Cuba?

Hadn't thought about Cuba but there is a site called Trip adivisor that has everything on there from hotels to weather, the hotels all have reports on them as to what they were like. Think it also says which are the top rated hotels as well.

HTH

xx

Hi Claire - OH and I went to Cuba a year or two back (for my 30th) and found the whole time very mixed. Just to give you an idea it's by no means a cheap destination. We paid about £2.5k each for a 2 week holiday with Virgin and were promised it would be amazing 5* all the way. We also found it really expensive whilst there as the dual currency thing (they have a special tourist currency) ensures you pay top top notch for everything.

We spent 3 nights in Havana which was absolutely amazing. We really loved it and ate out in the best restaurants, wandered the streets and generally had a ball seeing the sights. It was really hard work though as the communist way means there are no shops so when out for the day we couldn't just pop in somewhere to buy a bottle of water and had to always go to bars/cafes.

We then spent the rest of our trip in one of these beach resorts on the promise it would be 5* R&R all the way. Turns out it was awful. I can't even begin to explain how bad it was! OH got serious food poisoning so I spent 2 days alone in the resort. Every meal was a bit like school dinners but prepared with less care - I always had to pick wrappers or hair out of the food. I went to the bar one afternoon and fell through a broken chair. Our room was hideous with broken furniture (we couldn't open some drawers or close windows) and mould growing all through the bathroom. I met another couple as upset as us on the Virgin trip and we spoke to our rep. The other couple described it as being like a run down Butlins in the 60's that hadn't been updated since then. The communist way obviously means they invest nothing into updating hotels and holiday maker places.

I'm not a diva but had a total diva moment given the amount we had paid and what we were sold - I'm not proud but I broke into tears and cried 'get us off the island or to a better hotel'. We got upgraded to supposedly the best place on the island (it was a small island off Cuba connected by a bridge). This place was better but Cuba being as it is, you will never get total R&R or even luxury. It was the little things that really frustrated me - they really suffer with getting food so bread was always stale and sometimes of the brink of going mouldy - you have to tip before people will serve you (I spent an hour one morning trying to get someone to serve me breakfast but the staff kept looking through me and it was only when I paid over that they gave me anything to even drink).

We recently went to Antigua and they really do understand luxury if you want that sort of beach chilled thing (drinks served by the pool, happy chirpy staff, good fresh food). We really want to go back to Havana but would never expect anything luxurious from the Cubans.

Sorry I waffled but I hope that helps.

Wow really?! We were thinking of Cuba for our first anniversary and I have only heard good things about it from people that have been but am a bit wary now reading that. What was the name of the hotel you went too- so I can avoid it!

We had our honeymoon in Cuba in March and had a wonderful time, even met a fellow hitcher on her honeymoon. We stayed in Holguin, much quieter than Guadalevaca or Varadero. From the moment we landed we received wonderful hospitality. On arrival at the hotel we had a champagne reception waiting for us and were then taken to our room by golf buggy and our luggage taken care of.

We have been on an all inclusive basis to several countries and never really expected a great deal from the food and drink is normally locally produced only but we were amazed here. I had lobster almost every day which was delicious and you could have had champagne every day if you were that way inclined, all on all inclusive. The cocktails were amazing and you could have anything you liked, both imported and local items.The food overall was excellent with plenty of choice.

The people we found were amazing, they all seemed to get genuine pleasure out of looking after you and it wasn't all about the tip, unlike places like Egypt for example. We didn't make it to Havana as there was only a one night trip available and if we went we would like to go for a few days and will do that when we go back.

The beaches were stunning, just like your typical caribbean picture, turqouise seas and pure white sand beaches, amazing. No it isn't what we would consider 5* luxury like Dubai for example but it is a communist country and cannot be expected.

We had a fabulous time and would go back in an instant. Here are a few pics.

We had our honeymoon in MArch too and we loved it! 7 nights in havana and 7 nights in guardalavaca at a resort.

here is a link to my honeymoon report and photos!

https://www.hitched.co.uk/Chat/forums/t/229909.aspx?PageIndex=1

My OH and I went to Varadero last summer for our hols, although we had a good time, we both had terrible food poisoning whilst we were there and were not impressed by the standards of most things i.e. cleanliness, food, drink, price, trips you name it....

Like I said though we made the most of it but we would def not return, maybe it is bacause we had been to Mexico the previous 2 years and that might have spoilt us as the hotels, etc are of a much higher standard.

On another note, I would not just go on recommendations on tripadviser. I put an honest review on there when we returned and was inundated with horrific messages from people calling me and threatening me, if this happens a lot I am sure a lot of people would remove their honest reviews to stop the barrage.

Would have to second Trixylou's report:

We also went in March and stayed in Holguin: We were told by others who had been to Varadero that Holguin was much nicer so maybe this accounts for some of the differences in the reviews!

We also stayed at Playa Pesquero and couldn't fault it: we were upgraded to a superior room on arrival had 7 different restaurants to choose from all with a massive selection of food:

In the buffet restaurant a lot of the food was cooked to order: you just went up and pointed to what you wanted -we couldn't fault it - massive selection: and amazing chocolate strawberry and banana flambe crepes for dessert cooked to your specification!-Bread was always VERY fresh!

We also did the Havana overnight stay and spent the night in the Nacional hotel (if its good enough for Johnny Depp....) as well as eating in two of the restaurants during our tour: 1830 and La Floridita: both we excellent and we both dine out a lot and are very fussy about good food and good service. I would deffo recommend trying the bread rolls in the Floradita: i'm not kidding you softest freshest bread I have eaten in my life: only fault could be that a basketful wasn't enough!!!

Would have to disagree with english rose as well on communism meaning they don't bother spending much on tourism/upgrading hotels: On the contrary the hotels are by far the most luxurious buildings on the island: certainly post revolution: to the point that you can feel quite guilty when seeing the comparison between the hotels and traditional cuban dwellings.

We also went on two catamaran trips: had the chance to swim with Dolphins and visit a virtually deserted tropical Island as well asa Jeep Tour showing more of the traditional towns and villages etc. Even on these trips when the food was pretty basic it was always very tasty and never made us ill once!

Just a few more pictures to add to Trixylou's ( you might have guessed I was the other hitcher)

The hotel: (same one as those photos above)

The beach (and one of the Catamaran destinations)

And finally traditional Cuban houses: Just to show the difference:

we too went on holiday here last september and was the best bloody holiday ever!! cuba is way behind in the tourism industry and still has an umbargo (sp?) on american goods being shipped in so its unspoilt and 'rea;'. LOVED IT! were already planning on going back to the same place for our first anniversary in a couple years!!!

We were also in Varadero so maybe the real message from all these experiences is that this is not the best place on the island. We did really enjoy Havana though and would like to go back to see it again although I'm not sure it's a honeymoon type of place for us.

Thanks guys you've all been very helpful - over the weekend we decided that the seychelles/maldives is proabbly more of what we are looking for but I will definitly visit Cuba for a holiday.