Cuba, Cayo Guillermo. anyone been?
Discussion
Morning all just booked a holiday for a week all inclusive to the iberostar daiquiri.
Just wondering if anyone has either been to this hotel or been to the island. Would just like to know of anyones experiances and any suggestion on anything special to do.
We mostly want to relax and the beaches do look great but i know i will be wanting something do do after a day or two!
Regards
Matt
Just wondering if anyone has either been to this hotel or been to the island. Would just like to know of anyones experiances and any suggestion on anything special to do.
We mostly want to relax and the beaches do look great but i know i will be wanting something do do after a day or two!
Regards
Matt
The Tea Boy said:
Morning all just booked a holiday for a week all inclusive to the iberostar daiquiri.
Just wondering if anyone has either been to this hotel or been to the island. Would just like to know of anyones experiances and any suggestion on anything special to do.
We mostly want to relax and the beaches do look great but i know i will be wanting something do do after a day or two!
Regards
Matt
Can't help you I'm afraid, but we're booked to go to the same hotel in October. When are you going?Just wondering if anyone has either been to this hotel or been to the island. Would just like to know of anyones experiances and any suggestion on anything special to do.
We mostly want to relax and the beaches do look great but i know i will be wanting something do do after a day or two!
Regards
Matt
Been to cayo coco just down th road from there.
There is not a great to do on the islands outside of the resorts really.
We hired scooters and went exploring. We found a boat trip place that took you out onto the marshes etc. There's a crocodile farm if I remember correctly too.
We took a day trip to Moron on the mainland. More to do there. And the taxis are big yank tanks from the 50's in various garish new paint jobs.
It was an ok holiday all in all.
There is not a great to do on the islands outside of the resorts really.
We hired scooters and went exploring. We found a boat trip place that took you out onto the marshes etc. There's a crocodile farm if I remember correctly too.
We took a day trip to Moron on the mainland. More to do there. And the taxis are big yank tanks from the 50's in various garish new paint jobs.
It was an ok holiday all in all.
We have been to the iberostar in Varadero,was ok the beeches are terrific , just got bored in the evening , The rum is awesome though , We got caught up in Hurricane Ike & had to stay there for an extra 3 days , pretty hairy tbh , Cuba is a poor country but the people are terrific, 1950's taxi's are wonderful
Black can man said:
We have been to the iberostar in Varadero,was ok the beeches are terrific , just got bored in the evening , The rum is awesome though , We got caught up in Hurricane Ike & had to stay there for an extra 3 days , pretty hairy tbh , Cuba is a poor country but the people are terrific, 1950's taxi's are wonderful
Cool thanks for that.Not too worried about the evenings as im always alseep by 10 or 11 but always awake early.
Will look at nipping to moron. Lots of people tell me the rum is good too
Hi
We had a couple of weeks in Cuba last year, and I envy you going.
We spent 4 days in Havana and the remainder in an all-inclusive in Valaderro (sp?) - my impressions:
The all-inclusive resorts are full of Canadians, as a previous poster said it's their Costa del Sol. Imagine the worst of the British in Spain and you'll get the picture.
Having said that, it's one of only 2 downsides that we came across. To get the other out of the way - the food is pretty dreadful. If you go all-inclusive and eat only in the hotel you should be OK, choice and quality is far below that in similarly graded hotels outside of Cuba but we didn't starve and the worst write-ups you'll find on Trip Advisor etc are exaggerated. Outside of the hotel, eating is an experience. Menu's generally are a reflection of what the owner would like to serve rather than what is actually available, if a waiter suggests something off the menu - go with it, it's probably all they've got and will save you 10 minutes of debating with the staff then ending up with his suggestion anyway. If you want a laugh, order something European (Italian is a good choice) to see their take on it - the frothy carbonara will stay with me for ages. Approach eating out as an experience rather than a meal and you'll not be disappointed (but likely still hungry). I would recommend eating out a couple of times - you're not going to die because you've missed a meal or two and it's the type of experience that makes Cuba feel very, very foreign.
The people are the nicest I've met on my travels - very proud of their country, eager to talk to visitors and generally polite and courteous - putting many of the tourists to shame. There's a growing number of unofficial tour guides who will try to walk you around the city and charge for the privilage - they're nowhere near as annoying as those I've met in other countries and will leave you alone if you ask them to. The police will also send them on their way if they spot them pestering you. On the topic - the police are everywhere, as a result it feels very, very safe. I would recommend spending time in Havana - it's well worth the expense of a good hotel to experience the city. It's very jaded in parts but being renovated using traditional methods and materials, a few places of genuine historic or literary significance but, overall, an absolute jewel to spend time wandering around.
Service, overall, is fairly lax. You will find Cubans being given preference (no problem there)and you may feel as though you've had a poor 'customer experience'. You probably have, it seems to be the way that Cubans are - if you want to be fawned over go somewhere else.
Resorts appear to be hotel and beach-activity based - with little going on outside of the hotel, so if you want to experience the 'real' Cuba (and you should - it's an eye-opener) make sure you spend time in one of the major cities. Do not expect a purified, Disneyland Cuba - there's no money available to create a second, 'tourist' Cuba like you get in (for example) Tunisia, you will see the place warts and all - it can be dirty, smelly and very, very different at times but I'd go back at the drop of a hat. It's, without a doubt, the most honest holiday (in EVERY sense of the word) that I've been on, the people are some of the most laid back and pleasant I've met and I would recommend the place to anyone - get there before the Americans end the embargo and it becomes as populated with McDonalds and KFC's as every other country.
A few tips:
1. Avoid Cubana (I think that's the national airline) if you can, it's not pretty. If you can't avoid them it is worth every penny to upgrade.
2. Toiletries can be difficult, impossible or, at best, expensive, to come by - take what you can.
3. Pick your time of year carefully. We went in April / May and had excellent, if windy, weather and no problems with insects - I imagine that this will change dramatically at other times.(Actually - it's probably a bit late to consider this - nevermind)
4. You will experience your worst customer service both on the plane and in the airport, in and out. Do not let this taint your stay, approach the Cuba OUTSIDE of the airport with an open mind, despite all that has happened on the 12 hour flight and life-sapping journey through immigration.
As I said at the start of this post - I envy you going and hope that you enjoy your time there as much as we did.
PC
We had a couple of weeks in Cuba last year, and I envy you going.
We spent 4 days in Havana and the remainder in an all-inclusive in Valaderro (sp?) - my impressions:
The all-inclusive resorts are full of Canadians, as a previous poster said it's their Costa del Sol. Imagine the worst of the British in Spain and you'll get the picture.
Having said that, it's one of only 2 downsides that we came across. To get the other out of the way - the food is pretty dreadful. If you go all-inclusive and eat only in the hotel you should be OK, choice and quality is far below that in similarly graded hotels outside of Cuba but we didn't starve and the worst write-ups you'll find on Trip Advisor etc are exaggerated. Outside of the hotel, eating is an experience. Menu's generally are a reflection of what the owner would like to serve rather than what is actually available, if a waiter suggests something off the menu - go with it, it's probably all they've got and will save you 10 minutes of debating with the staff then ending up with his suggestion anyway. If you want a laugh, order something European (Italian is a good choice) to see their take on it - the frothy carbonara will stay with me for ages. Approach eating out as an experience rather than a meal and you'll not be disappointed (but likely still hungry). I would recommend eating out a couple of times - you're not going to die because you've missed a meal or two and it's the type of experience that makes Cuba feel very, very foreign.
The people are the nicest I've met on my travels - very proud of their country, eager to talk to visitors and generally polite and courteous - putting many of the tourists to shame. There's a growing number of unofficial tour guides who will try to walk you around the city and charge for the privilage - they're nowhere near as annoying as those I've met in other countries and will leave you alone if you ask them to. The police will also send them on their way if they spot them pestering you. On the topic - the police are everywhere, as a result it feels very, very safe. I would recommend spending time in Havana - it's well worth the expense of a good hotel to experience the city. It's very jaded in parts but being renovated using traditional methods and materials, a few places of genuine historic or literary significance but, overall, an absolute jewel to spend time wandering around.
Service, overall, is fairly lax. You will find Cubans being given preference (no problem there)and you may feel as though you've had a poor 'customer experience'. You probably have, it seems to be the way that Cubans are - if you want to be fawned over go somewhere else.
Resorts appear to be hotel and beach-activity based - with little going on outside of the hotel, so if you want to experience the 'real' Cuba (and you should - it's an eye-opener) make sure you spend time in one of the major cities. Do not expect a purified, Disneyland Cuba - there's no money available to create a second, 'tourist' Cuba like you get in (for example) Tunisia, you will see the place warts and all - it can be dirty, smelly and very, very different at times but I'd go back at the drop of a hat. It's, without a doubt, the most honest holiday (in EVERY sense of the word) that I've been on, the people are some of the most laid back and pleasant I've met and I would recommend the place to anyone - get there before the Americans end the embargo and it becomes as populated with McDonalds and KFC's as every other country.
A few tips:
1. Avoid Cubana (I think that's the national airline) if you can, it's not pretty. If you can't avoid them it is worth every penny to upgrade.
2. Toiletries can be difficult, impossible or, at best, expensive, to come by - take what you can.
3. Pick your time of year carefully. We went in April / May and had excellent, if windy, weather and no problems with insects - I imagine that this will change dramatically at other times.(Actually - it's probably a bit late to consider this - nevermind)
4. You will experience your worst customer service both on the plane and in the airport, in and out. Do not let this taint your stay, approach the Cuba OUTSIDE of the airport with an open mind, despite all that has happened on the 12 hour flight and life-sapping journey through immigration.
As I said at the start of this post - I envy you going and hope that you enjoy your time there as much as we did.
PC
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