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Iberostar Bella Costa 05/17/2004
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
Hola all,
Sorry I took so long for my review but here it goes...
Back on March 28th myself and my husband returned to Cuba for our 3rd time and it was our 2nd time staying at the Bella Costa. We usually always try and go for at least 2 weeks and I can actually say we were not ready to go home after 2 weeks there. We would go back again in a heart beat.
This resort is great, we were treated like royalty and because we were repeat guest we were given the same room we requested last year and a bottle of Havana rum in our room and our fridge was filled with pop, water and beer. It was great.
All the staff remembered us and it felt like seeing family again. All the staff from the bartenders, to the gardeners to the entertainers were amazing people. We stayed in contact with alot of them from last year so it was great seeing them again.
The rooms in the hotel are very clean and our maid was also an amazing woman. She was so very sweet. She left animals made out of towels and our drapes decorated every day with fresh flowers. It was beautiful.Don't forget to bring your facecloths for those who use them alot home. The resorts do not supply them. The hairdryer in the hotel was a liitle on the slow side, so if you are in a hurry for your hair to dry bring your own. They supply you daily with bottled water in your room as well. If you need extra just leave a note and they will leave you extra. We always left a little gift and a dollar for our maid just about daily. She was go very greatful everytime she saw us, it was thank you, thank you! It was great.
We took the main stairs of the hotel as the elevators were broken alot or very slow, so it was easier to take the stairs. We were on the 2nd floor so it wasn't a long hike to the room and it helped burn off some of the food I had eaten.
There are 3 a-la-carts and you should really book them asap in the morning at 9 am when the lady arrives to take your reservations. She is located in the front lobby at her own little desk area. You can't miss it.
We enjoyed the Italian restaurant. The food was great there, especially the chicken and beef dish... I know I said Italian.lol
The Cuban Creole a-la-cart is located down overlooking the beach! AMAZING view. It is a million dollar view for sure. Around 8pm the sun begins to go down and you can watch it while eating your supper overlooking the ocean. Boy do I miss that. This restaurant has alot of seafood on the menu and other things as well. It is all very tasty. I think we had everything on the menu.Not the one time! The other a-la-cart is in the hotel area close to the main buffet area. The steak house is good but the steak tends to be pretty tough. They, as well, have other things to choose from. They have pork, chicken and fish as well.
The main buffet opens for breakfast at 7am until 10am. I highly reccommend the omlettes. Yummy!
They have a continental breakfast that starts at 10am which is down by the beach area at the a-la-cart Creole.
Lunch begins at 1:00 pm in the main buffet area until 3:00, I believe, and then reopens for supper st 6:00 pm. They have a very big buffet for all three meals. It is not hard to find something you like if you are a picky eater. Lots to choose from.
The chocolate ice cream is a must!!
The main buffet also opens up in the evening for those late night eaters. It is open until 6 am in the morning and the guys that work the night shift are great guys. They will cook you up fries, hamburgers, hotdogs.They also have friut and rolls and other little things to eat if you didn't want heavy food to eat that late. I tryed to stay away from eating late at night but my husband couldn't get enough of George's famous hamburgers. I'm surprised he never gained weight! Lucky bugger. I put on 3 pounds. Oh well, it was worth it.
The beach area at this hotel is amazing. We had stayed at the other end when we first came to Cuba. We stayed at the Iberostar Tainos which is also an amazing hotel, alot smaller then the Bella Costa but just as nice. Both beach areas were beautiful.
The pool could be a little bigger but it did the job and they kept it very clean. When we first arrived the first couple of days people would go out early and reserve their chairs by the pool and then after a few days they stopped doing it. Which made me kind of happy that I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn and worry if I was going to get a chair. Just a little pointer for those sunbathers--the best sun area is over by the tree by the pool and bar area. You get sun all day and your only a hop, skip and a jump from the bar. No, there is no swim up pool bar, but it is pretty darn close. You are in reaching distance from in the pool and if you are too lazy to get out of the pool, the bartender will keep bringing your drinks to you . They are very friendly guys.
The Villas are beautiful as well. We got to see the standard villas as well as the bungalow family type villa. Let me tell you WOW is all I can say! It was huge, it had an upstairs and a downstairs and 3 bathrooms. One downstairs in the living room area and 2 upstairs off of the 2 bedrooms. They were really beautiful. It is worth the extra money for a large family to get for sure.
We also brought insulated mugs for our drinks, it kept it cold for a long time and they only provide you with small glasses so you would have to be always going back and forth to the bar. At least with the insulated mugs you only had a few trips...well I did anyway.lol
The shows in the evening were pretty good. They would have dance lessons around 8:30 and then the show would begin around 9:30. It was great fun doing the dancing everynight and then watching the shows. Sometimes we would head off to the disco then. After the shows everything pretty much comes to an end besides the lobby bar which stays open until 1am I believe or 1:30, I can't remember for sure but it was pretty late. You could also get beer in the main restaurant that stays open all night, for those party animals.
The good discos that we really enjoyed was... La Rumba which is directly next door to the Bella Costa, it is just a hop, skip and a jump. This disco has live music and a few dancers up until around midnight, then turns into a disco. It is really good on Friday and Saturday nights, the weekdays are pretty dead there. There are a few of the locals that go there and boy can they move. I get tired just watching them.
The spot to go during the week night is the Havana Club, which is a 3-4 dollar cab ride there. It was pretty good there, seemed to have alot of people there everytime we went. This spot is mostly all tourist. The Mambo Club is also a great spot to go which has live music and dancing for awhile before it becomes a disco.This is a bit further away from the Bella Costa and will cost around a 7 dollar cab ride to get there.
We went to the Continental disco. I wouldn't go back there. The live music was way to loud and not very clear. The dance floor was up on this little stage and there wasn't much room to move. Not to mention that it was dead there.
The Medditeranian is suppose to have all Cuban music with a live band, but unfortunately we didn't get there. Next year I will check that one out as well as the Pirates Cave Disco. Never got there either. Most all of the discos there is a 10 dollar cover but then your drinks are free. They usually close around 3 am.
Our resort had the golf course right next door as well, for those golfers. My husand didn't golf this time. He decided to Scuba dive and sky dive. he's loco(crazy)!
This resort is great for all age groups. We met older crowds as well as young. we got to meet alot of really great people from all over the world and we keep in contact with almost all of them now. There are plenty of young and old so everyone will be happy. The kids program which is called Lucy's Mini Club is great. Janexy does an amazing job with the children. They all love her. They have activities for the children all day . It is great for the parents to be able to relax while knowing the kids are in good hands at the mini club.
There is also always something for the adults to do as well. There is a list of activities you can participate in doing such as rifle shooting, bow and arrow, bowling, ping pong,and even bingo.
I would go down on the beach at 10 am and they would have stretching on the beach for a while. Then at 12:00 they would have water fitness in the pool. I tried to do a few things so my bones wouldn't seize up. lol. It was great having the option to do activities or just sit and suntan. The staff are great fun, everyone will have a great time at this resort. we love it there and I would HIGHLY recommend this resort to anyone in a heart beat!
Oh as well, I would highly recommend getting a safe for your belongings that you want locked up. It is a 2 dollar fee per day and it has to be paid upfront when you check in. You can also get your money changed up at the front desk if you need smaller bills or money changed to US curancy.
They don't have irons in the rooms but you can ask for one and they will get one for you.
I think I covered pretty much everything I could remember for now. If you have any questions please feel free to ask away!
Have a wonderful vacatione everyone and, who knows, maybe I'll see you on the beach next year!
There is a new Iberostar opening this winter and it is a 5 star so I may check that out next year if not we will be back to the Bella Costa once again. When we were there there were alot of repeat guest there, so thats a indication of what kind of a resort it is. We even recognized people we met last year that happened to be back the same time as us again. It was great.
I even got to met people from this forum who I chatted with before I left and they recognized me from our Bella Costa pictures on webshots and they were really great people. One of the ladies that I spoke with from this site got married down there. Her and her family are great people and their wedding turned out beautiful!
So thats all for now everyone,
take care and happy travelling!!
Jackie!!!!!
Jackie
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