Barcelo Solymar

Beautiful resort with lots of activities and live entertainment. Food is terrible, and the bathroom are in very rough shape. Would recommend this resort for anyone in there 20s that wants to party. Take some antibiotics before your travel to avoid getting sick. It's not fun when it happens

Entertaining and well positioned resort to Varadero

Fairly decent place to stay and have fun in Varadero. The staff are very helpful and attentive. The beach is absolutely wonderful. Within walking distance to two great bars...including the Beatles Club which offers live rock n' roll.

A very pleasant time!

It wasn't my first trip to a resort in Cuba so I knew what to expect more or less, but Barcelo Solymar was an absolute fantastic place. I booked last minute, and for the price I paid, everything was great. The rooms, the food, the service and the beach were exactly what I needed for a 5 day getaway. I should also mention that I traveled solo, and for a young female traveller, it was a very safe place and I had the opportunity to meet new people, so I never felt truly lonesome.

Simple, Clean & Friendly

The hotel was reasonably clean, but it is an older hotel so be prepared for some updating needed. Drinks were good, food...well you don't go to Cuba for the food anyway. Buffet was repetative, warming tables not on, so food cold most of the time. Bad meat hygiene, same utensils used for raw and cooked. Often different kinds of raw meat on same plate. Al a cartes, no A/C and food not good. Save your time and just go into town for that. Heads up, Solymar is only a ten minute easy walk to b [... read more]anks and town of Varadaro, don't get taken by the carriage drivers and taxi's. Entertainment, was ok - community theatre like. Disco was very loud Euro techno music. Needs to be more mixed music and maybe better on the beach. Some events not advertised, and you miss out on them. But over all, rooms, beach & pools were nice and clean. Friendly staff. For the price, not bad at all. Just don't expect luxury or fine dining. We went for the beach and booze. Enjoy!...its still better than SNOW!

Amazing time !!

Stayed the week December 3 to the 10, 2016. Stayed on fourth floor oceanview..awesome location..10 minutes walk from downtown. Had a great time..the food was ok..Ala carte restaurants had no a/c.we didn't starve...entertainment was ok..missed beach party because it was not advertised anywhere and we had gone to town to party..

Interesting visit

Enjoyed my stay at the resort, the beach was nice, grounds loving and the people were wonderful. It was a quite week as the President Castro passed away,so the country was to mourn for 9 days,no music,no dancing, no alcohol off the resort.

Resort

This was our third visit to this resort complex, we were disappointed that it is going downhill. We could barely open our room door as it was rubbing on the floor. The TV remote did not work, but we talked to people who were amazed that we had one. The grounds were somewhat kept up, the pools were really nice. We bought a internet card and wasted the whole hour trying to get on the internet, we never did get an English connection, even after asking 4 people who understood Spanish to help us.

Great Location!

The hotel was right on the beach and in central Varadero, so we could walk into town no problem. The beaches were gorgeous and very clean. We had an ocean front room, so we enjoyed the view very much from our balcony. We only at a la carte once (seafood) as the others were booked in the earlier time slots which we preferred. The dinner at the seafood was very good. We never had a problem getting drinks and the staff was always very friendly and helpful. The food at the buffet was fine, there was [... read more] a good variety. It was nice that the grounds were shared with Barceló Arenas as we could choose where to eat or which pools to use. The only negative was that because Castro had died on the day we left, there was no music anywhere in Cuba, though this was no fault of the resort, it was a part of Cuba we missed out on ... guess we will have to go back another time. :-)

Great resort for singles!

Food was good in the buffet (didn't try any a-la-cart restaurants) Great big beach to relax, or sit near the music. Nice selection of pools. Close walk to clubs. Close to airport. Always people ready to mingle...all day. Disco's too loud and cluttered with chairs. Gym was under maintenance all week Nov. 19-26/2016. Good service by all staff. Water dripped from bathroom ceiling. Not much going on during the day expect relax or drink!

Just the basics

Great pool areas; we were able to move around based on whether we wanted more or less of a party atmosphere. Unfortunately, the food was nothing special. The buffet was cold, and often mislabeled. It wasn't horrible, just blah. The buildings are a little old and tired, which explains the construction (which did not bother us, with the exception of having the sports bar under renovation). All in all, I expected more from a Barcelo resort, seeing as past experience has been excellent.

Amazing resort

The room always gets cleaned by housekeepers. Although there were some things that need fixing such as the light fixture, toilet seat, hair dryer at the room we stayed. Other than that service is pretty good. Food is alright. But my overall experience has been fantastic and I would definitely come back and recommend it to my friends and family

4th and LAST time @ this resort...

Spent last week at Barcelo solymar in Varadero. This was my 4th time to this resort. It has been 3 years since previous stays and many things have changed... When we arrived at 11am on the Saturday we were told that our room would be ready for 4pm which is the check in time, fair enough. Well they didn't end up giving us our room till 5pm and at this time I asked to confirm it had a king size bed and the receptionist lady replied with I dunno... I told her this was my 4th visit to this resort [... read more] and that didn't even phase her. It's like she didn't even care. We stayed in a bungalow and the room was terrible. Air conditioning only worked half the time, no remote for the TV, you could feel every spring in the mattress and the pillows were rolled up hard foam. We had the worst sleeps of our life. The washrooms in the lobby were under construction only leaving 1 public washroom in the hotel for everyone. This washroom or the ones at the pool bar never had any toilet paper either. The service at the buffet/all the bars/cafe were terrible. Took forever to order anything and seemed like you were inconveniencing them. My last complaint is the ignorant vacationers there... 80% just butt in front of you at the front desk and in the buffet lines. Maybe my Canadian manors should have been left at home. The only positive thing I have to say about this trip is the beach and ocean were great and the lifeguards are always great to chat with Andy & John. (Erick previous years ago) Barcelo Solymar I had fun past years at your resort but you will NEVER see me return again after last weeks terrible stay.

I wanted to go home!

We recently traveled with Transat Holidays for a week (October 2 – 9, 2016) at the Barcelo Solymar in Varedero, Cuba. The tour representative Mayelin was wonderful. She was resourceful, welcoming, approachable and kind. Unfortunately, as much as she advocated for us with the hotel, she just could not overcome the deplorable standards of the hotel. After all our past positive experiences with Transat we feel very let down with the Barcelo Solymar. In fact, we actually feel for the first time [... read more], that Transat has deceived us. We booked two bungalow rooms and had the following issues; • Neither room had a coffee maker, ironing board or iron as stated on the Transat Holiday website. It took 3 days to get a coffee maker in both rooms. In one room the coffee maker they provided us did not work. They also did not provide spoons, sugar or even coffee mugs for one of the rooms. It also took four days to get an iron and ironing board. • When we arrived one of the rooms mini bars was not stocked as stated on Transat Holidays website. Twice during the week, the same mini bar (water, beer, soft drinks) was not stocked. • In one room the bed only had a bottom sheet and blanket. No top sheet for the first two days. • When arriving back in to one of the rooms the drapery rods and drapes had fallen from the wall and were laying on the floor. • There was two days without water. We were using the small trash containers from the room to fill up with pool water to flush the toilet. We also had issues with other parts of the hotel as well; • During the entire week, we were there none of the public washrooms had soap, paper towels or working hand dryers. • Per the Transat Holidays website were we suppose to able to use the facilities at Arenas Blanca, however, the resort was closed. • Hence, we were expecting 5 al a carte restaurants (2 at the Barcelo Solymar and 3 at Arenas Blanca) however there we only two open for the entire week as the Arenas Blanca was closed. • Twice we went to the pool bar and it was closed a few hours before the actual hours it was suppose to be open. Also, although your website stated 24 hour unlimited domestic and select international drinks we could only get beer after the other bars closed.

Good

Good for vacation everything was ok nice place for fans and relaxing......................... .. .......................... .................................... ..... ................................. ok

Barcelo solymar Cuba

The hotel and amenities were good. The food could've been better regarding quality and selection. There were only two restaurants so not much selection. There weren't any nightly events that I was aware of and the front desk attendents were not very attentive. They wouldn't answer phone calls externally or from my room.

In need of renovation

Resort was not well kept. in need of major renovations. Very run down. No hot water. locks on doors not functioning properly. Broken doors, locks,safe, walls, ... not fixed once damaged. water leaks in rooms, mold, and smell. air conditioner not working. told staff about problems but no repair in sight. food is limited. if something is finished during buffet it is not restocked!! example pasta was finished -- that's it no more.. the list goes on.. VERY DISAPPOINTING in general

Great resort

The resort was very clean, friendly and fun! Very fun for young adults aged 20-35. Right beside the beach. The beach is beautiful and clean. The food was fair, drinks are very good. Would recommend i the summer and winter!

Honest review!

Since I've been to this resort 4 times I've got plenty to write .Rooms are big and comfortable as well as the beds. Food needs to diversify and certain options were consistently unavailable. As if they don't even have them. Almost every time I went to the snack bar they would only serve burgers pizza and hot dogs even though the menu had 6-7 other options . When we had a la carte dinner the menu had plent of options , food and drinks . However we could only order pizza and pasta and they only ha [... read more]d one beer available . Menu said it had Heineken corona and etc. However those were never available and they never have been everytime I've been before . This wasn't an issue for myself since I knew availability was always an issue in Barcelo However if that's the case that should be removed of the menu . Another thing I noticed this visit is that the lobby bar actually had premium imported alcohol however we were asked to pay for it. And why is this an issue , well we paid for all inclusive and usually there is a disclaimer that states only domestic alcohol is free and without that disclaimer one would figure domesti and imported would be for free . This needs further clarification as some people would maybe want to pay the extra when booking the trip to enjoy unlimited premium alcohol with having to bring the extra cash for premium alcohol . In the moment it seems as if the bartenders were trying to take advantage and make more money for them selves and this is not a good image . Our over all experience was amazing , since I knew what to expect . Except this time I know tourism is changing in Cuba and I figured honest feed back is the best way for Barcelo to improve for tourist to continue coming back instead of going to better places . In the end it's these small little things that make a difference for tourist and I'm sure others have noticed this and others will. As for trip central , the travel agents Shauna and Teelah were very helpful and nice . I appreciate all of their help. They deserve the recognition.

Awesome

The hotel was awesome, The food was much better then expected, the staff is friendly and welcoming. I would suggest to anyone from young to old because there is something for all age groups. The lobby is great, their coffee even better!

Amazing resort!

Although the food wasn't the greatest, this resort and the overall atmosphere made my stay so worth while. Definitely for a younger crowd, but every night was a good night. I would recommend staying in the premium rooms, they're the best ones.