Fun!

Rooms are nice, beautiful beach, large pool and lots of friendly staff. Would recommend this resort to families! Variety of food and very flavourful! Overall very clean and fun resort!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not a good experience

This would have been my third time in Cuba. I love Varadaro! The Hotel was definitely not what i expected, It was a 41/2 5 star resort but this hotel did not impress me at all. I have no problem with the food in Cuba (i know everyone often complains) but I usually find something I like. The food at this resort was terrible, It was the worst resort that i have been to regarding the food. My fiance' was faced with food poisoning after eating in one of the snack bars on the resort - he was V [... read more]ERY sick for TWO days. We had planned to go on a excursion and had to stay in bed (by toilet) instead, this was not enjoyable for either of us! This was his first time in Cuba, and that experience I think definitely turned him off of the food in Cuba it definitely made him terrified to eat ANYTHING on that resort for the rest of our stay. The phone in our room also did not work, we were unable to even call back home to let family know we arrived safe. We were told that they have been having problems with the phone system and hopefully it will work in a few days ?? The service/housekeeping was exceptional as always in Cuba, as Cubans are beautiful people inside and out! I love to Travel and never one to complain, and would love to do more travelling but I do know that I will never return to that resort the food poisoning definitely put a damper on things. I am very familiar with the signs and symptoms of food poisoning v and was well aware that this was definitely a very bad case of it, worst I have ever seen! My travel agent at Trip-Central, Cindy Callaghan (Halifax, NS) has been doing an exceptional job at booking my vacation getaways for me and my family for many years, I will continue to trust her opinion with the exception of this one hotel. It is always a pleasure doing business with Cindy as she is very friendly, knowledgeable and gets to know her customers well to ensure they what they want and need to enjoy their vacation getaway. So all in all we enjoyed the time together and made the best of it. I usually do not write reviews but the food poisoning was a real scary situation for us. I also have never won anything in my life so thought I would give it a go. We were hoping to go away for our anniversary in September or around that time frame, but may not be able to afford it as we are also hoping to plan a wedding and honeymoon down south also! Thanks for taking the time to read my review, and to value my feedback! All the best, Ms, J

Great hotel

we had a great time the food was very good with lots of variety grilled meat chicken fish, fresh fruit and great ice cream the pool bar offered pizza hamburgers and the pool was very nice. Night entertainment was also quite good. No mosquitoes!! only a few tiny ants in the bathroom which the maid took care of and never returned take raid with you in case.The rooms were comfortable and as far as beach towels go reuse it and you won't have a problem. It was quiet at night where we stayed no proble [... read more]m sleeping. The beach was great . The coffee bar was a hit with young adults in the group. Overall we had a great experience.They provided us with a great dinner and breakfast for our anniversary.

First time in Cuba, it was the best! Beautiful res

You will love it! We'll be go back. Building 51 next to beach. The rooms were so clean. Find was good . Beaches clean. Grounds well looked after. All staff welcoming and so nice. Best resort I've ever stayed at.

Great Stay

Beach, grounds and pool were fantastic. Food was pretty good for Cuba. Staff was friendly, and the Piano bar was such a hit. Rooms need some spring cleaning (Grout work, chips in dressers). Only complaint, Beds and pillows were lacking and fairly uncomfortable.

Nice resort

Nice resort, with nice clean rooms. Front desk staff could have been friendlier. Quality of drinks was so-so. Buffet was ok but the a la cartes were very good. Pool was nice and clean, but most of the pool chairs had broken backs - really need to be updated.

All around 5 Star

The hotel and staff are wonderful. I have stayed in Cuba at least 8 times and by far this place had the best service and food I have ever had. Well worth the money. I purchased this trip through trip central and taxes in was $1039. Incredible price!!!!!

Ocean Varadero El Patriarca

The resort was very clean, good food, Mikes Cafe was great, awesome beach! The activities were well run and entertaining. Went with 11 people and had a great time, and we had perfect weather for the week.

Beautiful Beach, Nice Resort

Hotel was nice, the beach was beautiful. Buffet was OK, but like any buffet it gets old fast. The Oriental and Italian restaurants were great. Front desk staff NOT great after complaining about bugs!!

Very nice place.

the ground we very well keep we enjoyed the pool the beech was good and you could walk a long way enjoyed the resterants the one near the pool the buffet the entertament the rooms very roomy the staff were nice it was such a grat holiday

Awesome resort !!

We had an amazing time the buffet was really good. The hotel was clean.. The dining customer service was fabulous .as were the recreation staff and housekeeping...cant say that for all services..some employees were not so friendly. Pool was beautiful as was the beach.. We had an amazing snorkelling trip to The bay of pigs. Transportation to anywhere was readily available... Loved our vacation over all!!!

It was an ok resort

The food was good, the grounds were beautiful but we had a problem with ants in our room. The beach was not the greatest. Looks of rocks. The service was great. Staff was very friendly. The atmosphere was good

A relaxing family March Break

We would recommend this hotel to others. The food was better than expected given the reviews about Cuba food. The service was good, bar-service always friendly. The beach was just OK - not very wide, very crowded - had to get up very early to reserve a lounger - did not love this part. We noticed that the beaches to the west were nicer. We spent alot of time at the pool. The shows were OK. There were not alot of teens or even kids. This was OK for us because we traveled with friends. As two fami [... read more]lies, we were glad it was not a 'party' resort (the Memories down the beach obviously was by the sounds of it!). It was great value, especially for march break. Thanks for the amazing service from TripCentral!

March Break

Hotel is great value for what you pay. Would def recommend. Don't listen to negative reviews! Advise: -Bring your own beach towels. You do only get one hotel beach towel for the week. Every night we dried them on our balcony (for that reason, I would recommend requesting a balcony). Brought dollar store hair clips to ensure nothing blows away, also used them as chair clips to keep your towel in place during the day. - Bring a insulated cup or Bubba (I bought mine at Canadian Tire), as the bar on [... read more]ly gives you small plastic cups, which means too many trips to the bar!!!! - Bring items to give away. We left our maid: Shampoo, soap and feminine hygiene products. In the kids room we left: notebook, pens and chocolate. -I read to bring a roll or two of loonies to tip with, but DON'T recommend this. The staff can't exchange coins, only bills of Canadian money. So recommend exchanging Canadian at hotel desk into CUC and tip with that. We tipped bartenders (def get better service!), gardener, chair boy on beach, beach guy that organizes free sailboats/paddle boats/kayaks (we enjoyed this, esp paddle boats as we took out and used as a raft while the kids snorkeled and dove for shells) and waiters at restaurants. Usually left 1-2 CUC. - Did Jeep Tour, again good value. We enjoyed it, esp fresh water cave and hanging onto alligator at ranch (the alligator guy was really funny). Be ready to be asked for tip after tip. Does get a bit tiring. We heard other people, took clothing and threw out jeep windows. The people and esp the children come out and wave when the jeeps go by. Wish I had taken some. - We didn't exchange our bath towels,ours friend did and what they got back was not as good, so suggest you hang them back up after each use. Worked for us. - Bring a wash cloth (if you use one) for your face, they are not provided. - Plugs for hair dryer and chargers are UNDER the night table by bed, so don't miss them. They worked well. The ones in bathroom didn't. - Bring after bite, I did get a few bites :-( - Bring lots of suntan lotion, I brought 3 bottles of 30spf (plus some lower numbers) for four people and we run out. Bought new bottle there for $40!!! Recommend one bottle per person. - Beds a little hard, but pillows good. However, after a day in the sun and the right mix of cocktails, I slept like a baby each night!! Have fun, we did!!! Very relaxing. Cheers!!

Poor, Poor Service!!

While the grounds, pool, beach and food were decent the "service" was terrible, eg: took 4-5 days to get clean towels, fridge not filled everyday, staff took 3 towels only returned 2 and hotel tried to charge us for "loosing" a towel (refused to pay). Staff promised to fix the problems, never did! Got lots of bug bites from the room too!

Has the potential of 4.5 stars...but only 3 star

This resort has the potential to be a 4.5 star. The layout, grounds, pool and beach area were all really nice. In a few years, the grounds will be lush and beautiful, as they are doing a lot of work. The maintenance of the rooms is a big concern. We stayed on the second floor, and had a cockroach in our room the entire time. The bathroom & entry walls had the residual spray of spilt drinks which had dripped down the walls. The paint on the edges of the walls were wore off, chipped, the grout in  [... read more]the bathrooms looked as though it hadn't been re-done in years, stains on the bathroom counter and pen marks on the bed linens. Multiple guests, including our friends, had no working electrical outlets in their room. The A La Carte restaurants were not nearly as good as the buffet food. Buffet has LOTS of variety with very fresh ingredients every day. However, glasses for juice and cutlery were very dirty. The hotel staff was pleasant ENOUGH, with a few exceptions. The front desk staff needs significant training on customer service. Entertainment activities and staff were exceptional; on the beach, at the pool, in the evening performances. Just fantastic! I have travelled extensively to various vacation destinations such as this, and understand I am not travelling to a north American country. I want to embrace the local culture and understand there are some limitations beyond their control; however, after 20 years of serving Canadian tourist in the hospitality & tourism industry, one would expect higher standards of cleanliness and all around customer service. I would only recommend this resort as a 3 star only. We paid too much money at $1350.00 per person, for 1 week...that is for certain!

Definitely a 5 star!!

I went on this trip with my mom and we had a great time. The staff were very friendly and welcoming, the rooms were modern, updated and the resort itself was in good shape. In order to get chairs on the beach, you need to go down early and put your towels down, but there were always staff there to help us with this. The pool area was nice and big and there were always chairs available. Plus there was a pool bar. The food was decent and a good variety. I was quite pleased with this resort. I love [... read more] Cuba!

Very good and welcoming resort!

We stayed in the privilage section which was great. I would highly recommend it as it's worth it. Great drinks, very good staff, quiet place, perfect access to a private pool and the beach ( which was a small one but you can always move aside). If you have things you're not satisfied with you have a concierge just a phone away. meals were generally fine, nothing too special. Average Al a Carte restaurants. The best coffee for us, and we are extensive espresso coffee drinkers, was at the privilag [... read more]e pool bar and the privilage restaurant. Serrano coffee brand is the best. We recomnend the resort. Rooms were clean. Large bathroom with a tub shower and a seperate one. We asked the maid to change the towels and she did. Otherwise you might end up for a week with the same towels. Overall great experince. Will hopefully go back next year.

Beautiful Resort, People and Country

Travelled February 27 to March 5, 2016 with nine friends. Arrived late for check in which was smooth and fast. Deluxe rooms are fairly large and clean (maids did a fabulous job) - loved the shower (great hot water and pressure) - only complaint would be lumpy beds but we just slept the other way LOL. Recommend bringing your own tea, coffee and whitener to enjoy in the morning on terrace/patio. Beach was partially washed away due to recent storms but no big deal - we always found an umbrella even [... read more] in the afternoon and preferred going to the right towards Memories resort next door. Evening entertainment at the theatre was great - amazing dancers. Lobby bar and piano bar made the best drinks. The ladies at Mike's Coffee Bar were amazing and friendly. Pool was clean; however, lots of broken sun beds. Gardens and landscape are beautiful. Food was good - especially at the buffet - lots of variety. Will visit Varadero again but stay in a resort closer to town for the restaurants, night life, etc.

Unfortunately we would not recommend this resort

First and foremost we are not picky people. We have been to Cuba twice before this trip. In our opinion This not a 5 star resort . Part of the beach is rocky, also there is rock/coral under the water. Bring water shoes. If you like to snorkel, this not the place for you, unless you book a snorkel excursion. There is no beach B.B.Q. We ate at two ala cartes, gourmet was nice and oriental was below average. We did not try the Italian as we heard nothing but negatives. The food at the buffet restau [... read more]rant was o.k, but the food was always cool or cold. The theatre performers were average. We usually would go every night after dinner we chose to miss a few nights. We did not get the friendly feeling that others claim. Check in staff really need a course in customer service. Room was nice and kept clean by Jacqueline. Thank you. Unfortunately we would not recommend this resort. We really felt management was lacking at leading staff.