Club Amigo Ancon: Needs some TLC

My hotel room was clean and nice. My one concern that the pool has been out of service for a year. No one at the front desk spoke much English (if any), so it was hard to ask any questions. There seemed to be some problems with the elevator and some toilets, but I had a good vacation there. This hotel is a long way from the airport (1 1/2 hours), and it is closer to Trinidad than sites in Cienfuego. The hotel just needs some TLC and updates.

Club Amigo Ancon: Average hotel, nice beach, great location!

HOTEL The main hotel building was very similar to the Hotel Tropicoco near Havana. Made of concrete, the hotel was built by the Soviets in the 1980s and in one word, it was ugly. The saving grace was that it had a very nice beach and of course, was close to the charming town of Trinidad. The superior, ocean view section (where we stayed) was built about 17 years ago and was much nicer than the original part of the hotel. The swimming pool was closed. There were two bars near the entertainment  [... read more]area, one served quite good sandwiches, hamburgers and French fries and the other one offered various drinks, including cold beer—bring a big mug! There were also two bars in the lobby area; we often used the one close to the patio, which was open in the evening and served excellent cappuccino and Spanish coffee. On the lower level (below the lobby) were two stores (‘tiendas’) selling alcohol, clothes, postcards, souvenirs, etc. as well as a bank, which was very convenient. There were also other vendors, offering carvings, arts and crafts, postcards, books and the like. BEACH The beach was nice and sandy, there were loungers and palapas, but they were quite difficult to get (I write more about them later). Once a group of French speaking tourists from Canada were conducting a very animated and loud conversation which lasted for a long time; I was sure they could be heard by half of the sunbathers on the beach! The beach was quite long and it was possible to walk along it towards the east for several kilometers. OUR ROOM #8312 The room was located in the ‘superior section’ and from the main hotel lobby required a three minute walk as well as climbing the stairs to the third floor. It was a rather small room, but it was okay. We had a nice balcony, facing the ocean and the beach, from which we could admire sunsets. A couple of loungers/chairs on the balcony would have been nice, though! The TV had plenty of channels, including CNN and Canada’s CTV, albeit from Montreal (in English). The air conditioner worked, yet we tried to sleep with the balcony door open and drawn curtains so that mosquitos could not get in (as a matter of fact, I do not remember being bitten by any mosquitos or sand flies). The bathroom was small, had a bathtub, we always had hot/cold water. There were two small beds. The small fridge kept our beverages cold and the safe was free. We got two magnetic cards; both opened the door and one of them also opened the safe. The maid did a great job cleaning the room every day. Since the entertainment area was close by, we could clearly hear the music from our room. Incidentally, we never went to any performance. RESTAURANTS The main dining hall/restaurant (Bahia de Casilda) was adjacent to the lobby. We always skipped lunch, only had late breakfasts and twice or thrice dinner there. For breakfast we had some fruits, salads and fried eggs with bacon or omelets as well as very good yogurt (not available every day). Dinners offered the regular fare, there were three cooking stations and I was always able to find something I liked. The red wine was quite passable. Most of the time we sat at the end, near open windows, which were also used by several birds that were flying in and out. Overall, I had no problem with any of the food that was served—although the selection was not as plentiful as that in other hotels in Cuba we had recently stayed at. Then again, I never come to Cuba to expect some amazing food anyway. At the lower ground floor there were two a’ la carte restaurants—Italian and Seafood (Restaurante el Pescador). We dined twice in the latter. I found the food quite good, some dishes were excellent. We also wanted to try having a meal at the Italian Restaurant, but were informed that it served only pasta, so we skipped it. It was also possible to have one meal at the adjacent Brisas (in its top restaurant), but since only six Ancon guests were allowed to eat there every evening, we never did get to go. It took some time before we managed to get a voucher for another restaurant at the Brisas under a giant palapa. We had a very casual, romantic and tasty meal and enjoyed it very much. By the way, all the vouchers were obtainable from the Public Relations desk. HOP-ON-HOP-OFF BUS TO TRINIDAD One of the main reasons we went to the Ancon was its proximity to the town of Trinidad, which is one of the most beautiful towns in Cuba. Located 10 km from the Hotel Ancon, it was a very short ride from the hotel by bus or taxi. However, there was also a hop-on-hop-off bus, departing from the Hotel Ancon to Trinidad at 10:00 am, 12:30 pm, 3:30 pm and 6:00 pm and from Trinidad to the Ancon at 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm. It cost 2 CUC both ways (keep the ticket if you are planning coming back). WHAT WE DID NOT LIKE We did encounter some inconveniencies which we believe should not have occurred—and they certainly negatively contributed to our overall experience. 1). It was very difficult to get a lounge chair on the beach—unless you ‘reserved’ it early in the morning by placing something on it—it was Catherine who religiously took care of this issue early in the morning, at 7:00 am, to be exact. We noticed that some people occupying lounge chairs did not have any wrist bands—only later did we realize that many tourists from town (i.e., Trinidad) arrived every day by bus to enjoy ‘la playa Ancon’ and perhaps some of them simply used hotel beach loungers. It was a pity that security guards did not make sure that lounges were occupied by paying hotel guests only! Moreover, adding more chairs/loungers would be an even better solution! 2). The checkout time was at 1:00 pm, so we had packed up everything in advance and went to the beach in the morning to enjoy the last day of our vacation. We came back to our room at about 12:15 pm and when I tried to open the safe (where our passports, money and cameras were), neither magnetic card worked. I called the reception to report this issue and was told to come with the card so that it could be reprogrammed. Two minutes later Catherine called the reception and asked the receptionist to send somebody over to our room as it was difficult for us to come—she wanted to shower—besides, it was not our fault, after all. The receptionist insisted on her coming to the reception—and simply hung up on her, thus forcing her to take a walk to the lobby and join the lineup of people checking out! It was still about 20 minutes to 1:00 pm—yet we also found out that now both cards ceased to open our door as well! Well, we had the perfect right to use our room (including the safe) until the checkout time and it was quite disappointing and nerve wracking that the cards stopped working BEFORE that time—if anything, they should have had a ‘built-in’ grace period of at least 30 minutes instead of making our last hours unpleasant and testing. Incidentally, we had a similar glitch several years ago in the Club Amigo in Guardalavaca. 3). On Saturday around 9:00 am, before breakfast, I went downstairs to the bank to exchange money, but it was closed. I asked the sales lady in the nearby ‘tienda’ if she knew when the bank would be open; she said it was closed on Saturday, but the reception upstairs (in the hotel lobby) could exchange money. Thus I went to the reception, only to be informed by the receptionist(s) that it was impossible to exchange money there; instead, she suggested that I try going to a bank in Trinidad. As I always tried to double check everything in Cuba, a few minutes later I asked the public relations lady (whose desk was next to the reception window) about the bank downstairs. Lo and behold, according to her, the bank would be, after all, open today, but around noon, since the exchange rate had not arrived from Havana yet and sometimes it did not come until noon. Around 11:00 pm I went to the bank and it was still closed; I was hanging around it for another 30 minutes, but to no avail. So, I again asked at the hotel reception when it would open—this time I was told that the bank employee was on lunch. For the next 30 minutes I kept checking whether or not she was back, yet the bank’s door was closed shut. Finally, for the second time I asked the ‘tienda’ sales lady if she knew when the bank employee would be back from her lunch. “The bank is closed on Saturday”, she repeated. “It’s not what I was told in the hotel reception”, I said, “The bank employee is supposedly having her lunch”. She looked at me incredulously and briskly called the reception; after a brief conversation she told me to go there to change my money. Indeed, the reception employee (the same I had spoken to in the morning) was expecting me and without any problems exchanged my $100 Canadian into 68 CUCs (albeit a few days ago I had gotten 70 CUCs at the bank downstairs). This whole episode left a rather bitter taste in my mouth—after all, for several hours of my precious vacation time I was chasing after a non-existent employee! CONCLUSION Since we go to Cuba with a very open mind, overall we liked our stay. Although the hotel’s crude, concrete architecture was not too appealing, we had been aware beforehand what kind of establishment we would be going to—and that was why we booked a room at the Superior Ocean View Section, which was a very good choice. The hotel staff were not as nice, friendly and attentive as those in the other hotels we had recently visited, but they were still adequate. The food was good, the room clean with plenty of hot water and we could count on catching the bus to Trinidad—visiting this charming town was the highlight of this trip. Would I go to this hotel again? If the price were right, maybe I would consider it, yet I would rather pay more and pick the adjoining Brisas, a Spanish, colonial-inspired design. Nevertheless, I had, as always, a great time in Cuba and I am looking forward to another trip in November or December!

Club Kawama: Great time in Kawama!

I’m not going to talk about the nature, beaches, etc., we all know it is a gorgeous place. Also, we were lucky to have good weather: clear skies, sunny days and calm water. So, about our experience in the resort Kawama: it was just great! 1. The room was clean and comfortable - there was hot water, controllable air conditioner, cable TV with sport channels, CTV and some other canadian tv channels and the room was maintained daily and the bed sheets and towels were changed every day. 2. Food an [... read more]d drink / cocktails: I have to emphasize that it really matters if you are addicted to the junk food or not. The food there in general is organic - no preservatives, no artificial flavours, so if you are a pizza / burger lover, you may find the food not to your taste. In the restaurant ala carte you can have a salad-cocktail of oyster or shrimp, fresh fish, lean pork chops, soups, etc. At the buffet you have plenty of salads - cooked and fresh, cooked meals and soups, barbecue and different kinds of desserts, including ice cream and fresh fruits. So no matter if you are vegetarian or meat person, you won’t walk away hungry. At lunch time, if you don’t want to miss the beach or feel too lazy (we all have these moments) you can get hamburgers and toasts on the beach. As we were with all inclusive package, the beer, liquor (domestic & international), cocktails, coffee were available 24 /7. To be fair, I should mention that I wasn’t pleased with the coffee at the resort. Especially since I have tried the wonderful flavour of Cuban coffee a long time ago. But there is a solution: on the main street of Varadero, there are plenty of cafeterias where you can have real coffee: aromatic and strong. Also, if you prefer to stay away from the noisy bars you can sit comfortably on the chairs beside the restaurant “ala carte” and enjoy your drink and good company all night long. 3. Service: ¡EXCELENTE! The staff at Kawama is amazing: friendly and open, always smiling and in a good mood. This is contagious and makes you feel awesome! Wonderful staff + gorgeous conditions + gorgeous place + of course good company = gorgeous vacation!

Occidental Arenas Blancas: So disappointed

I've been to Cuba a few times and this was our second time at Arenas Blancas. We went 2 years ago and loved this resort so we decided to return. I couldn't be more disappointed in our trip this time. I'm not sure if there was a change in management but the moral of the staff was down. The service was just terrible regardless of the amount we tipped. One side note about the housekeeping staff, they would have full blown screaming conversations in the hallway at 7:30 a.m. Is that really necessary? [... read more] Guests are sleeping and management should really address this. The food in Cuba is always subpar and barely edible. I'm fully aware. However this time around it was so awful that it reminded me of slop we used to feed our pigs when we lived on a farm. They would recycle the food from one meal to the next. The hamburgers from last nights snack bar were cut up and mixed in with runny scrambled eggs for breakfast. Hot dogs cut up and put into rice. Buffet and restaurants were dirty. I shudder just thinking about it. This is just an overview of our experience but it was so bad I think this has deterred me from visiting Cuba again unfortunately.

Hotel Villa Cuba: Resort is being nicely upgraded .

This is our 4th time at this resort and it is slowly receiving much needed renovations . In 3 or 4 months it should be better . They just finished painting the lobby white while we were there and it made a big difference ! The staff is very helpful and friendly . The food at the buffet restaurant was better than some of the other Cuban resorts but the coffee was ordinary . The road in front of the resort is not open to the Varadero double decker bus so it is an 8 to 10 minute walk down the road  [... read more]to catch it so we were not able to tour Varadero as much as we have in the past . They are slowly redoing some of the Villas units , the older ones are a little run down .

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Location Location Location

The Hotel was clean very close to the town strip, shops, flea markets, 3 minutes from the famous Calle 62 bar dance club. Staff friendly but they all lack the english language, very little speak and understand it. Was on the 2nd floor just killed one large cockroach 2 -3 days after arrival .Nightly entertainment very good superb talent of the young dance company that plays there.

Occidental Arenas Blancas: nice good location resort

yery practical to get around resort for restaurant, bars, beach and varadero. no complaints about the food and room ,clean resort. What I did not like,lot of employees don't speak English/French ,we've been going there for many years

Hotel Villa Cuba: Exellent food

Rooms need renovation and new furnitures,food was very good,staff was nice, short distance to the beautiful and clean beach,people very friendly,I think they need only work better on entertainment for guests.

Club Kawama: Club Kawama Varadero Cuba

Jan 18 to Feb 01 2016 We went to Cuba at this hotel I would not recommend this hotel to anyone, its the oldest hotel on the strip and the staff just don't care about your problem. The food is the same every day, not much change even on the weekend. The problems are 1- Big hotel with no map of the grounds we where 8 minutes from the room to the lobby 2- Staff in not able to do anything about the rude people that causes problems in the restaurants 3- Two restaurants on the property one at each end [... read more] of the grounds 12 minute walk from our room to the second restaurant. 4-Everyone is looking for tips but few will give you the service we expect like getting coffee at the table in the morning 5-The bad weather is a factor but the hotel does not have anyplace to go to no game room 6-We went out several nights to the local bar for good food. 7-The beds where old and need to be replaced 8-The beach chairs are old and lots are broken, people where taking the good chair from the pool area 9-The pool was not clean and need repair. 10-The bars, some only served beer other where liquor but not both.

Club Kawama: Absolutely not a 3*

Simply put...do not go here. Just returned from Cuba on Jan. 21, 2016. Booked Kawama without high expectations as we know you get what you pay for. However, we have stayed at another 3* resort listed on this site in the past, that is also of a comparable price. We expected similar standards based on the same rating. There was no comparison, which is why I would rate this a 1* to be fair to the other 3* resort in Varadero we stayed at in the past. We arrived at 10pm to a very tiny lobby filled wi [... read more]th people hanging out. It was so tiny you were bumping into people and everyone was smoking so the air was just a haze. Reception was not friendly or helpful. Bellboy was nice and helpful. He walked our luggage without even a cart 1kilometer, yes you heard that right, 1 kilometer to our room. The walk was super scary. Dark and past buildings that looked to be condemned. My 13 year old was terrified during the walk. Get to our building and the neighbour has underwear, yes, multiple pairs of men's and women's underwear hung between the lights between our room and theirs on a makeshift clothes line at eye level. The rooms were disgustingly dirty with dead mosquitos all over the walls. My husband's bed (they do not have rooms with a double, queen or king bed...only those with two singles) after sleeping on it the first night was soaked through top and bottom and stunk like urine. It must have been soaked on the inside and when the pressure of his body was on it, the water soaked through. Disgusting. We complained and he was only given new sheets with an extra sheet if he wanted to put it on top. He couldn't even flip the mattress because it was soaked all the way through! We both slept in one single bed the next night and left the resort first thing the following morning when the arrangements were made. Pools were so green you couldn't swim in them. Only 1 buffet operational even though they were to be done renovations and have the other one open the day we arrived. No masseuse even though they boasted having one. Said two a la carte restaurants but there is only one that is about 5 blocks down the road from the lobby that was already 1 km from our room. Complained about these things. Was told the masseuse just quit and the one a la carte has two different menus and changes back and forth daily. There isn't a slushy drink to be found. The 24 hour snacks that they boasted is actually only ham and cheese sandwiches and only after midnight. We were starving after we arrived at 10pm and had to wait until midnight for a sandwich. All we ate there was one breakfast, one lunch, one supper and one ham sandwich at midnight. But the food was fair I guess for Cuba. Not good in comparison to the resort we changed to, or those we've been at in the past, but not horrible. We literally got out of there as fast as we possibly could and switched resorts. The biggest issue was that no one was happy. Not the guests, not the staff, no one. It seemed like a prison, not a resort. Do not go here whatever you do, unless you want a 1* resort which is what this really should be rated based on other 3* resorts in the area.

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Very nice resort

We visit Arenas Blancas in January. It is beautiful resort with a lots to do for everyone. Beach is clean and beautiful. The setting of the resort is close to the downtown of Varadero. Nightly entertainment spectacular. Food good with a good variety. Rooms and building clean.

Hotel Villa Cuba: Sadly not a good repr sensation of Cuba!

Let me put it in point: This was not close to a two star hotel. Our balcony door fell off and was never fixed. The water in the toilet overflowed. The smell of sewer several days made me vomit Twice there arose a bad smell of petrol. The 7 cats, 3 dogs and countless chickens trotting about were something.... The mould on the closet wall ( that door was off its hinges the whole week too) was bad. The beds were old, hard and grubby., and you could watch tv through the sheets as they were so thin.  [... read more]The staff seemed as though they didn't really care or bother. ( so different from past experiences) The food was pretty bad ( beef heart? Bird mincemeat? Fish casserole with fins sticking out?) Cockroaches are a natural thing, but I hate to see them on the food tables where the dinners are being prepared. The sign out front said this was a five star hotel... Maybe in 1984. It is run (RUN) down. After asking twice a day, we got a tv remote on day three. We had no hot water for three of the seven days there. The water in the pool was too cold to get in. The beach was wonderful though. And finally, we got up from bed as water was pouring from the ceiling ( air conditioning unit). That took a trip to the desk and stern words to get resolved. I have photos of some of this, as I am sure no one would believe me. We've been to Cuba several times and this by far was the worst. I felt bad for the folks we met who'd never been before to this country, as several said, "never again!"

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Great Vacation

The Hotel is very clean..The beds comfortable and beddingchanged every day. The weather wasn't very good we had wind rain and cold for 4 days of our week stay. This didn't stop us from having lots of fun. The food is not what we are used to however you adapt. You can always find something to eat..yu won't starve.... The bus to town is always fun as well as the horse and buggy rides. We had 12 people in our group and i didn't hear complaints from anyone. The one thing that we had a concern with w [... read more]as the bar didn't have any diet pop for drinks..my husband is diabetic...We bought some at the local store for 2 peso... WhenI brought our concern to the Sunwing Rep we had diet pop at the bar the next day

Club Kawama: OK

What I expected for a 3+* and price we paid, food ok, our room was close to highway, noisy, no hot water in our block, told front desk, they did nothing. We still made the most of it and enjoyed ourselves.

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Terrible resort

Grounds were shabby (broken tiles etc), hotel was leaking water all over floors, food was cold and mediocre, hotel was full of cigarette smoke everywhere, party central (drunken, loud boors), front desk staff unhelpful.

Club Karey: Disgusting Unsanitary Hotel

Mold in every room. Wife developed a cough and had breathing issues we can only attribute to the conditions. Bed bugs will devour you. Leaking ceilings windows and doors. Rooms flooded when it rains. Paint peeling everywhere. Dining room is disgusting and food is reused and always cold. Cats allowed in dining room and will spray your hand bags if left on the floor. First trip to dining room was our last, ate off resort for 14 days. Club Karey should be bulldozed. This place is a disaster. STAY A [... read more]WAY.

Club Amigo Ancon: Fine for one week!

I recently returned from a one week vacation .I knew in advance that the hotel was the Soviet style architecture I dislike but it still bothered to have to look at it :) especially after touring the Brisas down the beach which was Spanish colonial. Plus,it seemed that it was not only ugly but not particularly functional . Busses pulled up where pedestrians crossed ,lots of area seemed underused and some safety issues The pool had been closed since May. Luckily I was staying in the detached super [... read more]ior ocean view room ( with balcony although no furniture was there) I was shown the regular rooms and they were small with no balcony.I could hear the blaring entertainment both in the late afternoon and evening tho.:( I did not use any of the entertainment services.I would have happily done "stretching class" as I do daily yoga but it was at 10am ..just after eating breakfast :( 8-9 or 11-12 would be better) I would have gone to Spanish classes too but they were not offered. I did not use any excursions or on site marine services. The beach was very nice but loungers got snapped up early .. beachgoers who were not hotel guests were partly to blame. It is a public beach and busloads of tourists come for the day…and leave on the 6pm Transatur bus from the parking lot at the end of the beach.,after,thank goodness, picking up hotel guests We crammed 69 people into a small bus one Monday evening. en route to Trinidad.Accolades to the driver! altho the comfort/safety level was unreal. Cubans are on the beach each early morning persistently begging for your clothes.I did promise one man some stuff on the day I would be leaving (and he kept reminding me daily:)but I still kept getting hounded on my 7am power walk by the same people I constantly said no to ,which annoyed me. Also a group of Cuban women hung out at the parking lot area and I was mercilessly pestered for stuff while awaiting a taxi.Yes ,I understand their situation very well (and yes I may be very well doing the same in their situation) and I am very generous in giving stuff and CUC but I don't like constant bombardment ! I never had this issue in Trinidad I will say . Orientation was well worth attending and "Audi" was helpful ..and much in demand for restaurant vouchers.(read: frequent line ups for this ) Restaurant service was so -so but I never ate lunch and tend to not need a lot of help.I did tip after meals and sometimes sat with a long time regular (23 years ) who was very generous all round. I encountered some frustrations trying to get same day a la carte vouchers. I did enjoy the Pecatore restaurant because it was partially outdoors and the Brisas Cuban buffet Campanosa outdoor palapa style restaurant we could get vouchers for. I found the buffet to have good food but curtains covered the large windows to the outdoors which I always felt like pulling back to let in natural light. Also there were really no outdoor dining tables. Our room was nice ..3rd floor ( I had emailed to request upper level using 4 different emails addresses provided but all emails were undeliverable. Cleaning service wonderful (perhaps because I left daily gifts:) I always had hot water at 5pm ish so I appreciated that.Air worked well too. Bar service in the main building near reception was spotty and the adjoining outdoor patio nice except when it rained.very limited covering. Great Spanish coffee in the evening! Reception service was ok but there were frustrating problems with ambiguous information on changing money on the weekend and a very long line up when we arrived at 10pm to check in. My safe (free I may add) would not open when packing for departure within check out time limits and I had to run to reception ,line up and get my key renewed despite calling them from the room and asking for assistance.(my partner had mobility issues so its not reasonable to expect people to do this) The towel service was frequently out of towels or closed when I tried to use it . The Castillo Bar /Restaurant was great all the time I used it late afternoon except for the day of the wedding where guests were pre and post ceremony celebrating there.Also 2 of the a la carte restaurants were unavailable that evening due to wedding but,for me,in return , it was fun to watch the wedding :) The bus to Trinidad (UNESCO site celebrating 500 plus years)) from the hotel was on time (2CUC each.).I wish there was a later return from the city to coincide with the 6pm departure from the hotel. Also, bus stops at near by La Boca a where there are many casas/hostals to rent and fun to wander or bike around. (rentals at local bar) The bus to and from the airport was timely and the driver loaded our bags for us.

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Beautiful resort!

The hotel was well kept, friendly staff, beautiful location, overall great experience! The food was not very good, we had food poisoning for a day however the rest of the vacation was relaxing and everything was taken care of for us.

Club Kawama: Wasn't the best for the price.

My seven year old daughter and I just returned from a week at club kawama, this was our 5th time to Varadero . When we arrived we were shown to our room witch was right on the edge of the hotel property and the only window in our room faced into a local Cuban family's back yard. It had no air conditioning , the beds were not made and had no blowdryer. Mind you we are not picky people so we thought if we had sheets on the bed we could make due for the week., however after spending one night in th [... read more]e room and realizing how damp everything would be with no air conditioner and the fact the the family beside us had a dog that barked all night long we decided to say something and move. Of course there were "no other rooms avaliabe" unless I wanted to pay an extra $200 Canadian to move to a seperior room. They showed us the room and it was average , it was the type of room I would have expected to have been in at a 3 start resort to begin with. However we paid the $ and moved After talking to a few other people in the resort they said they had the same experience The buffet was also closed while we were there , you have to walk 10min either down the public road or on the property down a very poorly lit , very poorly mapped out trail of broken concrete sidewalks and abandoned buildings. The food was same old Cuban food but the problem was there wasn't enough. A few times for dinner there would be nothing left but rice and noodles and my daughter and I had to share a dinner plate on more then one occasion because there weren't any clean. On the positive side of things ,, the beach was amazing ! Always clean , no seaweed , lots of chairs .. The pools were also great , always clean. The location of this hotel Couldnt be better , right in town. There is a restaurant just up the st called Kiki's, we had pizza and a few drinks at a very cheap price. And the best thing about the whole place was the night shows.!!! They were really, really good !!! Best we have ever seen.!! Not your typical dancing in really old costumes lol. They really involved the audience and were very funny !! Don't miss the magic show ,, hilarious !!!!

Hotel Villa Cuba: 2 star at best

First of all this hotel is not called BE LIVE EXPERIENCE. We found this out after riding for over an hour on the bus and not making it to our resort...the hotel changed names years ago and is now called Villa Cuba. We upgraded to a Villa which just fit 2 twin size beds and an old tv. The shower head was not attached and we had to use it as a hand held shower. The resort itself has very friendly staff. The food was not good but have heard that it's all the same in all of the resorts.