Amazing resort

Everything from reception to the gardeners, entertainment, food, cigar bar, was excellent. The staff was very friendly and ready to help you. The resort very clean and again the staff professional and quick to respond to your needs. Good job!

Very good resort. Clean and excellent service

The hotel overall very clean, the staff are friendly. We enjoyed the stay and would go back. We enjoyed the varieaty of food daily. The buffet was organized and the employees were friendly. A family friendly hotel for sure.

Amazing family vacation at ILA

Our family of 6 went to ILA from Aug. 13 -20 and had a wonderful vacation. Excellent food, wide variety of foods including seafood, chicken and pizza for our picky kids. Staff provided excellent service, beach is the best in Varadero. Would definitely go back for two weeks next time. Only negative is that you have to get down to the beach early to get your loungers under a palapa, which we learned after the first day.

Beautiful resort!

The food was ok to really good! The rooms were spacious and comfortable. mattresses on beds were just ok. The greatest part of our experience was the staff. They were all fantastic! Especially Alex whom we came to look forward to seeing each day. he went way above and beyond to ensure a great time was had by everyone in our group. The nightly shows provided some really great entertainment.

Ok Resort ...Service Poor!

Resort was great and the beach was amazing! But...the service was very disappointing. Poor service in the dinning area, we had to look for our own table and we had to waive at the waiters/staff for coffee or drinks. Overall, I did enloy myself but would not recommed to anyone and would not go back to this Resort.

Had a great time

Visited Aug 15th to 25th. It's been a few years since I vacationed in Cuba. My last experience (not at this resort) was very bad and I have been nervous to return. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by our experience at this resort. Things started out a little disappointing as I had specifically asked that we not be put on the 1st floor, but that is where we were placed. However, the room was nice enough and we didn't have any problems with bugs that I thought we would on the 1st f [... read more]loor. We had also requested a view of the pool, but though many rooms overlooked the pool, we ended up with a room at the end of the building looking at a garden. I spend little time in my room so it really didn't matter - except there is no where to hang your suits or towels where they couldn't be taken. The only other disappointment was our coffee maker did not work. But we were right beside the pool side restaurant where we could get a delicious cappuccino every morning. We arrived about 10:30 am, and the rooms are not ready until 3:00. No problem, they give you your bracelet, a towel and store your luggage for you so that you can change into your suits, spend the day using all the services and come back after 3:00 to get your room. All worked very well and we had a great first day The pool is very large, kept clean and cold water was added in the afternoons -- the weather was very hot and even the ocean was warm by 3:00. There a many chairs at the pool, but they are very hard and uncomfortable. But we got the "pool guy" to bring us chair pads each day and that made them more comfortable. Had no problems getting a shady spot each day - but we were also early risers and got our spots picked out early. The entertainment group worked hard trying to get the guests to join in with the activities, which wasn't always easy with the temps being in the high 30's. There were activities at the pool and beach. Their English was generally good - at least much better than my Spanish. Service at all bars and there were 4 at the pool alone, was very good and you seemed to get the same service whether you tipped or not. Beach is soft white sand. We took long walks twice a day. The food at the buffet was repeated. However, if you don't eat everything every night it doesn't get boring. Try chicken one night, pork another, then lamb or fish. You could also get chicken breast and steaks cooked for you. There was a good variety every night and the taste was pretty good. It only gets boring if you eat a little of everything every day. Service in the buffet was very good. There is also a poolside buffet that was smaller, but still ok for us. Beside the pool buffet was a pizzeria and a hotdog/burger grill - both were very good. There is also an icecream stand right outside the pool buffet with up to 5 or 6 different flavours! We also ate at the Italian, Romantico and Japanese restaurants. All were delicious with good service and lots of food. We were not rushed through our meals. Would recommend the iced coffees at the seating space outside the lobby bar. Had them each evening after dinner. The person I was traveling with had some sight disabilities so we did not go to any of the shows and were to tired each day to stay up for the disco so can't comment on these things. We went on the day trip to Havana. It is a very busy day while they try to get everything included in one day. Enjoyed it - and recommend to anyone visiting Cuba. We also did the 1/2 day dolphin adventure and would certainly recommend this. From what we heard from others who went on the full day trip - our adventure was much better. We had a full 30 mins in the water with the dolphins, hands on the whole time. Couple of suggestions: Take insulated glasses with you - the glasses they use at the bar are very small - and they will happily make your drink in the glass you bring. Don't tip with loonies or twoonies - their bank will not accept foreign coin. The bank at the resort will easily change your Canadian into convertible pesos and will give you single pesos for tipping if you ask. Take ENOUGH Canadian cash with you. The bank will not give you a cash advance off your charge card, you have to do this at a bank in the cith & they don't have a bank machine. DON'T TAKE AMERICAN - THEY WILL NOT ACCEPT IT. You will need 25 convertible pesos to leave the country. Get this right away and put it aside for the day you are leaving. So......... Remember this is Cuba and a 5 star there is not a 5 star in Toronto. Go relax, enjoy and don't sweat the small stuff. You will have a fun, restful, exciting, happy (whatever you are looking for) vacation! I would return and have already recommended this resort to others

Was Ok

Resort was ok, but I wouldn't go back. It was clean, staff was friendly (for the most part), but the room we were in was very noisy due to the disco from the next resort over. As usual for Cuba, the Japanese ala Carte was quite good, but the rest of the food was terrible, especially the buffet. I ate bread, pizza and cabbage pretty much all week. My sister was sick from the food by the third day. We were in a "Spa Room" in the 1500 block, however, the hot tub at the spa was out of order along wi [... read more]th the air conditioning in the massage rooms. I would have more enjoyed drinking rum in the bar than I did the "Rum Massage". Oh and did I mention the toilet paper was more like tissue wrapping paper.....

Great resort

Because of it previous great ratings -it has become very popular. the hotel was full the week of aug 10th 2014 and probably understaffed. we had to wait for the checking-in at least an hour-with everyone tired and pushing to talk to the receptionist -it seems at that time only 2-or 3. obviously not enough staffing and not well organized. That was our first impression !! and it was 30 degrees or more. For the buffet too many people waiting at the same time for omellettes - or other food that have [... read more] heve to be prepared at the moment like steaks or chicken breasts at lunch or supper. In this heat , especially in the summer months -we should absolutely recommend to the hotel -and probably all the cuba's hotels to install much more umbrella's on the beach and around the pools. THIS IS OUR ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE THE HEAT AND SUNSHINE FROM 11H- TO 16H00 !! WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE AN UMBRELLA EVERY DAY BECAUSE MY HUSBAND HAD TO WAKE UP AT 6H30 AND GO PUT OUR TOWELS ON THE BEACHCHAIRS BEFORE 7H00 AM ! WE HAD BROUGHT OUR COLOUR TOWEL FROM HOME SO WE CAN IDENTIFY OUR PLACE. we have witnessed a big fight between tourist's about the umbrella's - what a shame! to get so uptset in your vacation! which should be relaxed and calm. Afterall our trip was a great escape - for beach, and beautiful warm water,swimming all day, and entertainment at night. the servers were very helpful. My husband got to see the sunrise everyday -spectacular - and would have his morning walk. he convinced me to get up to see the sunrise on the beach- unforgetable!!

Not bad

Food better than expected from Cuba, but cleanliness not so good (plates dirty). Service OK, but everybody looking for tips and trying to scam tourists. Do not get the Havana Trip from resort reps. They Charge 180$ for an 8 hr. trip with others. Take a taxi ride with Julio Cesar (drives older fiat) who will spend the whole day showing you Havana and adjust the route to your preferences for 100-120$. Booked a Spa room supposedly with ocean view but got a room facing opposite side with noise till  [... read more]1130 due to nightly entertainment shows.

Great Holiday

This was my second to Iberostar Laguna Azul. It is simply one of the very best Cuba has to offer. Great room, always clean. Great staff, always friendly. Food was good. Resort itself is super clean and beautiful. Loved the disco, but should be open later. Restaurants were good but could always improve.

One of the best vacations ever, know how to vacay!

We were a mixed group of couples/singles, late 20's/early 30's staying here for a week. We had an amazing time. It wasnt our first time in Cuba. There were a few hiccups, but I travel quite a bit for pleasure and work and its rare for a trip to go without any hiccups regardless of how many stars rating. The question is whether those hiccups ruin your experience or are they things you can take in stride? We know how to vacation, and when a bump comes along, relax and go with the flow: Check In:  [... read more]We sat at the front of our tour bus so we were first in line in check in. It was quick and painless. Keep in mind rooms tend to be ready around 4 pm so if you arrive before then be prepared to keep yourself occupied until then. They might be ready before then but expect 4 pm to manage your expectations. All of us but one were happy with our rooms but the hotel was quick to change the room for our friend who wasnt happy. Rooms: if you are the type of person that needs a luxurious room to be happy on your vacation then maybe Cuba isnt the place for you. All the same the rooms are large and clean. Our air conditioning worked fine. The view is lovely. The furniture is a bit dated, but this country has an embargo on them so if you expect the 2014 bed bath and beyond line then dont vacation in Cuba. We were happy as long as it was clean and cool. The mini fridge was filled as promised, every two days. The bathroom is really nice. I have stayed in 5 stars where the bathrooms werent nearly as nice so that was a pleasant surprise. The hotel is large so they have a few logistics problems when it comes to managing their resources for that many people. One of those issues is if you take your shower at peak times (morning or before dinner), pressure is low, water is luke warm (which is fine its so hot here that the shower is the perfect temperature and also I like to describe it as "sunburn temperature"). Twice the water ran out completely. No big deal, we had a laugh about it and just showered at another time. I mention this to manage the expectations of people reading the review but I must emphasize this did not effect our vacation at all. We found it funny and continued to enjoy ourselves. Its not like you have a big meeting to shower for or something, youre going to the beach! Grounds: Very nice, well kept, clean, beautiful. Theres a bit of construction going on here or there but its not intrusive at all. And I kind of find it funny how some people whine about the place needing some maintenance and then whining further when they see maintenance going on! Pool: Large, 3 of them, all lovely. Plenty of places to sit. Clean. We were more beach goers. But we appreciated that the hotel is flexible on their pool hours and we often took to the pool after dinner and after dark. A few others had the same idea. This was great fun having the whole pool to ourselves and it was so pretty in the dark. Beach: Water is nothing like youve ever seen. We will miss that beach forever until we go back again! The only problem with this resort that I will genuinely complain about is that they need to fix their umbrella situation. People show up at 6-7 am and leave a towel and dont come back for hours assuming they have "reserved" it. Its really unfair and I am not sure what gives them that sense of entitlement. Anyways, I dont recommend leaving your towel as each towel costs 15 cuc if you lose it and we saw several incidents of people coming back after hours of being away and their towels were gone. There is no official reserving system so if you leave your towel its at your own risk and we personally saw several people having to pay the price. Furthermore, it does not guarantee that you get that chair. If someone else wants it and you clearly arent there they can take it as there is NO reservation system. You will have no one on your side telling you you can have the chair if you placed your towel on it. Most days we were able to find an umbrella and one day we just went to another beach as the other resorts have plenty of umbrellas. Anyways this is our only complaint. Otherwise we spent days on that beach and had a wonderful time. Food: Being to cuba before, we understand that due to the embargo, that the food is different there. I had read so many reviews saying the food was bad, that the cafeteria was a zoo and unpleasant. When we went to dinner for the first time, we picked up a plate from the large stack of CLEAN dishes, we got some food from the countless options (pasta station, fish station, meat station, breads, then the buffet stations with lots of protein and veggie options, and a dessert station with cheese and fruits and pastries and ice creams!), and found a table outside, which was actually very quiet (I guess people prefer to sit inside?). I almost LAUGHED when I tasted the food because it was good! Not just "good for cuba" but good!! I have had cuban all inclusive food before, this is much better than what ive had before. There are so many options if there is something you dont like you can find something i guarantee it. We generally hit the dinner buffet, sometimes lunch and for breakfast we went to the snack bar - which is actually a mini buffet. I cant imagine getting up in time for breakfast buffet on my vacation but the snack bar serves breakfast well past 10 am so we just took our time getting up and enjoyed the food at the quieter snack buffet. Some reviewers make it sound like the place is bug and bird infested. Thats ridiculous. I saw maybe a total of 10 flies in the week. You see some birds but theres always someone around shooing them off, big deal. Additionally there are no problems with the amount of dishes or the cleanliness of the dishes. We booked all 3 a la carte (cuban, mexican, japanese) and were happy with each. The Japanese was our favourite. Entertainment: The shows were really good, the performers are so so talented. We also hit up the disco a few times and had a good time, it was always quite full. We would have preferred if it had stayed open until 3 am instead of 2 am, but thats just our personal preference =) They have performers in the lobby often as well and near the pool (a very talented sax player). Very nice. Staff: Hard working, friendly people. Tip them. Not because they ask for it, because they dont ask, but because they serve our spoiled butts and they do it with the nicest demeanors and i cant imagine serving some of the spoiled brats I saw at this resort and doing it with a smile to boot. This place is great. We would maybe consider another place next time only because the amount of people there got annoying. We had a great time but some people there do not know how to vacation and listening to the endless whining made my eyes roll so many times im surprised they arent stuck in the back of my head. Thanks for the great week!

Very good, good value, 90% satisfied.

Excellent beach and entertainment, good food and service, very good amenities…recommended................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Very good

my family and I stayed one week at Laguna Azul and had a great time!! For sure would go back:) The resort had everything you can possibly think of grounds were exceptional,activities to keep you busy all week,bars and restaurants all over the resort and the animators were so much fun and pleasant all the time!! For the food lots of variety and delicious!! Rooms were very clean and simple but for the beds uncomfortable,and they need to introduce comforters!! Pillows too:( july 20th to july 28th  [... read more]2014

The 'Star' of Varadero

Six of us stayed the first week of April 2014. My wife, 78 yo Mother and three sons (7,12,15). This hotel a beautiful sprawling resort that is well kept, clean with friendly staff and excellent amenities. WHAT ROOM DO YOU WANT? You want a 'SUITE'. I repeat....You want a SUITE!! I can't impart on you enough how much bigger/quieter/better view you get with a suite. We had ocean view doubles that were a standard double size room, but the Suites are twice the size and are just $10-$20 more a day. N [... read more]ext time I will without question be getting the Suite. Do it. Read my words. Don't let your wife talk you out of it. Don't let your husband be a cheapo. Get the Suite!! *On your first full day find the girl that is in charge of cleaning/caring for your room. Show her your room and give her $10CUC and tell her that you'd like extra towels and extra water/beers in the fridge. THIS IS THE BEST $10CUC YOU WILL SPEND YOUR WHOLE TRIP!! ARRIVAL: When you land in Varadero and get off the plane, get your own bags off the belt! Don't let a local with their hand out do it!! After you have your bags and get outside there will be 'Airport staff' there asking you what resort you're going too. Let that guy take you through the chaos to your bus and give him a $5 sheet. HOTEL ARRIVAL: When you get to the hotel and check in you'll probably have a porter bring your bags to your room. Unlike Canada/USA don't feel like you have to give him $1 a bag. If you've got a cart full then $5 is more than enough. Seriously! *Pick one person in your group to be sober and awake enough to go the informational meeting the morning after your arrival. Just do it. Also, put $25CUC per person in your safe so that you can get off the island when it's time to leave! MONEY: Tourists now use the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC). I took a mitt full of Canadian cash and converted in the hotel lobby. The tour guide on the bus ride in will tell you to the bank in town to convert your money because the rate is better, but this is bull. The convenience of the lobby exchange far outweighs any minor savings you'd get in town. **When you exchange your money be sure to get a handful of it in $1CUC coins for tipping!! TIPPING: This is Cuba not Canada! Settle down! $5CUC is considered an amazing tip for locals and staff. Use that as your guide. I'll give you tips for tips for certain circumstances as we go along. *Don't tip with Canadian money. It annoys resort staff to no end. POOLS: There are two 'quiet pools' which are nice to quietly enjoy a drink and perhaps read a book while the main pool area and waterfalls are a great place for the kids to play volleyball in the pool, life size chess poolside or to enjoy drinks and take part in some of the regularly scheduled activities. BEACH: The beach is adequately large with plenty of thatched umbrellas, chairs and a bar. Paddle boats are available as well as sail boats if it's not too windy. ENTERTAINMENT: There are nightly live shows in the open theatre. These are what you'd expect for Cuba. Entertaining, but not mind blowing. There is also a disco/bar that's open late near the theatre. During the day there is regularly scheduled entertainment that usually involves audience participation. Fun! BARS: There are a number of bars on the resort. I believe the hours were 10am-10pm with the exceptions being the disco and the main bar off the lobby. I stuck to the ones in the main pool. If you want exceptional service, pick your bartender at the start of the week and tip him/her 5 convertible pesos and you're set for the week. For every other day a 2 peso tip at the start of your drinking is enough. Drink rum liberally. repeat. *Bring your own large thermal mug from Canada. I wrapped mine in hockey tape and wrote my name on it. It'll hold more liquor than the little plastic cups from the bar and are more environmentally responsible. You can get liquored and act like a hippy at the same time! Yay! FOOD: From what I've heard, this resort has the best selection in Varadero. Right off the bat lets talk about the themed restaurants. If you really want to go to them then you need to haul butt the very first day to the little booking office hidden down the hall past the cigar shop or you won't get a reservation. I wasn't a fan of any of the themed restaurants. The food was fine, but it was hot and not as flexible as the main eating area. We did all of our eating in the main eating area on ground level below the main lobby. There was heaps of different food to eat buffet style. Breakfast time has chefs fresh preparing omelets while you wait. It was concerning that I never saw a strip of bacon for a week, but rum helped me get over that. Lunch had chefs available to help the kids make their own pizza. All meals had vegetables, various sausage type spiced meat, beef or chicken prepared by a chef while you wait, breads, pasta, salads etc. When one of the girls brings you a drink (coffee,juice,water etc) tip her one time. $1CUC is way more than enough. The only thing I really really missed was milk. They don't have milk. They'll tell you they do, but it's just white water that even Reveen couldn't get you to believe was milk. My boys struggled eating at the resort. They're picky eaters and it was rough. If you're travelling with picky eaters I'd suggest you bring your own huge jar of peanut butter and jam. We did and it helped. SHOPPING: They've got a cigar shop a little general store and multiple knickknack shops on site. Smokes, rum, bracelets, clothes, tampons, suntan lotion, wood carvings, candy, chocolate bars, souvenirs etc can all be purchased here. EXCURSIONS: We did the 'Dolphin trip' with the kids. It was fun, but it was a full day. The little island where you stop for lunch is beautiful. The dolphins are housed in a big concrete pen in the middle of the ocean. When you're sailing up towards it, it looks like something out of that bad 'Waterworld' movie. Like I said, it was ok, but a long day. Havana: I grabbed my camera and went solo on the Havana excursion. It's about a 3 hour drive there and back, but we had an excellent tour guide and it was a very informative trip to one of the 'must see' cities of the world. Bring a big jug of water and a pile of small change. Beggars are rampant on the tour!! Drink the pina coladas at the roadside stand on the way. They're the best I've ever tasted. The lunch in Havana was outstanding and the mojitos in the little bar stop were equally as good. Try to drink every bit of liquor that is given to you. Rum makes everything better! I've heard mixed reviews about the other trips. Ask around when you get there. You have to be able to drive 'stick' for the jeep adventure. Heads up. *Tip tip. Our tour guide on the Havana trip was with us for 10 hours. He talked the whole time and was friendly, informative and responsive to every need. When we got back to the hotel he said that a $5CUC was more than enough. That should give you a good idea about how to tip for other services. LEAVING AND FLYING OUT: Pretty much everything the girl on the bus tells you about leaving is wrong. Walk into the airport, turn right and get in line to check your bags. Get your boarding pass and then go pay your exit fee $25CUC per person. Clear customs, get on your plane and fly back to the frozen wasteland we call home. * If you have any extra CUC$ that you want to get rid of there will be heaps of 'Airport staff' in vests that will exchange it dollar for dollar.

Awful resort

This hotel was very nice but there was a down fault it was over packed . It all started upon our arrival we got to the hotel at 10am and the room wasn't ready for us we had to wait till after 4pm. So here we are in our jeans with my son that is 1 year old sweating cranky cause i had to get him out of bed super early to get onto a 6am flight and we get to the hotel and this happens. Maybe they shouldn't have earlier flights if check in is only at 4pm. No aware of this whatsoever if i knew this pr [... read more]ior i wouldn't of gone. Hotel was beautiful the service was extremely slow not friendly . Always the same food no variety or themes in the buffet . Especially no salad... People were planting there towels on the chairs the night before for best seating so that takes away from everyone else. It was my 4th time in Cuba Varadero and we took a family member there in the 25th Wedding Anniversary and they were not impressed i rather of stayed at a lower hotel like Barcelo Arenas Blancas where i have stayed in the past and i am sure i would've been welcomed better.

The most beautiful beach resort I've visited!

Laguna Azul is a gorgeous resort with a fantastic beach. The ocean water is so clear for miles out! The resort staff is friendly, energetic and they really work hard to keep resort guests happy and entertained. If you're looking for a trip without a lot of kids, go during the school year. I loved the Catamaran tour, and the Havana city tour was eye opening as well (you have to see it for yourself). My only regret is not booking excursions in advance, certain excursions only go out certain days o [... read more]f the week, so book as soon as you get there. The same goes for the restaurants where you have to make reservations. The food at the buffet and snack bar was..... good enough if you stick to pizza and fries. I strongly reccommend booking dinner at the Japanese Tappanyaki and the Cuban restaurant- both were fantastic! Overall, if you're looking for a laidback trip in a beautiful location, I would reccommend Iberostar.

Nice resort! Very little mosquitoes!

Very good layout of resort! No worry when it rains as all buildings are connected to each other via bridges on each floors. Clean. Very little mosquitoes, not like on our previous stays at other resorts where we basically fed the mosquitoes. Ala carte restaurants really good...lobsters & lamb. They didn't have the red snapper on their menu :-( but they replaced it with tuna so still ok. Buffet is ok. They do repeat their menu but still ok, able to find something ones like due to big selection. E [... read more]njoyed their fresh cooked fish & shrimps! Some cons- not enough spots at the beach. By 6am almost all spots are reserved. By 7am only a few spots way at the back is available. No face towels during our first two days. We stayed in bldg 12-3rd floor facing the pools and is quiet. One of our rooms ac not cool at all. Complained..mechanic came but couldn't do anything about it...talked about water circulation powering the bldg blah blah...we didn't request to switch as we like to keep the adjoining rooms. Clean rooms, no uninvited pest which is good. Overall stay is very good!

Amazing resort

Very clean, easy access to everything, we loved the location of our room,one think I missed was there was no clip hangers to hang your pant. The beach is amazing! The grounds are beautiful, we enjoyed the entertainment.

Not Impressed on First Impressions

We were supposed to stay at this resort for 14 nights, but instead left after just one night. We weren't fond of anything, the resort looked rather dirty, the room was in pretty bad shape, the bed was terrible, bathroom looked like it wasn't cleaned in months. The food was just awful, no taste and just awful presentation. Felt like we were eating at a high school cafteria. We felt we were staying at a lower end resort instead of the established name of Iberostar! After one night we switched to  [... read more]another resort and never looked back. That resort was beyond excellent. Pardissus Del Mar.

It had its moments

I travelled with my wife and 13 yr old daughter to this resort. When we checked in, I was told the suite that we had paid extra for, was unavailable. I asked how that could be, and got a blank look back, and they said the suites were full for the next couple days, then we would be moved into a suite. Calmly I suggested that this was not acceptable, and they assured me the room would be nice, and they would send another bed up, as there was only a king bed. They showed up an hour later with a hom [... read more]emade looking wood slat, with a small foam pad, threw a blanket over it, and left. I went back down to the counter and suggested that this would not work, and they sighed and said that someone would make it right. I was then directed to our travel representative if I had any more issues. The Transat rep was quite upset at the situation and spoke to the manager, who offered up massages, and extra al a carte dinners for the inconvenience. A couple days later when we did move into the suite, we were much happier. Other than that the food was alright, shows were alright, and the service people were always smiling and super nice. We would probably return.