2nd time

Was there in July-they have had a 'cyclone' since. Now there Nov 25-30. But there was no difference except one restaurant being damaged. Food is very good, being Cuba. Lots of fruit, veg, coffee meats and bread. People are very friendly and helpful. Dairon at the front desk knew my name and always said hi. Mayi at the pool bar was friendly fast and informative. Tania, the bingo/entertainment person was so funny-she needs more bingo cards because people loved playing with her!! I had a proble [... read more]m with my room and the customer service woman (sorry I forget her name) went out of her way to help me get a new room in a timely fashion. A lovely week

Great time!!

Had a fantastic week at the Bella Costa. Staff are wonderful! Food was plentiful and so good. The room we were in does need updating but I'm sure that will get done when they are able. The beach was beautiful and they were hard at work rebuilding the beach restaurant.

You get what you pay for...and I wouldnt personally pay more than $700 canadian dollars to go to this resort

Food was decent, beach was amazing. The hotel is run down and not well maintained. for example, the pool was awful. Water was too chlorinated and the pool liner was falling apart...the bottom of the boot was all hilly...the patio doors do not lock and access to doors from the outside are fairly easy. Every guest that we spoke to had the same issue with their patio doors. The TV and DVD player were p[provided in the room but neither one was functional. There was a mini fridge in the room which [... read more] was never stocked. and not functional either. Half the lamps and or light bulbs did not function. After complaining light bulbs were installed over the week and by the 4th or 5th day we were there we had the majority of the bulbs changed. The bathtub drain was clogged and we had to shower with water up to our ankles. The rooms had a moldy smell...The beds were hard and small. The air conditioner was extremely noisy and did not really cool down the room. At least the safe and door locks worked. We booked an ocean view room and paid extra for this but what we really got was a pool view and after complaining we were told that this was an ocean view. I stayed at this resort 20 years ago and had an ocean view room with the actual view of the ocean and not the pool. After complaining the front desk told us the hotel was booked and could not change our room. I have been travelling to Cuba for the past 20 years and have always enjoyed myself despite the lower quality of food and the lack of luxury that you may find with hotels in non-Cuba destinations. One reason is the staff at the hotels, who are usually friendly and provide good service. This was my first experience where the majority of the staff was rude to the guests. One issue could have been that there were many local Cubans staying at the hotel as guests. It was apparent that the staff was giving priority to the local Cubans as guests. The staff at the snack bar was rude to my daughter and her friend (both girls were 11 and 8 years old respectively). Trying to get a drink at the bar was frustrating. With the exception of one or two bartenders in lobby bar, the majority of the bartenders, waitresses purposely served the local Cuban guests and would leave the regular guests waiting as long as they could get away with it.. On one or two occasions, we noticed that the maids did not replace the towels in the room. They simply took the wet and dirty towels off the bathroom floor and hung them up to dry. Some friends that we met on vacation, who spoke Spanish, overheard the staff making fun of and insulting the guests for a variety of reasons not knowing that the guests spoke Spanish. There were many staff that realize their are issues with the hotel and, although they appeared to go out of their way, there appeared to be many more that really just didn't care. Although this is not the worst resort that I have been to in Cuba, it does rank low and I would suggest not going to this resort unless you can get a very good deal. Absent the rude staff, I would give this resort a 3.5 star....however, considering that the staff is a vital component to making your stay nice, I cannot justify such a high rating.

A regular Cuban 4* Hotel

It was my 3rd time this summer that I went to enjoy a weekend a Bella Costa with friends and family. This is my general review; Hotel: Needs loving and renovating. The service is generally pleasant. We love the fact that locals and foreigners and co-vacationing together, we all have to learn from one another´s culture! Food: Generally OK not better not worst than any other 4*. We must say that the service in general needs to be revised and Buffet team needs to be coach. Understanding  [... read more]that the hotel sometimes gets really packed, but it remains unacceptable for an institute of CUSTOMER SERVICE that it regularly lacks glasses, plates and that we need to wait more than 10 minutes for a simple omelette or a pasta dish... THE SERVICE at THE BUFFET NEEDS TO BE THOROUGHLY REVISED. Beach: Beautiful and well kept, but we keep on wondering why there is NO BAR at the beach... Pool: The hotel should really invest into changing the lining. It is almost shameful to have a pool bottom in such bad state. It clashes with the rest of the nice ground and garden around. Really, this should be looked into as a top priority. We will definitely go back to Bella Costa, because we understand that we get what we pay for.

Amazing Resort

All was great except the room was a bit moldy and we could smell it. The bathroom they could use a cleaning product or vinegar. The beach there was absolutely beautiful and the people there were so friendly.

Not impressed

So the hotel room I paid for was an ocean view, I got a pool view instead. Everything in the room was malfunctioning- a.c , fridge, hair dryer, toilet was leaking water , sink was also sinking water. I didn't receive clean towels everyday or new water bottle in my room. The hotel staff made us not feel welcomed there! They were very rude and terrible at customer service! They would make all the foreign tourists wait until serving all the local customers. They were making fun, talking bad about [... read more] tourists in their language which I completely understand and speak also- They obviously didn't know that. Food was alright but always the same selection. Not very fresh One guy from a particular restaurant would pick his nose right before handing us our food! The beach was great but the pool wasn't very clean and would also close early for "maintenance "which didn't help much. The entertainment, was horrible !! Everything in Spanish , lots of Spanish music, the very little games played were also all played in Spanish with the locals. Tourists didn't feel very welcome. A few people I met from Canada also had the same opinion as me. They were very disappointed

Very friendly hotel

The hotel is a nice place to go and the beach is very nice The staff is super and Especially The Pasta chef Sandro who does a mazing job He takes time to Acknowlege every one and makes your dinning experience good with his good pasta Is a family resort and everyone always has a nice time You meet some very nice guest at this hotel

Bella Costa

Hi, we had a great time at this hotel, we upgraded to a villa style room for $15 extra per night and had the most amazing view of the ocean. We spent time feeding the cats and dogs, they basically starve until they are fed and in the summer months it's mostly Cubans at the hotels and they never feed the starving animals. The beach was great, my only complaint is that we didn't get to have the special dining, because every time i tried to make a reservation they were already booked! The music [... read more] was great.

DO NOT STAY HERE

This resort is not a 4 star resort, maybe a 2. we did not know that this place was run by the Cubans, the locals take over this place, they are rude and ignorant, they bud in front of you, pile their plates with food leaving crumbs, and they don't replenish the food. They don't change the linen on the tables, never any clean plates or cutlery. There is hardly any air conditioning, resort is littered with plastic cups. The pool is a joke, the locals take over, plastic cups floating in the pool,  [... read more]lining is lifting and you can see mould. Lobby is not air conditioned,its so hot, it smells musty. the only nice thing about this place is the beach, thats it. The people that own this place should be ashamed of themselves, they take no pride in this place. Don't waste you hard earned money on this dump.

Awful vacation

Hope reading this review will help others in selecting their next vacation. Airport transfer went well, $5 for 2 Beers. Check in at resort is at 3pm. This resort does not offer free wifi, wifi cards are sold $1.50 per 1 hour. This is a Cuban owned resort, A lot of locals visit this resort, with a higher percentage of locals visiting in July/August. Locals Cubans are rude, they do not stand in line, they bud to the front of line, they make themselves priority. Around the pool, in shaded areas, t [... read more]hey reserve entire tables and chairs although most of the day their families are in the pool. The pool is filled with chlorine to the point of you smelling the chlorine. The beach is wonderfull. The Hop on Hop Varadero beach tour bus off bus stop is about 30 minute walk from resort. Don't waste your hard earned money going here, go elsewhere!

Would not recommend this resort

my travel agent spoke highly of this resort, and we walked in with expectations: 1. the room looked old and needed serious renovation. the ceiling look like it was ready to crumble and fall. the light fixtures would occasionally function. the beds felt like stuffed hay. the blankets and pillow sheet were never replaced. I requested two towels because I had to attend dinner at a certain time, so we waited four hours til we received our towels. I had to call three times. very aggravating. 2. [... read more] the elevators were slow and need serious repairs on the air conditioning and ventilation. people were constantly complaining about how stuffy and hot it was inside the elevator 3. the main lobby and bar lounge was very uncomfortable because of no air condition. the weather outside was extremely hot during the day and evening. people again were complaining about the lack of air circulation and cool condition in the building. 4. the food was bland, no real flavour, and was basically the same meal in the morning and evening. the food service was slow and unorganized. 5. the beach, pool and bar area was the only exciting part of the resort and its outdoor activity, however, the area was mostly populated by families with kids, we were hoping a little peace and adult surrounding. we spent almost our whole trip outside the resort. overall, I would not recommend anyone this resort. scale 1-10, I give it a 4.5

Amazing Experience at the Beach

We just got back from our vacation in Varadero at Hotel Bella Costa. There were 2 adults and 2 children- 17 and 7 years old. If you are not too picky with the hotel and you like the beach, then Hotel Bella Costa is for you. It's our second time in Varadero so we knew what to expect there. The hotel is in need of a complete renovation. There were lots of ants in the room. Then a major problem occurred, on our third day at the hotel, the ceiling in the bathroom started to leak immensely. We phoned [... read more] right away and Magaly (I think she is the reception manager) moved us to another room but on the opposite side of the hall. So from room 516 to room 509. It had a better garden view and a bit of the ocean view! The food was better than the previous hotel that we went to last year. We were actually surprised! We loved to eat lunch at El Mirador because of the amazing view, food and staff- especially Angelo who did an excellent service and made lunch time something to look forward to! We had breakfast at Jimmy's, it was ok. Be early because if not, you have to wait in line for at least 10 minutes for the omellette or if you want to toast your bread. If you want mango juice, you also have to be there early. Dinner at Jimmy's was good because of the pasta guy, we did not get his name, but he makes really good pasta! The Ala carte/restaurants was ok. We enjoyed the Cuban (El Mirador) dinner the most! The Japanese (Munasan) and Italian (Martino's) were ok. Alicia's snack bar makes amazing pizza! For our last day, we had to check out at 12 noon but we asked if we could extend our stay since we were going to get picked up at the hotel at 6pm because our flight was at 9pm. They did not agree but gave us a complimentary room, at no extra cost, so that we can still swim and do whatever we want at the hotel until we leave. That was a plus! We did not use the kids club because my 7-year-old just wanted to stay with us at the beach. But we saw it was open. We did not stay at the poolside because it was so busy and loud! We would like to thank Angelo (El Mirador), Magaly, Hanoi, Ruben and Alberto (lobby bar), Javier the guard and Pablo (the bell boy) for making our stay at Hotel Bella Costa memorable.

Just okay

Remember this is Cuba. Known for friendly people and okay food. So all were friendly and helpful. But this resort is in need of an update. Pro-the beach!! Clean beautiful white sand. You can always get a chair at the pool or the beach. Lots of alcohol. Lots of food and this time, tons of fruit and veg. The front desk staff got things done-the power went out and the electrician was up in 10 minutes. The bar staff was overworked but fast and friendly. Coffee at the bar was fantastic Con- the po [... read more]ol though clean, the lining was lifting and buckling. The housekeeping staff were sporadic-more often than not, the bed was not made we had no towels or toilet paper. If you called down they never came through but if you went to the front desk, they fixed things. The air conditioner was weak. Lots of Cubans staying at the resort and lots of children having a great time. as I said just okay

Bella Costa not so Bella!

With the change in ownership from Breezes to Hotel, the place is not maintained like it once was and is looking rundown. You don't go to Cuba for the food but Bella Costa the food was actually pretty good. However both the quality is now poor and virtually no selection. The main dinning buffet restaurant is closed down and all meals are at the beach bar. The same food is recycled meal to meal. Our room was fine, the maid was awesome. always had fresh towels, linens and the room cleaned. Howev [... read more]er, service from the other staff was hit and miss. Definitely not the same. Of course the beach is awesome. Rumour is the place is up for sale; confirmed by executives types in a group examining the place. Bottom line, stay away and pick another resort.

Great Beach-Spring 2017

The main building and rooms need major work. The public bathrooms on most days did not have toilet paper, which left you using paper towel if there was some or having to make a run for your room. The weather, beach, outdoor dining areas and staff where great. Location of resort was fantastic. Would only return if they did renovations.

Excellent place to stay

it's a very beautiful place surrounded by sandy beaches. The food is good and available any time. The staff is friendly and helpful. Almost everyone speaks English. Golf course, main roads, bus stops are conveniently located. We would recommend this hotel to all our friends.

Great time!

This hotel is great for families and singles alike. There is a fun atmosphere due to the wonderful staff. The hotel is in need of some repair, in particular the outdoor stage should be fixed so that people can enjoy the beautiful nights while watching the nightly show. We found the food to be quite good, especially breakfast and lunch. The BBQ at lunch is fantastic! Dinner can be hit and miss. Yes the pool liner is a bit off, but it serves the purpose of cooling off and is great for kids. A key  [... read more]for us was that the resort is situated close to the beach with stunning views. Based on the price we would recommend this resort.

Good service, but very tired resort

We stayed at the Bella Costa resort for 4 nights, having bought an affordable last minute deal. The hotel was very busy, so it was well staffed and service was good. Finding a seat at the buffet, though, was not always easy. Food and drinks were pretty standard, there wasn't too much variety. It was fine for 4 days, but you may get pretty tired of the menu if staying for a week. The hotel itself is very old, they do their best to maintain it, but it still shows. The beds were uncomfortable, the  [... read more]rooms had a smell, the walls were cracking everywhere. This is our fourth time in Cuba, so for the price we paid we knew exactly what we were getting, and were willing to look past it all for a couple of days on the beach. If you are looking for a resort with comfortable and beautiful accommodations, delicious food and crisp towels, I would not recommend this place.

Great family resort

This was our fourth stay at the Bella Costa. The staff are very friendly. I found the food quite good and options have improved since our last visit with the addition of an outdoor 'cafeteria' and an outdoor barbecue. Facilities are clean but starting to show some wear, e.g. the outdoor stage is so badly warped that all shows are now inside the building at the disco. Hopefully they fix the stage soon as we always enjoyed watching the shows outdoors. We stayed in a Family Suite which has a spacio [... read more]us living room, balcony and 2-pc bathroom on the main floor and two large bedrooms​, each with its own full bathroom in an upper loft. This was a fantastic room for our group (my husband and two children and our inlaws). Beach is beautiful. Pool is also nice. Lots of daily activities at the resort hosted by the 'animacion' team. Great value for your money!

Ok resort

When I enter the resort I was disappointed because we booked with travel agent and she said it was great, we were more disappointed when we enter our room on second floor. Our friends were on first floor and wanted to go to another resort but they put them on the second floor. This resort is old and the rooms should have make over. If you get it for good price and don't care what rooms are like you can put up with the rest of resort. Gardens are lovely, beach is good and the food will you'll nev [... read more]er starve to death. I had problem with bird poop on all chairs in dining room so I did mention it the last day we were there so hopefully they clean the chairs,,,there's no need of bird poop on chairs when half the time the waiters and waitresses are standing around talking but that's Cuba. I don't think I would go back unless I stayed in the villas with were nicer then the hotel.