Club Amigo Mayanabo: sunshine!

We found the staff and services to be consistently good, the grounds and property well-maintained generally. The ocean was fantastically warm and the sun shone warmly throughout our stay - what's not to like?

Brisas Santa Lucia: good place

Weather ,entertainment, pool were perfect ocean was good but has algies Food good no program for kids Rooms are ok Staff are nice hotel in Rural area We took trips on bike and carriage and went to coco beach which was nice

Brisas Santa Lucia: Good for the price

Some of the staff were quite friendly, the others warmed up towards the end of the week. We always had a place to sit, beach and poolside. The food was above our expectations, but you do have to like seafood to be really happy, the rest was above average (which is great considering the shortages in Cuba). We also appreciated the King Ranch (included) trip as well as visiting Camaguey. Overall, a solid 3.5 stars.

Brisas Santa Lucia: No Complaints

Rooms were spacious & clean; food was plentiful and quite tasty by Cuba standards; more seaweed on the beach and I am accustomed to, but pleasant nonetheless and there was always a lounge chair to be found (even though the resort was at full capacity). What made me happiest was the great mix of music all week.

Brisas Santa Lucia: Nice Resourt

We stayed at Brisas Santa Lucia in December – just came back. Almost everything was beyond our expectations: very nice people, clean and spacious room, delicious food, very well maintained property etc etc. On the negative side: very shallow water, which could be a plus for small kids. However, you can get a ride to a wonderful Coco beach anytime or take a pedal boat and get to the crystal clear deep water... Definitely - we’ll return! Alex

Brisas Santa Lucia: Comfortable Resort

This being my 12th time to Brisas Santa Lucia, I've gotten to know what to expect when travelling to Cuba ... you go for the sun, relaxation and the friendly people. This was no different this time .. these people work their butts off to keep you happy and entertained. I did find the food selection was a little off this trip and when I questioned it, was told the Supplier didn't have things so they weren't able to provide it to the clients  [... read more]t 6 days for mojitios and a staple of french fries at the snack bar we only had for the first 3 days>. The burgers they served at the snack bar were sometimes undercooked so you had to be careful, but then told they weren't beef but were chicken and that was the reason they looked pink. At the main buffet .. one evening they had beef on the grill and 20 minutes after the buffet opened they ran out and started serving pork again. That being said I am still a huge supporter of this resort and will return over and over.

Gran Club Santa Lucia: relaxing resort

Not a 5 star, but a very relaxing environment. Smaller resort,junior suites are sufficent 1 buffet restaurant, decent variety. Beach bar that serves hamburgers and hotdogs (fries) which they never have, fried plantains instead Great coffee bar, open 7 am to 11 pm and a 24 hour lobby bar, good Spanish coffee for after dinner. A la carte are nice, but again definitely not 5 star. Pretty good evening shows and a good entertainment staff.If you are going to shop there basically isn't any in this are [... read more]a. This is a beach holiday location.

Brisas Santa Lucia: met expectations

If you are looking for an economical party vacation then this resort will meet your expectations. The resort is clean but very outdated. The food is O.K. but not great. For the price it is a fantastic deal unless you are looking for a 4-5 star resort. This resort is 3 stars at best .

Brisas Santa Lucia: Amazing resort

Everything looks wonderful, nice land scaping, great food, warm welcome, and excelent service. Clean rooms, needs to be little updated and upgraded. It was an worryless trip, relaxing with nice experiance.

Brisas Santa Lucia: Truly beautiful

The resort is spectacular! Every aspect is top notch from the beautiful gardens, to huge pool, fabulous beach, magnificent buffets and excellent musicians at the nightly shows. The extra features such as boat rides, bicycles and kayaking were greatly enjoyed. The room was deluxe as well

Hotel Caracol: Stay away

This is the first resort that I have had things stolen from my room. I brought 23 kG with me to give to the locals apparently that wasnt enough approximately 100.00 worth of my personal stuff was liberated from my room and gas was stolen from my scooter. The first scooter that I rented pulled hard to the right and stalled and wont restart after stalling. One of the locals helped me and I returned the scooter after i paid 6 CUC to fill the tank. I was then taken to another resort to exchange the  [... read more]scooter. After wasting half the day refueling the new scooter and doing the paperwork I was on my way. I retuned the scooter 3 hours late after a 5 day rental and was charged extra money. What a joke. This is my third trip this year to Cuba every time I booked with tripcentral, every trip i have requested a ground floor as I have problems with stairs all three trips I have been placed on the top floor. I guess its time to try a different travel agent.

Gran Club Santa Lucia: Fantastic family trip!

We've been to Gran Club 4 times now and this time was the best ever. Staff are always welcoming and accommodating. The entertainment staff go out of their way to please everyone and work alot of hours in the day. Food was better than ever, plenty of fresh fruit, breads and eggs in the morning, we love their bacon awesome. Usually the food is a little blah but this time it seemed like a bigger variety of pork, chicken and ice cream for desert was absolutely delicious. The weather could have been  [... read more]better but that's mother nature. Our room was clean and everything was working except for a light bulb in the bathroom, we asked to have it changed but it was never done ah well that's Cuba. We liked the beach clubs snack bar- hamburgers, hot dogs and fries really good. Bring ketchup, mustard, peanut butter and maple syrup for the French toast and pancakes. Hurray for Cuba.

Gran Club Santa Lucia: resort was what I hoped for at a great price

Everything was excellent. There was no complaints from day one. Staff food and grounds were great. The people were so friendly and helpful.I enjoyed every day Iwas there and do plan to go again .Drinks by the pool was the best just so relaxing. i will count the months till I return.

Gran Club Santa Lucia: The nightlife was great but the food wasn't

It was a party every night. There are 2 clubs within walking distance. Stick to buying beer there because they rip you off on mixed drinks. The hotel was clean and the staff was great but the food made me and my friends sick. I travel a lot and never get the runs and this time I did. Bring snacks, you'll appreciate it. The A la cartes were awful, don't bother and they don't have most items on the menu. All and all it was good for the price.

Hotel Caracol: Santa Policia

Caracol very good; management trying their best esp. public Relations Ladies Outside, which used to be the charm of Santa Lucia, now reduced to Policia being a corrupt and harassing force killing any sympathy any Canadian could have for the Cuban way of life . A disgrace to see "Adolf" pick up and arrest Cubans all over. The tourist beach party used to be called "White Party" now called Blue Party (more Police then tourist). Caracol Hotel still the better of the two Amigo resorts but the Food an [... read more]d Beverage policy should be reviewed

Hotel Caracol: Not too shabby

Stayed at theClub Amigo Caracol this past November for a week.Hotel was well kept and clean, staff were nice (especially the towel lady). Never got to know or see our housekeeper. Food was Cuba usual, very good pasta bar. Very yummy pina coladas at the lobby bar! Beach was cleaned every day but big seaweed problem at the shore. Recommend water shoes for the ocean.

Brisas Santa Lucia: Exquisite Experience

My wife and I stayed at Brisas for 2 weeks and we were amazed at how helpful, friendly and wonderful everyone on staff was to us! It made our 10 yr anniversary celebration a truly unforgettable time! Thank you to all of the beautiful people at Brisas!

Gran Club Santa Lucia: Great Trip

The hotel was very open and not over built on like the Breezes next door. the staff were very friendly. the entertainment was great. There were a lot of activities to sign up for. The Catamaran tour was fantastic I have never seen so many beautiful fish.

Hotel Caracol: ANOTHER GREAT TRIP TO THE CLUB AMIGO!

Last year (November/December, 2013) we visited this hotel for the first time (I wrote a rather extensive review on TA on December 16, 2013) and we decided to come here once again, booking our vacation over two months in advance through Hola Sun. Two weeks before departure we emailed the hotel, asking for an ocean-view room on the upper floor, in the 500 section. Since Air Cubana allows almost 50 kg of luggage per person, packing was a breeze! The flight departed on time and after exactly 3 hour [... read more]s and 30 minutes in the air, we landed in Camagüey. The buses were already waiting for us and the ride to the hotel went smoothly. ROOM We were assigned room #514 (last year #510) which was almost as good as #510, we even had the same maid as last year, Marta. Since the water was heated by solar panels (located on the roof), sometimes we had plenty of very hot water, at other times it was just lukewarm, yet it was not a big deal for me, but Catherine missed a hot tub bath. The air conditioner worked great and sometimes we used it, although we preferred sleeping with the windows open (maybe because of that we had a couple of critters visit us-we found a small crab and lizard in the room, both totally harmless, and gently moved them outside). Most of the time it was very windy and we did not find mosquitoes to be a problem. The small fridge kept stuff cool, yet barely. Last year we could watch CTV from Toronto — this year the only English language news channel was CCTV (Chinese, in English), which I did not like. Although neither of us has/watches TV in Canada, we were a little disappointed that we were unable to watch Canadian news and only several days after the municipal elections found out who became the mayor of Toronto and Mississauga from newly arrived tourists. The maid did an excellent job cleaning our room. We approached one of the gardeners and he was very happy to supply us every morning with 2 freshly plucked coconuts; they were delicious! Unfortunately, when it was raining, water leaked in through the window seals, flooding part of our bedroom. BEACH During our stay (two weeks), we had at least 3 rainy, very windy and cloudy days, yet there were enough sunny and hot days allowing us to spend a lot of time on the beach. Due to the reef, located several km from the shore, it was possible to swim even when it was very windy. The tractor collected sea weed from the beach every day, thus keeping it clean. From our hotel room we could see a boat stocked on the reef; according to several Cubans, it had been there since the end of December, 2013, when a group of Haitians tried to flee to the USA and instead ended up off the coast of Cuba. The government of Haiti was supposed to come and get the boat, but I doubt it will ever bother. We left our towels on the beach chairs and they were always there after we returned. Plenty of security guards patrolled the beach and we felt very safe. From time to time we saw Cubans walking along the beach, selling hats, shells, jewelry and sculptures. I bought two very imaginative sculptures, carved in one piece of wood; the seller was happy to accept, as part of payment, a t-shirt and my backpack, although he intensely eyed my Coleman watch, wanting it very badly! We met the ‘famous’ George, who speaks English and French, he was always willing to arrange various services to tourists — in fact, he made several phone calls on his cell phone to a few casas particulares in Camagüey and later we gave him a lift to Camagüey in the taxi. We also gave him a bunch of Canadian, American and British magazines and newspapers. Last year (2013) there were about 50 kite surfers who overtook not only the beach, but the swimming areas along the whole beach, making swimming very risky and unpleasant. This year there were plenty of signs on the beach, indicating ‘kite surfing free zones’. There were just several kite surfers, yet on at least one occasion, they deliberately were kite-surfing in the swimming area, just meters from the shore, yelling out expletives as they were flying by. FOOD As always, the food was good and plentiful (although repetitive) and there was always something delicious to pick. Most of the time we skipped lunch, instead going to the beach bar (El Velero) for a hamburger, fish & chips and cold beer. It was possible to have dinner at the adjacent hotel, Gran Club Santa Lucia (get a voucher from the hotel) and we had two of them. Whereas the dining area at the Gran appeared to be more expansive, with much nicer décor, the food selection was, surprisingly, inferior and limited. The Club Amigo Mayanabo was closed during the first week of our stay; when it opened, we also succeeded in having one dinner there. There were very few guests, but the food was good and somehow different from ours. We also went to the a ’la carte restaurant twice; the first dinner was very good, the second one (return guest appreciation dinner) was very limited buffet-style and below average. One night the hotel was celebrating its anniversary; the tables & chairs had white tablecloths and there was a grill set up outside. Catherine was in awe at the amount and selection of food. By the way, in 2013 there were 13 cats in front of the restaurant; this year we did not see more than 3 — supposedly they (were) moved to other hotels, but somehow we did not believe that-we joked that they were in the cat heaven… Except for an occasional mojito and cold beer, we hardly ever had any drink at the bar. It is a good idea to bring a bigger cup, as theirs are small and flimsy. On weekends the resort was full of Cubans; some of them stayed there for a night or two, others only came for a day. I was told that most of them come from nearby communities. HOTEL STORE/MONEY EXCHANGE The hotel store (tienda) had rum, liqueurs, beer and many other items and souvenirs. I wanted to exchange money at the airport, right after we arrived, but after lining up for a while, I gave up. It was possible to exchange money in the hotel, but we went twice to the commercial center between the Club Amigo and the Gran (Cadeca at Centro Commercial Santa Lucia). I was told that a copy of the passport was OK to exchange money; for VISA card advances original passports were required. There was a small room with three computers & internet connection in the lobby, but we never had a need to use it. There were at least two pay phones: one at the lobby bar, another in the block ‘400’. For 10 Cuban pesos (Moneda National!) we purchased a phone card which worked great! The card could be purchased from a telecommunication company located very close to the gas station north of the hotel (near the tall communication tower). ENTERTAINMENT We never went to see any show nor participated in any other activity (i.e., bingo). But from our room we could hear loud, obnoxious music every night and often during the day — and most of the time it was NOT the traditional, Cuban music that I had come to associate Cuba with, which is such a pity! Very often the activities during the day were so ear-splitting that we did not find it pleasant to sit in the lobby bar. Once we were using the pay phone at the lobby were almost unable to conduct a meaningful conversation. BIKES & BIKING TRIPS FROM THE HOTEL There were about 10 bikes for rent and the first hour was free. Unfortunately, most of them were in bad shape and needed simple maintenance tasks such as putting more air into the tires or adjusting screws. Teresa, the lady in charge of bike rentals, told us that somebody from the nearby village was supposed to come every day and fix the bikes, but he never did… We rented them many times, riding to the village of Tararaco or in the direction of the gas station. In Tararaco we went to the “Organic Restaurant and Gardens” whose remarkable owner, Braulio, we had met last year. We spent a few hours chatting with him, drinking his delicious, organic juices, having dinner and wandering in his amazing garden. We also visited his booth in Tararaco, where fresh sugar cane juice was served (see a separate review). One day we hired a horse carriage and went to the picturesque village of La Boca, which we had visited in 2013. Many Cubans told us that Russians were planning to build two luxury hotels in La Boca and eventually relocate La Boca’s residents. I hope the hotels will be nicer than the notoriously ugly hotels built the by Soviets in the 1970s and 1980s (think the Mayanabo, Havana’s Tropicoco Hotel or the ‘barracks’ in the Club Amigo Guardalavaca) and that local residents will be properly compensated. While the carriage driver was waiting for us, for over two hours we were walking along the old coral beach, in front of the houses. I managed to find some of the people I had met last year and gave them their photos and they were thrilled to get them! We met an older gentleman who was making fishing hooks, using a piece of metal wire. There were a few casas in La Boca and we wanted to visit one of them, but it was closed (see a separate review). RANCHO KING AND CAMAGÃœEY Since we booked our vacation through Hola Sun, we enjoyed extra benefits: we were staying in the Hola Sun section, had a free safe in the room as well as enjoyed a free trip to Rancho King. Even though we had taken this trip last year, we decided to take it again. Once we arrived, we were welcomed by the same horse-riding team of 5 cowboys as last year and given very interesting, informative and humorous presentation on topics pertaining to the rancho & its history, herbs, plants, sugar cane, agriculture, hurricanes and local residents and their way of life. We visited a school, Cuban village, a house where Fidel Castro had once stayed and later had lunch whose main dish consisted of a roasted pig (see a separate review). We also hired a taxi and went to the city of Camagüey, where we stayed in a casa particular for 2 nights — we we

Club Amigo Mayanabo: Our 8th time and it just keeps getting better!

From the warmest welcome, through the gorgeous beaches, the captivating excursions, lush greenery; this is our twice yearly touch of paradise! The Staff treat you like family, and there is always something to do for every taste.