Before I left I read alllll the reviews and really think it helps to know a few of the little things before you go.

ABOUT THE OTHER COMMENTS:

I think there are a couple comments written on this site that should be cleared up. First people said stuff about the beach not being white sand. Its beautiful. This site had me worried that it would be corse sand which it was NOT. The beach is perfect! Dont worry. People said the food was bland or not great. I beg to differ. The hotel tried to cater to canadian culture and makes things like pizza, burgers & pasta. As we all know they cant import from the US so its a little different. What I dont understand is why people go to Cuba to eat Canadian food. Give the chicken, rice & peas and other local foods a try. The fish is awesome. I didnt see one broken chair on the beach. Other than that the other comments were pretty acurate.

THE HOTEL
This is a great hotel. I like that its not "on the strip". It was located about 40 mins from the airport. We took the hotel bus which gives you a nice intro to the island. You get to see how green and beautiful it is. The hotel was super clean and it seemed like the maids were always busy cleaning. The staff was friendly and the grounds are really nice.

BEACH

AWESOME!!! great snorkling, nice sand and great service at the beach bar restaurant. We spent alot of time in the ocean and lounging on the beach. The have volley ball, soccer and dance lessons. Again its all what you make it. We really just wanted to relax. You can do as much or as little as you want.

STAFF

AGAIN awesome. They appreciate the tips and have to put up with drunk Canadians all day long. They work hard and keep the place clean and well run. Bring stuff down as the other comments said.

NIGHTLIFE

There are shows and activities going on. Its not like a wild Mexico trip and didnt seem to be a hip singles place. We had a blast but all hotels are what you make of it. Get involved and meet new people. We had a great time because of the other people we met. The disco was half empty but the few of us there made it fun. Free Drinks!!!

THE FOOD

MARTINOS was really nice to be served and have a romantic restautant atmosphere after a few days of buffet. the food was great and it was nice to eat by candle light with linen table clothes. Its not busy and nice as an alternative to the buffet. The buffet was really good and the service is great. They have diffenrent nights so its not boring. We didnt get breakfast at all for the whole week. It closes at 930 or 10am and we didnt make it out of bed til 11 each day. That was our fault. I heard you can get room service if you order the night before.

MY COMPLAINTS
There arent many, the hotel would be out of mint every few days, so... no Mohitos. That generally didnt last more than a day. The cups as you have read are small and need to keep being re-filled. A mug is handy and more environmentally friendly than the million cups you will use over the week. The pool was ice cold. You would think that it would be a good thing. No one used it. Its huge and no one was in it. We all would lay on the lawn chair by the pool but swim at the beach. The restaurant reservation thing is okay but we only go to one of the 3 specialty restaurants. Timing is everything so book early.

OTHER THINGS TO NOTE
bring back Cigars. We didnt know how expensive they were here. They are about 5 times the price so they make great gifts if you arent a cigar smoker.
All in all this is a great hotel. There was a great mix of ages, tones of Canadians and a slower pace. It is relaxing, fun, romantic, and well run. We really enjoyed our week at Breezes. Its a beautiful hotel which I would reccomend to anyone.

Robyn

This vacation was by far the best I have ever had
Nov 26-Dec 04, 2004

The Food
Buffet Restaurant was good, can't say that I loved everything because I am a picky eater. Having said that there was always something for me to eat. I ate a ton of fresh fruit, made to order pasta, white rice kind of the basics. Not a big dark meat lover so stayed away from that.
There breakfast was just like ours. Made to order omelets, toast, bacon, fresh juice and lots of fruit. Never felt hungry during the day.
The Cuban Restaurant was AMAZING I had their, salad, pork chops and for desert Guava/cream cheese this was yummy. You could compare it to strawberry cheesecake without all the fat.
The Italian restaurant was not my favorite but my girl friends loved it. I will say the shrimp cocktail was amazing along with the steak.
The Grill opened on the Wed that we were there and I had the opportunity to eat lunch there twice. I had the grilled chicken and fries this was just like our here in Canada. The chicken was always cooked jut perfect and the fries tasted normal. Very good food if you’re looking for true Canadian food!
***Quick note if you are a chocolate eater don't expect much from there chocolate deserts, they taste like they are made with cocoa or something.

The Staff
Absolutely amazing!!!! Mercedes is like another sister. She will make your evenings a blast if you participate in the disco. Get to know her because you will love her. Also do not over look your guards outside your complex. They love conversation as there hours are from 7-7. Giving them a little something will sure make there day. They are almost always over looked when it comes to tips etc. On our last day we 4 girls cleaned out our rooms giving all of our stuff to the security guards including toothpaste, soap, medicine, you name it we gave it. The look in their eyes was priceless. I also bought at the grocery store in the resort gum, toothpaste, toothbrushes and dark rum for both of my guards. Its better if you can bring this stuff from home but we did not know all of these things. We made a gift package for Mercedes as well with allot of feminine things.
We always tipped our maid with travel size gifts, razors and money. She always made extra effort to do little things for us. Folding our clothes, extra creamers for our coffee, butterflies on our bed swans in the bathroom etc.
The bar folk also appreciate tips and good conversation. Get to know them and they will go out of their way to make sure your happy.

Entertainment
Always a blast! We went as 4 girls and we were known as the Valley Girls all along the resort. It really is what you make of it. We found there were allot of older people at this resort but we even had them involved with us at the disco. Our ages ranged from 26-34. The night shows weren't that spectacular but like I said we made the best of them. Always laughing and participating. That’s the key to having fun.

Trips
Did the Havana day and night trip? 79$ I think Convertible Pesos. Well worth it. Our tour guide Navy was a doll. We laughed so much with her, and yet still managed to learn everything she told us. We stopped over at a restaurant in Havana for lunch. Beautiful spot. We had red snapper, rice and some fruit cocktail thing. The food was good. For supper we went to another hotel where we showered and changed for our trip to Tropicana. The food here looked amazing but we found it to be horrible. Nothing even close to Jibacoa. After eating this stuff our resorts food became amazing to us. Tropicana show was beautiful. If you want to be able to take pictures be prepared to pay 5 convertibles if not leave your camera on the bus. Cola other than the 1 they give you is 3 convertibles. Be aware.
- Took the bicycles (free to the resort) into Jibacoa village. Simply an amazing adventure. Mingled with allot of the locals. We were invited into some of there houses. This was very intriguing to me. Very clean but yet so simple. Really makes you think about how spoiled we are. If you do this try to bring some goodies to show your gratitude. These people are far from the resort about 1 hour bike ride and they do appreciate it more than you would guess.
- Did the catamaran ride 2 times and loved it
- Took the paddleboats out and sunbathed, while the others paddled, this was funny.
- Salsa dancing on the beach. This was fun.
- Allot of snorkeling. This is a must try. You will be amazed at what you will see.
Didn't get to do much of any other stuff offered because I had a couple of hangovers and the other things were morning things. Stay clear of the tequila in the disco.

Internet service offered for 6 convertibles

Would highly recommend this resort to anyone. Your not lost in the shuffle of tourists like Varadero or Havana. It’s peaceful and enjoyable.
Will return next year with or without my buddies. So much more to experience that 1-week was not enough. Next time I will explore outside the resort with the new Cuban friends I made and experience Cuba as it should be experienced.
If any of you wish to ask me any question do not hesitate. This is a topic I could discuss forever.

My boyfriend (age 26) and I (age 22) went to this resort from Aug 28 to Sept 4. This was our first vacation to a resort like this, so we were a little skeptical. Even so, we loved it! The location was out of the way, but very beautiful. There is a hike every morning to the top of a big hill. The view of the resort and ocean is very much worth the hike. We have great pictures of everything we did at the resort.

The food was good, you never go hungry. There is a designated time for three main meals, but you can also go to the beach hut for food during the afternoon. There is also food at night.

Every night there is a performance of some sort. Be aware that the audience is expected to participate, so if you aren't into this don't sit in the front!

We took the catamaran tour that was offered, but did not enjoy it at all. Was definitely not worth the 75US per person. The island that they travel to is very beautiful though. The guys (Manuel was great) down at the beach (where the snorkelling gear is) will take you on a small catamaran ride if you ask. If you are interested in leaving the resort for any tours, the scooter tour was great. The roads were not in good condition, but we very much enjoyed that trip. We met some of the local people from a village. There were young boys who were very excited to recieve the candy that we brought them. There was also a sweet old lady who makes things out of palm tree leaves (in the village). Very nice souvenirs/gifts for a cheap price.

We left small gifts and tips for the maids and the wait staff. They are very appreciative and left us a different towel arrangement every day.

A lot more to be said...but I will stop at saying that this was an awsome vacation and we would love to return to this resort.

This resort was great, I think that that people that can’t have a great time here probably have a tough time having a good time anywhere. The rooms were always very clean, nothing special as far as decor goes but very nice. Each room has a deck to sit out at which is nice to have that late afternoon cigar which won’t bother the other guests. There’s plenty of activities if you want to be active such as Beach Volleyball, Sand Hockey, and even some Road Hockey. I would suggest doing the walking trips and scooter tours as they are well worth the money. The scooter tours take you to some interesting places and the range in cost from $8.00 to $15.00 so they are quite cheap. The walks are all free and very informative about how some Cubans live. The morning hike that goes up the hill behind the resort is great. The view is spectacular but I’ll warn you that there is always professional beggars that come up there and wait for the tourists. If you tell them that you have nothing to give them they will leave you alone. Onto the food, it was good and there was always something to eat. For all the Seafood eaters it is Seafood night on Thursdays so don’t book the other restaurants. The Restaurants I would highly recommend the Italian one which was very good. I can’t say the same for the Cuban as it was very much like the buffet food but more limited. We went to both our first week but only the Italian in the second.
We also went to both Havana and Varadero for day trips. Havana we went with a local Cuban in his 57 chevy which was great other then he could not speak English and our Spanish is very limited too. The one plus was that we didn’t get bothered by beggars as they look for the people coming off the tour buses. We talked to some people on the tour buses and they said the beggars were everywhere in Havana. The history of Havana is great and I would suggest everybody head to Havana for a day.
Our trip to Varadero we rented a Taxi for the day as it was the cheapest way. Varadero is way more commercialized and to me it is just Hotels and a Beach. The beach is absolutely beautiful and sandy but we found no real Cuban culture like in Havana. If you are going down single and want to party and stuff then Varadero is where to go though. They have some interesting night clubs that look like a blast and I would love to go but I don’t do that scene any more (might get me in trouble).
A little warning to people that are thinking about Golf Packages!!!!!!! It always states that you are on your own for transportation to the course. It will cost you well over $50 for a round trip to the course so what looks like a good deal at the travel agency turns out to be pretty expensive.

Ps. The Beach Bar was to open the day we left.