You get what you paid for

This was brand new hotel with low price. The hotel design is nice. The rooms are spacious but and nice but: - They did not have flat sheets under comforter which is the basic of the hygiene (I do not believe that they wash comforters every time the guests are changed). - In 10 days they replaced bottom sheets (on the mattress) once. - In bathroom we had only bath towels for 4 days, smaller – hand towels we got after 4 days. Food was not so bad as in other hotels last year. It was good enou [... read more]gh, but you had to wait in long line if you wanted barbecued meet. We had eggs only 4 out of 10 days and the line was to long. There was no white wine (only one day we got it). Selection of other drinks was good but mojito was hard to get. To book a la carte restaurant you had to wait in line for more that 1 hour every day and food was terrible. Not worth of time lost to book. There were only I think 28 umbrellas at the beach and around 80 beds. That was not enough for the hotel with 500+ rooms. We had to get to the beach before 7:00 am to reserve our place under the shade. The beach is around 2 km long but it is impossible to walk on it. Sand at the beach is quite far from Varadero beach. The sand is soft and you can not walk on it. To enter and get out of the water was hard because of rocks in the water and sand dunes. To summarize, we would not go there again.

Brand New Resort Great Beach!

Very nice, new hotel. After taking a tour through Varadero it was clear this is in the newest area and is in a lot better shape than many of the other hotels. The beach area has a bit of rock and seaweed but they must have dug out big sections as even the next door resort is way worse! The rooms were clean, shower pressure and hot water always. The buffets, restaurants, lobby, bars, pool area all feel clean and brand new. The staff were great, very hard working, work long hours and provide great [... read more] service but it was clear on many occasions they are understaffed. Longer wait times for food at al a cartes, tables stayed dirty at buffets and at peak times it could be hard to find a clean table, long lines for the grilles and omletes etc, and long wait times for drinks at almost all bars most of the time. That being said some good tips early and often would have the staff helping you out faster when they could. Buffet food wasn't horrible but wasn't amazing, you could usually find enough to get a dinner going. Not a lot of fresh vegetables or fruit options but this was our first time in Cuba and during a nationwide food shortage so may not just be Grand Aston. Al A Carte restaurants took a bit to book and you have to be up at 9am to get in line for up to 30 minutes. But we were able to book 3/3 times. The Al A carte food was delicious and a huge step up in quality to the buffet. The sports bar has great drinks and had NFL football, NBA etc on TV (no NHL on that we saw). Nightly shows were pretty good, seen better but seen worse at other resorts. No actual stage area apart from between the two pools outside so in rain there would be no show. They mixed in some violin, guitar, pianos and singing in the lobby bar, all of which were great! Pools were very big and our first few days it was very easy to get a chair at almost any time of the day, plus they have several day beds. As it got busier and if at full capacity they may run out of pool chairs. If you need wifi I would not recommend this hotel. The wifi is spotty at best. It worked for a day or two in our room and then would not connect there for the rest of the week. Connected okay in main areas inside but you get kicked out every 15 minutes and need 2 to 3 attempts to log back in. Overall probably 4 out 5 experience and I think this would improve if the food shortage situation improves. Side note about tripcentral. Amazing service before during and after the trip. Being able to call a human being and have them answer right away is amazing compared to other sites. They have live peiple with a ton of experience looking to help. They send key information about the destination, country, entry requirements and check in reminders after you book as well?

One of the worst hotels ever

I have been to Cuba many times and for the most part my experiences have been positive. This was one of the worst trips I have ever had. ?20 min waits to get a drink at any bar, drinks were horrible. ?Food was the same thing everyday for (2) two weeks, 24 hrs snack bar rarely had pizza or fries. ?Elivators were constantly breaking down. ?Cuba is know for its beautiful beaches, not at this hotel, dirty, and ZERO activities on the beach, I mean nothing, beach bar wasn't even close to the beac [... read more]h. ?WIFI was hit and miss at best. ? Insects were terrible, they don't spray. Don't waste your money it isn't worth it.

Amazing resort

The hotel is new and food is excellent per Cuban standard! Most staff are polite and the rooms are kept clean! You just have to wait a bit for drinks at night and most of the cocktails a not that great!