Not satisfied

Stayed with a young family at the BARCELO for 4 days in Aug 2016. Hotel/room: Very old and un-kept, although we did see some people doing some paint jobs. Plastic cups found throughout the day in the pools, which are not cleaned (people found swimming at 4am). Food: good seafood, but very average same food, recycled 3 times during the day. Lots of fliees and birds on the tables. No AC for 2 days. Staff: biased. some are very caeless, a few go above and beyond.

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.

Awesome place!

This resort is big with many pools to enjoy, a beautiful beach, and excellent service. The staff was always friendly, and the restaurants and food was pretty good. One things I liked a lot was that the buffet and restaurants are air conditioned unlike other resorts where I've been to where I have had a difficult time keeping my appetite due to the heat, but that was not a problem here.

Resort Needs Much Improvement

It seems that most of the renovations/improvements done at this resort are superficial and insignificant next to the basic necessities most have grown accustomed to. In short, my friend and I both grew very ill due to the filth in our room and a faulty air conditioner that did not work properly. When our room was cleaned, it was after 2pm. Most times, we did not receive water until the above mentioned time and were forced to purchase from the in-hotel store. This will be my last time staying at  [... read more]Barcelo Solymar.

Room for improvement but great experience overall

Just came back from a weeklong stay with friends at Barceló Solymar. This was my second time in Cuba (Holguin in 2012) and while we all enjoyed ourselves for the most part, there are some things that could improve future guests' stays. My friend and I arrived the night before our other friends, and I admit that my first impression was so-so. The resort is a bit difficult to get around at night (i.e. poorly lit in some places), and it took us a while to find our bungalow (we were told that so [... read more]meone would help us find it, but they never showed up). Luckily, the maps around the resort are straightforward, so we learned our way around quickly. As for our bungalow, we never had any issues with roaches or bedbugs. What I would suggest, though, is that the mattresses be upgraded (they were not very comfortable) and remodelling the bathrooms (especially the showers - a shower curtain would be much better than a glass screen that doesn't run along the whole bathtub). Besides that, our minibar was always stocked and our room kept impeccably clean. On that note, special thanks to our maid Dunia, who left us a handwritten note and cute towel art thanking us for the gifts/tips! That was so sweet of her and a nice way to end our stay. I'd also like to thank Onay and Gabriella for booking the à la cartes and our amazing day trip to Havana. They're very friendly and always happy to see guests, and I appreciate their help. The buffet was good, especially their pasta, potato, and rice dishes (they often have sushi for supper!). For breakfast, I especially recommend the pancakes, croissants, and the eggs cooked in front of you. I went to three à la cartes during my stay, and my favourite was Spanish (still savouring that watermelon gazpacho!). Most of my friends and I didn't feel well after the seafood restaurant, but I'm thinking this was a rare bad reaction. Hands down the best part of the resort was the beach - beautiful, clear water and plenty of activities to keep you entertained! Just keep tabs on your beach towels, though - if you lose yours, you'll have to pay 25 CUC to get a new one. When you check out, make sure to either leave the towels in your room or return them to the front desk, not the towel service. Hanging around the bars near the pool is fun; the drinks are good and groups mesh very well. But because Barceló Solymar is known as a party hotel, I wouldn't recommend it for families with small kids - the festivities can get pretty loud late into the night. Arenas Blancas, on the other side of the resort, would be a better choice for young families. Overall I would likely return to Barceló Solymar once it's remodelled. Still, while the infrastructure and some of the food can be improved, the beach, bar, and staff were great. Thanks!

Great town bad resort

This resort just was not what we were looking for in an all inclusive. The workers and staff were all helpful and pleasant but the room conditions resembled my university dorm more than a comfortable room. There was cockroaches in our room and a leaking roof. We were hoping of more a chilled out environment but this was the resort you would want to go to if you were looking for a 24/7 spring break style party. People were yelling and screaming at all hours and blasting music when the sun was [... read more] coming up. The food was terrible but I can't say anything bad about the beachfront, it was beautiful.

Spacious, fun and good location

The resort is large and is associated with Arenas Blancas resort. It has a good number of people there and a good "party" atmosphere. Theres plenty of good restaurants and clubs within walking distance. The buffet food was bland; i saw people with their own hot sauce or something to add flavor. I also recommend bringing your own thermos, i saw many people with them and you are able to have the bartenders fill them with the drinks of your choice.

Love this resort !!

I've been to this 4 times , and everytime I go it's always an amazing time. From The entertainment by the pool , to the fantastic service. If your thinkin about taking a trip to this resort , I would say pack upppp , and I'll meet you there ! Cubas food has gotten a lot better over the past two years, but you should know, that you shouldn't be travelling there with the highest excpectations. The beach is wonderful where ever you go along the Varadero strip , however at Barcelo solymar , you expe [... read more]rience the white sand and the clear water ! It's so unreal , if you've never been I honesty recommend you go !

Needs security to control your customers

This is our 5th visit to Varadero, staying at a different resort each time so we knew all to well what to expect with the rooms and buffet. Long review but I try to cover alot of things. Stayed 10 days in May, 2016 Barcelo Solymar... Check in was good and never had any issues when we had to ask questions at front desk.Thank you again for the room upgrade to bungalow suite and the gift on arrival. We never used the bottom floor as we utilized the top floor as the main room with the patio. Maid wa [... read more]s in everyday so bed sheets were changed twice in our 10 day stay. The fridge was stocked everyday by the fridge man with water and some Crystal beer as requested. Varadero beach is fabulous, we spent our 10 days on the beach. The down side of my review is this. Yes the rooms are outdated and need a fresh coat of paint. The Pool and resort.. Catered to a younger loud group of people.Our room faced a beautiful pool but very noisy pool bar, day and night. The entertainment was way to loud, you couldn't hear yourself think. Especially after 12amwhen all the party goers start and that annoying siren cutting in between the music all night drove us over the edge. The pool water was very dirt with big clumps of hair rolling around the bottom and with the noise is was not at all welcoming nor inviting. After that first hour experience we went to the beach everyday. Hats off to the pool guy every morning who had his hands full to face the clean up after the night before, what a mess of plastic cups and straws and gawd knows what else. In the 10 days we did not see a water vacuum in the pool area, would help to clean the bottom of the pool. Smell of chlorine was very scarse. Book away from pool if you like piece and quiet after supper. The beach was our preferred location as I spent my 50th birthday in a decorated lounge chair. It got outta hand one day as one group carried around a big boom box all week and decided to crash on the beach. The more people complained the louder the distorted music got. We all paid money to stay at this resort so people think they can do want. Where is the respect of some people?? After many attempts from people telling them to turn it down they eventually left. We met people from England on our trip and they had the same experience as us. One morning they entered the lobby and there was broken glass everywhere from the night before, like clean it up as soon as possible and put these rowdy youngsters in their place.Barcelo Solymar needs more security. Your dealing with so many people and every resort needs security. If these things happen in Mexico or my home town they would be thrown out of the resort. Just saying. Also during the two BIG THUNDERSTORMS people were still in the pool, where is the security to get them out before they were all fried to death if the lightening struck.. I could not believe it. The buffet waitress to the right of entering the door was the best service offered. All the others were zombies. We tipped often but we saw 95% don't leave anything. Lots of food to choose from, still gets tiring after few days. I saw the small flies on the fruit pretty much every day..and the bacon not fried so we stayed away from that. Resort stores over priced on everything, way cheaper on the street. Wifi was $2 hour. I purchased 4 -5 cards and 2 cards gave me maybe 10 mins, seemed like the thunderstorms knocked out your mins after you logged in. Again strongly recommend more security to control your customers as Solymar is a compact resort and everything is walking distance in and off resort. 

Go elsewhere- save your $ and time

The beach/pool were amazing. The food- more terrible than other resorts in Cuba. The beds were springy and very uncomfortable. The air conditioning hit or miss. The water hit or miss. The staff were inattentive and sometimes just rude.

So So Resort

Very run down. The common washrooms were dirty, the woman's toilets did not have toilet seats. We had beetles in our room which were isolated to the desk and you would only see them scurrying at night. We never seen them anywhere else in the room. The bed and pillows were very comfortable. I had heard after we had booked that this resort was party central, well that was true. My husband and I felt like chaperones, mostly university students, lots of partying. The door frame on our room was all b [... read more]roken like someone had a one time kicked the door in. Hallways very noisy at all hours. Food was OK, but that is Cuba, no big expectations in that area.

Thumb's Down

Both my husband and I are 45 years old. I'm a catering manager at 2 hotels and he's a police officer just to give you an idea of our demographic. The best thing about this hotel is that there are always many people wondering around and it always feels alive and upbeat. Food is mediocre. A tip that we found out on our last day was that if you want a decent lunch at the buffet then you must be there right at 12:30pm when it opens. The food will be plentiful and fresh. If you wait until after the i [... read more]nitial opening and rush, you will get scraps and leftovers because they do not replenish with fresh food. Try to make reservations to the a la carte restaurants. At least you will get food prepared fresh for you. Lobster is an additional $15 and is worth it in my opinion. Guestroom: sink would not drain, air conditioner did not work, toilet flushed all night and in the morning I opened a drawer to find a small cockroach scurrying about. My left arm had about 6 red bites and was a bit itchy. I kindly asked to change rooms which was no problem so we moved up to the 4th floor. Everything worked except that I couldn't open the patio door and at 8pm a rather large cockroach was wondering around on our king size bed. I went to front desk and the attendant told me she would send someone up. Not sure why? Maybe to change the sheets. Needless to say I couldn't sleep (for some reason I felt like there were bugs crawling all over me) but we carried on. The next morning I had no new bites but my husband had about 5 on his arm. In summary, if you are going just to party, then you will have a great time. Location is good too. Very close walk to the bars and restaurants in Varadero. Oh yes, book a bungalow, apparently there are no cockroaches. Also, I was shocked at how much money we lost when we exchanged Canadian dollars. At the airport (which I recommend) $200 CAD will get you $150 Cuban.

Close to Town

There are 2 resorts on the the same grounds, so it's quite spacious.The beach was awesome! We stayed in one of the bungalows which was nice and quiet and closer to the ocean. The grounds are well kept. The hotel is showing its age to some degree but everything was clean. The food choices were decent. The 2 a la carte restaurants we dined at were ok but not amazing. Everyone who worked there (front desk, restaurant, groundskeepers, bartenders) was friendly, helpful and polite. It's rated as a 5 s [... read more]tar but I would say it's more like a 3 star (apparently Cuba is well known for this). The location was our main reason for choosing Barcelo Solymar. It's a 2 minute walk to the town of Varadero and it's safe. We had no hassles walking from one end of town to the other. I'm not a big drinker, so I prefer quality over quantity (some resorts offer upgrades). The alcohol choices were pretty grim (lots of cheap rum and vodka) and the resort ran out of 1 of their 2 brands of beer. If you plan to spend most of your time outside and like to wander off the resort, then I would recommend it.

Beautiful beach!

We stayed at the Barceló Solymar from March 30 - April 6, 2016. This was my second time at the Solymar and my boyfriend's first time in Varadero. The hotel was very clean, the staff very friendly and helpful and the best part was the warm weather (37 degrees Celsius), powder soft white sand and incredible turquoise waters. The hotel is in a great location - so close to town. The food was good - ate at the buffets for breakfast, lunch and some dinners (the grill stations in the morning make fres [... read more]h eggs - scrambled, omelets, etc. and for lunch and dinners they grill up fresh shrimp, fish, chicken, beef & pork), wide variety - no reason for anyone to go hungry. They have lots of breads, salads, fruits, crepe station, etc. Because it was my second time at the Barcelo, we were able to pick 3 a la carte restaurants (chose the Mexican, seafood and Japanese - all delicious) and were able to eat at the seafood restaurant for lunch - again great food. We ate off the resort twice - once in Havana at El Canonazo (not far from the fortress) - it's a tucked away restaurant which is very quaint with amazing food - chose the platter for two - wide variety of lobster, shrimp, fish, etc. and then at The Cave (also known as La Gruta del Vino) - amazing small restaurant inside a cave which seats around 20 people. Had the lobster and shrimp - which were huge and so delicious. The staff and owners were super friendly - they gave my boyfriend a Cohiba cigar and we signed our wine bottle to go up on the cave wall. This place is a must if you are in Varadero. While in Havana we took in the show at the Tropicana - a must see. What an amazing show. Loved our trip to Cuba - beautiful country with lots of history (going into Havana is a must) with incredibly friendly people. Will return!

Relatively inexpensive vacation

There have been some upgrades to the outside areas since our last visit, however, the rooms have deteriorated. The pool is good but the area under the palm trees on the far side was not swept and the garbage bins not emptied for several days until I complained. The lounge chairs, although relatively new, were dirty and could use a power wash. The staff were mostly wonderful. Morgan and Lala who work at the pool bar were fantastic. The food is as one can expect in Cuba. There is variety but it is [... read more] all quite bland. The fresh caught fish is always good but most of the meat is inedible. I would suggest staying away from the lettuce as I believe it is washed in local water and it had a rather bad effect on my companion. All the other salads were fine. The staff told us that they worried because the number of Canadians visiting had decreased considerably - I am not surprised. The sister resort next door (The Arena Blanca) is more desirable. The one good thing about these two resorts is the fact that one can walk into town or catch a local yellow taxi almost anywhere for five pesos.

Great resort, great time!

We stayed at Barcelo Solymar for 10 days beginning January 24, 2016. There are many options for the type of accomadations you would like, we chose a superior room. It was large and very clean. Our maid was excellent and the fridge was kept stocked with water, soda and beer. It is a great place for couples, families or singles as the clientele is a very mixed crowd and the resort is large enough for everyone. The staff at the resort were always friendly and helpful . You have the use of the resor [... read more]t next door which is also very nice, just to change things up once in a while. The resort is also within walking distance to downtown flea markets and shopping, Of course the beach is fantastic, well kept and lots of seating areas in both sun or shade. An excellent place and a great vacation, hoping to go back next year,

Quite outdated

This hotel was quite outdated not only in terms of decor, but also functionality. Our bath tub was clogged for the entire stay and not cleaned properly. The bed sheets were old and had some holes. The buffet had the same food every day. The a la crate restaurants were great (tried The International, Don Quijote and Mexican), except for the Mexican, that was quite watered down. The shows were amazing. There was no club after the shows and not much other entertainment during the day.

Great!

Firstly, the food was meh.. I mostly ate off of the resort. Bring hot sause or other condiments you enjoy. That would be the only bad thing I could say about this resort. The staff were very friendly and helpful. I would recommend this resort to any young people looking for a great time and a party! Party at the pool bar every night. I had the best time of my life and plan to return next year!

Great Party resort

Hotel was as you would expect in Cuba. If you are expecting Canada like cleanliness and over hotel condition you will be disappointed, like you would be anywhere else in cuba. If you have a family I would try staying at the Arenas Blancas side of the resort which seemed family focus. The Solymar side seemed more focused on those wanted to be more social and party. You can access the food bars at both resorts no matter which on you stay at. Food in cuba tends to be a little bland. I would recomme [... read more]nd bring a bottle of hot sauce.

Good and Bad Resort

the resort is basically this: Pros - great beach, lively crowd, good party scene, decent bungalow room, nicely landscaped, good staff, great location Cons - horrible food (ate dinner in Varadero every night), rooms are outdated, all public washrooms and facilities are terrible.