On my recent trip, I decided to try the Hotel Las Tunas. I have had good results with other Islazul hotels and I figured that this one might provide welcome facilities not available in a casa particular, especially in view that Las Tunas a small place. This hotel has a good location, on top of a hill just outside the center of town. The hotel’s monolithic Russian inspired architecture is ugly and horribly dated, however this is the norm. For some reason, this year the front desks at some Islazul hotel have been posting inflated high season prices, which are clearly not justified, based on their apparent occupancy rates, which probably run under 50%. A better deal can be had by going directly to the office of the local Islazul Agency, or in this case simply walk over to the Ecotur Travel Agency, located in the same complex, beside the Tienda. A basic room with double occupancy dropped in price from CUC 42 to CUC 32. Go figure (Es Cuba!). Suites with king sized beds were more expensive. My plan was to entertain some Cuban friends at the poolside during the day, however I no sooner checked in than they drained the swimming pool for extended repairs, right in the middle of the high season ! I was going to try to impress my girlfriend with the pool and when I showed her around the hotel, I discovered that all the water was gone out of the pool, as if a bad joke had been played on me. The rooms were clean and reasonably modern, the house staff very friendly and accommodating. The rooms have TVs which carry the HBO Latin America channel, which has old Adam Sandler movies and similar low-intelligence movies dubbed in Spanish. There is a reasonably well stocked Tienda on site. The hotel had one Internet terminal available for tourists, situated in the middle of the lobby. It worked. The front desk staff was friendly but overwhelmed most of the time, moving at a glacially slow pace. This hotel needs a few more basic staff, such as an additional check in clerk, in addition to better training. For some reason, it was impossible to place and outbound local call from my room, although it was possible for others to phone in to me. As a result I had to use the pay phone in the lobby. This was not the case in other Islazul hotels where the phone worked properly and I could call out from my room. The breakfast buffet (included in the basic room price) was disappointing, as there was minimal selection of food items, no fruit juices, cold coffee and no chef preparing fresh cooked eggs and omlets. Instead, a server was busily occupied with tasks that were clearly redundant. In summary, this hotel has very good potential, especially in view of its good location in small town, however before it can begin to realize on this potential, it must begin to offer up better services to its guests. The hotel is crying out for better management.…