IM NOT PICKY BUT DO HAVE LIMITS

Never been disappointed in a vacation before arriving at this resort. I dont expect much but you should get at least close to what you payed for. Kids playing beer pong in the front lobby,garbage everywhere. This place is like a scene from a horror movie. Broken toilet seat, no blankets. The room was supposed to be for 3 adult women. We got a king size bed and a cot. Front desk staff was also annoyed by our request of blankets and pillow for the cot. We asked for this around 10pm, they came  [... read more]to our door at 1am. the worst customer service I've ever received or lack there of. Snack bar worker didn't even acknowledge us just pointed. Only great thing is the sun wing rep Yordi. He made arrangements for us to move and made our vacation a great experience..thanks Yordi.. I could continue with the things that made me unhappy upon arrival but I'll focus on the fact that we got moved to Grand Memories and had an amazing vacation.. Never would I reccomend Occidental to anyone..disappointed our agent didn't warn us!!

Disappointing

So disappointed. I have stayed at several Occidentals, never have I been this disappointed. The front counter people were so rude upon our arrival, hallway to our room, it was so dirty, unsafe looking. In our room, you could see thru into the hallway around the door. Our toilet seat was broken, shortage of towels in our room. We went back to the front counter to report the toilet seat and to get a couple of more towels as there was 3 of us in the room. Sorry, no staff to give you towels to [... read more]night. Maintenance came to fix the toilet seat at 1:00 am. We asked about a snack bar and all they had was hotdogs/hamburgers and no drinks. Needless to say we called our Rep right away. And we moved to another resort the next day.

Nice Resort!

We had a great time in Cuba. The pools were great Close to the ocean. Nice to have access to two resorts. Food was ok. Night life was fun. Rooms were ok. Service was great We would go back to Cuba 🇨🇺

Horrible

I've been to Cuba many times and this time was not amazing. I've stayed at 3,4 and 5 stars. Started off with NO towels in the room. Then I thought ahh forget it; it's late so I'll get them tomorrow and I'm on vacation. Let's have a drink. We go down and the bar that is supposed to open till 1:30am closed at 12??? The snack bar had no more drinks for the night??? This is NOT a four star at all

What a week

the Hotel is dated but clean - the buffet could be bigger overall the food was fine - very close to down town and walking distantance of the Bealtes bar what a great night that was swiminig with the dalfins was great what a rush varadaro cuba is one of my most favorite places to go and would return again in a heart beat.

This hotel needs attention

We arrived late on Sat. night (1130 pm) and the lobby was open, but it was lifeless and badly lit giving off an institutional vibe. We were escorted to our room promptly by the bellboy but found it was more like a college dorm room than a hotel room in a tropical resort. There were no room towels and not enough beach towels for the three of us. The double bed mattresses were so tired my body rested on the boxspring and my husband woke with a spring poking in his back. Pool tiles were all mis [... read more]sing around the edges on the bottom and sides of the pool and the water was cloudy. Only two elevators worked, one of which broke down. The late night snack bar had the feeling of being a prison cafeteria line-up. There was always an interminable line-up for the most popular item, be it coffee, snacks, pasta chef, pancake chef, the bar, there were never enough staff to support the busy times around the resort. No one smiled, there were no maps available for guests to use, and the guest services person who demanded that all issues be presented to him, deferred every single query that we presented to him. We arrived Saturday night and couldn't book an a la carte until Tuesday and weren't successful getting a booking without firstly trekking over to Barcelo, then back again to Arenas Blancas, and finally escalating the issue - first to guest services, who was useless, and then to the Sunwing rep who took pity on us and found us a couple of bookings. This process occupied over half a day of our vacation. Then on Thursday Corporate office reps appeared out of nowhere and distributed satisfaction surveys, and suddenly the animation reps were doing their jobs and putting on the pool and beach activities, there was a buffet maid walking around cleaning the buffet stations and making sure there were plates and cups, there were chefs and bartenders everywhere, it was like night and day seeing the staff suddenly smiling and willing to help and serve you. I could go on and on... The resort needs to better equip and support their staff. The resort has good bones but maintenance has fallen off their radar. I do NOT recommend this resort the way it is. The beach is amazing but just find another hotel

Nice Location

This hotel is located right on a very beautiful beach and just one block from the town of Varadero which is awesome. I also liked the large pool. The beach and pool were always busy but we could always find a couple of deck chairs too. The amenities were not the greatest as the hotel is a bit older and it has not been maintained as well as it could be. I hated that the air conditioner would not adjust its aim and I had to move the bed around to avoid being pounded all night long; but it was  [... read more]good that the air conditioning worked! The food was just ok, especially difficult for me as a vegetarian; the specialty restaurants were definitely nothing special. The best day was when we hired a private driver (Angel 52586667) to go to Mantanzas, checked out the real Cuba lifestyle, then had lunch at a lovely private (vs government) owned restaurant called Litoral Matancero, after which we did the deep cave tour (biggest cave I've been in), and finished with a dip in the fresh water at the base of a small cave near the airport in Varadero on our way back. Awe, good times!

Great resort

Hotel is great staff were awesome love the beach bar service food was good good entertainment love how close the resort is to the beatle bar . The only thing we feel the resort might need a little up keep paint etc

Great Vacation. Destination

I had brought a first timer toCuba with me on this particular trip and we stayed at this hotel and the results were very positive.The grounds , pool and beach area are pristine and the staff are very accommodating to say the least.The rooms are dated , but were clean and comfortable and the view was spectacular.It is a sprawling resort a joined to another which is accessible as well.Plenty of things to do if you want to and certainly enough quiet private space to just enjoy the climate etc.

Amazing staff

Overall it was a great experience, staff was amazing, the bar and beach access was awesome! Only down side was some issue in the rooms and food variety. Our room had a leak, and a balcony door that did not open. Similar issues for the rest of our party in the hotel.

Everything we needed and more!

My partner and I went here for our spring break. Clean rooms. Amazing grounds. Beautiful beach. Pretty solid food. Great service (shout out to Haiti at the buffet). From the moment we stepped into the lobby we were taken care of. Just wish our excursion packages could have had better half day options. We can’t wait to come back.

Great Beach

Although the hotel is older and needs an update, especially in the lobby, the staff was great and the beach was idealistic! We had a fantastic time and made some wonderful memories. We would recommend to anyone looking for a stress free vacation.

Disappointing vacation

I am a return customer and therefore know what to expect from Cuban resorts. Unfortunately the hotel seems to have let its upkeep, grounds and rooms, decline to an unacceptable state. As has the buffet which has become mostly uneatable . ( Usually you can find a little something to sustain life, this trip it was questionable ). The staff has also become so unacomadating, throughout the entire week I met only three workers who were smiling and seemed to enjoy there jobs.

OK not Great

Beach was amazing, the pool not so much. It was super easy to explore Varadero. The drinks were awesome but the food was not good, and not available 24 hours. Felt like the place was closed for winter.

Will not stay there again resort

Rooms were not updated and the flush kept leaking water It was clear that the rooms needed a lot of upgrading The towels were not changed, neither was the sheets Food was OK Beach was really good Location was the saving grace

Very bad experience

The hotel was very dirty. The room very dirty food not good at all . The restaurant was not clean and full of insects. The hotel was 90%with Cuban people and they drinked a lot and vomiting inside the elevator. Please don't send Canadians anymore there.i had to switch hotel.

Occidental Arenas Blancas

I've been to Cuba many times - never to Varadero though. No all inclusive is "perfect" - each has its pluses and minuses. Still a good deal through Sunwing - compared to other holiday destinations. Re this hotel - close to town - which we liked - our upgraded ocean view room was nice - big, comfortable bed, great pillows, nice balcony with view etc. One bank of elevators out of commission to get to our floor however, meaning we had a longer wait each time. Common areas - bit run down. Pool was  [... read more]out of commission for part of the week! Beach was fine. However - no place to get a drink on or immediately adjacent to the beach. Food at the hotel was horrible for the most part (there were a few exceptions here and there). Other resorts have had BBQ areas and beach front restaurants that are open all day with fairly decent food - not this place. there was a beach front restaurant - with an absolutely disgusting mystery meat "buffet" served for a couple of hours each day. There was also an "after-hours" eatery - with boiled hotdogs and hamburgers - that made us sick one evening. Other restaurants could only be booked between 2 and 4 pm daily - a weird time! Hotel sponsored entertainment - given the size of the complex - wasn't very good - seen much better at lesser star hotels! No on-site dance club. All in all we'd rate the hotel as average - except for the room. We wouldn't return to this particular hotel. No reflection on the travel agent - he was very pleasant and helpful to deal with and we'd book through him again.

Great Resort!

The location was great as it was very close to the beach, lots of activities on the beach (snorkelling, kayaking etc...), and close by the city. The food was decent, however the food at the buffets was not clean since there were flies in it and birds eating it as well. The rooms were not too bad, though they do need renovation (ceiling in the bathroom was falling down), and there were cock roaches in the hallway which entered the rooms. Overall, we still enjoyed our time in Varadero!

Up and Coming Resort

Occidental Arenas Blancas was a family friendly resort that had everything for everyone. The pools were fantastic & so was their service. But, the rooms could’ve been cleaner & better maintained. They would sometimes forget to put clean towels, or would refold the ones that were already used. It depended on who cleaned the rooms too. The buffets had a variety of food and the two restaurants that we went to (Spanish & Italian) were professional and tasty. The buffet near the beachfront, La Cari [... read more]be, had a nice lunch, but the birds were always eating the food. I think they should put covers and stuff on their food so that birds don’t eat it or sit around in it. Otherwise, I really believe that Arenas Blancas is an up and coming resort that can live up to its neighbour Barcelo Solymar.

Very decent resort!

This hotel had the most beautiful beach, only a few short minutes away from the resort, clear blue waters and soft sand. The beach made everything that seemed bad at first, okay. The food was decent, not bad but not the greatest, enough to keep me going. The main selection of food was buffet style with various varieties, I would recommend taking your own condiments and spices. The restaurants were very nice, with live music in some cases and I would recommend booking reservations on the day of a [... read more]rrival. The hotel was relatively clean and the outside looking amazing however some areas were leaking and it could use some renovations. The service was good and all the workers were very kind and promptly helped when needed.