Playa Pesquero: Nice clean resort

The hotel is very clean and staff are very friendly. The beach is very well kept and tidy. A very large resort with plenty of opportunity to walk off your buffet breakfast lunch or dinner. Food is plentiful so you won't go hungry. A la carte restaurants is the way to go. The buffet food is ok but it's what you would expect for a large resort. A few lineups for fresh cooked food but if you are willing to wait then it's not a problem. Our particular room was needing a refresh but all in all it was [... read more] ok. A very safe area to walk to the local market or take a horse and buggy ride for 5 CuC.

Playa Pesquero: Awesome resort!

We spent 10 amazing days at the beautiful Playa Pesquero resort. It’s a huge family friendly place with amazing pools and perfect beach. If anyone gets a chance to go I would recommend booking an Extravaganza private lobster dinner on the beach. Absolutely breathtaking!

Playa Pesquero: Another great vacation

This our fourth trip. The resort was wonderful. It was clean and the staff is amazing. The beach was beautiful and the pool was also super. The coffee bar and ice cream parlour were my favourite places to go. There was a gas embargo and a lot of food was unable to get to the resort. This meant that many of the meals were repeated and some of the seafood was not available. This affected all of the resorts not just playa and they did the best they could under difficult circumstances. Do [... read more]n't judge the food during the embargo it is what it is. We met many new friends both from Cuba and from around the world and I hope you will give this resort a go. The only disappointment was the diving. The reef is dying and there is so much dead coral, it was very sad. We only have ourselves to blame for the state of our reefs.

Playa Pesquero: Very clean and big resort

We enjoyed it, very clean, staff is very nice, a little crowded, but overall good food, specially in the A la carte Restaurant. Beach is nice, just got to be careful with some corals, and go early to get your chairs. Rooms and bathrooms all over the site are super neat!

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: Beautiful and Friendly

The resort was clean and staff was very friendly. Amazing ocean view rooms. A very short walk to the beach. It was our first time in Cuba The two bartenders Manuela and Davy from the beach bar were fantastic. The food wasn’t the best but we made due.

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: Great resort for the price

We enjoyed our stay at this hotel from Jan 27-feb 3 2020. We found it to be better than the one we stayed at the year previously which had a 4+ rating. The food was not the greatest, but that is Cuba. They do need to help support the staff at the bars as they were overrun with rude Russians. One person at a bar at 7pm to serve 50+ people is not practical. We enjoyed the beach bar with David and Manuela serving us. The occasional server on the beach was a nice touch as well.

Playa Pesquero: Resort is very pretty

I think Cuba is possibly having a hard time acquiring a variety of foods. Beef and pork dishes were tough to eat. Papaya, bananas and guava were good but other fruit was mostly canned. A little disappointing.

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: No frills 3 and a half star

Hotel was clean but dated. Food was good but felt repetitive. Lots of rude Russians were there. Staff was kind and polite. Beach is beautiful. Not enough places are open to get drinks, which results in long lineups. Hotel deserves only a 3 or 3 and a half star, in my opinion. Good value trip though seeing how we only paid $1,610 CDN for two people for one week.

Playa Pesquero: its a nice spot . wouldnt go any where else

the tennis was excellent there however they could spend a little to repair and maintain the courts so all. the facilities and all the other sports equipment can be used that they have at the same time....

Playa Pesquero: 3rd Time Here!

We brought our granddaughter here to see the real Cuba. The tour guides were the best and very knowledgable and spoke English very well! The entertainment at night was disappointing, not worth sticking around for. The rooms were always clean and the maids were very nice and always polite welcoming us and thanking us. The resort itself I saw improvements and upgrades. The food for a big resort was a little disappointing, no bread somedays and never seen a strip of bacon the whole time we had br [... read more]eakfast there. It was tuff somedays to find a 12-year-old something to eat so we did with a lot of repeats ( pasta for lunch & supper). Hey, we're in Cuba, we always found something to eat so the food thing was minor. This beautiful country and its wonderful people are being hurt thanks to Trump's blockade. Said and done we got our money's worth and happy overall with our whole trip. Thanks again to Manuela @ Trip Central, GREAT JOB!

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: Beautiful Resort

This resort is beautiful and very clean.The staff are very kind and friendly. The animation team was amazing. Shout out to Raul, Denis, Ismael and Elizabeth.The buffet was amazing! People who complain about Cuban food should just stay at home. You will find at least a few dishes you will like. You can always bring condiments from home to Cuba. Amazing resort to go as a couple or family.

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: Cuba Rookie's Review

My wife and I didn't know what to expect, and given the abundance of conflicting opinions about Cuban all-inclusive vacations, we kept out expectations on the moderate to low end of the scale. We were advised to "keep our stars up when booking in Cuba." Given our modest income, we are not "5-Star" clientele and we didn't have those expectations, so we focused on 3.5 - 4 star properties. Ultimately, we were looking for a clean resort (no mold and mildew in the rooms, no cockroaches or other bu [... read more]gs, clean beds, linens and towels) and a nice beach. I can confidently say that we found that in the Labranda Varadero Resort. Beginning with our flight, the Sunwing flight was efficient and uneventful. It was disappointing though that my wife and I couldn’t sit together on what was our first vacation together since we married in 2016. We booked months in advance, but this didn’t matter. Sunwing should address issues like this. We spent enough money on a vacation that I shouldn’t have had to pay for a seat selection just so I could guarantee sitting beside my spouse. The resort has been renovated fairly recently, and it shows. We stayed in the Beach Club (Building #1 . . . the BEST ocean view!) and the rooms were very clean. On occasion, we had to chase down clean towels, toilet paper, and drinking water, which we've heard is common at most Cuban resorts, but it wasn't too bad, and as a means of self-preservation, we learned how to creatively create a stockpile of these resources. At times, we did feel like a deliberate shortage of these items was created in order for service staff to attend to us and create an opportunity for them to receive a tip, but I don't play that game. A lack of hot water was not really an issue at the resort, as we’ve heard stories from experienced Cuban travelers. The grounds/territory of the resort are quite nice and maintained regularly. The beach is FANTASTIC, and I would dare say the best beach in Varadero (and we did walk the many kilometers up and down the beaches beyond our resort in order to compare). The two rock outcroppings on either side of the resort provide a natural privacy to the public beach. There are plenty of palapas and chaise lounge chairs and non-motorized water sports. The animation team (Bravo Club) was wonderful and provided as little or as much as we wanted to participate in. The only disappointing thing about the beach, but hard for the resort to control is human behaviour. By this, I mean that the utter abundance of smokers who seem to congregate at all-inclusive resorts tend to treat the beach as their personal ashtray. The resort does have people who clean the beach, so they are able to attend to the larger garbage that people inexplicably feel entitled to leave on the beach, but the cigarette butts are hard for them to gather. The food was OK, but not stellar. It was tastier than I expected, but the quality was sub-par. Meat was often fatty and filled with gristle, etc., and was of a lesser quality than Canadian cuts of meat, not that this was unexpected. Fruits and vegetables were fresh though not as tasty as they looked. Salads and ready-cooked food was often watery and seemed to be just a concoction of whatever didn't "go" the meal prior. When I can’t distinguish what’s in a dish, I usually won’t eat it. They ran out of cheese for the last 4 days of our holiday, and the ice-cream lineups were often intolerable. While it sounds like I might be "down on the cuisine", my wife and I are quite fussy eaters, but we never went hungry. We did find the variety lacking for those who rarely eat red meat or fish. Most people don’t go to Cuba for the food anyway. The a la carte restaurant options weren’t worth the wait in line each morning, with the restaurants offering much the same food that could be found on various days at the buffet (save for a little bit of nicer beef at the Fusion Restaurant). While the a la carte suppers are featured as a kind of incentive, we didn’t really feel that they were worth the time and effort. The reason for this is because we found out that you can only book an a la carte on the day that you want to use it and that the chef only decides on that day which type of cuisine will be made available, so you have no way of knowing what’s being offered unless you line up each day. Additionally, there is the risk that you can line up and by the time it’s your turn to book, there may be no availability anymore for what you want. The two nice features were that we were able to get away from smokers at the a la carte restaurants (because they were indoors) and we didn’t need to fight for food at the buffet. Given that we were in Cuba to enjoy the sun and the beach, being in a long line each morning for a la carte restaurants seemed like an unnecessary “time sucker.” The evening entertainment in the lobby was outstanding and the nightly main shows were good too, though again, inconsiderate and ignorant smokers made for unpleasant experiences and the hotel staff seemed quite reluctant to even enforce the non-smoking bylaw in areas where it was applicable. As an aside, my wife an I joked that in future years, we may take our own professionally-created and adhesive “No Smoking” sign and stick it up wherever we sit, with the hope that even a few people fall for it and we can enjoy a smoke-free environment a few times during our vacation. The one area of the resort that could use some serious improvement is its organization and service. We did have a few employees who exhibited fantastic service that I would compare with a North American or European standard and it was a refreshing breath of air in an otherwise sometimes frustrating experience. Upon check-in, the woman couldn’t find our reservation and after some digging and still not being able to find it, despite my documentation, she asked us if we had perhaps canceled our original reservation and re-booked. We hadn’t. We were invited to go and have some supper at the buffet and comeback after they had figured out what had happened. We never did receive an explanation, but when we returned from supper, we had our beach club ocean-view room, though it was less than what we expected, seeing as how we had booked months in advance. Happily, after a few days in our initial room, we were able to move to the best beach club building and an amazing ocean view. As previously mentioned, we did spend some time trying to track down the most basic of amenities, and my wife joked that it seemed like the staff were well trained in the “friendly lie.” By that, I mean that we would repeatedly call to the front desk (when the phone would work) and ask for clean towels, drinking water, and toilet paper, and were assured in the friendliest of voices the assurance that our needs would be taken care of. Sometimes this was true, but most often it was not. Probably the most frustrating experience happened on our last day, when we had to check out. We were staying in the Beach Club, which is a complex of 3 buildings set away from the main resort building, about a 5-minute walk. Because of the weight and quantity of our luggage, not to mention the 35-degree heat, I ordered a bellboy and a luggage car at about 11:30 AM, so we would be on time for our 12 PM check out. Further, we had to be in the lobby, waiting for the shuttle to take us to the airport at 1:45 PM, so we thought we’d have time to store our luggage in the secure area by the Reception Desk and eat lunch at the buffet, which opened at 12:30 PM. None of this happened. We waited for 30 minutes and the bellboy never came. I called the front desk numerous times from the telephone in our room, and was told the “friendly lie” that he was on his way. We waited 30 more minutes and he still hadn’t arrived. In most instances, I would have normally just hauled our bags to the main building, without question. However, my wife wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t help much; our bags were heavy; the beach club isn’t exactly close to the front lobby, and we were running out of time to check our bags and have lunch prior to the airport shuttle arriving. By now, the maid had knocked on our door to ask if we were checking out. We explained the situation to her and that our room phone had just stopped working properly. It sounded like my call would be connected and as soon as I spoke into the receiver, the call was cut off. The maid tried to help us by using her walkie-talkie and relaying the information to the appropriate staff to try and help us. We were assured that a bellboy and car were on the way. We thanked her and waited for 15 more minutes and then realized that it was foolish to keep waiting for this guy to show up, so we made the difficult trek, on our own, with heavy bags, to the main building. Because my wife wasn’t feeling well, I loaded myself up like a pack mule and we opted for a slightly longer route on a circuitous road to the main building, in order to avoid having to haul our heavy bags up a large flight of stairs. We did all of this in 34+ degree heat, and I was absolutely soaked by the time we arrived at the lobby with little time for us to freshen up, change our Cuban money back into Canadian, and have lunch, before our airport shuttle arrived. Because there was only one possible road for the bellboy and car to drive en route to us during our walk to the lobby in the main building, we were able to ascertain that the car and bellboy had never made the journey to us during our whole ordeal. Instead, the only bellboy working during that time seemed intent on staying close to the lobby to take care of the newly-arriving guests and raking in the easy tips, despite us being promised that he was “on his way.” This was typical of the type of disorganized “service” we received while we were at the resort, save for a few exceptional employees. That being said, it doesn’t sour our entire experience, and knowing what we know now, we know what to expect when we return, and return we shall to Labranda Varadero!

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: Cozy Resort

I like the fact it’s a smaller resort and not huge lineups for meals. Food especially meat has gotten better over the years in Cuba. The omelette and meat and pasta stations were the best choices for hot food as the rest was Luke warm. Bread is to die for. Rooms were clean. Service was good. Pools and beach were good. For the value would go back.

Playa Pesquero: Wonderful resort!

Really enjoyed our second visit to this resort. As previously the staff and their service was stellar. They seemed to be genuinely happy to look after us. Always smiling and appreciative of tips. Unfortunately the food was off lesser quality than last year but there's always a good selection. Fish is always a good choice. Rooms and all areas are very clean. The beach and pool are beautiful!

Playa Pesquero: Cuban 4 star resort

Expansive resort a bit dated. Worth paying the extra for the premium section. Due to the problems they have with restrictions from other countries they don't have some of the extras they once had but still worth the value of the hotel. Great staff great beach. Food was good with what they had, but lacking in variety again only because restrictions . Would return in the future.

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: Beautiful beach, two star resort

Lobby is nice and looks grand, good WiFi on the resort, most staff were nice but some did not smile and looked like they did not want to help you. Resort ran out of room towels, bottled water, french fries, yogurt etc. food did not have variety or taste, showers were cold. Staff in kids area on their phones most of the day.

Playa Pesquero: Only Good Resort but now with only 3+ {????)

It was our 4th to this resort and I am afraid it will be the last. Rooms - 4 stars (ocean view) Bars - Lobby 4*, other 3* Food - 3* (quality and service terrible, shortages) Staff - 3* Activities/Entertainment - 2+* Beach - 4* (Services/Toilets - 2*) Safety - 3*

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: Amazing resort

We stayed at Labranda resort in Varadero for 2 weeks.The hotel is amazing everything was perfect. I had so much fun with my family. The weather and that beach was the best part of our vacation. We loved everything about it. See you again LaBranda

Playa Pesquero: Its great. It use to be better!

This was our 4th visit to Playa Pesquero. The service, the staff, the grounds, the food was what kept us coming back to this place versus any other in Cuba. The issue that we encountered this time around was that due to the worst food shortage in the last 15 years in cuba; there was a lack of food selection. All other times they had lobster everytime at every alacarte restaurant, now it was just for new years eve! There was no Ketchup, mustard, mayo, salted butter, nutella, hamburgers and FRIES, [... read more] FRIES! HOW? It's not the peoples fault, its the faulty government for enslaving their people in a communist environment. They have rationed everyone! People spend hours in long lines trying to buy chickens,eggs, butter etc... to only find out that by the time they get to their turn, theres no more produce. The shelves are empty at local stores, they seem to have an abundance of honey though which i found weird. The staff at playa pesquero are excellent, the grounds are always clean and kept up. The only other main issue i have is the rooms are extremely outdated and don't waste your money on upgrading to a superior room! Like the saying goes, same $%#@ different smell. They really need to upgrade the beds and furniture. The electrical outlets have been more than abused, they barely hold a plug in. I will keep coming back just because of thr relationships that we have built there, if it wasn't for that I don't think i could keep going back and supporting that government regime. Poor people.

Playa Pesquero: Beautiful Beach, Friendly Staff, MAJOR Shortages

This was my third time at Playa Pesquero. The last time I visited was several years back. I was worried that the resort might have become run down, but the grounds were still beautiful and the rooms in reasonable repair. The beaches here are beach here is great. Cuba has such beautiful beaches. I was visiting over the Christmas holidays and was surprised to see that the resort was nowhere near capacity. Which as a guest was nice as it meant never having to search for a chair or spot of shade, bu [... read more]t not really a good sign for the resort. So that's the good stuff... now onto the bad. The food was TERRIBLE. I can't stress enough how bad it was. A lot of people complain about the food in Cuba and I've always defended it saying it's not as good as other places, but you can still always find something to eat. That wasn't true this time. I think that the resort was suffering from major shortages. There was no flour - which meant no bread. Very few options of fruits and vegetables. For the first several days I noticed that there seemed to be pickles, pearl onions, capers and olives everywhere. These were the options at the omelet station, the pasta station, options as toppings for your burger, salad option. But no actual veggies, just this canned and pickled stuff. It's like they ran out of everything and just raided the pantry to see what was left over in there. There were also no condiments. No ketchup, mustard, salad dressing choices. They had a variety of tiny condiment bottles of random (often tasting as though they were past the expiry date) things like a terrible tasting queso, terrible salsa and not very palatable hot sauces. Usually at a resort condiments are placed out in bowls because they are purchased in bulk. These were tiny bottles that you might find in a convenience store, which seemed to support the raiding the pantry theory. If you are vegetarian or vegan avoid this resort. You would starve. Meat with a side of pickles and olives was really the only option at a lot of meals. I really don't understand why there were so few fruits and veggies. I would imagine the climate in Cuba is ideal for a lot of plant based options. Also, something like rice and beans should have been an option at every meal despite shortages I would think. It wasn't. You could tell the staff knew how bad the food situation was and you could see the embarrassment in their faces when they offered you this disgusting flatbread like thing that they were trying to replace bread with. There was apparently no flour, so that meant no bread. SO they made this flatbread that was generally so hard you would risk breaking a tooth. It was terrible and they offered it with everything. Burgers were served on this cardboard as well as hot dogs and sandwiches. It was so bad that one of the people I was travelling with was convinced that they were serving us military rations. Although the beaches are great, I don't think I'll be returning to Cuba again after this experience.