Punta Peninsula Varadero: Good Time

We have been to Cuba before and knew what to expect. There were some small minor annoyances as can be expected anywhere, but nothing that could ruin your trip. Our room was freshly painted and was nice and clean. We were missing a sheet and all towels on arrival but our maid fixed that the next day. Room was not ready until almost 5pm, but that seemed to be the norm here, new for us as we've never had to wait before anywhere else. Food was quite good for Cuba. Lots of fresh stations. Bartenders  [... read more]at the pool bar are amazing! All in all I would return again if I found the right deal.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: the good, the bad and the ugly.

There were 2 couples that went, ones room was good but had cold showers every evening. The other had warm showers but a room mate came with the room. Lets start, the buffet was good, totally what I expected from Cuba. We took our own Ketchup, made the difference for us with the omelets and bacon. I'm glad they had 3 nights where we could dress up & "go for dinner" it was better food. The customer service is good I asked about a taxi with a tour guide and they said for 4 people it is 150$ pecos.  [... read more]on the bus it was 67 each person. & the tour guide Raoul and the taxi driver Dumal were amazing, we went in a 57 Belair. fit 6 just fine. for lunch we went to a small place and had amazing lobster, shrimp, fish & meat. and only 20$ each person with a drink soup & dessert. Raoul was very knowledgeable and I liked it because we could ask any question and it was only the 4 of us we did not have to wait for anyone else. On the bad side the wait at the only night time bar was insane I would stand there 20 min while everyone is smoking cigars and cigarettes around you. In the "no smoking" area there were smokers and when we asked the front desk if they could say something they said oh u need to find security. and walked away. Being asthmatic it was uncomfortable as it was hard to get away from the smoking as it is aloud everywhere except in the buffet & the al e cart.!! We were on the ground floor and the first morning when my husband went to get his shorts from the bottom drawer there was a 1/2 eaten bun on his shorts...I was not happy. but when I went to the customer service desk, they had no more rooms for us & to come back tomorrow. So I the next day I went & they showed us 2 other rooms on the ground floor that were so musty I could not breath as I am allergic. So later that day when we went back to our room we found bread in our bathroom. So we decided to name him Steve and just live with him. We never saw him but 2 nights I heard wrestling in our plastic bags, so I yelled at him and it stopped... I get we are in another country but it did bother me. The beach is gorgeous, just what I was hoping for. We got to see jellyfish come in & there was a guy on the beach digging holes & putting them in it so no one got stung. The pools are great we went to all 3 & enjoyed them all. The 2 smaller ones are definitely quieter. I was a little upset watching all the kids playing at the large pool & the slide and watching these adults at the swim up bar swearing & acting inappropriately completely drunk, but maybe that's just me... Glad I did not take my kids. I agree with a lot of the people saying it is a very long resort and a lot of walking. we did not mind but we were not at the end we were in block 17 & 18. The cigar bar is so nice u just can't get a drink or anything because it is for the island people to use because they are the gold up graded section. Well that is what I thought of it. I have recommended this to my parents as the price is right. They have been to Cuba 14 times and understand that this is not a wealthy country so I understand the 4.5 star is like a 4 in other countries. hope this helps

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Great value

We got the plus and felt it was well worth it. The pool is better, more a la cartes, and the VIP bar. But the best part was the medical staff. I felt poorly the third day and was seen by the nurse immediately. My blood pressure was very high and she called the Doctor. He came within 1/2 hour and gave me a checkup to make sure I hadn't had a stroke. He put me on medication and I was checked out everyday by the nurse to make sure my pressure was going down till I left. Not fun to be sick away from [... read more] home but I felt well looked after. I also liked Canjet.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Great Resort for Kids

Our family of 4 spent 1 week at the Blau Marina. Other than the few glitches we experienced overall we enjoyed our holiday. We went with 2 other families and the kids had a great time having lots of playmates but also having a facility that was geared to families. The waterslide was a hug hit and they spent a lot of time in the park centrally located.

Blau Varadero: beutifull layout

great view clean pool friendly stuff rooms are clean beach is the best I seen other then four years ago what else varadero beach this trip was my fifth and I will beback anytime soon, only minus is little far from down otherwise A 1

Muthu Colonial Hotel: Retreat

I usually visit Cuba in January on my birthday week and stay 2 weeks I come back in April and stay two weeks at the Ibostar mojito.This visit I spent my stay at the Colonial and found a lot of positive differences between the two resorts. The main difference was the closest to the beach,restaurants,washrooms and main lobby. At the Ibostar you had at least a 7 minute walk across the board walk to the beach with no washrooms in between,giving the Colonial a large edge.Both resorts have great peopl [... read more]e staff working for them so there is no issue there,both places are very competitive.

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Nice resort for a great price

This resort was a great last minute deal for me. And it was exactly as I expected- nothing fancy, but a good clean friendly place. I stayed in the Plus side and liked being in a quieter building away from the busy main pool area. The room was clean and the bathroom big. The food was very good in the a la carte restaurants and I was able to find fresh fruit and yogurt in the buffet every other meal. Pizza at the Italian place for lunch was great. The only disappointment was the lobster dinner-  [... read more]which I had been really looking forward to. Not only was the staff not on their game that night, but the lobster was terrible. They want to do a special dinner, but really shouldn't even bother. On the weekend, they open up a second buffet for breakfast and dinner closer to the beach and this was a much nicer place to eat. Much less crowded and a nice open air space. The beach was a little rocky in places, but if you move away from the main part it was absolutely perfect- fine white sand and gorgeous sea. I could have done without the music they had playing, but again, I just moved away from the crowd (as you can probably tell, I wasn't there to party. Though many were.) Overall a nice resort with a good price.

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Great Resort!

Had a great week. Excellent service, good food, nice beach. The beach was fairly small but had enough room. Beautiful white sand. Good snorkeling. The buffet food was the same every day, but had lots of choice. There were only 2 alacart options, the Cuban was good, the Italian excellent. Lots of activities during the day. Of the evening shows, the water ballet was by far the best. The rest were just ok. We would come back here again.

Blau Varadero: Very nice Resort !

Very elegant neat Resort, grounds and public areas kept clean,rooms are very nice, washroom clean and spacey, gorgeous ocean view, very friendly staff all over, high level quality entertainment (pleasantly surprised),very good food in buffets and restaurants ,fantastic clean beach. Excellent place for unforgettable holiday !

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: High class and just fine.

While I am used to booking 2* places and loving them, it is nice to find a place where keys always work, plumbing always works, no rust or peeling paint, no shouting by staff in the halls early in a.m. Excellent value and comfort.

Muthu Colonial Hotel: Good

I love this place food was good beach and pools great. However on my third day I got up in the middle of the night to find seven cockroaches yes seven I told three people the only answer was they don t have teeth. My tv went off after three trips to lobby and three phone calls one of which they hung up someone came up to fix it. I told them how bad it smelled in my room he said must be the pump and off he went. The maid stuck toilet paper in all drains which did not fix anything. The women the t [... read more]he breakfast buffet were rude I have never seen the likes if these two. I came and asked for a table to be made up she dropped a knife and fork on the table this is not acceptable behaviour. They want to bring up ratings this is not the way to do it.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Great beach and staff!

Loved the beach! The resort is 2 km long so the beach never felt crowded. The water was so clear and blue it looked straight out of a postcard! I preferred staying at the beach area by the lighthouse. It is a bit away from the main areas so it was nice and quiet, not too busy. Great if you just want to relax or read a book without screaming kids running around. Food was decent. Not great, but not terrible. Can't expect much else from Cuba. You may want to consider bringing your own ketchup, pea [... read more]nut butter, etc. as there are not a lot of condiments provided. If you are going to the buffet restaurant for dinner, I would recommend getting there at 6:30 when it opens, as it tends to fill up quickly and there is often a line of people waiting outside the door. Didn't try any of the a la carte restaurants so can't comment on those. Staff is great - very friendly and they work hard. There was a problem with the safe in my room so I called the front desk and they had maintenance up to my room within 5 minutes to fix it. I stayed in block 17 and my room was pretty clean - Belkis is wonderful and I loved reading the little notes she would leave me everyday! You are provided with a 1.5L bottle of water in your mini fridge which was more than enough for me every day but probably wouldn't be enough for families with children. I did see some people ask the service staff at the buffet for an extra bottle - just make sure you tip! You're allowed to bring back up to 1.5L of rum (2 bottles) per adult. I bought mine from the hotel gift shop for $10 CUC total, but if you are worried about customs you can always purchase from the airport duty free after you check in. There are a lot of activities and offsite attractions/tours available for a cost. My West Jet rep did all the booking - available in the lobby every morning. Definitely bring bug spray! The lobby had quite a few mosquitoes at night and in the early morning, but I didn't find it too bad. The weather was a bit chilly and windy during my stay so that probably helped keep them away. There were only a couple in my room which were easy enough to kill. Wifi is available in the lobby for $4.50 CUC per hour. Definitely make sure you log out when you are done as per the instructions provided, otherwise you will continue to remain connected and it will eat up your time. Also make sure you set aside $25 CUC per person (including children) for the departure tax. I did this right away as soon as I exchanged my money and kept it locked in my safe with my passport so I didn't have to worry about it. Only major complaint is I'm pretty sure housekeeping didn't replace the towels with clean ones everyday. Not a big deal for me as I brought my own, so I would recommend doing the same otherwise you will have to call the front desk and ask for more. Overall, I really enjoyed my time at the Blau Marina! Will likely return if I stay in Varadero again!

Blau Varadero: Very nice resort

First employee very good service, very good food, fast service, always smile, always ready so serve us, very cleans, beach it like to walk in the flour, and we don't have to wait to have taxi fast service and to take the bus to return

Blau Varadero: Our Go To Resort

My wife and I, seniors, thoroughly enjoyed our 2nd stay at this resort, and we will return. We enjoyed the food, variety and presentation, and venue. Our room was amazing, our maid service as well, thanks Annia. The pool, the beach, as far as we are concerned are superb, but, pool water a little cold. We were treated to a very special lobster dinner our 2nd night, for returning guests. We were met here by the mgr. Jose, who was extremely cordial. Our holiday was amazing, and as I said, we will r [... read more]eturn, soon, I hope.

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Amazing Resort

We have been to this resort at least 12 times. We love the resort and the people. The Food is awesome. They have added a new part and we stayed in that part this time. It is close to a small town, so you can take a cab or bus.

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Blau Costa Verde - great trip

The facilities are all very good. Staff are lovely. We stayed in the Plus area which is worth the extra if you prefer to be in a quiet area. Food was pretty good especially the Italian restaurant, which is open at lunch, but requires reservations for dinner.All the speciality restaurants require reservations and that involves lining up. Do it as soon as you arrive. (Common to most all-inclusives). Swimming, at the beach and the pools, is gorgeous; parts are rocky - take beach shoes. Our stay was [... read more] 9 nights, which I highly recommend as we didn't get that "just got here, time to go feeling" and gave us time to do 2 nights in Holguin City.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: good value for the money

overall, nice resort. everything was always clean and the staff was very helpful and friendly. a few details could have been better such as the food at the buffet restaurant. there were also quite a few bugs (didn't bother me too much but i saw some folks with some pretty big welts), not sure if they could spray for these or not but it was a bit bothersome. at times, the organization was a bit lacking, for example, booking our meals at their a la carte restaurants required a 15 minute line-up an [... read more]d the process seemed much more complicated than it really needed to be. the location (at the end of the peninsula) can be a bit of a pain if you head out on excursions since you end up stopping at many more resorts to pick other folks up (takes quite a bit of time). if you like a quiet place with almost zero traffic though, this can be a plus. it's about 45 minutes to town on the bus.

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Great Resort!

This was my first time in Holguin, or in Cuba, or indeed anywhere in the Caribbean. And to top it off I went solo - so I really didn't know what to expect. After some investigation on the internet I decided that this one was the best value for the money but worried it may have too cheap. I needn't have - the hotel and country turned out great and exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend it.

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Another excellent visit to the Blau!

Just back from an excellent week (January 9 to 16) with a group of 8 family members. I had been here in April, had a great time, and decided to bring my family back to the Blau in Cuba, for it’s great beaches, wonderfully friendly people, hot, sunny weather, and the food. The food is better than any other Cuban resort I have stayed at. If you can't find something on the buffet, then you are just too picky. Lots of bacon and excellent omelets for breakfast, and all the fixings for shakes and sm [... read more]oothies for the diet conscious. We enjoyed lunch three times at the Italian restaurant, which served excellent pizzas and pasta, made fresh to order. (The bolognese sauce on penne was my favourite!) Other group members raved about the margarita pizzas. There are several a la cartes to choose from(Cuban, Italian, Spanish & French) get the upgrade, it's worth it for the VIP bar alone. With the upgrade to VIP you get extra choices of restaurants too, and for returning guests, a lovely VIP dinner by the pool. Our group was in buildings 16 and 18 - a good central location, but there is lots of walking thoughout the resort. Very close to the VIP pool and beach. The beach is beautiful, and you can walk a long way in front of other resorts. Yes, the beach is a bit rocky, but you can navigate through the rocks easily. Two sand bars make hanging out lots of fun, jumping waves. Be sure to set up near where the paddle boats are and the catamarans. Easy to maneuver through there. There were lots of fish to see, even close to the shore without goggles! We met lots of great, fun minded Canadians who made our stay excellent along with a lovely lady from England. We had the pleasure of meeting Sam from Acton, and taking him out on the paddle boats several times as well. Most activities are on the beach during the morning, and the action switches to the main pool area in the afternoon. Leo the bartender at the swim up bar is the best! And Yannis at the beach bar - always a smile at the ready. At night he could be found in the disco too. The disco opens at 11:00 every night, and closes at 2 am. Be sure to make sure to request your favourites or make a play list – both DJ’s we met were very accomodating and put our songs on right away. By the third night we didn’t even have to ask for them. The staff at the 24 hour snack bar were wonderful! They were friendly, professional and happy in their jobs. Check in was easy and the front desk staff were very polite and professional. We also never had any problem exchanging money at the front desk. Wendy and Julie in Public Relations are both excellent at their jobs and Wendy went over and above when needed. I agree with a fellow passenger that any bad reviews you read are just bad attitudes. For the price and the staff alone, the Blau hits the mark right on. Service! Food! Amenities! Beach! We had a great time overall for sure. The only negative experience was no movie on the Cubana airlines flights. You may want to book another airline….

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Nice spot.

The new pool was beautiful! The rooms were fairly new and housekeeping did an excellent job. The food for Cuba was especially good, both the buffett and al a carte restaurants. Beautiful beach with lots to do.