I just returned from my first trip to Cuba, and travelled on my own there (female, mid-twenties). I went to reflect, rest and relax and that's exactly what I did at Breezes Jibacoa. What to expect? The majority of guests are older (50+). So if you're looking for all-night, non-stop partying, with tons and tons of young people, this is not the place for you. However there is a disco on the property for the party animal in you. The hotel is located near sloping hills and many rivers, with small villages and towns surrounding it. A picturesque landscape. Breezes Jibacoa is about 40 minutes from Havana and about 50 minutes from Varadero, pretty much in the middle of the two cities. So you are near enough to tour either city, and far away enough to have an authentic Cuban experience. Recommended excursions: renting a scooter and touring the nearby towns and fishing villages or hiking the hilly environs. The beach is OK. There are coral reefs located close to shore so you will feel bigger shells and coarser sand underfoot. The staff there is very helpful and friendly. The rooms are clean and the food, drinks and international cocktails are good. Both the service and cuisine are superb at the two a la carte restaurants: Italian and Cuban.
If you're in need of excellent R&R, Breezes Jibacoa is definitely the way to go.

Like the title says, the resort was very nice but I've definitely been
to better. My husband and I stayed at the Breezes Jibacoa for 10 days (Oct 27 to Nov 05). We had a great time and enjoyed the sun but both of us agreed we have stayed at better resorts and will probably try out somewhere else if we go back. As you can tell by the dates we were there during the hurricane but it had little affect on our stay other than preventing us from going in the ocean.
Here's the breakdown:
1) Resort:
The resort is very nice looking, clean and the ground are well kept. However, certain parts of the resort are starting to show some signs of age and need an upgrade, like the lobby bar and patio chairs. There
is nothing spectacular about the place but nothing glaringly terrible either. It has 1 large pool, 3 bars, a really nice rec room, decent gym and nice tennis and basketball courts. No spa though for those you
that like a nice facial on vacation. Massage service on the beach is available but book early!!! Staff was always very friendly and I never
had a problem with the level of service provided.

2) The Rooms:
I think our room (1129) was the second most disappointing point of this resort. We did have a great view of the beach though. First, you can hear a lot in the adjacent rooms, especially the bathrooms. Keep that in mind honeymooners! Second, the beds were the second worst beds
I have ever slept on and this is saying something since I have slept in some seriously terrible beds. The mattress was hard as a rock and had two supports you could feel running the length of the bed. The comforter was also "scratchy" and we ended up just tossing it off the bed. The bathroom was showing it age with the weird metal ceiling warping in places and a super loud fan. The shower head is placed at a height good only for people under 5' tall. My 6' husband almost had to be on his knees to wet his hair. Getting out of the super deep (yet
oddly narrow) tub could be a nightmare for people with reduced mobility. Women need to bring their own hair dryer (120V so no converter) as the provided one sucks. We had one cockroach in our bathroom (biggest one I have ever seen BTW) so I suggest you keep the sink plugged when not in use.

TIP: The power was constantly goes out for short periods so the alarm clock in your room will not work. Bring your own small battery powered clock!

TIP: Bring a roll of your own toilet paper from home. If you get a bad case of bathroom dependancy you're gonna want the nice soft stuff from home.

3) Food/Bars:
The food at the Buffet was good but not great. Keep an open mind and try out some new stuff. The selection of dishes was modest and might pose a problem for picky or calorie conscious eaters. I really like the breakfast stuff and the lunch buffet was usually good too. The dinner service tended to be hit and miss. I would have also loved some actual salads at the salad bar and not just some weird combos of diferent sliced veggies.

We did at Martino's, the Italian restaurant, and was really nice. I recommend it. The beach snack bar was bland, had poor selection and needs a serious upgrade. Let's face it, you need more than 6 choices: hamburger, hotdog, salad, chicken leg, pizza and sliced fruit. The hamburger/hotdog comes with no toppings other than ketchup and mustard and the fries were bland, bland. Salad seemed to depend on what was left over from the buffet.

The bars are OK. Drinks are bottomless and always available so what ever is wrong with them can be minimized by simply consuming more of them!

TIP: BRING YOUR OWN PLASTIC MUG!!! The plastic cups are the size of thimbles. If you only accept one tip, let this be the one.

4) Pool/Beach:
The pool is nice and big with lots of available chairs. As the ocean was red flagged (no swimming) we spent most of our time at the pool. A note of caution as the tiles are starting to come up and can cut your feet. Some of my pool volleyball partners suffered foot wounds. The beach is very clean and has nice sand. There are also plenty of chairs and little sun shelters available. Remember, the beaches in Cuba are all public and as the resort is next to the local Cuban
"campground resorts" you can have quite a few local visitors -- keep this in mind when leaving valuables behind as the resort is not responsible for your lost items.

5) Excursions:
All ocean related excursions were cancelled due to poor weather so I can't provide any info. Really enjoyed the Nature Tour.

Another great trip to Cuba, this was our annual girls trip. The resort is smaller than some we have been too and we enjoy that. The rooms were very clean and the staff were amazing. It was too bad we only got in the ocean one day as Hurricane Noel was threatening us... The disco had lots of good dancing English Music. We took a tour in to Havana and we did it with the cab service instead of the tour and it was great. Thanks for a great vacation and looking to return in January with my husband.

Thanks to all of you for writing reviews and answering my emails before booking Jibicoa! With your asistance there were no surprises and we had and excellent holiday!

All of the reviews are correct. Jibacoa is a wonderful place even though we had tropical storm Noel visit during our stay. The best testimonial to the quality of Jibicoa is the fact so many people are repeat guests. Very large numbers of tourists return multiple times. It is not unusual to see incoming guests and staff embrace in a welcome back hug. The staff, though keeping their distance, can quickly become friends and not just to obtain monetary gain. It is a truly unique environment.

I could go on forever about the positives but forgive me for not doing so. I will just echo all those reviews before mine and I will probably be a returnee too.

A few slight negatives; the food in the main restaurant is marginal and even though Jibicoa is the closest hotel to Havana it is still a $Cdn 65 - 100+/couple return ride. Still very manageable for such poor country and such a tremendous city to visit. Truly an historic time capsule. Late evenings in Havana are quite "dark" as electricity is conserved. It's safe to wander but a little disconcerting.

Hope this helps
Glad to answer any specific questions