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Sol Cayo Santa Maria 10/12/2005
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
A beautiful resort, a bit remote as its accessed via the 30 mile long causeway, but worth the trip. We got evacuated because of Hurricane Rita to Holquin, which was nice but very large and impersonal, and we were pleased to get back to Sol Cayo. The rooms are spotless and some of the nicest we have stayed in, the maids leave lovely towel arrangments every day. A few pesos tip doesn't go amiss, if you get good service (and we did). Leave a tip as you go rather than at the end and you will find the service gets even better(if that is possible!). The food wasn't the best I have ever had but remember this is Cuba not the UK, and we never went hungry so it couldn't have been that bad. I really miss my flambe bananas prepared by Lilianne! The staff in the restaurant was great and we really miss Yoandy, Pedro, Rapael and Yilka in particular. Don't forget to give the staff who cook the food a little tip as they often get missed. We ate at the Creole restaurant but left in a hurry as the mosquitos decided to dine on us! The Italian restaurant was lovely but portions very small. The snack bar was great but very popular so be prepared to wait for a table during the day.
The entertainment team is great and do their best to please everyone. We particularly enjoyed Archery with Marbey, who was a real character, and the shows in the evening were on the whole very good. The dance team are some of the best I have seen and you get a chance to dance with them in the salsa bar afterwards if you wish to. The beach is perfect, just like a picture postcard and even Derek went for a swim in the sea! It was very rare not to get a sunbed round the pool or on the beach but I guess at peak season it may be a problem. We both miss our archery lessons followed by a swim and a drink at the pool bar! The Cubans are wonderful people, warm and very friendly and we can't wait to visit Cuba again. I only hope that with another hotel being built on the island they do not spoil this little piece of paradise.
The only thing that marred this trip for us was arriving and departing Santa Clara Airport. It's very small, the staff are very thorough at checking bags and it takes a long time to be dealt with. The departure lounge is very small and cramped and I would not want to spend a long time in there. Security is very tight and woe betide you if you have anything forbidden in your bags. We saw several people who had ignored the limits have items confiscated, so heed the warnings!.
We took the overnight trip to Havana which was amazing but we felt we could have spent longer there and would probably consider a longer visit if we went back. You have to go to the Tropicana, just to say you have been! Its a spectacular show.
There is a lot of propoganda about Cuba but we were impressed, it may be a poor country but it was clean and no one is homeless or starving (didn't appear to be anyway)and we were told the Government makes sure everyone has a good education and free healthcare. They were certainly very organised when the Hurricane threatened, evacuating all tourists to safety and also evacuating locals from areas that may be affected. We saw Hurricane shelters being built for the locals and were told they have very few deaths caused by hurricanes due to the plans the Government have in place to deal with them. Lessons could be learnt I feel! I hope that tourism brings a bit more prosperity to Cuba without spoiling this beautiful country and caring people. We can't wait to go back.
Sharon Peverett
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