Vacationing in Varadero

I’ll begin my last post on Cuba with some comments on Varadero and then conclude with some overall comments on Cuba.The last part of our vacation was very different from the previous 12 days of our holiday. We stayed in the four star all-inclusive resort Paradisus Princesa del Mar in Varadero. This was the first time both of us had ever stayed in an all-inclusive. For some people this is the only part of Cuba they ever see. For us it was a nice relaxing end to a holiday, after sleeping on buses, recovering from jellyfish stings and a lot of walking.

We were cordially welcomed and given a map of the resort as well as an overview of the facilities. Then we were told to book our dinners in the various restaurants. As we were staying 5 nights, we were entitled to have 3 meals in the nationality themed restaurants.  We chose Japanese, French and Italian. The rest of the meals were served in the large buffet room or if you wanted there was also a beachside lunch place and a 24 hour snack bar (which we fell in love with). After doing this we were whisked away in a golf cart to our building. The resort was made up of several small buildings along the beach and around the pool area. While we didn’t have a beach view, we did have a nice terrace because we were on the ground floor.

Our first order of business was to get something to eat, since we hadn’t eaten since early that morning in Trinidad. We tried the lunch place close to the beach – this was the first and last time we ate there. The service was bad, the salad bar was sparse and the other food wasn’t spectacular. After a disappointing lunch we rushed to the beach to enjoy the last few hours of sun before going for dinner.

The beach was fantastic! Very few people, clear blue water and nice warm sun. Except for a few days with strong winds, the weather and beach remained fantastic the whole time we were here. Even during peak hours there were always beach loungers free and space in the water. We didn’t try any of the aqua sports or activities offered, we needed all the time we could get for fixing our tan lines!

We also booked a mani-pedi, which was not included in the price of the resort, but it wasn’t outrageous. The beautician did an ok job, but unfortunately there was only one of her and so we had to go at different times which wasn’t as fun. The sunscreen also affected the nail polish and  so it ruined the quality of the manicure a little. Personally, I wouldn’t do it again. It’s better to get one done for less when you get home!

As in the rest of Cuba the food wasn’t spectacular. The buffet food was ok. There was a lot of choice, but not everything tasted that good. For vegetarians there was even less choice. Towards the end of our stay we skipped the buffet and went to the snack bar instead. Here the sandwiches and meals were much better and the service was good too. We also worked our way through the menu of cocktails, our favourite being the Coco Loco (banana, chocolate, milk and rum shake!)

The themed restaurants were a bit better. Our favourite was the Japanese. Here we got treated not only to good food, but also a show. Even though all the waiters, chefs were Cuban etc the food was quite good. All of the food was prepared right in front of us on a large hot plate – they even flambéed the pineapple in rum. The French and Italian restaurant both failed to live up to the Japanese standard, there was no real vegetarian option at the French restaurant and I’ve had much better Italian food.

We also thought the swim-up bar was cool as well as the fact that the rooms got Canadian TV! We definitely liked our first resort experience, but you don’t have to go to Cuba to do that! For us the resort was just to lie on the beach for a few days and relax.

Here are a few final comments on Cuba in general before I finally finish blogging about our trip:

1. Transportation wasn’t so efficient
2. The variety of food and products (including souvenirs) available isn’t so great
3. Cubans are friendly, even more so after you pay them
4. Customer service is almost non-existent, unless you are paying them see #3
5. It is very difficult to use anything but cash here – even in tourist places
6. You feel quite safe, as there is practically no gun violence here
7. Cuba is beautiful and diverse, both in culture and in nature
8. The coffee, rum and music is great!

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