Another Great Vacation!

This was our third stay at Labranda and it certainly was another Great vacation. We had a large group of 23 and we were received with smiles and top notch hospitality. This resort is absolutely stunning, the beaches & grounds are beautiful. The staff are always friendly and making sure you are having a good experience. We truly love this resort and are planning another visit in the very near future.

Nice resort

Rooms - oceanview was large and clean. Great views Food - probably the best we have seen in Cuba. Snack bar and 2 a-la-cartes were above-average. Missing fries and orange juice on some days, but not a deal breaker for us. Staff - very good service Beach - Main reason to go to Varadero Lobby and bars - lobby would sometimes have live entertainment and the Cohiba bar was nice as well. We would definitely recommend a stay at this resort.

Great resort

The resort is beautiful and the drinks are great. The staff could be friendlier and it seemed that they were understaffed. The food was also not the greatest but the beautiful beach made up for it. overall great vacation

The resort was very nice....beautiful resort......kept very clean inside and outside.....staff were great.....the food was so-so......pleasant experience

The beach with the waves was the best.....kept very clean......and no problem to get a beach chair and cabana.....there was never anyone trying to hassle you.....did run out of hot water a couple of days......would have liked to hear some local musicians playing the country's music......love Cuban music.....and would have liked to have had some dancing on the go

Great Resort!

Very clean! The food was good! close to the beach. The staff was very helpful and accommodating. Big resort so plenty of walking. The entertainment was good. Plenty amenities. The massage was great went 2 times! the gym was clean and well equipped.

Beautiful and Friendly

The resort was clean and staff was very friendly. Amazing ocean view rooms. A very short walk to the beach. It was our first time in Cuba The two bartenders Manuela and Davy from the beach bar were fantastic. The food wasn’t the best but we made due.

Great resort for the price

We enjoyed our stay at this hotel from Jan 27-feb 3 2020. We found it to be better than the one we stayed at the year previously which had a 4+ rating. The food was not the greatest, but that is Cuba. They do need to help support the staff at the bars as they were overrun with rude Russians. One person at a bar at 7pm to serve 50+ people is not practical. We enjoyed the beach bar with David and Manuela serving us. The occasional server on the beach was a nice touch as well.

No frills 3 and a half star

Hotel was clean but dated. Food was good but felt repetitive. Lots of rude Russians were there. Staff was kind and polite. Beach is beautiful. Not enough places are open to get drinks, which results in long lineups. Hotel deserves only a 3 or 3 and a half star, in my opinion. Good value trip though seeing how we only paid $1,610 CDN for two people for one week.

Beautiful Resort

This resort is beautiful and very clean.The staff are very kind and friendly. The animation team was amazing. Shout out to Raul, Denis, Ismael and Elizabeth.The buffet was amazing! People who complain about Cuban food should just stay at home. You will find at least a few dishes you will like. You can always bring condiments from home to Cuba. Amazing resort to go as a couple or family.

Cuba Rookie's Review

My wife and I didn't know what to expect, and given the abundance of conflicting opinions about Cuban all-inclusive vacations, we kept out expectations on the moderate to low end of the scale. We were advised to "keep our stars up when booking in Cuba." Given our modest income, we are not "5-Star" clientele and we didn't have those expectations, so we focused on 3.5 - 4 star properties. Ultimately, we were looking for a clean resort (no mold and mildew in the rooms, no cockroaches or other bu [... read more]gs, clean beds, linens and towels) and a nice beach. I can confidently say that we found that in the Labranda Varadero Resort. Beginning with our flight, the Sunwing flight was efficient and uneventful. It was disappointing though that my wife and I couldn’t sit together on what was our first vacation together since we married in 2016. We booked months in advance, but this didn’t matter. Sunwing should address issues like this. We spent enough money on a vacation that I shouldn’t have had to pay for a seat selection just so I could guarantee sitting beside my spouse. The resort has been renovated fairly recently, and it shows. We stayed in the Beach Club (Building #1 . . . the BEST ocean view!) and the rooms were very clean. On occasion, we had to chase down clean towels, toilet paper, and drinking water, which we've heard is common at most Cuban resorts, but it wasn't too bad, and as a means of self-preservation, we learned how to creatively create a stockpile of these resources. At times, we did feel like a deliberate shortage of these items was created in order for service staff to attend to us and create an opportunity for them to receive a tip, but I don't play that game. A lack of hot water was not really an issue at the resort, as we’ve heard stories from experienced Cuban travelers. The grounds/territory of the resort are quite nice and maintained regularly. The beach is FANTASTIC, and I would dare say the best beach in Varadero (and we did walk the many kilometers up and down the beaches beyond our resort in order to compare). The two rock outcroppings on either side of the resort provide a natural privacy to the public beach. There are plenty of palapas and chaise lounge chairs and non-motorized water sports. The animation team (Bravo Club) was wonderful and provided as little or as much as we wanted to participate in. The only disappointing thing about the beach, but hard for the resort to control is human behaviour. By this, I mean that the utter abundance of smokers who seem to congregate at all-inclusive resorts tend to treat the beach as their personal ashtray. The resort does have people who clean the beach, so they are able to attend to the larger garbage that people inexplicably feel entitled to leave on the beach, but the cigarette butts are hard for them to gather. The food was OK, but not stellar. It was tastier than I expected, but the quality was sub-par. Meat was often fatty and filled with gristle, etc., and was of a lesser quality than Canadian cuts of meat, not that this was unexpected. Fruits and vegetables were fresh though not as tasty as they looked. Salads and ready-cooked food was often watery and seemed to be just a concoction of whatever didn't "go" the meal prior. When I can’t distinguish what’s in a dish, I usually won’t eat it. They ran out of cheese for the last 4 days of our holiday, and the ice-cream lineups were often intolerable. While it sounds like I might be "down on the cuisine", my wife and I are quite fussy eaters, but we never went hungry. We did find the variety lacking for those who rarely eat red meat or fish. Most people don’t go to Cuba for the food anyway. The a la carte restaurant options weren’t worth the wait in line each morning, with the restaurants offering much the same food that could be found on various days at the buffet (save for a little bit of nicer beef at the Fusion Restaurant). While the a la carte suppers are featured as a kind of incentive, we didn’t really feel that they were worth the time and effort. The reason for this is because we found out that you can only book an a la carte on the day that you want to use it and that the chef only decides on that day which type of cuisine will be made available, so you have no way of knowing what’s being offered unless you line up each day. Additionally, there is the risk that you can line up and by the time it’s your turn to book, there may be no availability anymore for what you want. The two nice features were that we were able to get away from smokers at the a la carte restaurants (because they were indoors) and we didn’t need to fight for food at the buffet. Given that we were in Cuba to enjoy the sun and the beach, being in a long line each morning for a la carte restaurants seemed like an unnecessary “time sucker.” The evening entertainment in the lobby was outstanding and the nightly main shows were good too, though again, inconsiderate and ignorant smokers made for unpleasant experiences and the hotel staff seemed quite reluctant to even enforce the non-smoking bylaw in areas where it was applicable. As an aside, my wife an I joked that in future years, we may take our own professionally-created and adhesive “No Smoking” sign and stick it up wherever we sit, with the hope that even a few people fall for it and we can enjoy a smoke-free environment a few times during our vacation. The one area of the resort that could use some serious improvement is its organization and service. We did have a few employees who exhibited fantastic service that I would compare with a North American or European standard and it was a refreshing breath of air in an otherwise sometimes frustrating experience. Upon check-in, the woman couldn’t find our reservation and after some digging and still not being able to find it, despite my documentation, she asked us if we had perhaps canceled our original reservation and re-booked. We hadn’t. We were invited to go and have some supper at the buffet and comeback after they had figured out what had happened. We never did receive an explanation, but when we returned from supper, we had our beach club ocean-view room, though it was less than what we expected, seeing as how we had booked months in advance. Happily, after a few days in our initial room, we were able to move to the best beach club building and an amazing ocean view. As previously mentioned, we did spend some time trying to track down the most basic of amenities, and my wife joked that it seemed like the staff were well trained in the “friendly lie.” By that, I mean that we would repeatedly call to the front desk (when the phone would work) and ask for clean towels, drinking water, and toilet paper, and were assured in the friendliest of voices the assurance that our needs would be taken care of. Sometimes this was true, but most often it was not. Probably the most frustrating experience happened on our last day, when we had to check out. We were staying in the Beach Club, which is a complex of 3 buildings set away from the main resort building, about a 5-minute walk. Because of the weight and quantity of our luggage, not to mention the 35-degree heat, I ordered a bellboy and a luggage car at about 11:30 AM, so we would be on time for our 12 PM check out. Further, we had to be in the lobby, waiting for the shuttle to take us to the airport at 1:45 PM, so we thought we’d have time to store our luggage in the secure area by the Reception Desk and eat lunch at the buffet, which opened at 12:30 PM. None of this happened. We waited for 30 minutes and the bellboy never came. I called the front desk numerous times from the telephone in our room, and was told the “friendly lie” that he was on his way. We waited 30 more minutes and he still hadn’t arrived. In most instances, I would have normally just hauled our bags to the main building, without question. However, my wife wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t help much; our bags were heavy; the beach club isn’t exactly close to the front lobby, and we were running out of time to check our bags and have lunch prior to the airport shuttle arriving. By now, the maid had knocked on our door to ask if we were checking out. We explained the situation to her and that our room phone had just stopped working properly. It sounded like my call would be connected and as soon as I spoke into the receiver, the call was cut off. The maid tried to help us by using her walkie-talkie and relaying the information to the appropriate staff to try and help us. We were assured that a bellboy and car were on the way. We thanked her and waited for 15 more minutes and then realized that it was foolish to keep waiting for this guy to show up, so we made the difficult trek, on our own, with heavy bags, to the main building. Because my wife wasn’t feeling well, I loaded myself up like a pack mule and we opted for a slightly longer route on a circuitous road to the main building, in order to avoid having to haul our heavy bags up a large flight of stairs. We did all of this in 34+ degree heat, and I was absolutely soaked by the time we arrived at the lobby with little time for us to freshen up, change our Cuban money back into Canadian, and have lunch, before our airport shuttle arrived. Because there was only one possible road for the bellboy and car to drive en route to us during our walk to the lobby in the main building, we were able to ascertain that the car and bellboy had never made the journey to us during our whole ordeal. Instead, the only bellboy working during that time seemed intent on staying close to the lobby to take care of the newly-arriving guests and raking in the easy tips, despite us being promised that he was “on his way.” This was typical of the type of disorganized “service” we received while we were at the resort, save for a few exceptional employees. That being said, it doesn’t sour our entire experience, and knowing what we know now, we know what to expect when we return, and return we shall to Labranda Varadero!

Cozy Resort

I like the fact it’s a smaller resort and not huge lineups for meals. Food especially meat has gotten better over the years in Cuba. The omelette and meat and pasta stations were the best choices for hot food as the rest was Luke warm. Bread is to die for. Rooms were clean. Service was good. Pools and beach were good. For the value would go back.

Beautiful beach, two star resort

Lobby is nice and looks grand, good WiFi on the resort, most staff were nice but some did not smile and looked like they did not want to help you. Resort ran out of room towels, bottled water, french fries, yogurt etc. food did not have variety or taste, showers were cold. Staff in kids area on their phones most of the day.

Amazing resort

We stayed at Labranda resort in Varadero for 2 weeks.The hotel is amazing everything was perfect. I had so much fun with my family. The weather and that beach was the best part of our vacation. We loved everything about it. See you again LaBranda

Very nice resort

I stayed in Labranda resort in Varadero for 14 days and I liked it there. Everything was great, I wouldn’t change a thing. The beach is the most amazing part. The weather was amazing and I had so much fun with my family. See you in a couple of months again.

Not the best vacation :o(

I was really excited about our vacation to the Labranda. Based on the reviews I had read on Trip Advisor it sounded absolutely amazing. The hotel itself is quite nice but we ran into a few problems. We had adjoining rooms with our kids. Our room smelled like mold and had mold and mildew in the bathroom and the ceiling was leaking, the adjoining doors did not work etc. They did switch our rooms and that fixed both problems. Then we had no hot water for 2 days. Everytime we called the front des [... read more]k they either didn't answer or they would put us through to someone else and that person would only say "WE WILL SEND A TECHNICIAN". Our first night he showed up to our room at midnight! The buffet food was horrible (and I have been to Cuba a few times and it was not this bad) and the a la carte restaurants were awful too (Italian and Fusion-Spanish). Some staff were very friendly and helpful and others did not really want to help if you didn't speak Spanish. I kept trying to be positive but it definitely was not great.

A Wonderful stay Labranda Hotel!

My family had a good stay at the Labranda Hotel! The pool quite big and clean. The beach can be a little bit crowded but there is a big stretch of the beach where you can try to find a spot that you want. The food at the buffet is good. The special dining areas are quite a disappointment though because of the long wait and the food is not that special. The staff are generally friendly specially at the dining hall.

Loved it

We did like it, just what we were expecting for. The price was good, food was good, especially for New Year and Christmas. The ocean was a little bit cold, but that’s what you can expect during winter time.

Good resort, excellent beach.

We did like it, just what we were expecting for. The price was good, food was good, especially for New Year and Christmas. The ocean was a little bit cold, but that’s what you can expect during winter time.

Great resort!

Staff was very warm and friendly. Food was pretty good considering it was generally a rotation of the same dishes. Premises were exceptionally clean and environment felt safe during night and day. Beach is smaller but really pretty. Sheets in rooms aren’t the cleanest sometimes. Otherwise we had a lovely stay.

Loved it

Amazing resort and services. Loved the buffet. Loved the catamaran guys. Made lasting memories! Fun activities everyday. Loved the vibes. Nice family resort! :) had lots of fun. Yummy ymummmm fun fun yay