Not what we booked! Shame on SUNWING and Tripcentral!

We arrived on Jan 25th, when we finally got to the resort after having to wait for other travellers at the airport, we were tired and looking forward to unwind and get to our rooms, as it was now almost 11pm. We unloaded our luggage, I went tot he front desk, I was told the resort was overbooked, it was not there fault and they had no rooms to offer. I was told we would have to go to the Solymar, my partner had to flag down the bus and reload our luggage that was the start of the nightmare. We a [... read more]rrived at the Solymar to be greeted by no one. THe front desk was curt and unsympathetic. They told us if we were unhappy with our room we could change it the next day. No one there to help with our luggage. We get to the room and open the curtains to a sea of construction and workers by now its 1130pm. The construction went all night and into the morning. At 9am we had a loud knock were ask in if we wanted the mini bar! We got up so very tired from the inconvenience of the night before, it took five rooms and 7 hours before we got settled into a pool view room at the Solymar. When we explained we are booked in a superior room we were told they are all superior rooms! This is simply not the case. In fact even the maid told us not to take the one room that was full of mold, water damage, broken furniture, the other room had two broken beds, no shower head, couch ripped apart. We settled on room 1222, noisy pool view. On our 7 day we were locked out of the room,,and safe, front desk just shrugged their shoulders reloaded new keys. The very next day the safe key would not work, my partner needed his medication I called the front desk, they hung up on me, he called than I went down to the desk, they told me to go back to my room and wait for the security technician, thank God my partner finally got his meds as potentially could have been life threatening, and sadly no one cared. it took a good 6 hours to have the safe reopened. Sadly we could not even drink a glass of water since they did not fill the required water which is only one liter, per day, they missed two days we had to purchase our water, when we informed the front desk they said they would write a report, but in the mean time too bad. No coffee in the room either, and every time I called the front desk I was hung up on when my male partner called they talked to him! Unbelievable water was not available where drinking seem to be the main theme of the resort when they bars were open! So deep breaths going to the beach but alas no service no beach towels no reason as to why. THe Solymar was suppose to be an upgrade, it was not. The promised 11 bars, all that close except for one at 11pm, than they only offer draft beer, if you wanted premium drinks at the other 11 bars and when they were open you had to pay, that is not all inclusive. There was no water in the hot tubs, no archery, no shuffle board, and the entertainment staff did not talk to us once, when our room maid had her day off her replacement left the dirty towels in the bathroom piled in the corner, floor was not sweat, sink was not cleaned. The staff simply did not care about us or our issues, they did not apologize or smile, they did not acknowledge our frustrations, it was like we were inconveniencing them for being there. The food was edible, until I made some toast one evening in the large buffet and found the cockroaches were also eating the bread. It was impossible to go on line to complain as no internet, and the SUNWING rep was not helpful, he said "when you get back to Canada tell customer relations,he smirked and walked away. My partner and I know Cuba, and have enjoyed our passed vacations there, we went hoping to relax and regenerate, both of us have stressful jobs and needed to get away, this vacation stressed us out more then we needed, we spent our hard earn money for dissapoitment, I would stongly advise agaist going tothis resort and I am hoping tripcentral.ca and SUNWING hear my complaints and compansate accordily.

Close to souvenir shopping if that's what you like

The overall place was fine. Not too much for kids to do unless they are young and go to the day program. The weather was not great so that really dampened our spirits as we like to travel for the sun and heat never expected so much rain and wind. Beach was beautiful even though we weren't able to go in much due to the weather.

Not what we were expecting in a negative way

To be honest we were expecting something much better. I feel like the hotel was very run down, there must have been zero maintenance since the hotel had been built. I feel like the pictures lied and are not accurate. The staff was very rude and not helpful, might have found one or two staff members out of the entire people that was friendly and helpful. My wife and I got locked out of our hotel room for 1 hour, after going down to the front desk for the fourth time to find out when this prob [... read more]lem was going to be resolved I found the guy who was going to fix the problem. He was not friendly at all, and her expressed more interest on talking to his friends than helping him us. This was only one negative experience we had. You can only book two nights out to the restaurants, the rest of the week is buffet, which in fact the food was just as bad as the restaurants. Trying to get a drink at the bar is like pulling teeth, was so difficult, and when you were finally able to get them to pour you a drink it seemed like you were inconveniencing them. I could go on and on with negative experiences since there were a lot and not one positive. And if you are an animal lover, well the staff at this hotel are extremely aggressive to dogs, you will not appreciate their actions toward animals. In all myself and wife will never visit Cuba again because of this, I just feel like there are better places to vacation for the same price. In general the food was terrible, service was rude, cleaning was non existent and just overall terrible hotel.

Good value

We were very satisfied. The resort is nicely located within a short walk (10 min) of the shopping area. The beach is beautiful with lots of chairs to go around. Same for the pool. No scrambling for seats. The staff are super friendly and helpful. Grounds are mature with lovely trees and flowers. Check in was quick and efficient. Front desk would change your money from Cdn to pesos for tips, so there was no lining up at a bank. Both the shuttle and exit tax ($25. Per person) were included in the  [... read more]overall price. There are two areas to sit in the lobby/bar area. One for smokers and one for non smokers. Nice entertainment in the evenings. Food was typical of Cuba. Don't expect Alberta beef! Fresh cooked fish is available at lunch and dinner, plus breads, salads and veg. Fresh omelettes are made to your liking every morning. Wait staff were very efficient and friendly. Their sister resort is 50 yards away and you can use lol of their facilities at no charge. They have hot dogs, burgers, pizza and fries for lunch, which is a nice change. There is a full exercise area and two tennis courts which were never busy. Our room had an ocean view at no extra charge. We would definitely go to this resort again. The price was very reasonable for a 5 star.

Very Nice Resort!

This is a very nice resort. Beautiful beach and pools. Something for everyone. Very clean. Food was good but not always as hot as it should be. The a la carte's were excellent. I found the staff very rude most of the time. I however ignored this as their understanding of English was poor so I am not sure that this may have been the reason.

Nice resort.

really good value. rooms were clean . food was satisfactory . we felt safe to travel through town at all times. the beach was beautiful. the grounds of the resort were well maintained. we had been to a 4.5 star resort last year in the Dominican Republic and I found that although, the resort and food weren't as nice, the overall experience at barcelo arenas blancas was better for about $700 less per person.

2 resorts in one!

Arenas Blancas and Solymer give you two resorts in one and is perfect for a family travelling with people of all ages. We stayed at Arenas Blancas and it was perfect for my mom and me and we could go over with my 21 and 19 year old to the other resort which had more of a younger crowd! The staff and beaches and activities were great at both resorts. We had a blast and the beach was the most beautiful I have seen. We also went on the catamaran and saw tropical fish as we snorkelled. It's Cuba so  [... read more]if travelling you need to expect things nit to be perfect but the staff will try to fix tings and are super nice ! We had a fabulous time.

Great resort

We had an awesome time at this resort. Building is in need of some cosmetic upgrades but the grounds and pool were beautiful and well kept. Staff were friendly and helpful. It was nice to be able to use the facilities at both Arenas Blancas and Solymar. I think the pool is nicer at Arenas Blancas. The beach was fantastic as well and was very close. There was always lots of chairs available at the pool and the beach.

Excellent trip

I was a little bit nervous as to what the resort would be like after reading some reviews, however the negative reviews I read were totally off in my mind. Rooms were large and clean AC worked no problem, shower pressure was good and water was warm. Could have used clean towels more then once, and ran out of toilet paper one day we asked for more and got more no problem. Front desk people we nice, money exchange at the resort was a rip off better rates at the bank. Lobby and beach bar were great [... read more]. Pools looked fine but I never went in spent my time at the beach instead. Beach was amazing plenty of chairs and shaded areas if needed. Chairs were a mix of older and newer ones we never had a hard time finding new chairs. There was one man who served drinks on the beach to your chair it was amazing. Food was good at the buffet I think food quality in Cuba has improved over the years. Ate at the oriental and Italian a la cartes and they were also great. I didn't see any beach activities which was a bit of a let down but they could have been on the solymar side of the beach I always stayed on the blancas side. The location of this resort is key we never had to take a taxi we could walk to shops restaurants and bars no problem. All in all great time great place it is what you make it.

Can't complain (ppl r so helpful, I really enjoy more the friendly ppl than the hotel)

Fair / good enough can't complain about this hotel, very friendly and so helpful people with a lot of patience and gentle but manners to deal with any type of situation, things that I really appreciate i hope to come back soon!!☺️🤗 I'm already missing everyone from there!!! The only two things that I really didn't like it was the inconvenience from the first night in hotel about the bedroom but with the all patience they treat me and tried to solve the problem they did a translation to so [... read more]lymar over there the service at the reception was the worst guess service that I've ever had/recieved in my life no manners not education to talk with clients so different from arenas blancas thanks God the reception that did the checked in the night I arrived she did a note to do the translation again to arenas that's service at solymar made me felt traumatic I don't want to listen again about this hotel, it was so uncomfortable for me that I wanted to do a recervation for one of the restaurant that u supposed to do it, and I preferred to go another restaurant out of the hotel to eat something different and pay, to go instead again to solymar and do the recervation NEVER to SOLYMAR plus the inconvenience with the flight around 3 hours waiting with most of the parts of the airport closed already... desastrous but it was ok, I really enjoy the service and ppl in arena blancas

Comfortable resort

The resort was busy, but very well operated. The room we had was great , reasonably clean but dated. The service was 4 star, and all personnel was very friendly and accommodating. The beach was well stocked with beach chairs and shade when needed. The beach was second to none, very clean, and picturesque. This resort is affiliated with the Solamar resort, which makes it very nice because the sharing of restaurants and services make both resorts a better place. The Solamar was extremely busy and  [... read more]a bit noisy compared to the Arenus Blanca. We met allot of very nice vacationers from all over the world. The majority were Canadian.

Great resort!

The hotel was great and it was attracted to the Solymar. That made the experience even better. The hotel was walking distance from night clubs and shopping. It was very convenient and the beaches were close by as well. The staff was very friendly!!!

Aweful Resort

The Solymar made you feel very unwelcome. The staff was not happy at all and treated you like they had better things to do. The resort was nice looking from the lobby and the rooms were nice but, that was it. All of the washrooms on the main level where the restaurants and coffee bar were, were always dirty and had no paper. You had to go to your room to use the washroom. In the bathroom in your room you had no water pressure to shower and the water temperature was always tepid. The food i [... read more]n the buffet was always cold. We made sure we were the first in line one night to see if we could get hot food but, it was all cool. The buffet also never changed. The same cold food and cold desserts. We went to Cuba last year and stayed at Grand Memories and the atmosphere was much better. They treated you like they really enjoyed having you there. The food was typical Cuban food but was hot and changed nightly in some way. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone.

Horrible Resort - Could not wait for Vacation to end

Was at the Barcelo Solymar Obtober 19-26 with our family. It was a group of 6 ranging in age from 20-70. Our group had all traveled to Cuba previously at least once and most more that one trip. Me personally I love Cuba, the people, Culture. If the Solymar was my first trip to Cuba I probably would have never gone back and all members of our group feel the same. The upside. Although slightly larger than what I would prefer the grounds were very nice. Well landscaped and overall well kept. Th [... read more]ere was some roofing work going on but that was well contained and never a problem. The Downside... 1) Staff. Considering one of the things I love about Cuba over most other "Resort" destinations we have visited is the people. The Staff at this place are horrible. Outside of 1 or 2 people we came across the staff were very unfriendly and not very Helpful. At many times the staff were down right rude. Case in point, on our last day our 20 year old decided to get a manicure while we waited for our departure. After the manicure the woman said she needed to pay at front desk. So my wife went with her to pay as her nails were still wet. she stood there for 20 minutes while 3 different people would not take the money telling her it was the other woman's job. My wife finally said that she did not care whos job it was she just needed to pay. At which point a woman walked up snatched the bill and the cash out of her hands without saying a word and walked away. This type of experience was evident throughout the resort by all levels of staff. 2) Rooms - The safe in our room was half ripped out of the wall and only held on by one bolt, The sliding patio doors were so sticky it took 2 people to open them. Both our room and our Daughters room the handles on the sliding doors were broken and not usable. Hot water was something we had none of the whole week nor water pressure. Generally in resorts we are used to low water pressure but at least can get by with a warm shower. The water in all 3 rooms never got to even warm status. Again we tried moving showers around hoping to find some point in the day or night where we could get pressure or warm water. But never happened. We were on 4th Floor in main Building and pretty much every light bulb was missing in the hallway that connected our rooms and he elevator. Which left you trying to find your room in complete blackness most nights. 3)Food Everyone knocks the food in Cuba, we always knew what we were getting and had never had issue on previous trips. We always knew stick to fish and pork and it would be generally a decent meal. This trip set an all new low in quality of food. The selection was so repetitive but worse was it was always freezing cold. We tried hitting at the start of dinner, middle and end and it made no difference. The food was cold and poorly prepared. Again we always found a positive at every other resort we have stayed at in Cuba. But by final day we just stopped eating. Ala carte - We had Mexican and Italian. They were both at least hot meals but nowhere near the quality we had elsewhere in Cuba both on resorts and off. Entertainment - the nightly shows resembled more young school children putting on a made up show for their parents. A Cast of Dancer's walking around lip syncing songs they don't know the words to becomes tiresome show after show. Which is a bit of a shame since a number of the dancers were actually quite talented. If they had allowed them to dance to the numbers rather than pretend they were the original artist it might have been quite good. We are used to traveling in low season as my wife and my anniversary is in this time period. But there is nothing to do at this resort after the show ends. Pool Bar, Lobby Bar, Cigar Bar all close. Leaving the Disco which was so bad that even most the younger crowd chose to sit out in the dark by the pool with their own blue tooth speakers. Which led me to discover passed out drunks laying around the pool when i would go for a morning walk at 6:00am. Which has you wonder what security actually was doing. But also lead us to returning to our rooms by 11:00pm wishing there was something else to do.

Good for what you pay

The hotel overall is really nice, lots of pools, bars and restaurants. The best bar is the lobby bar, the drinks from the pool bar and beach bar weren't very good. The rooms are okay, we booked a queen room and had 2 double beds though. The shower head was broken but my husband kinda fixed it so we could at least shower. We were missing half of the shower door but it wasn't a big deal and after talking to other people it sounded like theirs was the same. The room overall was fine for how much ti [... read more]me you spend in there. The food isn't bad but you definitely get sick of it after a few days cause it's mostly the same stuff. There's the a la carte and other restaurants though. The beach is amazing, and the hotel is only about a 10 minute walk to downtown Varadero. The majority of the staff are so nice and friendly, we loved Sandra who works in the lobby bar, she makes the best drinks and is the sweetest person ever. The lobby bar closes at 11 then there's a disco which is open till 1 and after the buffet closes at 11 the a la carte serves snacks (hotdogs, hamburgers and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches) all night which are actually really good.

Nice resort

hotel overall was nice but the food and service was not so good. I asked for a birthday cake never received it , had a lot of trouble because of that, however resort is nice. rooms need fixing. It was a birthday trip I was very disappointed with no cake and champagne even though I had that on the reservation and even asked customer relation for it

Amazing

loved everything! will go back soon people are friendly and the food is delicious good service! the ocean is crystal clear and clean and nobody bothers you we had a really nice time I just wish there was more entertainment!

Great resort

First time in Cuba with my family for one week great resort with amazing beach with friendly staff and clean hotel but rooms needs to be a bit updated. Food was great a lot of selection to choice from but mostly same food everyday when looking at it which made me got tired of eating the same thing.

Arenas Blancas

Good enough resort. stayed on the first floor and had an issue with the smell in our room. Definitely a party hotel, especially the solymar side. Housekeeping deliver drinks and toilet paper every day which is nice. resort bar inside the arenas blancas ran out of a lot of alcohol and closed at 11pm. Dont go for the food- go for the drinks and party.

Great place to stay

Loved our stay there. The beach was amazing. .the housekeeping staff so efficient. The wait staff were tremendous. .always having a table for us.if ever we go back to cuba we would go back to the resort