Brisas Guardalavaca: 6th vacation at Brisas Guardalavaca

Our family of 7 (4 adults and 3 children 2, 9 & 9) stayed at this resort for one week. We were in the villa section of the resort. Rooms 2110 & 2111. (very close to the pool & ocean) The rooms haven't changed much over the years. Our room had NO hot water so we showered in our daughters room next door. The front desk was made aware of the problem but nothing was done about it. The resort is very clean. We all enjoyed the pool & beach. (the ocean was warmer than the pool) The food was good. We d [... read more]id not take advantage of the a la carte restaurants. We found that there was enough good food at the buffets to satisfy our appetite for the young and old. The children loved the ice cream parlour & donut shop outside the main buffet area. That was their everyday go-to treat. Roberto's pizzeria has always been a favorite place in the afternoon for a snack .It is nice to see the same staff with friendly smiles everyday. High fives to the bartenders at the villa section and beach bar. They were always "over the top" friendly! One of the children needed stitches on day one and the service at the medical centre was top-notch. (had to pay up front...no direct billing. $160.00 Canadian) All week the staff around the resort was asking her how she was feeling. That made her feel good that they remembered her and that they were concerned about her well being. Children's nightly entertainment was always a highlight at the end of the day (8:20pm) Rate of exchange was 1.29 (100 cdn converted to 71 pesos) It was nice to be able to keep our room for free until 4pm the day we were leaving. (our bus wasn't picking us up until 6pm) This is a perk for repeat customers. You have to get a chit from GUEST SERVICES at the main lobby. As well if you have a little one (baby) it is apparently free until 4pm on check-out day. All in all the weather was beautiful, the ocean was clear and warm and the food was good. We may be back in 2020.

Brisas Santa Lucia: Average

3 star resort. booked with Air transat and Hola sun, 4 hour bumpy bus ride from Holguin from Toronto which includes a 30 minute stop half way at a local bar where you can buy beer and refreshments. Pros- lovely beach, lots of soft loungers and shade available, rooms are very clean housekeeping does a wonderful job, resort grounds are lush and well maintained, pool was clean and refreshing with lots of loungers and shade, air conditioner amazing! Cons- no beverages including water in fridge [... read more]s in rooms, only one blanket (no bed spread), one pillow and one stuffed with left over junk from something else (bring your own). bars ran out of liquor and mixers. beach restaurant only served hamburger or ham and cheese, buffet repetitive, customer service definitely needs a revamp, service in buffet based on tipping they will reserve a table for you and treat you like a king if you tip big :) Small changes could make this resort better, we will not return as there are so many other places to try. Air Transat Rep was ridiculous not sure if he understands he is representing a huge company....dont bother going to him for anything!

Brisas Santa Lucia: Brisas is the best

Very amazing time, beachs were beautiful and sand was very soft, pool was refreshing and clean swim up bar was great. The whole resort was very very clean and staff was extra helpful with anything I needed. Went to coco beach for dinner and dancing was a excellent night lobster was top notch and our tour guide provided us with lots of Cuban history and special landmarks would defiantly love to visit again!

Brisas Sierra Mar: A lovely location

The grounds are very nice and the setting is very pretty. Staff is friendly and helpful. Beds are a bit hard and unforgiving. Water sports are very good. Sailing trip on the small catamaran was wonderful. It was hard to get a reservation for the a la carte restaurants. Entertainment was okay - the walks and hikes were very good. The repeat customer event had good entertainment but the dinner could be improved.

Brisas Sierra Mar: Brisas serria mar

This was a great resort food was good shows were good people were great and the view was amazing. We did run out of internet cards but had more bye the end of the week. If you want a quiet week with lots to do this is the place

Brisas Sierra Mar: Great place very fiendly

The people were older quiet the view was amazing and staff were great, would go back for sure my wife would love it lots to do and food was good a little short on toiletries nearness the end. Went to san Diogo on the Cuban bus saved huge the bat cave trip well worth it as you meet people they all help you

Brisas Sierra Mar: Great resort

Hotel was great value for the money. Enjoyable atmosphere and staff was extremely friendly. Food was good and there was plenty of variety. Hotel staff was always there to make your stay enjoyable. Entertainment staff made sure a good time was had by all

Brisas Guardalavaca: Good times at Brisas.

We had some good times during our stay at Brisas Guardalavaca. The building is showing signs of age, but they do a reasonable amount of maintenance. The outdoor furniture is kept clean and tidy and the beach was raked every night. The entertainment team had activities for all ages every day with a good mix of traditional and modern music. The lamb stew at the Taberna Buchanero was fantastic. It's only a short horse and carriage ride into the village and the locals were very friendly and happy to [... read more] show you around.

Brisas Sierra Mar: Good

very poor beds, but great weather and views it was worth seeing , I recommend for this money. Fantastic stage performances and good rest , good trip to relax , friendly people , beach little, the water in ocean is warm and clean

Brisas Sierra Mar: Beautiful Setting

We loved this resort the incredible views, the people, lush vegetation and the variety of excursions available. We had an ocean view room in the lower building and it was great...small but no issues with water or electricity or A/C. The snorkeling on the reef was amazing and not far from the resort. We liked the food...lots of chicken, pork, had roast turkey a couple of nights. The beach restaurant had limited offerings and ran out of pizza so we never got to try it. The music in the lobby was g [... read more]reat....one group had an amazing violinist. We will definitely be going back here!

Brisas Sierra Mar: Brisas Sierra Mar

Returned customer, familiar faces all over, people staying there for up to 5 months, good budget hotel but far from everything, shortage of toilet paper this time, hotel was full in February and they had more food than usual, my place to escape winter

Brisas Guardalavaca: Brisas Guardalavaca

Air Canada flight perfect, greeting at the Holguin airport perfect, was at the hotel 15 years ago and lots of improvements, food was good, beach was good, entertainers were not very involved in their duties but great place to go on a budget, enjoyed my time a lot

Brisas Sierra Mar: Amazing Views and Warm Sea

The hotel location is great. It is between warm sea and mountains and the views are amazing. The service and food are adequate for the money paid. The sea water was very warm at the end of January and we were swimming with grandkids in sea every day. There is an affordable horse riding service for kids. During heavy rain, our room on the first floor was flooded and we were moved fast to the second floor. Then we returned back to the first floor room after room cleaning on the next day. The water [... read more] in shower was not always hot. We will go back again to this hotel as we like warm sea, mountain views and friendly service.

Brisas Sierra Mar: Stunning views

This was our 2nd visit to this resort, but have to admit our first visit was better. Pros: Great location & views. Services were good. As usual, personnel is friendly. Shows and musical entertainment were also good. Good selection of meat dishes, fruit and desserts. A-la-carte restaurants were very good. Cons: Buffet lacked hot/cooked vegetables. Except for breakfast, food was mostly cold or barely warm. Beach: The most disappointing was that almost half of the beach lounges were ripped/br [... read more]oken. On top of that, there are definitely not enough chairs on beach. The reservation of lounges must be stopped, since most of the chairs are tied together already the day before. So you dont’t get a chair even if you are down at the beach at 8:00. This would not be the case if there would be enough useable chairs for everyone. There are plenty of chairs in the pool area, so why can’t the same be said for the beach area? I go to Cuba for the sun, warmth and especially to swim in the ocean (not to sit at pool, which I can do at home), so not having a chair to sit at the beach is most frustrating. This is the main reason why I would be hesitant to return or recommend this resort.

Brisas Guardalavaca: Great resort with many repeat guests

The hotel sits on a very nice beach with lots of shaded areas and chairs. The grounds are kept very clean and beautiful. Villas have received some updates in the last two years but accommodations are basic. We had hot water everyday and the air conditioning worked well. Everyone is always made to feel welcome and the large number of repeat guests says it all.

Brisas Sierra Mar: Coral reef gone

Our stay at Brisa Sierra Mar caused mixed feelings. We decided to stay in this hotel, because 20 years earlier we admired the beautiful coral reef over there. We were using a paddle boat to get to them and snorkeled there. However, while on the trip by a boat to the coral reef, it turned out to be dead, dark and unpleasant. The reef area was like an old burial ground. Also the beach disappointed us. Twenty years ago there was a beautiful yellow sand there. Now the beach is covered with g [... read more]ray sand. It is probably a result of erosion once beautiful colourful coral reef. Maybe reef decays, turns into sand that is thrown on the shore. Of course, the death of the coral reef is not Cubans fault, but the higher temperature of sea water. The water in the sea was warm, but near the shore the water was not clear because of dark sand. There was an insufficient number of lounges on the beach. Many lounges were damaged although they could be repaired at small expense. Similarly with life jackets with straps and buckles broken or damaged making them impossible to use. We borrowed a two- person kayak, unfortunately one of the paddles was repaired improperly and it was difficult to use. To summarize, there was equipment for water sports but lack of maintenance did not allow us to use it with pleasure. After using a paddle boat outside the small bay at the hotel we encountered considerable plastic in the water here and there. Similarly, around the beach there were lying plastic pieces from damaged lounges. How badly the hotel needs proper maintenance was shown when the rain poured for half of the day. The corridor of the front building at the beach with ocean view windows was completely flooded with water, similarly two rooms on both ends of the corridor (they were unusable). In front of the elevators and in the hall there was deep water. We had #134 room and dirty water came out of plumbing filling the shower tray and flooding the bathroom floor. The staff was extremely nice and eager to please the holidaymakers. We went on a trip to Santiago de Cuba organized by Hola Sun. The tour guide Tania Vivar Perez was very knowledgably, could answer each of our questions and was very nice. Although we heard stories about the revolution every time we visited Cuba for last 25 years, we listened with interest to her version of it. We were very happy with the trip thanks to her. We were happy see that the hotel replaced a Cuban cutting grass with a machete in the mid day heat with free running horses which were also pleasant attraction.

Brisas Sierra Mar: OUTSTANDING SCENERY, SUPER PEOPLE THAT WORK THERE.

OUTSTANDING SCENERY, SUPER PEOPLE THAT WORK THERE. Brisas Sierra Mar is one resort with the most repeating guests in the Caribbean's, true. People come here because they like to encounter a power failure once in a while, or serviettes instead of toilet paper, (none was available for days), or water running in to their rooms when it rains, as it happens for many years now, because the roofs need fixing badly. They come here to eat anything else but noodles, they were not available anywhe [... read more]re at this time, not even spaghetti. There are no ways to dry your hands in the public toilets, use your shirt. There are plugged up sinks and showers in the room, and seldom will you get warm water to shower. Bicycles are free, but almost fall apart and are somewhat dangerous to drive. There are very slippery floor tiles everywhere when it rains, and some people did break bones when they slipped and fell on them. I know of three persons while I was there. Some guests must be coming back to listen to music around the pool area that is louder then a jet taking off and just goes boom, boom, boom, boom, on and on and basically is preventing anyone from simply relaxing after lunch. Some guests are actually coming back year after year and stay for a few month. They are the tough ones and probably have hearing problems already from years gone by. The people working at the resort are outstanding and know most guests by name because of the many gifts they bring for them year after year. It is also my reason for going back there. Do not expect gourmet meals at Brisas. Food is very basic, but good. If one likes to go back in time to a more simple way of life, this is the place to go too. One can sit on the main highway for 30 minutes without having to move for a vehicle, but may be passed by some goats, pigs, a bike or a horse. What I wrote here are not complains, but simply observations, because I have been coming back to Brisas for the last 20 years and I still like it somewhat, but lately less and less because of the stupid security searches at the Santiago Airport on arrival. One has to go down a few flights of stairs to reach the beach or take an elevator that mostly doesn't work. The old one was replaced recently, but the new one seems to have the same problems. The resort is in desperate need of a major repair, overhaul and upgrade Since it is owned by Cuba this will probably never happen as this also goes for the rest of the country. The most annoying thing are the security searches at the Santiago Airport, just coming from Toronto. Everyone is going through the same procedures again as we just did on the Toronto departure. Do the Cubans think that we stop in midair to pick things up? It would be the only reason not to go back to Cuba for me, it feels degrading and absolute stupid to have to go through this procedure twice. The Cuban people are warm and open to visitors. The Cuban Government is trying everything to make life as miserable as possible to the tourists visiting their country, and that is very sad.

Brisas Guardalavaca: Amazing resort

We spent 2 weeks in January there and stayed at villa section Beautiful landscaping, most beautiful beach I’ve been, Crystal blue water, plenty of space under the sun and the shed, Resort was full but we never waited to long to get drinks or food in the restaurant Very attentive staff and I wanted to say special thank you to our cleaning lady sorry can’t remember her name ( room 7108) She kept our room in a perfect shape and if you requested bath towels and bedding sheets changed you  [... read more]got it when you need it Food was hot and big variety to choose from You can order a romantic dinner on the beach for 15 pesos per person and you won’t regret it It was just perfect and we enjoyed it for my husband birthday We had huge lobster very yum but you can order your food when booking Overall I highly recommended this resort ( we’ve been to Cuba 10 times in different locations) This place was the first one we wanted to return Stay open minded and enjoy your holiday

Brisas Guardalavaca: Great Value

The hotel is nice but the rooms were really showing it’s wear as I have been here three times previously. The beds were comfortable and the rooms were cleaned to satisfaction. We found that unless you went out by 7:00 am to get a lounge chair by the ocean you were out of luck as there was not near enough of them. Found that some people at the next adjoining resort were able to walk right to our resort without being stopped and turned away after someone got up and left a chair they would take t [... read more]hem.The two pools were kept clean however the hot tub was cloudy and dirty so didn’t even go in it.The service was excellent and the food was quite good. The entertainment at night was adequate. It is a 3 1/2 star resort and you do have to realize that and expect it. Overall I would rate it 3 1/2 out of 5 as well.

Brisas Guardalavaca: Second visit in a year

Enjoy the atmosphere very much Beautiful beach Great snorkeling right off beach and amazing excursions Food better than last year Reception could be a little friendlier Rooms dated but very clean Super friendly staff Comfortable walking streets Feel very safe amongst the amazing Cubans Beautiful country, wonderful people, lovely resort We will definitely be back