We stayed at Jibacoa Jan 6 to Jan 20th and had a great time. I read many reviews on this site prior to my departure and would have to say that they were quite accurate.


Tours:
The scooter tours are excellent and informative. Best of all, they are cheap! Definately a must. The morning walking tour with Erik was fun as well - bring proper footwear although I made it in my flip-flops, despite Erik's lack of confidence! There are other activities offered throughout the day - spanish lessions, dance lessions etc. There is also a nightly show (except Sunday's) which is fun. If you decided to skip the show, don't worry, you will hear most of it from your hotel room although we were able to "tune it out" quite easily as well. Havana is definately a must! Our guide was excellent and knew his history. I would not recommend spending alot of your money at the market. You can purchase better and cheaper items right at the hotel. However, if you see something you like in the hotel store, buy it, because it might not be there the next time. For cigars, we ended up purchasing ours at the factory in Havana because they were fresher than the one's at the hotel store. If you are going to go black market, my advise is to NOT buy at the Havana market. You WILL get approached many times throughout your trip by more reputable people. We did not go to the Tropicana show, but other's at the hotel said it was great. Another cheaper option for Havana is to take a taxi with another couple. It will cost about $45 per couple as compared to about $50 a person for the bus tour and the taxi driver will give you a comparable tour. We also took the Jeep tour which takes you to the caves, a varadero beach for snorkelling, and right into the countryside where you will see "the real Cuba." Our guide took us on several non-scheduled stops and was willing to cater to our interests. ALL of the participants enjoyed the tour. There was only 8 of us (2 jeeps) and we enjoyed getting a more personal tour. We seen another tour group that had about 15 jeeps and we probably would not have taken this tour just due to the size.

Hotel:
The rooms were clean and the cleaning staff friendly. The food was fine and there were many choices. I've read many reviews about the food being bland, but really, it's not that bad at all. For supper, get there before 8:30PM, or else you may have to wait in line. The desserts were a gamble at times. The waiters gave great service. The Italian a la carte restaurant served good food but we were not impressed with the Cuban one. We brought many gifts to give away, such as soap, hair products, razors, etc. We brought medicine as well and gave this to staff and well as to the doctor on duty. We wished we had brought more, because the need is great. Definately bring medicine for yourself, because they have nothing and I mean nothing! Several guests that we met can attest to this!! The hotel is remote, and this is why we chose it. The beach was never crowded and we were able to get a lounge chair effortlessly. If you like big markets, a lot of nightlife and being around lots of people, then this is not your resort. The age group varies (we are in our 30's) and we had no problem finding people in our age group. However, it is definately a couple's resort.

Weather:
It was great the first week, but not for the second. This is a chance you take. We made the mistake by waiting to do our water sports in the second week and then not getting the chance. So, if the weather is good, I suggest doing the snorkeling. Keep your tours to the bad weather days. Also, bring some warm clothing. The evenings get chilly.

Other tips:
When you arrive, there are Cubans at the airport that will try to take your luggage to the bus, which is a very short distance and then they will want a tip. If you say no, they will not pester you. Learn to say NO. You will get good at it, especially in Havana. We found that Cubans love Canadian memorabillia. My spouse had a hat with a Canadian flag decal on it and people were constantly asking to have it. One man in the market wanted to barter some of his products for it. Some Cubans asked us for Canadian pins.

I would not suggest exchanging your money at the airport. This can be done at the hotel and you will avoid the line-ups. If you want to tip the bus driver, use canadian money. Also, you will need $25 pesos to leave the country(per person). We separated this money and left it in our safe so that we didn't spend it.

And most importantly, have fun! That's what a vacation is all about.

P.S - Our wedding was great. Stress-Free. All we needed to do was show up!

I was at Breezes Jibacoa between Jan 26 and Feb 2. Just about everything there was satisfactory or very good. My only two "complaints" were that the pool wasn't heated (brrr!) and my maid sometimes missed changing my sheets, cleaning the edges of counters and floors (dead bugs left there for days at a time.) But given the serious complaints other people have about their resorts, this place is just great.

Some tips on enjoying:

SCOOTER TOURS
Take the scooter tours. You can get Javier to drive and you just ride on his scooter (this is what I did b/c I have never driven one before and was kind of nervous.) They are inexpensive ($9-15 CUC for most) and great fun. Javier is a good tour guide, and next time I go, I'm going to ask him to take me someplace tourists don't go. Get off the beaten track if you can.

BUFFETS
Arrive early for each meal b/c they are slow re-setting tables. There's good variety at lunch and dinner (lunch - build your own pasta - very yummy!) EAT THE FISH. It's delicious!

Re: desserts. Anything made with pastry or that has meringue will be delicious. The cookies are awesome. The baked loaves (e.g. banana bread or fruit loaf) are really good. Avoid batter-based, layer cakes. They tend to be dry and not very tasty. Avoid the marshmallow cake - it looks like one big slice of white styrofoam, and tastes about the same.

There is plenty to eat at the buffets (as evidenced by my weight gain!), and the food is of okay quality - same as any buffet where the stuff is mass-produced and sitting under heat lamps/on burners.

A LA CARTES
Italian: Appetizer: the seafood soup has giant chunks of fish in it. Main: The shrimp in lobster sauce wasn't worth ordering. Dessert: The "nougat glace" is like really dense ice cream - I could have eaten five more!

Cuban: Appetizer: the corn fritters in cheese sauce weren't good. A bit soggy and boring. Go for the shrimp cocktail. Main: the snapper was delicious! Dessert: Cuban cream. Like a cold, dense creme brulee, and very tasty.

BARS
The lobby bar is open 24 hours and, in the opinion of my new friends and I, the best for mixing drinks. I drank a lot of virgin (or lightly alcoholic) chocolate monkeys, mojitos, and pina coladas. They will take instructions on how to mix other drinks or if you like things a certain way.

TIPPING
Rather than money, most of the time I gave little gifts. No one ever balked at getting goods rather than money - I believe the gifts are worth more than the money because that stuff is so expensive for the locals to buy. A lot of guys got a disposable razor and a soap - they all accepted happily. Women, I gave tampons or little perfumes. If you really want to make someone's day, buy children's multivitamins, adult's multivitamins, over-the-counter drugs (antacids, Pepto Bismol, Tylenol), shoes, clothing. The most appreciative people were the ones who don't often receive gifts (like the beach towel guy, or cooks.) In very touristy areas, this stuff isn't special to them anymore. I did give a brand new shawl/armchair throw to a 78-year-old lady in a nearby fishing village (she makes purses and hats out of palm tree leaves.) She hugged and kissed me twice and told me she loved me. Maybe the older generation is more appreciative because they remember when they had very little. But please, bring gifts for the Cuban people who welcome Canadians so warmly, and give to people who don't usually have access to these luxuries.

SHOPPING
Booze, cigars, t-shirts are cheapest at the resort. Not the airport, not the Havana market... Buy at the resort! (Che Guevara t-shirt: $8 CUC at resort, $10-16 CUC elsewhere.)

The positive reviews on this site have a lot of truth to them. This is a great resort and I would not only recommend it, I would return. It might be nice to try new places, but if you want a guaranteed good time at a good resort, go here.

Went down for a wedding Jan23-30/05. Had a blast, the weather was a tad windy at times but we had 7 days of sun and came back with a great tan. The staff is great and although we kept a few of them up until 4am drinking at the lobby bar they seemed alright with it. The snorkeling was amazing and the beach was great. We didn't have any problems at all with the resort. Try the scooter tours, they are a blast and make sure you order the Habana Especial.......100 times over.

All in all this was a great resort with well kept grounds and decent food.

I just arrived back from Breezes Jibacoa last night, and wanted to add my few comments. All of the positive reviews you read here are spot on, including most of the advice people have given.
I had a gardenview room that was central, yet quiet. Facing the pool will be noisy if you aren't at the show, contributing to the noise! The food was plain but plentiful - the fresh bread was excellent. If you arrive for dinner about 8pm, expect a line up, but there is often room on the central patio if you want to eat out there.
Although I didn't do the Tropicana night on the Havana trip, one lady that I met did. She said the show was great, but was surprised by the hotel room that they give you to 'freshen' up after your long day in Havana. The thing they don't tell you is that your whole tour shares the same room!! They may get a second room if it is a big tour, but basically you have to wait until it is your turn, then hurry up and get changed so the next people can get in. They didn't even have enough fresh towels!
The nightly shows were OK - I only sat all the way through a few although I came to the start of most of them. The disco is kind of quiet most nights - they mostly play salsa so no one dances much, except the tourists that just arrived and are hearing the sundance for the first time! They will play your CDs if you ask them though.
Something new this month - I understand many indoor spots in Cuba are going non-smoking. This comes into effect Feb 9th if I recall correctly, and isn't popular with a lot of the tourists. When I arrived Jan 17th, you could smoke in the disco. By the time I left there were no smoking signs on the door and tables. Not a well-enforced rule (yet).
They do have hair-dryers in the bathrooms, but you have to hold down the 'on' button to use them. So if you are used to styling with a dryer like me, you may want to bring your own. I just got a new hair style for two weeks! They have converters in the room so you can easily use your digital camera, dryer etc, but you will need to bring an adapter so your plug will fit into the converter. I think it is the same adapter as I have used in Switzerland.
I highly recommend this resort, and will probably go back.