I personally wont stay in anything under a 3 star rating. We prefer a 4 star rating, which in other places in the world would be quite luxurious in Canadian and European standards. In Cuba a 3 and 4 star rating is luxurious in Cuban standards. You can not compare them to places like Mexico, who are Americanized, or even European countries. You have to rate them according to what the Cubans have available to them. When you go there expecting a lavish hotel, you will be disappointed. When you go there with an open mind, open heart and curtail your exceptions, you will be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Keep in mind also, most of your vacations to Cuba are all inclusive, meaning free buffet meals everyday, 1 complimentary meal at one of the resorts 2 or 3 restaurants and anything you want to drink, anytime, free! We found the buffets more than great. There are also 24 hour snack bars where you can get a bite to eat anytime.
Do your research on resorts, we have heard that the 5 star and exclusive hotels at the very end of Varadero are the ones most Europeans and those who can and want to spend the extra money enjoy. We took a bus tour our first trip in Cuba and they went by a few of these places and they looked beautiful! They are also really far from Varadero and other attractions around them.
Look through TripAdvisor.com or .ca, Escapes.ca, the Authentic Cuba travel website and see what others have to say about their trips. The most common things you will read are about the food being bland or not good. The linens in the hotel rooms being worn and the rooms being outdated. These to some people are deal breakers but you have to remember Cuba is a third world country, they only have what is available to them. If this is the worst you see posted about a resort, go through more reviews and keep them in mind.
Lets first debunk the myth that the food in Cuba is terrible. SO NOT TRUE!
The food in Cuba is not like ours, the Americans or the Europeans. It is food cooked in its plain form, seasoned with salt and pepper, or whatever other spices that are available to them. Most people we have met or traveled with will bring their own hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, peanut butter with them to enhance their food. Also when you realize that your hotel stay is all inclusive with a buffet, you realize they aren't going to be able to make everyone happy, some people say the food is too bland, then if they offer a spicy dish, its to spicy, etc. The choices we have had at any resort have been amazing! We have had flat bread pizza's with everything from just Italian spices to blue cheese, ham and fresh Pineapple, if you can work with the ingredients they have, they will make you what you like. Pasta's with cream sauces, butter and spices, sweet tomato sauces. Baked, grilled, chicken with pineapple, Cuban honey, skewers, pieces cut into rice dishes mixed with vegetables. The same with fresh pork, roasted to perfection, top that with a bit of Cuban honey and its to die for! They have beef as well, that is different from ours, it is very moist and chewy, but is great on skewers or grilled up in small pieces. Rice dishes, plain fried, boiled, or with sauces, black beans, meat and veggies, even Cuban style. fresh fish, amazing! I am not a fish fan but Rock Fish is so good! There were Cuban made Cheeses that taste like a cross between a Havarti and Dofino cheese, creamy, buttery and a bit tart but heavenly. They had some feta and Swiss too. Boiled eggs, cold cuts, I believe more Italian in origin, cold salads and fresh cut tomatoes, cucumbers. The salad is bitter but so good!
Mornings were filled with fresh eggs, anyway you want them, they would make you an omelette with any toppings you like, including ham, black olives, onion, garlic, cheese etc., french toast, pancakes, cereal, amazing yogurt, bacon, fresh fruit and freshly squeezed fruit juices.
All day you have access to fresh fruit and fresh squeezed fruit juices. You have never had fruit like this, fresh from the tree or ground. The oranges and bananas are to die for! I have never tasted fruit like this in my life! Mangoes, guava, watermelon and the sweetest pineapple! Oh I could have lived on the fruit! Fresh baked bread, in many styles, pumpernickel, sourdough, there was even a dark bread made with cocoa, I had some everyday and still managed to lose 12 lbs the week we were there!
The deserts were heavenly! They make chocolate cakes and brownie type deserts that are not super sweet, they just sprinkle cane sugar on top and OMG, sooo good! Anything made with Miel or Cuban honey, is so good! The ice cream is so delicious, again not super sweet, but the flavors are just lovely, strawberry, mango, chocolate, vanilla, a praline type. All made in Cuba.
All I can say is that they Chefs do their very best to try to make everyone happy, they will ask you, what you think, what can they do to make things better, they really aim to please and are so creative! We have never been hungry in Cuba! This was a picture of our trip in December 2013 and this is the head Chef at Iberostar Tainos Cuba, Carlos, he and his team were amazing, such beautiful food!
The restaurants in Varadero are popular as well, if you want to wander off your resort and try something new, there are steak houses, that we have heard are amazing, seafood restaurants that you can have a full lobster, depending on size from 3 - 6 peso! Crab legs, fresh fish, shrimp that are huge, all for way cheaper than we can get it in Canada! There is a Honey house restaurant and we have heard this place is just amazing! Cuban honey is unlike anything I have ever tasted, its called Miel and when we were there in December, it was near impossible to find for sale. Ask the local people what they recommend for restaurants, they know which ones are very popular with the tourists.
2 Pictures of are of the Iberostar Tainos Cuba Buffet from Google, we stayed at the Iberostar Tainos in December 2013, it was exactly like this.
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