clean with new looking sheets. There is a free safe, and an empty fridge in the room.
*TIP* it can be a noisy if you have a room with an adjoining door.
*TIP 2* The water pitcher in bathroom makes a great pitcher to bring drinks or beer back to room :)
Beach: The beach was very nice and there is no problem getting a palapas with plenty of chairs. Yes the sand did have shells in it and was more course. One advantage of this sand though was that when the wind picked up, the sand was not fine enough to blow around. Beach bar and daytime restaurant right on the beach which was nice. They make the best pina coladas and mojitos ...tell Alex we said hello!! We only had one day with a red flag, green the rest.
*TIP* The vender on the beach will trade easily for Tim's mug full of cola ;) and the prices are comparable to the markets in Varadero.
Pool: The pool was nice and had lots of chairs. They do need some palapas or umbrellas around the pool as it can be hard to find shade. The music was too loud at times depending on where you sit, and the activities from the resort next door could be loud at times as well. Bar located here too, but there was one rather rude bartender, so we preferred the beach bar whenever it was open.
Food: We heard so many different comments on the food; think it just comes down to people just liking different things. We were not in Canada any more and not eating Canadian food. As long as you realize that, you'll be fine. The Cuban food is better than their attempt at Canadian, so just go with an open mind and try new things! The Beach resturant (open for lunch) had some good burgers and the fish was absolutely wonderful. The fries everywhere on the resort were better than a lot of fries I've had back home. The lunch buffet was great and served awesome shrimp one day. We preferred the International Restaurant to the Italian...food was better in our opinion, and the service was great. If you get a chance and like smoked salmon it is delicious, and the seafood platter has wonderful lobster on it, and the biggest shrimp we'd ever seen! The buffet was good with some change from day to day. At breakfast, the omelets and French toast were awesome!! Love their syrup. Condiments look different than ours but good ..... this is Cuba, not Canada.
*TIP*; Bring little packets of ketchup and mayo, mustard, peanut butter, jams if you are picky about these things. The Cuban ones are good but not Canadian ;)
Staff: Everyone was absoutely wonderful!! After getting to know the staff for a week you really do appreciate how hard they work. They were friendly, informative, and would bend over backwards for you. Our dollar store goodies seemed to be appreciated a great deal, especially the pens and gum/candy. They also seemed to love anything for the kids, and if you have a beat up old CD player you want to get rid of...gold!!
Excursions: We did 2 hotel excursions, and a trip to Varadero on our own: (1) The 1/2 day snorkling/cave swim for 30 pesos which was more like 3 hours instead of half day, but well worth the money in our opinion. The coral reef was awesome, with the guide throwing bread at you and surrounding you with fish. You just swim the surface from shore with plenty to see and enjoy. The cave was amazing, with a lagoon in it to swim in. Lots of stalagmites. Bring a mask here so you can see how deep the water really is with underwater stalagmites. We bought a disposable underwater camera in Canada for this excursion. (2) We also went to Havana on a day tour. The guide spoke very good English and was very knowledgable of the history. It was a nice trip and history lesson. Old Havana is incredible, and although we wouldn't go again, we are glad that we made the trip.
The Varadero Beach double decker tour bus from the resort is worth the 5 pesos. We stayed on and went by all the resorts in Varadero to compare for next year! We then got off at street 55 and walked to street 15 to visit the markets. Good prices here, but they don't haggle very much, just one or two pesos. Easy walk and no one bothers you ... very safe.
All in All: We had a wonderful time amd would go back again. The drinks including the beer were great. Lots to do if you want to just stay around the hotel, and very easy to get to know other guests. Lot's of Canadians, especially Maritimers!! This resort will easily be a 4 star after the renovations in our opinion, but a solid 3.5 star now and a great value for what we paid!! Thanks for a great vacation Puntarena!

Nadine and John

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