First day becomes Delay Day....

This is a very nice resort to stay at. I reviewed it myself before we left to see what others had to say about and for the majority they were right on the money. What I hate is when you have people that go on and review an accommodation and have nothing bad bad things to say. If you want to bitch and complaining about it then do it with your family I myself do not want to here you whine about every little that did not meet your standards. That by the way I am going to assume that you set to high in the first place.

Well first this is a third world country. A country that still runs o by means of Socialism. And as poor as these people may be I do not think I have meet a happier culture in the world.

We did not arrive at the resort until 3am and the staff had a huge smile on their faces when we walked through the front doors. The check in service was great, they were fast and efficient and very helpful with all questions asked in the middle of the night. We got the keys to our room and we were off to put our bags upstairs and see what the resort was like at night.

There are 3 bars in the resort. A lobby bar that is open 24 hours and we hit at 3:30am to sample some Cuban beer and of course Cuban rum. There is a pool bar, it is not a swim up bar but I nice bar that was just redone while we were there. The last bar is out on the patio or beach restaurant area. This bar is smaller and many people do not go to this one. The only issue with this one is that it closes early. The bar staff are great, you will get to know them quite well as the Cuban nights are so beautiful you spend a lot of time out there with them. If you read this and you happen to make it to this resort please there is a security guard that stands down by the beach and he would really love you to bring him a cerveza in the heat.

The pool was very cold the week that we were there, but the sun gets so warm there (especially for a Canadian) that the pool was refreshing. To be honest it is hard to spend much time up by the pool during the day because of the beautiful beach. There 23 miles of beach in Varadero and Bella Costa happens to be on the best part of this beach. Beautiful white sands, clear water and amazing scenery (for guys and girls...lol) The staff here do a great job of getting people active with little games on the beach during the day. They also offered dance classes everyday in the morning up by the pool. The girls that teach the dances are great but I still trip over my feet trying these moves. There is something on the beach for everyone, if you want to play volleyball there is a court with people always willing to play. If you want to just walk the sand massages your feet as you walk and there numerous artists on the beach sculpting out of the sand. If you want to collect shells or just hang out and float around in the beautiful and warm Atlantic Ocean.

There are 2 buffet style restaurants and 3 a la carte (Japanese, Cuban,Italian). The buffet style was excellent. They had great options for everyone, even if you are a typical western that does not like to experiment and are use to our traditional style of eating. they had pasta and pizza and even french fries. There is always a lot of fish as well as cuban dishes and a great selection of fruit. I only tried the Italian restaurant and it was decent nothing to complain about at all. I have heard nothing but great things about the Japanese restaurant. Make your reservations early because they fill up fast for the week. Now I am talking during the high season, may not be as busy during there summer.

The staff is great all around, from the front desk to the bar staff to the maids cleaning your room and leaving you nice designs in your sheets. I brought soaps and shampoos and make up for the maids as these are luxury items for them, I left her a little something everyday. Tip the bar staff well early, sometime the pool bar get busy and if Ramone likes you and remembers you the wait time is significantly lowered. This is very important tip so read carefully, if you are going to be drinking the rum there is the 7 Year , 3 Year and then the white. You will want to start with the 7 year because this is very tasty and smooth, and the bar only has so many bottles a night. If you plan to scuba dive use Barracuda Scuba in Varadero.

So to summarize, I would recommend this resort to everyone. The staff is excellent and friendly. The beach is stunningly beautiful and the weather does everything in its power to keep you happy and smiling.

If you decide to go and I think you should enjoy because Cuba is a beautiful country in the Caribbean and should be a stop on everyone's list.

Cheers
Ryan