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Sandals Royal Hicacos 12/20/2004
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
Grant and Linda
Sandals Royal Hicacos
Nov. 28 to Dec. 5, 2004
Won’t go into detail on our departure. Suffice to say, our plane (though a First Air 727 rather than the scheduled Zoom 767 due to some mechanical problem) left on time and we arrived in Varadero on schedule. Breezed through customs and were very pleased when our bags were among the first off the plane. We arrived at SRH within an hour after touchdown.
Concierge was ready for us with glasses of champagne (or bubbly), cold towels and the key to our home-away-from-home, room 2911. As in our two previous visits, the room was impeccably clean and shows very few signs of wear and tear. Some changes have been made including a new lock for the patio/balcony doors (the old device did not always latch properly) and a phone in the bathroom (I’m just not quite sure why – guess it must be important to some people).
Awaiting us was our welcome home note with bottle of bubbly. Our bags were delivered within five minutes. We had packed the beach essentials in our carry-on so we decided to leave the brunt of unpacking until later and quickly changed into our bathing suits.
We were soon off to the beach. The surf was a little high but still within the yellow flag range. I don’t think I can ever tire of this expanse of sand and sea. For beach people, an absolute paradise! The added plus was that throughout the week, the weather was ideal – mostly sunny, very warm for late November/early December and never a red flag.
This vacation was about total relaxation, which we knew we would find at SRH. So, I will not give a detailed day-to-day report. Let’s just say that we were not disappointed and very pleasantly surprised in many ways.
Accommodations / Grounds: In our experience, housekeeping and grounds maintenance were meticulous. The difference in growth from nine short months ago is remarkable and the property is looking very lush with blooming clematis covering the trellises and bamboo trained to form archways over some paths. Simply beautiful and creates a very intimate and relaxing atmosphere.
Rustic wood on the raised walkway to the beach and on the “bridges” on pathways is slowly being replaced by planed planks - which makes for smaller gaps and much surer footing.
There must have been efforts to reduce the “aroma” from the weeping beds/holding tanks that border the beach access area. We were quite pleased that on only one day, this trip, did we get a “whiff”. I might tend to heighten the ventilation stack to further reduce the problem. But, then again, I’m not an expert and they seem to be on top of things.
Restaurants: The Caribe wins hands down for atmosphere. We enjoyed the Beach Bar and Grill for casual lunches. Don Pasquale’s still offers the wonderful afternoon pizzas and, in our opinion, is an excellent choice for an intimate dinner (even if I did find the chicken a little dry). The buffet restaurant, with its cook station offers plenty of options for good food although it seemed a little limited from other trips. Still, having had the opportunity (just trying to be nice) to sample buffet at another resort this trip, SRH gets a big 1-Up here. – details follow in the “flight delayed” segment of this report –
Bars: El Mirador (the Lobby Bar) quickly became our favourite – mainly because we could always share a few words and laughs with the best-of-the-best…Rodney or Carlito, Middrey and Yaneth (though the ladies actually work the pool bar, they always appeared for a daily welcoming). Roberto, Lester, Amarylis and the rest of the team also sparkled. Piano Bar provided excellent service but something seemed to be missing. Maybe it was Ric, Brad and Rod (Guys, unless we can arrange a reunion, it will never have quite the same attraction)!
Service: We’ve had very little reason to complain in three visits. But, we must say, service this year was outstanding. The staff seems to be more outgoing than ever…engaging people in conversation, presenting tissue flowers to flattered guests. Sincerely, they are a delight to be around.
And we now come to management. The food and beverage manager, is simply amazing. He could be seen at all hours, inspecting the daily offerings, pointing out where improvements could be made. Yet, he still had the time to visit with us and personally organize our visit to Princesa del Mar.
The General Manager, now here’s a man who knows his business. I truly believe that the very special atmosphere of SRH is directly attributed to his knowledge of the clientele and his sincere desire to please. He continues to impress me immensely.
Entertainment: Nobody should expect Las Vegas type shows. Hello, this is Cuba! Ray, the entertainment manager, works very hard to help people enjoy their vacation. We saw more people attend the evening shows than we had on previous visits. The water ballet continues to be a crowd favourite.
The saxophonist and house band that play the lobby bar every evening seemed to have a rejuvenating effect on everyone who had spent a long, hard day in the sun. You just can’t beat the sax when it comes to making people want to dance in the aisles!
Thanks again, to Ray’s efforts, the Concierge Party was the liveliest we’ve attended. He even managed to coax Linda and I into the dance contest! Believe me, many before him have failed.
Clientele: The face of Sandals couples has changed but the desire to simply enjoy each others company still appears to be the primary objective. Yes, there were gay couples (oh yeah, and one seemingly odd-numbered group that we never did figure out – although the speculation was amusing). Did it impact the least upon us? Not a bit.
We met lovely people from Hamilton, Montreal, England and Wales. We also came in contact with some real boors. But this is the real world so what else can be expected? Luckily the good always outweighs the bad, in our experience.
Princesa del Mar: Thanks SRH Management, we were given the opportunity to tour the new resort. Yuria Alfonso, Public Relations, was our charming hostess.There is no doubt that this property is high-end and very impressive. Driving up to the entrance is sort of ho-hum. However, once you step into the lobby, the first impression is great. The lobby has a walk through design, with the back elevated to overlook the very attractive main pool area. Very nice – but please don’t try to navigate those very steep stairs after a few drinks, Cuban hospitals are not like ours here at home.
Our first stop was the spa and exercise building. For anybody whose interest lays here, Princesa is the place for you. Unfortunately, my pictures of the treatment rooms turned out too dark, so you’re just gonna have to trust me on this one.
The exercise equipment is top quality (with a resident trainer who eyed me like he wanted the challenge of beating me into shape – I quickly left). The spa offers a number of treatment rooms, including one equipped with a Cleopatra bath. We were told you bathe in milk with flower petals floating around you.
There are two saunas and a hydro-massage shower with at least twenty shower heads running from grid-like stainless steel pipes. (Linda thought the pipes would come in handy as grab bars to prevent being blown out of the stall. Looking at the pressure valves, I thought a body harness would be in order!)
The salon was also well-equipped with what looked to be (according to Linda) a good product selection.
We then took a cross-property stroll to one of the room blocks, stopping along the way to visit the Beach Bar and Grill. It is not situated directly on the beach but at the resort end of the beach access area. Again very nice with wrought iron tables and chairs.
What struck us during our walk was the sparseness of foliage – quite a contrast to SRH.
There are fourteen room blocks, each named after one of the fourteen provinces of Cuba. The block we toured, the Granma, housed standard suites as well as the two Royal Concierge Suites. The blocks are three story with rooms opening off a centre hall plan (in our opinion, more of a hotel feel than SRH). Our first stop was what Yuria called a standard room – although we would guess it to be a Premium room since it offered partial ocean-view. Very spacious and beautifully appointed. Lovely bed linens but for some reason the bathroom seemed stark in comparison to SRH - looks great in the pictures, though. I guess we’re just used to the spaciousness of the SRH bathrooms and appreciate their private water-closet/toilet area. Balcony seemed a little cramped.
Next stop, Royal Suite. This we would never do for a number of reasons. Yes, it was beautifully furnished and offers separate living and bed rooms with 1½ baths. Has a 30” TV in the living area (smaller one in bedroom) – if you’re really keen on watching while on holiday - and a 2-4 person hot tub on the patio. The major drawbacks, in our opinion, are 1) the hall entrance is at the bottom of the stairwell – do we really want to hear the coming and going of all guests above us, and 2) the patios/hot tubs of the two suites face the general access area for the beach without privacy screens!
The buffet restaurant is fairly centrally located. Shops and specialty restaurants open off a central courtyard area. French, Italian, Asian and Japanese cuisines are offered. Each restaurant carries an appropriate decor. You also access the piano and cigar bars, games room and shops off the courtyard.
We did not visit the “Hill Top” restaurant, which we understand, is solely for the use of concierge guests.
The Princesa is a further 10 minute drive up the peninsula from SRH. The beach, at this end, is separated from the main Varadero drag by the point that juts out at the far end of the Paradisus property.
Really lovely, but our personal taste still leans toward SRH. (Oddly enough, I joked with Ignacio that he should not be so keen to organize the tour in case we liked the Princesa more. His response was “It’s all Sandals but I think you’ll come back to SRH”. He reads us well!)
The two resorts offer distinctly different feels. The appeal of one over the other will likely rest with personal taste and interests
We never pursued the exchange policy, but do know that many of our fellow SRH guests did manage to dine at Princesa.
Flight Delay: We left the resort by taxi and arrived at the airport approximately 2½ hours before our scheduled flight but the airport seemed suspiciously quiet with no representative of the tour company in sight. Arrival and departure screens all indicated that our flight was on schedule, so we at first assumed that the tour-organized shuttle had been delayed on its rounds of other hotels.
Half an hour later, still no-one. I approached the check-in staff - these are airport staff and not affiliated with a specific airline - and was informed that they had had no additional information on our flight but they would check with their supervisor. Supervisor said he had “unofficial” information that departure was delayed by 3 hours.
Sandals rep said he was willing to take us back to resort, but we might only be there an hour before we had to get back to airport. Since the airport had no “official” information we considered that option a little risky.
We called our daughter in Ottawa and asked her to contact the head offices of the travel agency, the charter airline and even the airport here at home to see what additional information she could gather. Guess what? She checked both by phone and on-line and there was no indication that our departure was delayed. However, since there was no plane in sight, we knew better.
Because the Cuban airport authority had no flight confirmation, we could not even be cleared through customs to the relative comfort of the departure lounge and had to make do with sitting on planter edges at the entrance to the airport. (There is a cafeteria – but we wanted to keep a close eye on the check-in counter). Two hours later, airport authority said they had confirmation of the incoming flight. After obtaining clearance, they allowed us to check-in, pay departure tax and clear customs.
During our wait, we fell into conversation with another gentleman, who because he was staying with family, had booked flight-only with the charter company. Made me feel better – misery loves company, right?
Another three hours and the airplane arrived. And, remarkably, one of the tour representatives also showed up. His opening comment “We had no idea you were here! We tried to contact you at the hotel, but you had already left”. DUH – isn’t the fact that we were checked out of the hotel the first hint that we’d be at the airport? And, come on! They had to be aware that there were people who had booked flight only, since they were the only company issuing tickets for this charter.
He continued with “Well, you were the only ones at Hicacos so, yeah, maybe you were over-looked. But, guess what? This plane isn’t going anywhere tonight. We can’t get you back into Sandals but we’ll get you a bed for the night”. Tourist cards, baggage had to be retrieved and assurance obtained that the payment of departure tax would be respected the next day.
They put us up at a resort rated 4½ stars where the flight crew were also being accommodated. It was located in close proximity to the Princesa. While it was pitch dark by the time we arrived, the property still appeared quite lovely with park benches along walkways and a good selection of facilities.
However we soon learned what differentiates 4 and 5 star resorts (and all-inclusive from ultra-all-inclusive). The rooms and baths, while clean and spacious, were spartan in comparison to both Sandals resorts. Stocked mini-bar (according to the information package) included one bottle of water, one soda and one beer per person per day. Ours was completely empty, which was fine, because we were only staying the night. However, obtaining a bottle of water proved to be an impossible task. I was looked at like I was purple when I asked for one at the snack bar and the bottle promised by the front desk hadn’t materialized by the time we checked out.
Hit the buffet since we had only had a snack since breakfast and it was now after 9 PM. The selection was decidedly boring with both roast pork and beef rather too chewy.
To be fair, if we had never experienced Sandals, our expectations may not have been so high and we might have found this resort to be quite acceptable.
Left resort at 6:30 AM for our nine o’clock flight. Flight was further delayed while the meals originally stocked on the plane were replaced with breakfasts prepared by Cuba Catering.
Flight was fine with arrival as per the revised schedule – 20 hours late.
Guess who probably won’t use the same travel company on future trips?
Grant & Linda
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