Talk to me about Cuba please!

Hi Holey

A lady from my office has just returned after a 2 week stay in Cuba. She stayed on the cayo islands. She said it is like paradise, extremely hot and they did a couple of trips but didn't go to Havana as it was 3 hours away by plane.

She also went all inclusive and booked with Thomas Cook, couldn't fault the hotel or staff but did say that you have to tip everybody.

Send me a list a of questions if you want and I will ask her and get back to you

Dawn

Cuba is my favourite place in the WORLD!!

We went to Guardelavaca, and stayed at Sol Rio Luna Y Mars!!! I woudl defo go and see the real Cuba, we did a cigar factory tour and a trip on a train..its amazing to see what really goes on!!! It wasnt expensive IMO, and they really really DO NOT accept tips, they find it insulting (we found so anyway!)

We booked with Thompson I believe when we went

We didnt do Havana as it was quite a trek from Guadalavaca, but if you stay further up the island (the little islands) then its closer but I have heard people say havana was 1) over rated and 2) felt quite unsafe, i only have their word for it tho!

I have lots more info if you want it, and tips and stuff!

Flow we were looking at Thomson last night and that was the hotel we liked the look of most!

Good to know you loved it! May well be begging for info and tips soon then!

It is amazing! Great choice! We booked through Thomas Cook. Most of their packages were 3 days in Havana and 11 at a beach resort but we wanted more time in Havana so they created a package for us!

We stayed in the hotel National which was a bout 20 mins walk to the center of Havana so we were glad we had more days but if you stayed in the center you might manage it is fewer days. We didnt want to rush anything though. We then went south to Guardalavaca which was amazing!

H is not a beach bum at all and wasnt sure how he would cope but we totally loved it!

if you look in my signature you can find links to my honeymoon report. any other questions, just shout!

I love Cuba too!

We went to Guardelavaca and stayed in the Riu Playa Turquesa, the hotel was great when we stayed there but would probably stay somewhere else if we were to go back! We did a day trip to Havana (2 hours by plane so quite a long day) which was amazing! I would recommend maybe doing 3/4 days in Havana as there is so much to see. You definitely have to tip in Havana, in some places there is a lady sitting in the toilets handing out loo roll, you don't get loo roll unless you tip, or bring your own which we did!

We swam with dolphins which I would also highly recommend!

I think we went with Thompson as well ?

We went to Cuba on our honeymoon in January. 4 nights in Havana staying at Hotel Nacional and 10 staying at Blau Varadero in Varadero. I think Havana is definitely worth a visit to see the 'real' Cuba. On first appearances it seems unsafe as it is so run down and you get a LOT of people coming up to you trying to sell you touristy things, but actually they take no for an answer unlike other places I've been and we never had any real hassle or experienced any crime. Cubans are extremely friendly, we had quite a few people come up to us who genuinely just wanted a chat and to practise their English. And I would definitely recommend Hotel Nacional, its so grand and you can definitely see how it would have been the place to be for celebs back in the 50s.

I would also recommend Varadero and the Blau, I don't think we did enough activities which I regret but the place itself is lovely. Only thing to be aware of is that we had a few cloudy days and a little bit of rain in January so it may not be the best month to go (I don't know if we were just unlucky).

Also meant to add we booked through Cosmos.

Was going to say Flow is your girl to ask about Cuba! I fancy it but the MF is not keen.

Also Thomson ? - but the less said about that the better!

We had our honeymoon there and absolutely loved it. We stayed at Playa Pesquero in Holguin. We are thinking of going back at the end of the year but will try a different hotel. Having stayed at a few All Inclusives around the world this was by far the best. Huge selection of food, you could could even have steak for breakfast if you wanted to! lobster etc. All imported Spirits, Gordons Gin, all included, it was amazing. The people are so lovely and you didn't feel they were just providing great service in anticipation of a tip, like Egypt for example. The beaches were gorgeous, pure white sand and crystal clear turquoise water. We went on a few trips, swimming with dolphins was my favourite! We decided not to do Havana as it was quite a distance and would probably do a two centre holiday if we wanted to go.

Having looked a few days ago at the Thomson site (who we went with before) I couldn't beleive how much the prices seem to have dropped by. It is now cheaper to go to Cuba than it is to go to Egypt!

So would anyone highly recommend their hotels who have been before? Someone I know just came back from Paradisus Rio d'oro resort and said it was amazing but it is twice the price of other hotels and I really cannot believe it is twice as good! ?

We went for our honeymoon in 2006 and did a twin centre 4 nights in Havana, 10 in Varadero (about 1 1/2 hours by coach). Varadero was very much your typical all inclusive hotel beach resort, fab beaches though, but it's not the real Cuba as it's a peninsula and the only locals who get access are the hotel workers. Really depends what kind of holiday you're after. Yes Havana in parts is really run down and some parts did feel unsafe, but it's not a wealthy country so it's to be expected really. Was definitely worth it though for a bit of culture, you won't get that in the beach resorts ?

Id forgotten about the ladies sat outside the loos! I agree, just make sure you have loo roll with you! oh and if you get a loo with a loo seat, then you are in a luxary toilet!

you will have people trying to sell you tickets to the attracctions, coach rides, cigars, they normally start chatting to you asking where you are from then hit you with the sales pitch.

we found that if we just said that we had already done what they were selling, they were fine and let you be!

some friends we made over there wanted some cigars and were led to someones house (i would not have followed them to a house!) ang got totally ripped off!

A top tip would be to stock up on the rum at the airport on your way back! What is about £15-£20 here is about £3 there! I only got a couple of bottles and wish I had got more!

I'll be following this thread as have booked our honeymoon here. We are doing 3 days in Havana and 7 days in varadero in October. Not sure whether this is a great time of year or not? We are staying in Iberostar parque central and Blau varadero and booked through travel counsellors. Any recommendations on who to book activities/day trips through would be great. We would like to visit a cigar factory, swim with dolphins, maybe a historical trip etc. So excited!!!

We did the swimming with dolphins at varadero and weren't impressed - it might be different now (was 7 years ago that we went), but it was like getting into a swamp as the water was so murky, you couldn't actually see the dolphins under the water which freaked me out a bit!! Also they charged us extra to take our camera in, but then we all had to get into the water at the same time, and you weren't allowed to get out to take photos of each other...... They had somebody there taking photos while the dolphins "kissed" you, which they then sold at rip off prices!

Our favourite trip was going out on jet ski type things into the sea and around a lagoon, was brilliant fun and not as expensive as some of the other excursions.

Worth going to Club Tropicana in Havana as well, although again they do try and rip you off a bit. Our tickets included a free drink, so when they took all our cocktail orders we assumed that was it - but turns out those cost a fortune, and our free drink was actually rum and coke later on in the show.

Sorry to sound so negative, it really was a great holiday, just watch out for the rip offs ?

Thank you so much everyone, will be researching this tonight then! Will report back once we've decided what to do...

We went to the hotel next door, sol rio luna y mars, and it was fab!!!!!!!!!!!

We are hoping to go in August this year, just need to book it!

We are trying to decide between 3 nights in Havana and 10 in Guardalavaca or 14 in G. and a day trip to H.