I spent 10 days at the Hotel Tropicoco, while my parents stayed for 3 weeks. We agree with many of the other favourable reviews that indicate the Tropicoco is an average, relatively-clean Cuban resort that offers good value for money. Rather than reiterate the same points as everyone else, we've decided to simply list some pros and cons.

Pros:

- the long, beautiful beach with soft sand and refreshing water (a unique experience for foreigners as this is a public beach)
- the free shuttle bus to Havana (brand-new, spacious, air conditioned buses with comfortable seats)
- good service at both of the upstairs bars in the hotel for coffee and alcoholic drinks (we didn't frequent the downstairs / pool bar in the hotel, and the beach bar was disappointing and unreliable)
- helpful and friendly staff (especially the dining rooms servers and the maids, who even did our personal laundry!)
- predictable, wholesome food at the buffet (not fancy, but always edible, especially the eggs in the morning and the fruit at every meal)
- small but adequate rooms, with working air conditioners (relatively clean, and only 1 day without hot water)
- good location for tourists (safe area during the day or night, located close to a currency exchange office, health clinic, and several convenience stores)
- tours and excursions were easy to arrange through an agent in the lobby
- multiple taxis were always available directly outside the hotel

Cons:

- as mentioned earlier, the beach bar didn't seem to have a regular schedule and had a very limited selection of drinks
- certain front desk staff were less helpful than others
- prepaid cards for internet access were in very short supply (otherwise, when they are available, the computer in the lobby is quick and reliable)
- the only bar with excellent Cuban beer stops serving at 10 P.M.!
- institutional architecture (think: hospital)

Overall, my family and I enjoyed our stay at the Tropicoco. If you're thinking staying here or have already booked your trip to the Tropicoco, please keep the saying "you get what you pay for" in mind. If you've stayed at a 5-star all-inclusive resort previously, it's not reasonable to expect the same experience here. However, it is reasonable to expect a clean room, decent food / drinks, a beautiful beach, friendly staff, and a fascinating city nearby to explore - remember, you're (probably) only paying $50 - $100 CAD per person per night to stay here.

When we got back from the Hotel Tropicoco I expected to write a review that would refute all the horrible things we read about this place just before we left (book now, then read the reviews later, seems to be our motto). But I found that Sir Hilary and funonthecheap have beaten me to it. Guessgirl22 is a little over-the-top in my estimation. If she thinks this is a 5 star hotel, I can show her a few places on the Mayan Riviera that are 5 star hotels. The Tropicoco isn't one, but is rather a 2 star hotel struggling to become a 3, or at least a 2 1/2 star. Expecting the worst I was pleasantly surprised at what we found, thus the "Above average" rating. There's a little action on the streets, but nothing like that described from a few years ago. The rooms have been described well with many negative features, but ours was clean, and kept clean, the towels were new and fluffy, there was only one day with no hot water in the morning, but showering in tropical room temperature water isn't exactly torture, the shower temperature varies somewhat as toilets are flushed and other visitors turn on their showers in other parts of the building, little ants covered our toothbrushes the first morning until we learned to store them upright in the water glass (the toothbrushes, that is, not the ants), the drawers were mouldy so we hung up some of our clothes in the closet and kept the rest in the travel cases, there was no channel changer, but a peso on each pillow the first day, and a gift bar of soap from home resulted in a channel changer appearing as if by magic after we got back to the made-up room, the first two curtain hooks on the light blocking curtains were broken leaving the end hanging down, so I just took one from the middle and attached it to the end of the curtain. Yes, the food is boring and needs something to pick it up. A bottle of Jamaican scotch bonnet hot sauce from home did the trick. We ate once in Habana at a well regarded hotel, and the food wasn't particularly appetizing there either. But all buffet meals get boring after a while, no matter how good they are, so here's the trick. Don't have the same thing every day. For breakfast have an omelette one day, have pancakes the next, cereal after that, and then hard boiled eggs with bread you can toast on the omelette griddle, along with fruit juice and fruit. And the same with lunch and dinner. You're likely going to see some sort of fish (we actually got salmon one day), pork and chicken at the hot table. Don't take a little bit of each, stick to just one. You can get wine, beer, or mixed drinks from your server. I checked the wine and it's an industrial style bulk packaged product from Spain of no particular vintage that can best be described as not bad. The room maids work 6 days straight, and the wait persons every 2nd day from before breakfast until after dinner. I recommend you find a wait person in the restaurant that's somewhat familiar with the concept of customer service, and reward them with a peso or two, and you'll be rewarded with some service. I have to correct something in a previous review. Internet service is available in the lobby but I could never buy an access card that costs CUC$6 for one hour at the front desk. Every time they were expecting more in the near future. But two blocks to the west is the office that rents out the vacation homes in the area, and they have a couple of computers in the lobby and will sell access cards. But don't do what I did, and that's take the card back to the hotel. It can only be used where you purchased it. Also peso coins for tips are sometimes in short supply at the front desk. More are often promised in the near future as well. A ten peso note may result in a 5 peso note, a 3 peso note, and a couple of coins in some cases. If this happens have your partner, or someone else get the 5 or 3 peso note changed. One great feature of this hotel is its proximity to Habana, less than a half-hour away via the twice daily shuttle bus. You can take the early shuttle in, spend the day exploring Habana, then catch the late shuttle back. If they've overbooked keep CUC$15 for the cab ride back. We booked with a loose group, and from the comments I heard, I'm sure some could identify closely with the negative reviews posted earlier. But you get what you pay for, and this would be judged a "Best Buy" in Consumer Reports. If you want a 4 or 5 star all-inclusive, pay the price, but don't expect it from this place at the prices they charge.

We went to Tropicoco for two weeks from Dec.19-Jan.2/07. Agree wholeheartedly with Sir Hilary's review but would like to reflect on our own experience also.

The take-home message is this: Tropicoco is NOT the place for you if you expect to have Westernized servers anticipating your every need, obsessively sterile cleanliness, and gourmet Western food. This is a two-star hotel, in Cuba. If you are used to a three- to four- star Canadian hotel, such as a Holiday Inn or Hilton, you will be sorely disappointed and you should not expect to get high standards for low prices.

That is not to say you will not get good service here. If you are demanding and impatient with high expectations to be met, or too passive to ask questions and assert your needs, you will be received poorly and have a poor time. If you are polite, inquisitive, attempt to speak the language, and are able to roll with the inevitable ups and downs of life in Cuba (such as occasional power .outages) then you will fit in fine and have a great time! 'Nuf said.

TOP 10 MAJOR POINTERS
1) make sure you get lots of small CUC bills at the airport currency exchange, so you can tip hotel staff and buy snacks at the store across the street,
2) bring fitted sheets, in twin size. Unless you have arranged a special room such as the honeymoon suite, you will have twin beds without fitted sheets. Couples just push them together.
3) you will not have internet. You will have to go to Havana to check e-mail. This can be either a blessing or a curse.
4) bring a portable coffee mug or you will not be able to take your coffee away from the restaurant and sit on the nice patio with it. You can also use this to double up on drinks at the beach.
5) bring your own facecloth, soap and shampoo - hotel provides the latter two but not in great quantities
6) don't be shy with the front desk staff, but don't be rude either. They can be very helpful, you just need to ask and ask politely. Don't expect an orientation, just ask for what you need to know. It's as simple as that. And be sure to tip the person that helps you.
7) go to Havana for exciting nightlife. A $15 cab is well worth it.
8) bring spices (pepper, hot sauce etc.) if you like spicy food as Cuban food is traditionally not spicy
9) Bring A TON of sunscreen. It is $30 for a tiny little tube at the tourist pharmacy nearby. Plan not to run out.
10) Bring a couple of towels just for the beach.

On to the pros and cons.

BEACH
We cannot say enough about the beautiful beach. It is safe day and night, and clean. We went there to ring in 2008 and had it all to ourselves with a bottle of champagne, cigars and candles. Unforgettable. The water is cerulean blue and the sand is immaculate white. We miss it so!!!!

During the day, we did see some young Cuban women on Christmas holiday being pursued by older, Western men. Quite frankly, it reflected poorly not on the hotel, Cuba or Cubans, but on the Canadian and European men we saw pursuing such activities so blatantly. It was sad. Police were active on the beach, security at the hotel was diligent, and no overt prostitution was tolerated, at least none that we could see.

BEACH and HOTEL BARS
The beach bar is a short walk from the beach on a secluded path. This I believe is to prevent non-guests from approaching. If you have a problem walking a little ways up the beach for free drinks, expect to pay one CUC for a beer from a local establishment.

Speaking of beer, as others have said you will not find one after 10 PM at any of the hotel bars.

Both the hotel and beach bars make stiff, small mixed drinks. Great if you like the taste of alcohol. Better to bring a big mug and buy some mix at the store, or ask for more mix in your drink when the bartenders make it. The bartenders are very nice and professional.

PEOPLE & TIPPING
The staff working at the hotel make $15 CUC's a month (equivalent of roughly $15 Canadian). Therefore, tipping one CUC for each service provided goes a long way in the staff person's life and is a great precursor to good service in future. We went here under the assumption that we were staying in an all inclusive, but did bring a little money for tips. We noticed that the people we tipped gave great service, right from the cleaning staff to the front desk to the bar to the restaurant. Those we did not tip catered more to the guests that did tip. It's a way to make a better living, so of course that makes sense. In particular the housekeeping staff made us extra comfortable with fresh towels, a working TV remote, and a very clean washroom. They were extremely pleasant and helpful.

There is a bank some ways down the street and we could get more money as needed, but not as reliably as the airport currency exchange. Someday the bank was closed and other days it was just out of CUCs.

Barbarita from Sunwing was very accessible, very helpful and kind. She is not at all evasive as others have claimed here, and we saw here 12 of the 14 days we stayed at the hotel, at her scheduled hour of arrival. She caters to other hotels besides the Tropicoco, so obviously she will not be there 24/7, but only during her scheduled hour per day.

The Cubans we met on the beach were so friendly and so polite. An attempt at Spanish is always well-received. We were pleasantly surprised not to be surrounded by tourists from English-speaking Canada. If we wanted that, we would have just stayed in Ontario.

FOOD & DRINK
I don't understand people's negative impressions of the food and drink. Unless you are expecting prime rib dinner every night with home-cut fries, then you will be satisfied. Maybe not "wowed" but certainly satisfied. Sure, the first day we arrived just after lunch and were instructed that we had to wait until dinner to eat our first meal. 24/7 consumption and indulgence is foreign here and waiting to eat will surely be foreign to most Canadian tourists, as it was to us. No big deal, there is a store across the street that sells wine, water, pop, crackers, cheese, chips, cookies. As for the complaint that food is "recycled" - well of course if you are served rice with dinner you can expect rice pudding the next day. It's called conservation, a concept many in the West know nothing about, sadly.

I found breakfast exceptional - again, not the Hilton, but really tasty and satisfying. Fresh fruit and a custom-made omelette, with fresh sweet croissants, fresh bread, fresh fruit juice cocktails, tiny pancakes and syrup with exceptional coffee, and ham and cheese slices. Lunch was less than imaginative, but filling, with a good chicken dish occasionally, as well as ham, pasta and yummy soup. Dinner usually a more expansive meal, with chicken, meat and fish choices as well as more selection of (yummy!) desserts. Of course, rice and beans with everything. Christmas and New Year's Eve feasts were out of this world.... absolutely fabulous with turkey, roast pig, roast beef, potato and rice dishes, fabulous vegetables and fruits, and beautiful desserts.

We didn't try the a la carte restaurant, I wish we had because you do get a little bored of the Cuban buffet food after 5-7 days. It is customarily bland compared to other Latin American cultures.

CLEANLINESS & COMFORT
By and large, the place was clean, though not immaculate. Sure, there were a few tiny ants around waiting to eat our leftover bread if we brought it to our room. We just stopped doing that and never saw them again. The curtains were old, so not perfectly coiffed. The bedspreads and sheets were faded but clean. The old beds were very comfortable - surprisingly so, and we slept very well. It was quiet and well-lit. Towels were usually new, fluffy, and immaculate each day. We used some ingenuity to keep the showerhead attached to the wall. Good water pressure and temperature in our very clean, renovated bathroom.

The little patio off the lobby was the spot to be. Pleasant in the morning shade and in the evening twilight. Peaceful with the sounds of the caged birds singing nearby.

The hallways were spacious and lobby sofas were comfortable, though not up to my standards of clean but then again, I like a floor I can eat off of. So you just roll with the fact that this is a two-star hotel, and you move on to the fun stuff.

FUN STUFF
Havana and the beach! Like others have stated, these are the major two reasons to come and stay here. Havana is a must-see. The shuttle bus is easy to get on, I don't understand the difficulty others may have had booking that. We booked each day at the front desk for the following day's shuttle, got on and enjoyed the comfortable ride. It was never overbooked. The only complaint I have here is that I wish there had been more shuttle times. A cab is a cheap and easy solution, just make sure you never pay more than $15 ($20 tops).

We went on the Sunwing dolphin excursion for 115CUC. The dolphins are not the attraction, however, as they are locked in a concrete pen and you only get a couple of minutes with them, which was disappointing and a little disturbing. The snorkelling, lobster lunch, catamaran ride through Cayo Blanco and the all inclusive drinks and fun atmosphere, however, made this a nice excursion. Of note is the long drive to Varadero and an early wake-up call (6AM!) to get to the marina on time, and the long drive back. Nonetheless, we enjoyed getting away for the day.

In sum: If you are an intrepid traveller looking for a beautiful beach and cheap base for Havana, then this is the spot for you. If you are a novice traveller, don't expect to bring Canadian standards of service and quality with you. This is a Cuban-owned and operated resort, and it is different here.

Our travel guide to Havana called the Tropicoco a "honky-tonk". We agree, it has some dubious characters hanging around and terrible, tacky industrial architecture. There are also some very friendly and adventurous travellers with whom you can have great conversations around the hotel lobby. But who goes to Cuba to sit in their hotel all day? Go out and enjoy the amenities nearby and return to the quirkiness of the hotel each evening. Then get up and have the best expresso EVER on the beautiful patio and say to yourself "Viva Tropicoco!"

When I first started looking, you could get a an all-inclusive 7-day package for $200. I hesitated for a week and ended up paying $300. That's still pretty cheap! I would not pay more than that.

I read the reviews on Trip Advisor and they diverged wildly from ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE to I HAD A WONDERFUL TIME. I wondered how people could have such totally different experiences, and figured it was a question of different expectations, different standards and different holiday goals.

I figured that if I went expecting an absolute hellhole, food poisoning, hookers and hustlers everywhere, no shuttle service and watered down drinks - basically my worst nightmare, that at worst I would not be disappointed. I was going alone and wanted to spend all of my time in Havana, so as long as the beach was nice I didn't care so much about the resort. As a touring musician, I've stayed in some motels that would curdle your blood so I felt prepared.

My flight down on Air Transat was good, but incredibly cramped - as I suppose most planes are these days. When I got to the Varadero airport everything was very fast and smooth, which was a pleasant surprise after my previous experience in Holguin. There was just me and one other guy taking a shuttle to Playa Del Este and so they put us in a small cab. It took longer than I expected but was a peaceful ride.

After a good check-in experience, where I was offered a key to the room safe at no charge I headed up to my fourth floor room. It was as I expected not especially nice but not terrifying either - no crazy spiders, cockroaches, etc - just some ants but they looked harmless enough.

I checked for bedbugs and was nervous that I had found them ( I've never seen them so.. ) but after 7 days in the room I had no problems so clearly I was wrong. But that first nights sleep was pretty edgy.

Anyway, the room was nothing fancy - small beds that turned out to actually be more comfortable for my back than my brand new $700 Sealy at home. But no fitted sheets - this was my major complaint - every morning you wake up with the sheets all asunder.

There was a tiny little tv but it had a working remote control and they got HBO and a few other American channels which I enjoyed on the few nights that I came home early enough to bother turning on the tv.

The electricity all worked fine - lots of lights everywhere and no troubles. The air conditioning wasn't great - in terms of noise and not especially cool air, but air conditioning wasn't ultra necessary when I was there so no trouble. One problem was that the area around the air conditioner was not well sealed and so when we had a mini hurricane I had flooding.

My shower was fine - no trouble whatsoever with hot water. Although the shower was no longer mounted on the wall - I assume it had been originally. It was ok - I just held it and that did the trick. You ought to bring some nice toiletry stuff - they provide some soap and shampoos but they don't look super appealing. I was glad to have brought a bar of English Lavender for the shower.

I threw my stuff in the closet which in theory locks but due to age or poor design you could just pull it open anyway. I had no problems as far as I know anyway. I carried my valuables in a money belt most of the time anyway.

After checking out my room I sussed out the hotel - it was a pretty dead scene - all older single men chatting with each other in the 24-hour bar and the "disco" was deader than a doornail . I had no desire to get involved in that "sausage party" - being a lone wolf anyway - so I just grabbed a shot of low-end rum - Havana Club was conspicuously absent from the bar, as was coke and beer etc - and he had soft drink machines filled with scary looking mixes for what I assumed were eg daiquiri and etc.

So I just took straight rum and headed for the really pleasant quiet patio outdoors with palm trees and lots of adorable little birds in cages.

The next morning I didn't even bother with the Tropicoco breakfast - it looked scary. I headed for the beach and it was heavenly. I didn't experience the whole hooker/hustler thing at all. Just endless beautiful beach, gorgeous water and palm trees. Heaven! Although as you walk away from the resort a fair distance the beach is a bit unkempt in places with a dead goat/dog in one spot and some glass and garbage littering the beach in other spots. No big deal.

After a few hours I grabbed a cab into Havana for $15. Always check in Havana that the price will be $15. They will try to charge $20, you can just tell them $15 then walk away when they won't do it - they'll chase after you and say ok ok.

So I basically just used Tropicoco as a bed at night and an amazing beach in the mornings, then had a great time checking out Havana. On my last day I ate breakfast in the cafeteria - I watched the girl peeling fruit before my eyes so I knew it was fresh, and the grapefruit juice was killer diller! The bread was stale-ish but the cheese was great. The espresso rocked my world - one of the best shots I've ever had! I checkout out the dingy a la carte in the basement for lunch - the pizza was ok but the grilled chicken was ghastly and I felt bad a chicken had to die to make that atrocity. I couldn't eat it and just ran out after leaving a little tip for the waiter. I coudn't believe how long it took to make such a lacklustre meal!

There was an old man with an INCREDIBLY HOT girl (hooker!?) who looked like she could have been VERY underage. I was kinda creeped out especially because there was no discretion - he was fawning all over her in a pretty crude manner - otherwise I would MAYBE have assumed it was his daughter or granddaughter. So I guess there is that element of old men and hookers that the other reviewers speak of but because I didn't spend so much time around the resort I didn't really notice it.

Around the resort there are some restaurants and bars and you can walk to the town of Guanaboa.

For the shuttle back they were two hours late and I had to call to get things rolling. The taxi driver was incredibly slow getting us there and I ended up losing one of my suitcases when I got to Montreal. It's been three days now and it still has not showed up. If at all possible, just bring a carry on to avoid this kind of hassle.

So for me Tropicoco was a pretty great time - I came expecting the worst but I knew that I had barely even paid for my airfare let alone 7 days in a resort so I was actually pleasantly surprised. If you just want a place to lay your head - can tolerate some minor/major problems and roll with it and you want the best of both worlds - a great beach and checking out Havana - then you may be actually pleasantly surprised by your vacation at the Tropicoco.

But for a romantic couple or a family, for older couples etc that have high standards and don't have experience with sketchy places who are looking for a "Cuban 5-star beach resort" where they are just going to hang around the resort, drink the drinks, eat the food, stay in the lobby, enjoy their room, and enjoy the nightlife - then AVOID AT ALL COSTS. THIS WILL BE YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE AND A LIVING HELL. But for younger people with high tolerance for unpredictable situations - you can get a great bargain and have an AWESOME TIME. And if you totally can't deal with the Tropicoco - if you spent as little as I did then you could even just stay at a nice casa particular in Havana for not much more - if not less - than a cab ride to Havana and back!