Just my own exoerience

FLIGHT. I flew to Holguin by Transat. Huge relief when it was over. One has to be four feet tall or shorter to fly like a human, not like anchovy in a can. Many firms are shamelessly greedy packing people like animals, but this Transat is the champion among them. Be as short and tiny as possible, while dealing with them. TRANSFER. My transfer from Holguin to the hotel had left without me. I had to take a taxi from Holguin. It is 200km and $150 by horrible wreckage-car. I finally arrived to the  [... read more]hotel at 4 AM, and being not exactly happy. NOISE. They put me in a room with windows looking at the pool. It was OK until “entertainment” people start yelling through an amplifier on those in the pool at 10 AM. So, I could not hear nothing in the room, like TV. Almost all clients of this hotel are Cubans, they like it very loud, nonstop; better if it is from several different sources. I asked to put me some place as far from the pool as possible. They did it. SURVIVING. It is a long boring story to tell all. I changed rooms twice because of broken locks, air conditioners and TVs. We had many shutdowns. The last three days I had no running water. But there was nothing live threatening, thanks. FOOD. It is a typical Cuban low end, three stars. CORAL REEF. It is 600 meters long and located in 100-150 meters from the shore. Some rip currents are presented. Be careful while snorkeling. The reef itself is pretty interesting. You can look at my photos. But all edible wildlife is already eaten. HIKING. There is the Baconao lagoon nearby, a big saltwater lake. A pretty picturesque desert dirt road is circling this lagoon. North part of the road in usual agricultural one, but South brunch is made as tourists’ attraction. It has several organized entrances to the water and is mostly shadowed by trees. There are very few bugs here and no traffic. You can make a hike of 4-16 km, but look at Google map first. WEATHER in AUGUST. No rains, not much of winds, 33-35C at 3pm, 23-26C at sunrise.

Very comfortable resort

This is a pleasant resort. The food is not bad but can become boring. There is usually chicken, beef and pork. And lots of vegetables. Other days you may find fish or liver at the grill. The beach is beautiful and quite large but there are limited areas where to enter into the ocean. The shows in the evenings are usually pretty good. Some of the shows are run by the local entertainment staff. Other shows are from dance groups from Santiago. I am pleased with this resort and return often. Its loc [... read more]ation is one hour away from Santiago. The location in the mountains is excellent. I am always happy to return to this resort.

Cuba getaway

This is our 3rd time to this resort and was just as good. Slow season so no waiting for drinks. Food ... it's Cuba but still edible. Missed seeing franseco at the pool bar shout out to Ivan the life guard/bar tender 😁

Very Disappointing

I wish I had better things to say about the 10 days I spent at this resort but unfortunately....I don't. I was ready to come home after just a few days there. I realize this was an inexpensive trip and not a five star....BUT....so many things were misleading. There really is no swim area at the ocean, because it is all weeds, most of the staff were miserable and unfriendly, it was full of aged male tourists with very young Cuban hookers, no juice at any of the bars to have any sort of tropical d [... read more]rink....they had orange pop and cola only, the buffet consisted of mostly cabbage and rice dishes and very poor qualities of meat. The first room smelled so bad of must and mildew, I had them move us and the second room was better. The pool area was nice, the young lady that cleaned our room was very good. I have been to other parts of Cuba and never experienced this.

Great resort for the price

Positives: Every staff member was very polite, and genuinely seemed to be happy to help. The resort is older but the staff worked hard to maintain the landscaping and keeping the beach clean. The beach was smaller and the water had a lot of rocks/broken coral/urchins but it made for interesting snorkelling, was clean and we had plenty of space on the beach since it wasn't crowded. Negatives: Crappy bed/pillows, bar times ended by 5pm at the pool and beach but the lobby was open until 10:40pm,  [... read more]blue paint came off from part of the pool onto our skin/bathing suits. They didn't have running water the first night in our room (second floor) but it was fixed by the next morning. Food was typical Cuban fare. Sometimes limited selection and they would run out of some items but there was always plenty of food in general.

Hidden gem on the south side of Cuba

This is not most spectacular hotel, in fact is was very typical for most of Club Amigo hotels in Cuba. The great grounds crew made the hotel feel lush and tropical. The beaches very fairly nice as well, sandy with few rocks and coral to watch out for. We were there at the end of April so the weather was absolutely perfect. Low 30's during the day, low 20's at night. Being low season, the hotel was fairly empty and as a result, some of the extra al la carte restaurants were closed but there [... read more] was enough food to choose from at the main buffet. The best part for us was the snorkeling right of the beach. It was a very easy dive with waters being no more than 3 meters at its deepest. With a reef 50 meters, majority of the waves never make it in so you get crystal clear waters to see all the schools of fish. We identified over a dozen different types of fish and crustaceans. There is also lots of fishing just beyond the reef for the avid fisherman. The hotel is just under an hours drive from Santiago Airport so you don't waste a lot of hours in the bus.

Needs a serious makeover

Overall I had an ok time, but the hotel need serious improvements. The positive: The staff is very friendly, the food and drinks was ok, you can always find something to eat, the cappuccinos at the lobby bar were great. The entertainment team was very nice. The negative: The room was a total mess, from the door that was a challenge to open and every time I had to open it, I felt it would come apart; the room was full of mosquitoes, and I am not talking about a few, it was an invasion; there [... read more] was no telephone or hair dryer, the safety box was missing the door, the mini fridge is for decoration purposes, the walls have not seen paint in a very long time, and on the very last day a piece of the ceiling came down, luckily I was not at that spot when it happened.

Great place

3rd time to this resort. As great as ever. Unfortunately there’s a lot of new Entertainment staff and I was not very impressed with the evening show, nor were a lot of the people I was with. Other than that, it is a fantastic place to be.

Resort was okay very quiet

Some staff were okay others very rude,grounds were beautiful.Good location of our room.We were not told about our free trip.Coming into the airport and leaving were a disaster.Food could have been hotter.Italian elacart awesome.Pool staff great,our maid was awesome except our fridge did not work took three days to get a new one.Store hours were not exceptionable. The beach was not up to Cuba standards Asked about vip service told we did not need it,did not get the same seats coming home we asked [... read more] at the airport leaving said no problem

Love this place!!

I have been going to Los Corales for just over 3 years now... while it’s my go to destination, and will likely continue to be because of the staff and the atmosphere, I must say that this trip I was not impressed by the new entertainment staff, primarily ‘Leo’.... I felt that his direction of the entertainment left people confused, and at times disturbed.... some people collecting their children and leaving because some parts were quite inappropriate.... other than that, great week, contin [... read more]ued improvements, and I will definitely be back!

Resort for people who like a relaxing vacation

Food did improve some over past years. Good supply of beach launches. Lots of shade available at the beach. In general a good kept resort. Some changes don't make much sense. Find this is a very safe area , which I like, since I like to go for walks outside the resort, visit some of the little farmers and talk to them as good as it will go. The weather is also very nice and warm every day 30 degrees. The staff is very friendly and accommondating. Was at this resort 14 times and am planning to  [... read more]go back.

Good resort

The grounds and beach were nice. The rooms were suitable, some could use some updating but were comfortable. The staff were all very accommodating and nice. The wait staff, bartenders and maids were very attentive. The maids were always willing to help out if anything was needed and did a good job. Winmar is the best, and helps out wherever he can. I have seen him on my return visitsand he remembers us. The food was good, the only complaint would be to have a little more variety. You coul [... read more]d always find something to suit you to eat, however, a little repetitive. The omelets in the morning are very good! This was my third visit to this resort and would return again. Over the years I have seen some positive changes regarding updating the rooms. The entertainment in the evening was awesome. It would have been nice to have a little more going on in the pool area in the afternoons though. The beach is very nice and I especially like that you can snorkel on the beach without having to leave the resort. There are some very pretty and interesting fish. Overall I would return and probably will. The price is reasonable.

Very Nice

Really enjoyed our stay at this resort. The staff was very pleasant and the bathrooms were very very nice in the rooms. Food is pretty much what you would expect from Cuba though the à la cart restaurants were not too bad. Beach was OK. The pool area was awesome the DJ play great music . Really enjoyed the nightly show us and there are always opportunities to take tours to see Santiago de Cuba as well as other places in the area.

Excellent resort

Its our first time to visit Cuba. Hotel are clean some employees are friendly. Except for the bed that give us too much bites from ticks. Food are not bad, nice pool and beach. Bring Extra old clothes

2nd year at Carisol Los Corales

We have just returned from our 2nd trip to this hotel. I can not begin to express how Great the staff at this hotel have made our vacation again. From celebrating my grandsons birthday to the wonderful Valentine's dinner. Meladie.. Francisco... Yolanis.. Just to name a few should all recieve awatds for how they treat people. Thsnks so much... Miss you all already. Our room was very well taken care of. Thanks to Dalia ... My grandson loved the towel art. Pool was fantastic and i can not wait to  [... read more]return. Thanks from from rm D1 feb. 8th to 15th 2018

Great time

Even though this a three star resort, the service you receive is 5 star. The staff at the resort will go out of their way to help you. The grounds are beautiful. Don't expect a lot of the food. It is Cuba and their selection is limited. We woke up every morning to an omelette freshly cooked. Try the Cuban a la carte. The beach is a natural beach so a lot of rocks, coral and sea grass. Bring watershoes. The snorkelling is great. Tins of shady spaces on the beach. The shows at night are worth [... read more] going to. Dancers almost every night. Do not miss the Aqua show. It is a 5 star resort show. Overall one of the best vacations for the money.

Great time as always

This was our fourth vacation at los corales and we had a great time as always at the resort. Staff are always pleasant and willing to help in any way. We will be back again next year. We did find the mosquitos to be very bad this time so bring lots of insect repellent

Great resort!

This hotel is not too large to get around. The food has been improved. The beach is good. The pool is large and clean. I would go again! There are restaurants outside the hotel to try out real cuban cooking. Overall this is a 3* hotel providing a reasonably good service to all guests.

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.

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.