Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca Cuba

We just got back January 29th 2018 from this resort. We were booked to stay in the bungalow section but quickly decided to upgrade to the villa's after seeing the bungalows. The bungalows were just too small to house 3 people. Save some money when you are booking and book in the villas. It is much less costly for you to book at home than at the resort !! ($156 peso's for a two week stay one peso = 1 U.S. $.) The 5000 building is right by the gym, restaurants and pool with a great view of t [... read more]he ocean. We however found this resort much too sprawled out and way too large. There is a lot of walking involved to get from here to there and all shows are at the bungalow sections. Also I would just like everyone to know to bring a " very good pair of walking shoes " and to to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL when walking on the walkways and in the hotel's lobby ...WHEN THE FLOORS ARE WET !! ... The floors are VERY SLIPPERY !! and EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to walk on !! This resort is a pretty good bang for your dollar and the food is pretty darn good too. Reception and bar and restaurant staff are very slow ( some not all) unless there is a peso or two passed between you and them. All and all this resort is a good value on a limited budget.

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: Fantastic

Beautiful clean beach(s), friendly people, lots to see and do. With 4 pools, 3 buffet restaurants, 5 a la carts restaurants, 2 snack bars, 24 hour bar. The BEST WINE BAR - EVER. JOEL my friend.. see you again real soon

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: I love Club Amigo

This is an older hotel but they have been working at updating throughout. Staff are amazing. I feel very safe when I stay at this hotel. There are smiles and a wave or Buenos dias from all the staff. There are lots of activities available to participate in if one wishes. The sand beach is wonderful. There is plenty of ocean front for walking along and the swimming is fantastic. There are 4 big pools to swim in available to all guests. The activities co-ordinator plans outings into the  [... read more]country at low cost for all guests. The food is plentiful and the ice cream is delicious. The a la carte restaurants add a special evening of fine dining. Returning guests are given a wonderful 5 course dinner including lobster and shrimp cocktail topped off with baked Alaska. This is a great treat. There are plenty of small restaurants and bars available throughout for snacks or lunches as well as breakfast.

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: Friendly Home away from Home

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca has the most amazing white sand beach, which is a delight to walk along. In addition, there are 4 large swimming pools on the property. The staff is friendly and there is ALWAYS an activity for those who don't care to veg, no matter your age or fitness level. People sometimes say you don't come to Cuba for the food, but in my experience, there are plenty of choices for every appetite in the buffet restaurants. Food in the buffet areas changes daily, a [... read more]nd while I have my favourites which include pink yogurt, soup, fish, pork, omelettes, bread and salads, there is plenty of food to choose from. Specialty restaurants offer even better fare. For those who may be restless to stay in one place, there are many trips close to our hotel. Visits to an indigenous native site; swimming with the dolphins; time at a local farm seeing close up the planting practices, animals, and tasting fruits and vegetables grown there. An excursion to a local village with time for lunch, dancing and shopping. Bikes and scooters are available for adventurers who wish to go off on their own. For softies like me, morning exercise classes, afternoon Spanish lessons, bingo and dancing instruction are just the right amount of non-exertion. The main craft market is located next to the hotel and is open daily.

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: Club Amigo

We stayed in the Tropical, the room was very small, the ceiling was falling in and the closet drawers kept falling out, and the rod to hang cloths on wouldn’t stay up. We had to keep everything in our suitcases for 14 days. When we tried to get a upgrade, they wanted to charge us. We had to pay for water to brush our teeth. They had a filtration fill up station, but the water tasted moldy. Maybe the lines were dirty. Although I do not go for the food, the food barley changed from lunch  [... read more]to super for the entire 14days. We did have some very good food at the restaurants though. The staff were very nice. The pool in the main building was contaminated for a large portion of our stay, so we had to use the other pools.

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: Very niceresort

Wasn’t impressed when arriving at the resort they had us at the wrong desk for reporting in. My friend was the first one up to the desk. When she told her that she was in a he wrong place. She dismissed her and continued to talk to the next person. Puzzled to do. What next. It was dark and raining and what do we do. All I saw was next person were men. I went up to the counter in a voice you could hear. I apologize for butting in saying why was my friend brushed off and dismissed without [... read more] a reason. She said she made a call to help us to the other desk we were to go to. I answered why wouldn’t you tell us in the first time. We.were bused over to the other hotel desk. Not ever being at this hotel before. Traveling with three people. We were given a room with no three beds ask we asked. They said they would get us another bed. There was no room for another bed. We stayed the night. Wrong with the room the bathroom. Having a bath was watering the hole bathroom. We went back to the the hotel desk and ask if we could change the room because it wasn’t big enough for three of us. They told us if we went to a different part of the hotel it would cost us more. For two weeks it cost us $70.00 per person -$210.00. The room was a good size for all three of us. Bathroom was great! We payed for the safe. The safe didn’t work for 2 1/2 days waiting in the room waiting for it to be fixed. We ask for our money back and they said they would give us us a lobster dinner. The maid was great. A very nice woman. The weather for the two weeks was terrible. Can’t help that. Service was good ok! The last breakfast we had the worse waitress she ignored us for service. Would I go back not really. It took us a week to find everything. The place was big. Didn’t see a show never new were it was playing. Over all it was clean. The hotel we stayed in Toronto wasn’t as good as the one in Cuba. Sinserly Alberta Ayers.

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: Always love this resort

This year we stayed in the hotel part of the resort this is called the tropical section. We stayed in a renovated room that had a great bathroom actually the best one we have had in all the 4 times we have bern there the only odd thing was the glass bathroom this is not on all rooms. We had a incredible view of the ocean and it was nice to not have to run through the rain to get food or drinks as everything was in the hotel. There is so much to do at this resort and the staff is always very f [... read more]riendly and welcoming.

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: 4th time guest

Being a 4th time return guest, I knew what to expect going in. The beach was beautiful as usual, workers try their best to keep up with seaweed and garbage. Food was a hit or miss, A la Carte restaurants were impressive in comparison to buffet. I was there for 2 weeks in which the weather did not want to cooperate and we had mostly rainy days. Not much anyone can do about that but unfortunately there is not much to do on a rainy day/night, we sat there thinking there should be more entertainment [... read more] planned for such events. The building with the pool table/ping pong/games was closed around 6 or 630 so we couldn’t even go in for a game of evening pool. The pool table that was once in the red bar was also removed for even more of a lack of things to do. We questioned this as we put them to good use in previous visits. I did not travel with children but I also noticed there seemed to be less going on for them as well. My room flooded a few days before the end of my trip so I had to switch rooms, unfortunately the only option was to move to a room that smelled like it was smoked in 24/7.. this leads me to my next complaint. There are no smoking signs that are clearly visible throughout the resort. I had a hard time even walking through the lobby as some (a lot) of smokers think they are more important than the non-smokers. I can’t understand how or why people ignore the signage and I did not once see it being enforced by staff. I really wish I had less complaints this time around and hope things can be improved as this resort does have potential. Most staff are friendly and provide great service for what they have to work with. I think it might be time to check out the Brisas next door as we walked through and it looked like they had lots of entertainment. Right now I wouldn’t recommend this resort to a first time guest. They are doing renovations and I could see improvements but there is a lot that needs to change (entertainment and management wise) Hopefully I will see these changes if I decide to return in the future.

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: What a disappointment

We went to this resort 3x last year. So we though we knew what to expect...unfortunately this trip was a disaster! Besides the fact that it rained EVERY day(this was out of our hands) but the cleanliness or lack there of was atrocious! This resort isnt even a 1 star. It was dirty, unsanitary, and disgustingly gross! The food was inedible, and they served the same inedible food every single day, the buffet never changed. The service was terrible if your not prepared to tip 5 pesos per drink every [... read more] time, you most likely wont get a drink/coffee. BUYER BEWARE DO NOT GO TO CLUB AMIGOS YOU ARE RISKING YOUR LIFE AS WE ARE ALL SICK NOW!!

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: Second time there & will be going back

Food was better this time then last time. I will be going back, upgraded to another room as I like it more quiet... town is really close! Love their fresh grill, the market is close... beach is nice & can sip drinks with locals on boulevard

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: Beautiful views of the ocean and beach.

Been there many times but this time they decided to change a bunch of things around which didn,t make sense at all. Many long term visitors said they were never coming back and I may be one of them. There was even a petition circulated around. The management obviously didn,t consult their patrons and I think it will severely hurt their business.

Carisol los Corales: Despite numerous predicaments, we still enjoyed our two-week stay at this resort.

Our 13th trip to Cuba in 9 years and 2nd to the Carisol Los Corales since November, 2010 commenced in Toronto on January 4, 2018. The Air Cubana flight departed 1 hour late. We immediately recognized the 23 year old, all-black livery Airbus A320, as we had flown it to Cienfuegos in January, 2016. After a 3.5 hour flight we landed in Santiago de Cuba just before 6:00 pm (i.e., almost as scheduled). The bus ride to the hotel took over one hour and we still managed to have dinner. Two weeks befo [... read more]re the departure, we had sent an email to the hotel, asking to either upgrade us to a bungalow at additional cost (bungalows were not offered by Hola Sun) or give us a quiet room, far from the pool and the entertainment area. Unfortunately, we got a room in Los Corales in the 500 section, which almost exactly met the conditions that we had NOT asked for. It was facing the swimming pool and the entertainment area, so the first night it was quite noisy because of the show and later people kept congregating in the bar area. The following day after 10:00 am the pool music began. We were determined the change the room. The next day we approached the front desk, only to be told by a stern & rude clerk that there was no availability of any bungalows or rooms. We insisted on speaking to the manager who was much more receptive and said that with a fee of 20 CUC per night per 2 persons we could move to a bungalow at Los Corales or a junior suite at Carisol [incidentally, the previous evening, upon our arrival at the hotel, we inquired about upgrading to a bungalow and the clerk at the reception desk told us it would cost extra 30 CUC for 2 persons per night; apparently the price had gone down overnight ;)]. We went to the Carisol, spoke to the person at the reception desk there, were given an upper level junior suite in the “H” section and soon we moved in—Angel, a very nice hotel employee, drove us & our 5 suitcases in a golf cart. The next day we paid almost CAD $400 for the upgrade and the safe (2 CUC per day). However, from the outset we experienced a plethora of problems (which I mention later in this review) and my friend demanded a refund of the extra money we paid for the upgrade. Fortunately, she did get it back, albeit in CUCs. During the first 7 days of our stay we had the worst weather ever in Cuba—it was cold, windy, cloudy, and it also rained (one evening we experienced such a heavy rainfall that we were unable to leave the room and go to the dinner), so we never spent any time on the beach. I was sorry for those who came for vacation for just one week! The weather improved significantly during the second week, it was sunny and hot (up to +30 C), although it rained at least once. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE HOTEL • The Carisol is much quieter than Los Corales, as the latter has nightly entertainment and other activities. It takes just over 5 minutes to walk between the hotels. • Hotel guests can freely use all facilities/restaurants at Carisol and Los Corales. • Both hotels have stores (“tiendas”), yet the one at Los Corales is bigger and better stocked. They carry rum, toiletries, detergents, clothing, beverages, liqueurs, cigars, batteries, etc. The tienda at Carisol once had no beverages at all and on another occasion it was unexpectedly closed before 5:00 pm. • There is also a small stand at Los Corales selling hats, clothing, souvenirs, postcards and stamps. Letters can be mailed at the reception desk. • At Los Corales, near the bar adjacent the entertainment area, a Cuban man has a small stand where he is rolling & selling cigars. • Bike rental (free) is available from Los Corales from 10:00 am to 11:00 am and bikes are rented for a 24 hours period, to be returned at 10:00 the next morning, but their quantity is very limited and are often unavailable. But at least they are maintained on a regular basis by the guy in charge of the rental. Scooters are also available for rent ($). • At 10:30 am a very entertaining & inspiring Cuban lady was conducting stretching exercises on the beach—15 minutes beforehand she religiously walked along the beach and spoke individually to all tourists, encouraging them to join. My friend heartily participated and she really enjoyed them. There was an aqua fit session in the pool afterwards. • Massage is offered at the beach for 25 CUC. • We often went to the ‘Coconut Bar’ on the beach, it had many drinks and cold beer. Other bars (in the lobby of both hotels and the swim-up bar at Carisol) also served various drinks (Pina Colada, Mojito) and cold beer. • There were several dogs and cats on the hotel’s property, usually hanging around the restaurants at meal time. A couple of times they followed us to our room; one pooch even curled up and slept on the balcony overnight. • The beach was quite nice, but there were not enough palapas or trees providing shade, so we had to ‘reserve’ them early in the morning by 8 am. • At Carisol, around the pool, there were many toads after the rainfall which several times gave a unique & noisy performance in the evening. • One evening on our way to dinner we spotted a big spider—we were told it was a tarantula. Just a few days later my friend spotted an identical spider in the resort’s washroom and she said it was a very unnerving encounter. • I think that there were bats flying in the evening, but I was unable to take a closer look. • There were plenty curly-tailed lizards all over the property, which often chased one another on the beach the way chipmunks do in Canada. • The resort offers many interesting excursions, the information is posted in the lobby of Los Corales. • There are a number of horse-drawn buggies in front of the hotel, which can take tourists on various excursions. • Our Hola Sun package included a free trip (by a horse-drawn buggy) to Laguna Baconao & the crocodile farm. We also had a 20 minute boat tour (3 CUC extra per person) on the lagoon—the scenery was beautiful, as it was surrounded by mountains. The crocodile farm basically consisted of 4 cages containing large dozing crocs, do not expect an eco-tour ;). By the way, “Baconao” means “son of the tree” in the language of the Taínos. • We took advantage of a free bus trip to Santiago de Cuba on Sunday—it was certainly a highlight of our stay at the resort. It departed from the hotel at 10:00 am, arrived in the city at 11:30 am and left back for the resort at 4:00 pm, giving us just over 4 hours to explore the city. We managed to walk from Plaza de Dolores along the main pedestrian street (Francisco Vicente Aquilera) to Parque Cespedes, then saw Tivoli and the waterfront, took a horse carriage to the Cementerio Santa Ifigenia where we saw Fidel Castro’s grave, watched the 2:00 pm change of the guard and were back at Plaza de Dolores at 3:30 pm. OUR ROOMS LOS CORALES—Block 500 (1 night) • The room was facing the entertainment area and the pool—it was quite noisy at night and after the entertainment ended as people congregated in front of the bar. • It also got noisy at around 10:00-11:00 am, when pool activities commenced. • The air conditioner in the room was very loud (not that we had to use it, as it was quite cool outside). • There was a small fridge, safe (2 CUC per day) and a TV set in the room, but no telephone. • The room had a stale, smoking smell. • There were 2 single beds. • The back of the hotel building faced two abandoned structures and a field where various farm animals grazed. CARISOL—Junior Suite, Building “H” (13 nights) • The junior suite was on the upper floor, facing the ocean, and had a balcony with two comfortable chairs. We also had a view of the mountains. There are 4 units in each building, 2 on the ground floor and 2 on the upper floor. • The room was spacious, had one very large king-size bed and one small single bed, ideal to place our suitcases. • The bathroom had a shower stall, not a bathtub. There was a hair dryer. • Except for the window in the bathroom, it was impossible to open other windows in the room. • There was NO hot water whatsoever for the first 7 (seven!) days. • Cold water was just trickling for the first 7 days, so even our cold showers were difficult to take. • We (as well as many other tourists) had NO water (cold or warm) at all on 3 separate occasions and such shortages lasted from about 3 to 20 hours at a time. Some newly arrived tourists were very upset as they desperately wanted to take a shower after their flights. • One evening the balcony, bedroom & bathroom lights suddenly went out. The technician was unable to fix them, but they were back on the next afternoon. • The air conditioner did not work for the first 2 days (the remote control was missing), but since it was cool outside, it was not a big issue then. Later it was functioning, but every while it stopped (probably the circuit breakers tripped and had to be reset). • During the second week we had no A/C for 2 nights, even though we notified the front desk numerous times. Eventually a maintenance guy came, reset the breakers and showed me how to do it. Yet the A/C stopped working just minutes after he left. Despite my resetting the circuit breakers many times, they kept tripping every few minutes and after 1 hour we gave up. It was quite hot, we left the door open, but mosquitoes got into our room and finally we had to close the door and ended up having a rather uncomfortable night. The air conditioner seemed OK after something was replaced, as it kept working without interruptions. We also got our lights back after a night of semi-darkness. • Power went down about 6 times, but it was restored immediately, within less than 20 seconds. Yet probably due to the power surge the coffee maker which we brought from Canada broke. • The TV set worked, but the audio sound was very distorted and the close captioning did not work, so we never turned it on again (in our case, it was not really a problem, as we do not have TV sets and do not watch TV back home anyway). • There was no telephone in the room—each time there was an issue with our room, we had to walk all the way to the reception to report it. • The maid (Martha) did a great job meticulously cleaning our room daily and also tried to assist us with our room glitches. • We never saw any bugs in our room, except for tiny ants which were usually on the balcony, attracted by drops of liqueur. On the balcony we spotted a large green leafcutter-type grasshopper and a small gecko. • We were given only one key to the room (just a traditional key, not a magnetic card) and it was impossible to get another one—we found it a little inconvenient. • The safe cost 2 CUC per day and it also used a traditional key (no numerical pad). • From our room’s balcony we often watched horses and donkeys grazing the grass just in front of our room (what a wonderful environmental way to mow the grass!). On two occasions we were quite surprised to witness a herd of about 10 big bulls and cows passing just meters from our room as well as a herd of goats. Some horses had bells, so at night we heard them long before we saw them. Actually, we enjoyed those animals very much, as they gave a genuine rustic touch to the resort. • Gardeners were noisy in the early morning, pulling the bins on the front sidewalk. • At our room we were never bothered by entertainment noise or any other disagreeable sounds. • No bottled water was delivered to our room, as in other hotels during our previous trips to Cuba, so we bought a few bottles of mineral water in the tienda and then asked servers or barmen to fill them with drinking water. FOOD • We had meals at both Carisol and Los Corales. Los Corales was more crowded. • There was plenty of food and it would be difficult to go hungry, but it was quite repetitive and relatively basic. Well, I never go to Cuba expecting gourmet cooking—yet I still managed to gain about 5 lbs. Needless to say, we never experienced any gastral issues. • All bags, backpacks and purses had to be left outside the restaurants, presumably because some guests were stuffing them with food… and other items ;). • Some Spanish-speaking tourists were trying to ignore the lineups and were impudently cutting in—unfortunately, the staff still served them. We had to firmly tell them to join the end of the line. • Raw vegetables were available at every meal, but they would taste much better with good salad dressings. • Outdoors dining at both hotels was awesome (one of the reasons we went to this resort), but not always available. • Breakfast egg stations served eggs & omelets, but most times they were slow and inefficient, some inexperienced cooks had problems even with cracking the eggs! • Lunch & dinner: cooks prepared pork, beef, hamburgers, hot-dogs, turkey—but I never saw shrimps & fish. • The buffet food was quite tasty & healthy, yet almost identical every day. • Fruit choice was poor at breakfasts. • Ice cream was, according to my friend, very tasty! But as she learned later, it was probably chemically made. • For dinners we ordered red wine, which was below average—well, nothing really unexpected. • Service was spotty—some servers were very good, others mediocre. • At Carisol a 7-person Cuban band played Cuban music, but a little too loud, it was often impossible to conduct a conversation. Besides, when the band was playing inside the restaurant, the acoustics was terrible, the cacophonous sounds were deafening! • At Los Corales there was probably a different musical band—one evening it played excellent Cuban jazz music which I loved. • At Los Corales there was a restaurant adjacent to the main one, which offered pizza and spaghetti. We went there once and had a pizza, which was OK. A’ LA CARTE RESTAURANT • We went only once to the outdoor a’ la carte restaurant at Carisol (La Piazza). • We waited for one hour for the food. • The order was not correct and could not be changed. • The beef was like shoe leather and the desert consisted of… melted ice cream. • The 7 or 8 piece musical band was standing very close to our table and was very loud; I considered tipping them NOT to play. • Overall, it was a disappointing experience and it was relief to leave—it is much better to go to the regular buffet. OTHER INFORMATION • Upon arrival, at the airport at Santiago I exchanged money, getting 153 CUC for CAD $200 (i.e., 76.50 CUC for CAD $100), the hotel offered 74 CUC for CAD $100. • At the hotel we rented bikes on 3 occasions and rode to the village of Baconao, Laguna Baconao, Jarden de Cactus, Hotel Costa Morena, the Blow Holes (!) and the Aquarium. Easy, yet awesome jaunts! • It was somehow difficult to get one peso bills or coins, even though we approached servers and hotel staff at the reception and asked for them at the exchange kiosk and in the hotel tiendas. Sometimes we tipped in US dollars. Some tourists tipped in Canadian coins (probably before they had a chance to exchange money) and a few resort employees asked us to change them into Canadian bills, which we did. • We asked the gardeners to bring us coconuts and thus we could often enjoy this tasty fruit. Surprisingly, the gardeners much preferred razors, hats and t-shirts in lieu of pecuniary tips (i.e., CUCs). The beach staff specifically asked us for t-shirts & hats which, I believe, cost much more in Cuba than in Canada. I was also asked if I had any pens. • I brought several bilingual magazines, containing the same articles in both Spanish & English. English-speaking hotel employees were very interested in reading them. • There are several Cuban farms on the other side of the road, just in front of the hotel property. One morning we took a sally, visited a few farmhouses, talked to the farmers and then took a different road back to the hotel. It would also be possible to bike there. • There are 3 or 4 private restaurants near the hotel, on both sides of the main road and while we were biking or walking near them, their Cuban employees/owners invited us to drop in (but we never did, truthfully telling them, “acabamos de comer en el hotel” (we’ve just eaten in the hotel). • We met a Canadian tourist who brought a fishing rod and often went fishing, catching plenty of fish. USEFUL TIPS • If you want to have a quiet room, get a junior suite in Carisol, but even if you have a room facing the pool in Carisol, it should be relatively quiet as there was no entertainment of any kind while we were there. Los Corales, ‘where the action is’, is much noisier (and livelier), yet the bungalows and rooms facing the ocean (vs. those facing the pool & and the entertainment area) are certainly quieter. • Bring your own favorite salad dressing and spices, especially if you like salads and greens. • Carry with you toilet paper or a roll of paper towel, especially outside the resort—but even the resort’s public washrooms were out of toilet paper. • Flashlights/headlights are very useful while walking at night on the hotel property or between hotels—some walkways/sidewalks are in poor shape, full of holes and cracks. My 1,000 lumen flashlight came very handy as we could see the horses & donkeys that at night knocked over the gate just in front of our room and entered the hotel property. Besides, due to the bad weather I spent a lot of time inside the room or on the balcony, reading books—and the headlight turned out to be perfect for this activity. • Consider bringing an umbrella—we did not and one evening we were unable to walk from our room to the restaurant because of heavy rain. • Big & insulated bubba mugs are a must—the bar cups are small and flimsy. • Whereas we were rarely bitten by any bugs on the beach, the mosquitoes were bothersome especially between 6:00 and 7:00 pm, while we were sitting on the balcony. You might consider bringing some bug cream or spray and a cortisone cream, as there were some tiny black flies biting too. • If you want a tasty, aromatic coffee in the morning… bring your own favorite coffee, mugs and a small coffee maker or at least an immersion heater. Consider using a multi-outlet power bar with surge protection—as I mentioned before, our coffee maker suddenly & unexpectedly died, most likely from voltage spikes occurring after the power was restored. • If you want a coconut in the morning, ask the gardeners. Also bring a sturdy spoon and a good knife in order to get the very tasty & soft meat. • Bring two lanyards for the keys to the door & safe. • Bikes are rented for a 24 hour period, so must be kept by guests overnight. If you do not want to carry them to the room, bring a bike lock/chain. Bringing a bike helmet (and bike lights if you are planning to ride after sunset) could be a good idea, too. • Sign up for the free trip to Santiago de Cuba as soon as possible (at the same place where you reserve a’ la carte dinners) since the number of seats on the bus is limited. • Take a bike ride (or hire a horse-drawn buggy) on the road towards the Hotel Costa Morena. On your left, past the aquarium, you will see blow holes. It is possible to go down to take a closer look at them. Later, before reaching the hotel, you will see Jardin de Cactus on your right. There is a pleasant guy in charge of the garden (who unfortunately does not speak English) who can give you a tour. It is also possible to walk up the hill (there are stairs), the view is quite nice. • There is a bar outside at the Santiago Airport, for 1 CUC beer (Cristal) and other beverages can be bought for the bus ride to the hotel. • The exchange kiosk at the Santiago Airport is located outside, close to the arrival area. There was only one other tourist at the wicket and the exchange rate was better than that in the hotel. The only problem was a small musical band that suddenly materialized next to me, playing loud music while I was busy counting & checking the money—they could not have chosen a worse time & place for their performance! Furthermore, they expected a tip—in your dreams! IN CONCLUSION Perhaps 20% of hotel guests were Cubans, who frankly could get noisy, but most were Canadians. We met several very nice, interesting and charming people from Ontario and Quebec and enjoyed dining, talking and even bike riding with them. It was a pity that we stumbled upon so many problems—especially that some of them were eventually rectified AFTER our (often repeated) interventions—meaning that they could have been fixed BEFORE! Besides, many other hotel guests we met had had similar (and even worse) problems, some had to change rooms several times, especially after the heavy rains, which caused inside flooding and leaking. I guess a proactive approach is not the hotel’s forte. Overall, I would give the resort 2.5 out of 5 stars. In spite of all the predicaments we encountered, we had gone to Cuba with a (very) open mind and we made our vacation enjoyable, taking whatever occurred in strides. Besides, we enjoyed the surrounding mountainous scenery, bike riding, visiting nearby villages as well as watching the ocean, mountains and the horses, donkeys, cows & goats from our balcony. Would we return to this resort? Incredibly, the answer is ‘yes’, provided that we could ensure getting a problem-free, ocean-view junior suite in Carisol.

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: Worth Every Penny

The rooms were nothing fancy, but clean and had AC. Food was hit and miss, generally the buffet at the main lobby was better than the Garden View one. All of the staff were very friendly and helpful, and the alcohol servings were generous. Totally worth what we paid!

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: wonderful time

This is my fourth time at Club Amigo and my husband's first. In fact it was our first time travelling together since we have been farming and have recently retired. In the past, one of us always had to stay with the farm. We had a villa room on the second floor at the very end of the resort. We love walking, the beach and morning coffee at the 24 hour cafe. Our ocean views were breathtaking even though we had a number of rainy windy days, it was still lovely moist air and not -27C.

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: It was ok .

I enjoyed it more last April. Noticed a lot of smokers this time . 3out of 5 on the cleanliness. Washrooms were smelly . Couple of room issues . No upkeep on the swimming equipment. Food was reasonable ( didn't go for the food ) get towels for swimming early or they run out . I would go back but with lower expectations. Cheap rooms are terrible.

Club Amigo Mayanabo: Comfortable small resort

The staff are personable and pleasant. This is the third time we’ve gone to Club Amigo Mayanabo, many of the staff recognized us and were glad to see us. The rooms are clean, the housekeeper we had did a great job each day she was cleaning our room. Her days off - her replacement di the bare minimum. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t the best but it was certainly better than what we left behind.

Club Amigo Mayanabo: Mayanabo

No surprises. Food could be better and an update would really help. Good enough to recommend. Be aware of luggage handlers in Cuba they look for an excuse to steal like a crack in the suit case that miraculously opened up the zipper and poured out the deodorant and the cologne .

Club Amigo Mayanabo: Nice family resort

The resort works hard to keep up a 40 year old hotel. Great staff and ok food . They need to establish a non smoking policy in the hotel lobby. The smoking was disgusting and especially bad since we had rain and bad weather forcing all the smokers to the lobby.

Club Amigo Mayanabo: Employé(e) très consciencieux!

J’en suis à mon sixième voyage à Cuba. Plongée en apnée sensas. Nourriture la moins variée que j’ai connu à Cuba. Chambre désuète. Superbe plage. Nous avons eu seulement une journée et demi de beau temps et le reste de la semaine à 22 degrés et des vents froids. Mais cela, on n’y peut rien et les cubains non plus!!!

Carisol los Corales: Fun family time

2nd time here and had a good time.There have been some renovations done on the rooms and grounds.However more are still needed since in a very heavy rain we had some of the rooms flooded and numerous roof leaks in the buffet and elsewhere. As usual staff overall is very friendly and helpful with Francesco at the pool bar being particularly awesome! Also had a great time diving with my newly certified 12yr old daughter.Everyone at the dive shop was great with some really nice dive sites.Food is  [... read more]average 3 star Cuban and none of our party got sick or any stomach upset.Will be back and recommend this hotel for the budget minded easy going traveler.