Great Resort

Hotel Bella Costa was very good for old. Eveñ though the resort has been around for a long time I found the hotel to have better accommodation then the newer resort in Cuba. The was a leak in the ceiling where some of my thing got wet. They changed the room fast abd gave a free massage. The beach and ocean is was clean and nice location. Beach bar was far from the beach but at least they were fast. The food was good especially the BBQ for lunch and snake shack was good Old good servic but  [... read more]better then the new and bad service

Leisure rest

This resort consists of two parts: main building and several smaller (2 storey) buildings grouped together. The main building looks a little too big and "city-like", we stayed in one of the smaller ones and the accommodation was really great: we had a two level suit - huge living with balcony and 2 bedrooms higher up. All very clean, room service VERY good, everything worked. Beach great for beach lovers: sand and shallow, sandy, gradually deepening water entrance - great for small kids. Catam [... read more]arans (you have to sail with a hotel staff member), kayaks. Sea life - close to nil so snorkelling non-existent (one can as well snorkel in a swimming pool), hotel staff was ferrying people with small catamarans to a small snorkelling site about 15 minutes sailing. Did not go so cannot comment but the whole layout of the ocean did not look promising for snorkelling enthusiasts. Food plenty, some good but generally I would fire their chief:) the food preparation was not imaginative, good professional chief could have done much better with the same ingredients. Menu restaurants - not recommended. Coffee absolutely ATROCIOUS in all places. If somebody goes there I recommend to ask for double expresso and then dilute with hot water:). In summary: good place for lazy days on the beach, walks to the small town of Varadero, possibly a trip to one of Cuban Cities.

You get what you pay for....

The beach was lovely, groomed nightly. The resort is older, as the rooms. The rooms were dated, but clean. No screens for the patio doors, so mosquito's were a problem. We went with three other couples, each of us killed cockroach's in our rooms. Bartenders were quick, courteous, but chilly, smiles were rare. We still had a good time, but we would never return to this resort.

Great Time!

This was our first family trip away together and we had a great time and experience. Our kids loved it! The resort was nice for the price and we loved Cuba! The staff were all great! So nice and friendly and helpful. We will be back to visit Cuba again.

We will be coming back

True, the resort needs a little updating, but it had everything you needed. The rooms were always cleaned and staff was nice and friendly. The beach was nice and close and the pool, although rather small, was clean. The food was a lot better then what we were expecting and we loved the location of the resort to downtown Varadero.

Not what it used to be

Veradero has beautiful beaches and the Bella Costa beach doesn't disappoint. The accommodations in the family suite were excellent two years prior but this time we had power issues on two separate nights when part of the suite was out of power and other guests had no power at all. The main floor bathroom was bolted shut and no longer in service. Food was what we expected for Cuba. Nothing special but you shouldn't go hungry. Some staff didn't seem to be as friendly as our previous visit and room [... read more] towels always seemed to be in short supply. The resort is showing its age. Not a bad place for the money if all you need is beach, ocean, great weather, a few drinks and R&R.

Great value

This resort is smaller, clean, friendly staff Best rooms: are the bungalows #701-765 (Garden, Family, Oceanview) are newer, quieter and hence better (NB these are exclusive to Airtransat) Best beach spot: toward end of peninsula (fewer sales people and more private and quiet) Best Coffee, cappuccinos, etc: coffee bar (Lobby bar) Best Mojitos: gentleman pushing a cart (Mr. Mojito) => a must to try! Best lunches: grill outside El Mirador Best cigars: do not purchase on the beach (plantain  [... read more]leaves); get in Havana Best rum: purchase at duty-free at airport on way back Water: from tap, ok to drink and brush your teeth with (we brushed our teeth with this water but didn't drink from the tap) Collect pool towels early in am and commandeer beach lounge chairs Restaurant reservations: line up early Tips: 1-2 CUC per service (~$120Cdn). This above all is the most important when going anywhere in Cuba, you will be treated like royalty. Food: bring your own spices (I brought Sirarchi sauce and no-salt seasoning); bring tea if you're a tea drinker. Extras to bring: 1. wet wipes (some common area washrooms have no soap or toilet paper). Many rooms seem to run out of toilet paper and hence it got pilfered from the common washrooms. We never ran out likely because we always tipped. 2. Clothing, toiletries, pantyhose, school supplies. We are truly grateful to Helen for her recommendation and particularly her advice. Would we go back? Yes. Would we recommend Bella Costa? Yes, but only if they stayed in the Bungalows and tipped for service. The negative comments on TripAdvisor relate to the disrepair of the main building. It's unfortunate that the management does not seem to understand that this taints the tourists' perceptions on everything else! Would we recommend Option Plus? Absolutely. But we would mostly recommend a very good travel agent such as Helen!

Desperate need of repair.....

We recently travelled as a group of 13 over the Christmas break to Bella Costa. This was not my first trip to Cuba so I had an idea of what to expect. Unfortunately for some of our group this was their first trip to Cuba, possibly their last. First of all, tripcentral should not rate this hotel a 4 star. It is very far from it. It is in DEPERATE need of repair. Our room on the 4th floor was definitely not up to standards. The bathroom was absolutely disgusting!!!! The amount of mould on the ceil [... read more]ing and tile was horrible. The ceiling looked like it was about to fall down. The vents were so full of dust that my son's allergies acted up so bad. The only way he could survive in the room was to have the window open or leave the room. The hallway ceiling was constantly dripping water. Toilet paper was hard to come by. The public washrooms were rarely, I mean almost never, stocked with soap or toilet paper. The staff were ok, not overly friendly. The food was ok..but after awhile the buffet is not appealing at all. The pool area was ok but the liner is loose and beach towels are never available. Keep the one your given if you get one. The beach is beautiful but was not expecting there to be so much coral. It also isn't kept as clean as our previous resort. Entertainment is almost the same type of show nightly. I know this will definitely be my last trip to Bella Costa and possibly my last to Cuba. If it wasn't for our large group we probably would have left. It's too bad that we planned this once in a lifetime trip with family and friends over 7 months ago and had this experience. We work hard for our money and paid (what I think) way too much for what we were given. I would not recoomend this resort to anyone. Please change the rating scale of this hotel. I will also be contacting Sunwing.

Disappointing

This hotel was quite disappointing in its presentation, cleanliness and amenities. It was rated as a four star however I would rate it as a two. the resort does appear aged however with care and attention it could present better. The room we were given appeared to have mold and grime in the bathroom. Not all the light switches worked. There were still toys left behind from previous visitors. When entering our bed on the first night there was sand between the sheets. The curtains were hung with o [... read more]nly a few hangers. The lamp shades were ripped. The temperature could not be moderated in the room and the windows would not close properly. The food at the buffet and the restaurants were quite unpleasant and cold. My son and myself were ill by day three. The beaches in Cuba are beautiful however this resort does not clean the garbage off their beach. I would not recommend this hotel.

Needs ALOT of work

I think Tripcentral rates this as a 3.5 to 4 star? I think that's being a little too generous. The room was ok, the bathroom disgusting. The ceiling looked like it was about to fall on top of us. If you shut the AC off the bathroom ceiling would leak. The rest of the hotel needs major updating. Staff was friendly and helpful. Our maid Mabel was awesome! The beach is beautiful and was kept clean. Overall we enjoyed our Veradero vacation but will definately not return to this resort.

Disappointed

Went to this hotel over Xmas holidays. Took 6 rooms to get it okay. Either mouldy smelling, air conditioner didn't work, patio door wouldn't open, tub was disgusting looking. The Jimmys buffet restaurant has big beautiful windows to look out at if you could only see through them. Looks like they haven't been cleaned in ages. As everyone knows, Cuba doesn't always have the best food and it was always the same food everyday. The pizza was amazing at Alicia's. The staff was great, very fri [... read more]endly and tried their best to fix things for you. The beach was fantastic. Wish they would play more music than Cuban music around the pool. I stayed at the Sol Sirenas 2 years ago and I found that they looked after the grounds way better there. Hotel Bella Costa was okay but it really does need a lot of work to be done on it. It would probably be faster to tear it down and start over.

Awesome Beach

I have to say the beach was lovely but some of the service at Hotel Bella Costa should be improved. I couldn't get a clean beach towel until the last day of my trip which is the 5th day & even the towel in our room are short of supply. You get the clean towel around 5:00pm for a couple of the days. The food is fine but is very difficult to book the specialty restaurants. I was able to go to only one Italian Restaurant. Lastly, I would say they really need to have better network provider as the [... read more] Wi Fi cards that we bought were very difficult to connect & it can only be used at some places at the lobby.

Above average!

well, this hotel is relatively well equipped and you have quite enough options to spend your time as you desire, very nice sandy beach, beautiful garden and pool area, a couple of restaurants, the thing is that don't expect a modern hotel with awesome food from hotel bella costa! sure you can enjoy your time there but the food is average and hotel building is pretty old and needs a lot of repairs. everything looks and feels very olds and sometimes working poorly. room view was awesome, though, w [... read more]aking up to a view of the garden and beatiful ocean was amazing. If you are not picky or meticulous you will enjoy residing in this hotel.

Still a Great Resort

This is my fourth time at Bella Costa and although it is getting older and in need of renovations and updates, you can not beat the hospitality and outgoing nature of the staff. My only complaint deals with housekeeping. I found that they were not as efficient or mindful of the daily clean up and I had to continually ask for coffee (took 3 days) and the bottle of rum that comes with my room (this took 5 days and was delivered personally by an outstanding Public Relations Manager Haydelis). [... read more] What ever concerns I had, the front desk dealt with as soon as humanly possible and with no hesitation or hassle. This resort will be taken over by new owners April 2017 and until then most likely too many changes will not be made. Many rooms require the air conditioning to be fixed, and of course some updating. Food was still good and the beach was fabulous - cleaned daily with plenty of beach chairs and the addition of more umbrellas. Entertainment staff are still going strong. Pool liner really needs to be changed but extremely clean. Overall I would still recommend this resort to anyone who wants a great location, beautiful beach, good food and fantastic staff. The key is to be willing to accept any faults and just relax and enjoy.

Good Stay

Myself, my wife and my daughter spent 5 nights in Bella Costa during Christmas of 2016. It was a decent hotel with respect to the standard in Cuba. Rooms are in good size but lack of maintenance. The furniture were old. The hotel sometime run out of room freshener, so it would be good to carry one. The hotel lobby is good, corridors are ok, lack of regular maintenance. Food and Drinks were extremely good with lot of varieties for everyone. The buffet had lot of varieties with continental and [... read more] local menu. The hotel arranged a grand dinner on 24th Dec. The best part of the hotel was the employees. They were extremely friendly and warm and would try their best to meet the need of the guests. The location of the hotel is probably the best in Varadero, next to the sea and golf course. The whole area has been beautified so nicely. Overall, I was happy with my stay in the hotel.

Upgrades needed

Staff really good,resort upgrades needed in a big way food was not good at all. Bathrooms in bad sharp. Overall not what we exspected.was much better in the pass approx 6 years ago also was not notified by tripcental about 4 to5 days of morning at beginning of trip do to the passing of Fidel Castro

Great family hotel

I enjoyed the variety of activities, different places to dine, the beachfront, and the excursions. For a retiree it may not be a repeat destination of choice, but for families it would be an excellent choice. The entertainment was lovely with dances, music, magic, and even water ballet. Staff were kind and attentive. I would definitely recommmend this hotel to families.

Just OK

The hotel is older and run down quite a bit, in dire need of paint and the grounds need groomed, grass was a foot high in some sections. First time I was sick in Cuba, food was limited and not good at all...mixed drinks were not good either, had to stick to beer and wine. Beach was beautiful, staff amazing, and rooms were old but quite nice, we stayed in a villa

Musty Rooms, Nice people

We spent four nights at this hotel. We had to be moved the first night as our room was really musty and everything was damp - bed, pillows, everything. The staff were very nice about moving us and our next room was better, but still in pretty rough shape. We met a number of people who had similar experiences. The food was better than expected, nothing to rave about but doable. Bars were fine and readily available. The hotel is right on the beach and the beach is beautiful. No swim up bar [... read more], no piano in the "piano bar". Hot tubs are okay but they're out of the action so hard to find and pretty quiet. Not a bad resort if you can get it for a steal and want to spent lots of time on the beach - as long as you can prepared for the rooms.

Good resort

Second time atthis hotel, after 7 years. Renovations made the place nicer. Breakfast is so-so but lunch and dinner were great! Pool was nice, but we spent most of our time at the beach, which was amazing.