Punta Peninsula Varadero: None like this one!!

This hotel is amazing, not too big, 2kms of beach frontage with one of the best beaches... amazing food, close to many things, best staff in the world and well kept... there is a reason I return here!

Blau Privilege Cayo Libertad: Absolutely fantastic!

We were expecting good but we got more than great! From the kind, generous staff to the immaculate grounds, clean rooms, beautiful pool area and private beaches. We loved the option of visiting the Blau Marina which always had a shuttle available to go back and forth. There was always something good to eat with several choices to please any pallete. We would highly recommend this resort to anyone who wants the peacefulness and privacy of a small resort with the option of taking in some actio [... read more]n with the bigger resort. 5 out of 5 strs indeed! Linda & Derm

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Just okay

We have been to Blau Marina before, however since then hotel lost its charm, everything seems run down, even the beach (not clean). We won't be coming back to this hotel. This was our 15th time in Cuba.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: A must go too resort

Our stay was perfect ! Staff like last time we're friendly, helpful and eager to please ;) All areas were clean, well stocked with paper towel bathroom tissue and soap in public washroom areas Our room was in the 1600 block which we requested prior to going ( through email Blau representative responded quickly ) on arrival they had us already booked into this area :) the room was clean and stocked with fresh towels also our beach towels were there waiting for us The shows were great an [... read more]d the disco was a hotspot that was a highlight for us Food was great. Service was exceptional, upon entering the dining area we had our servers showing us to (our favorite table) :) Beach was perfect also ! Music and service in the lobby was wonderful This is our second trip to this resort and will stay again next time Nothing but good to say about the Blau marina varadero !!

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Very nice resort. Employee's friendly and helpful.

Grounds and public areas are clean and well kept. Rooms are basic but also clean and well kept. The buffet food was quite good and they really tried to present a variety each evening. Lot's of chairs by the Plus pool so enjoyed that very much. The beach was a bit crowded and space was at a premium but it was also very acceptable.

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Great food

I visit this hotel numerous times every year. The best feature of this hotel is it's food. While Cuba has a reputation for having lousy food, I believe that this hotel is the exception. The hotel is kept clean, most of the staff is very friendly and the beach is nice, but the watter is rocky. As at all resorts in Cuba, stay away from tap water. Also, they may serve you filtered water. Insist on bottled watter. There is a huge difference .

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Some good; Some not so good

Loved the location. Room spacious and clean. Pools delightful - 3 different areas: one noisy, activity, music, slide, nets, bouncy castle and playground for kids. Bar. Great for families. Central one - beautiful. Three levels - gargoyles spewing water into pool, quiet, relaxing, restful. No bar. Third - one level spread out, quiet relaxing restful with a swim up bar. Lots of loungers available at all three. Beach great - 2.2 km long. Lots of sand which needs better grooming after  [... read more]a storm. Water warm. Lots of loungers. About 5 different sitting areas with umbrellas and loungers. No bar at a number of them though. Water warm and pleasant. Food - not bad for Cuba. Unfortunately the specialty restaurants serve poorer fare than the buffet. Only 3 Specialty Restaurants - Seafood with just one fixed menu; Italian and Spanish offered choices, but the vegetables were cold and the meat tough. Better to eat in the buffet. The service was excellent throughout - at reception, in the rooms, restaurants, and buffet. Friendly helpful staff everywhere. Downside: Disco noise for buildings near it from 11:30 pm - 1:30 am. Lack of lighting on path leading from Bldg 16. Coffee and tea are only available in the buffet at breakfast - not at lunch or supper and not in the Specialty Restaurants. Salt and pepper shakers are clogged. Hot buffet food is often cold. Mosquitoes!!! Something needs to be done about the standing water that must breed mosquitoes. Twenty to twenty-five bites between ankles and knees on both legs caused allergic reaction. The mosquitoes were the worst in the theatre and the lounge, but also were visible on the walls in the hallways, the buffet, and the specialty restaurants. made it impossible to sit and enjoy the nightly entertainment. I would not recommend this resort to anyone until the mosquito problem is resolved. We have been to Cuba twice before and to a number of other resorts in Jamaica, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Antigua and have not had a problem with mosquitoes anywhere including at home in Canada. .

Muthu Colonial Hotel: loaded with character and charm

This is my second stay at this hotel and I am looking forward to a return visit.The hotel is a short drive from the airport and is designed like a Spanish village.Despite being built several decades ago there have been renovations and a serpentine salt water pool added. Serivce in all areas is excellent.Food is good and there is outdoor buffet dining at all meals..a plus for someone from the northern climes.The beach is long with soft tan sand ,plenty of loungers and boats.Windy at times, kee [... read more]ps bugs at bay. The occasional cold front will pass thru in winter due to northern location.(windy and cooler)Friendly staff and nice gardens .directly adjacent to other 4 other resorts which can be accessed by road or beach..plus a market which can be accessed by 1 k road walk,miniture train or double decker bus.Plenty of Canadians(French and English) plus Russians frequent this hotel.

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Cuba Bound ? A Must

A very pleasant and unexpected experience. Except for 1 day of rain which no one can control it was a great relaxing and fun event . First experience at an all inclusive and it is definetely the way to go . Cannot say enough about all the staff- even the grounds crew- everyone is well trained in customer service- they know their clientele

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: We Enjoyed It

Well I think I'll tell you about the good first. The beach was really nice, snorkelling was amazing, The food was fine I always found something I liked ( It is Cuba you have to remember). If I returned to that resort I would stay in the Plus side for sure. The rooms where not great. Staff was nice ...not fancy at all but if you are looking for a nice beach a few good drinks and some fun. I think this place will work for you. The highlight for me was the beach

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Horrible Customer Service

Nice resort but a lot of lazy employees that are too busy socializing with each other, then to take care of the paying client that had been looking forward to a vacation in Cuba. I was trying to order a drink at the pool bar and on several occasions, I would approach and there would be 4 employees standing around talking to each other and laughing and four other employees in another group doing the same at the other side of the bar. I took a picture of this encounter because I was so d [... read more]isappointed with the poor service. Also the ladies that work in the internet office are unfriendly and not helpful at all. I would not go to Blau Marian Varadero Resort again. This was a resort that my random travel agent from Trip Central recommended to me. Soooooo disappointed, could not wait to get home.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Amazing time

Me and my significant other had a great time, the facilities are very nice, the workers are all very helpful. With the help of trip central we had a great time! We would recommend it to anyone looking to go to Cuba.

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Blah Costa verde

Clean rooms. Good service. Kids loved the swim up bar. Cappuccinos at the pool bar were excellent. Food were standard for Cuba. Custom pasta bar was a favourite for our family. Beach was gorgeous.

Muthu Colonial Hotel: Good resort

The beach is great. The grounds are good, and the pools are very good. There are lots of loungers available at both beach and pool. The food is typical Cuban. The grills are small and wait time can be long, specially if people order for more than one (like getting servings for 10 other). The ice cream counter is very popular. There can be three flights to your room so use a porter to carry your heavy bags! The internet is poor, and usually not working! The entertainment is typically Cuban, but  [... read more]can be enjoyable with a few drinks. Go for the sun, beach, pools, free drinks, and a bit of exercise. Don't expect great food and you can have a good time.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Best location

It was our second time visiting Blau Marina. We were happy with almost everything and really no complaints. The usual things that can go wrong in Cuba sometimes go wrong here but less so. We had more than enough of everything we needed or could possibly want - Service was good and friendly - our safe battery died, they sent someone within an hour to fix it, we left notes with requests for the maid and they were fulfilled daily (ie. if we wanted water or beer etc) - Lots of Europeans were th [... read more]ere this week, they are friendly and relaxed, but they tend to smoke more! yuck, I wish they weren't allowed to smoke indoors (even though it's a "breezeway" with open windows all along) - the entertainment was surprisingly amazing! The kids loved every single day of activities, they had a massive bouncy castle and a big water slide and a fun pool, and a kiddy area with playground, the kids were never bored for one single moment and liked it more than disneyworld. - the beach here is huge and private and amazing and the reason we returned, they have by far the best location on the peninsula with over a kilometer of quiet beach to walk and snorkeling too! They rake up the seaweed every weekday so it's nice soft white sand. - rooms are fine, and big enough for kids, but we don't' spend any time there... always outdoors - they were out of beach towels and we had to wait a day to get more (we had 2 for 4 people but it was 30+ the whole week so who needs a towel?) Lots of complaints from other guests about this. People need to relax a little, it's supposed to be a vacation. - food is good, standard Cuba food, but lots of choices.... lineups for fresh made to order food, but worth the waits... we had a party of 13 and no one had travelers illness - the place is clean but could be cleaner and needs a few repairs (ie. one boardwalk to the beach was broken). We felt they could us about 100 more staff (the resort is HUGE) to fix up some of the older, rundown bits and the resort could use a few more maintenance people and carpenters. It is getting older, but still could be amazing with a bit of a fixup. Maybe materials are difficult to come by?? - Really impressed with Air Transat overall, especially at the Ottawa airport, the service was amazing and fast, with no lineup... I was so glad NOT to be in a mile-long sunwing line. Go Air Transat!!!!! Air Transat also got us the best rooms at the resort, and oceanview. Hooray for Air Transat taking care of the most annoying, horrible exit tax too!! Thank you!! - Our only complaint was the mosquitoes, they were horrible this time (Early January)! Last time we went late February and don't remember any at all. Bring bug spray just in case as you can't buy it there. Bring pants and socks too.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Unfortunately disappointing experience

As we all know when researching & reading reviews on Cuba the food isn't great, it's actually Horrible especially when you pay for an upgrade at the hotel! The staff have no care or time for customers especially if you don't speak Spanish. Disappointing experience at this hotel, we had numerous issues with our rooms in fact we moved in total 4times then ending up paying for the upgrade! The room is much better in the adults only section. Unfortunately Blau Marina is not on my list to stay at aga [... read more]in!

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Amazing resort . Not the best bed!

This was by far the most friendliest resort my husband and I have ever stayed at. And with a 2 year old daughter , we've never felt more respected and taken care of by staff. We did not have the most comfortable bed, it was actually awful. But that being said the room was really nice and always super clean . Such nice cleaning staff and the front staff ( ie. Waiters reception) treated us like gold . Everyone really loved my little daughter and always has our table set up at the buffet before we  [... read more]even got there. I have never encountered friendlier people and this was our sixth time in Cuba first time at this resort. I just was blown away by how nice everyone was. The resort itself was so nice lots of entertainment all day and night ( ie. Synchronized swimmers in main pool, a circus show with show dogs ponies alligators) the main kids pool was so fun lots of different little areas to swim, a big water slide and a swim up bar. And then there was other parts of the resort a beautiful amazing lighthouse you can go up take pictures of the marina and sunsets. More pools further along resort and the nicest beach so quiet and lots of room for everyone. Just an all around amazing place if you don't mind not having the best beds :) would DEFINALTY RECCOMEND !

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Average resort on beautiful Varadero Beach

We've been to Varadero many times usually staying at 4+ to 5 star so Blau Marina being only 4 star (and I would say it should be a 3 + star due to many required repairs and upgrades) was not as we expected before we arrived at the standard we're used to in Cuba. That being said, for us the strengths were of course beautiful Varadero Beach and the evening show from 9:39 - 10:30 pm. (My daughters aged 9 and 12 also enjoyed them) We thoroughly enjoyed watching all the Caribbean, Spanish, and Cub [... read more]an dancing and costumes. The room was fine for the four of us. Clean enough, Spacious enough with a King for my husband and I, a cot for one daughter and couch for the other. Extra pillows, blankets, sheets were not readily available but eventually we made due. We were given three beach towels to start and we were only able to to get a forth after a couple days. We were only able to exchange them for clean ones once during the week due to a problem with the towel cleaning service. Now the food. Typical for Cuba. No spice, bland, salt and pepper shakers that don't work due to the humidity, long waits at the omelette bar and pasta bar with only one person managing two frying pans. Three out of four a la carte restaurants were open. We only tried the Italian one. While it was nice to be served in a quiet setting, the food was no better than the buffet so we preferred eating at the loud buffet with more variety. There was one small beachside snack bar with pizza, pasta and sandwiches and sometimes hamburgers and hotdogs that was open 24 hours. But really, outside of buffet hours there was nothing to eat. We found ourselves feeling very hungry between meals with no where to grab a snack. Small beach bar with those extremely small flimsy plastic cups. I'd recommend bringing a larger insulated travel cup because there is no wait staff at the beach or pool and you'll find yourself making many runs to the bar all day long, even for water alone. The staff were polite enough but less engaging/friendly/outgoing than we're used to. In other resorts all staff including maintenance and cleaning speak to you (Ola!). And finally, the main pool was a disappointment. It was small and filled with loud, drinking, guests (swearing loudly, blasting loud music) all day until 6:00 pm when it closed. Not an ideal environment for some people who do not wish to expose there kids (or themselves!) to that sort of carrying on. There was another lovely, peaceful pool we enjoyed when we weren't on the beach. We had a great time because it is the weather, the ocean, the nightly shows, the room to a degree and being together that matter the mostly us and all those expectations were met. We weren't expecting great things from the Blau Marina in the first place so we weren't disappointed. It was just fine for last minute booking. We will try another resort next time.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Fun in the sun

Pros: - We loved the beach and pool, we were there the first week in Jan, seemed to be plenty of chairs to go around. - Reasonable cost - Clear and very nice ocean to swim in - Very nice beach sand - Most staff were nice - The bar service seems to have improved - Exchange rate at hotel was only 3% less than the airport Cons: - Mosquitoes! Bring bug spray! (only in the evenings) - Musty smell from the A/C in the room. Fixed by turning off the A/C and airing out the room. Luckily it w [... read more]asn't hot enough to need A/C. - Coffee in the cafeteria is terrible (pretty good from the bars) - The red wine is terrible, I'm not sure why they don't change their supplier - They changed the towel policy from a card system to one where you get them in your room. So of course no towels for the first couple of days. - I think the nightly entertainment has gone down hill, most of the shows seemed identical with different costumes and music. Could not understand anything the announcer said. Wifi: They now have internet access via wifi available only near the front desk. The cost is supposed to be $1.5 CUC per hour but they will occasionally charge you $2 CUC. There is a semi-permanent sign up saying the wifi is very slow and unreliable, which it was and even turned off for a day (I don't think they plan on fixing the problems). The system also requires you to go to a page to turn off your access when you are done or 10 minutes of use can eat up the entire hour (if the system goes unreliable then you just loose your hour). Despite the cons we would probably go again.

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Second time was even better!

Our vacation was one to remember! From the booking (thanks Lynne Dixon) on we are thrilled with this experience. The resort is clean, the food abundant and delicious; not sure why people complain about Cuban food. The staff, they say, make the resort and this staff is friendly, warm and attentive. The beach is busy but not crowded, the pools (especially the VIP) were well maintained and welcoming. Shows are like other resorts, but they do put a great effort. For our return visit we got a free bo [... read more]ttle of rum and a cigar at a cocktail party. We paid more for the Plus, but others I spoke to said their rooms were fantastic as well. Looking forward to a 3rd time!