I agree with was has been said about rep. Elias Valor. Great guy! Always willing to help you out.

It is my second time in a Cuban all-inclusive and what I like most is the food. It is healthy, it is fresh (especially the fruit) and there is always plenty of it. Of course, if you are a junk food junky, this might not be the place for you as McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Kentucky chicken do not operate here (another plus!)

What gives Tropicoco an edge over Varadero Hotels is that you can easily go to Havana on a day excursion. The beach is quite crowded and busy on the weekends with Havana residents coming down but, look at is as an opportunity to meet the locals. If they do not try to sell you cigars, they are friendly.

I definitely intend to go back one day.

What an awesome review from the TripAdvisor Member, Hamilton, Ontario.

I agree with him that this is a great hotel, and I’ll even kick in an extra point because of the price.

As a single traveller I paid 35 CUC per night in March 2005 - and that’s All Inclusive!

You can check out some video and pictures of the hotel at
http://cuba.atheart.dk

SOLYSUN/HOLASUN REPRESENTATIVE:
This guy is amazing! I tried out his Spanish, English, French and German and it wouldn’t surprise me if he also has Italian in the repertoire.

Impressive!

THE BARS and the DRINKS
Fernando is the only one who can make a reel good coffee :-)

Hotel Tropicoco

SOLYSUN/HOLASUN REPRESENTATIVE: Wow!!!! is the only way I can describe him. Elias Valor my hat is off to you. This gentleman is an awesome person. A 10/10 does not adequately represent his value compared to tour reps we have had in Mexico. Maybe 12 or 13/10 is more apt. He very quickly makes you feel welcome in a foreign country and unlike most tour company representatives he is “VERY VISIBLE” and willingly offers whatever guidance and assistance he can for whatever need you have. He has very good fluency in at least 4 languages. We asked his advice on which “one” tour to take and it was one to the northern west most province and some of the scenery was breathtaking. For a 12 hour tour the cost was 52CUC which in Mexico might be a 3-5 hour tour, so it was well worth the money. Once we had settled on this tour, he saw me waiting for him as he was talking to a new incoming group, he excused himself, came over to me to collect the money so I would not be inconvenienced by any wait. After he was done with that new group, he arranged the tour for us, he then personally delivered the receipt/voucher to our room, arranged the wake up call AND ensured that the kitchen staff had a sandwich and drinks available for us since we were scheduled to leave ½ an hour before the dining room opened for breakfast. That was above and beyond the call of duty when you think that this is a 2* rated hotel. A 6* person.

HOTEL ROOMS: More than adequate, quite large, always kept clean by a very accommodating cleaning staff. They could use a bit of sprucing up in that a couple of the hooks that hung the curtains up were broken and the shower had the hand held end shower head and if you turned it on with the hand held part in its proper holder it shot right to the ceiling. The step-up lip on the floor out of the shower is maybe ½ an inch at best so you get water outside the shower area most times but this is something that has me baffled as I have had the same situations in both Mexico and Cuba, from 2* to 4.5*. You get used to it and learn how to minimize the excess water quickly. They could use a hair blower in the bathroom. They could use some bigger bed sheets since with one sheet you aren’t able to tuck any corners under the mattress but just ask for a second sheet & put them sideways and you can tuck them under so they stay in place. All in all, no big complaints, but the could use dressers to put your clothing in, rating 7/10

THE BEACH: To set matters straight, in a couple of the previous reviews there were complaints about the beach and its overall cleanliness. First of all, the Hotel/Resort “DOES NOT” own the beach!!!! It is a public beach, the same as Wasaga Beach is up here in Ontario is, on Georgian Bay. And consequently ignorant people leave messes behind themselves for someone else to clean up. Regrettably it seems to be at least ½ and ½, as to locals and we visitors. It is too bad that we as a whole can’t respect their country a little more and help keep it clean for both them and us. Granted one of the down sides is that the garbage cans are few and far between. Yes, I did find a little bit of glass laying around but it is something that I was consciously looking for given the previous reviews so I picked it up. No big deal as I do the same at Wasaga, Presquile, or Hamilton Beach down by Hutch’s.
The sand itself is quite nice and made up of a lot of broken down coral and shells. It is very pleasant to lie on. The view is quite beautiful and the water is very clear such that you can see the sandbars out in the water and go out a fair distance without going over your head. The downside to all of the sand out in the water is that there is nothing for the fish to eat so snorkeling in front of the hotel was a wasted effort besides for seeing how the bottom shifts with the waves which was sort of neat in itself.
Given that this is a public beach, there are thatched beach umbrella’s for hire at 2 CUC and the normal chairs we are used to are 1 CUC. There is a supply of chairs for hotel guests down by the beach though at no cost. These are sort of a unique design where your rear end sits directly on the sand and if you lean to far back you feel like you might go over. After a couple of shifts you got used to them. I can’t say that I ever saw all of the umbrellas being used at the same time.
There is a Catamaran and some paddle boats available on the beach which I did not partake of. The cost of the catamaran seemed to change with the tide. One time I was told $12/40 minutes but another $12/hour. The last two days we were there, the water was too rough for it (and us) to go out on the boat which was a shame as I wanted to hire the boat for 2-3 hours as he said there was a nice place to go snorkeling about 20-25 minutes away. Oddly enough he wasn’t very busy over the course of any day and may have only set sail for 1-3 trips per day. Quite a poor ratio of use, so chances are for a longer trip of more than an hour I am sure that he would negotiate a cheaper price per hour.
There are a few restaurants (to varying degrees) set up on the beach that serve booze, or booze and food. We only sat at one and had a couple of local coolers called “Loco”. They were “mucho tasty” especially at 1.5 CUC each. One person told me that these govt authorized restaurants were the reason the Hotels “Juice Bar” did not serve any alcohol. They weren’t allowed to and the hotel had to negotiate hard for even the little strip of land it is allowed to use across the road on the way to the beach. The juice bar seemed to be open from early morning to late afternoon. From the front door of the hotel to the waters edge is about a 2-3 minute walk, so very close and convenient. There are some armed guards on the beach but they were quite pleasant and in some regards, they did make you feel safer. On the whole 6or7/10 for beach and the atmosphere.

GETTING INTO TOWN: The hotel offers a free shuttle service at I believe 9AM, 3PM and 8PM. But you do have to book it and if its full, its full, so book it early. For convenience a 12PM shuttle would be much more nicer, so we took one cab company (ordered from the entrance of the hotel) into Havana 13.04 CUC (La Habana) and Panataxi back 12.84. Panataxi was cheaper by about .20 pesos. No big difference as they both go by mileage. Unlike one reviewer I would not recommend public transit in any way shape or form even if it is dirt cheap. Describing the transports as a tin of upright sardines would be quite appropriate. The shuttle bus could be arranged in a better manner by the hotel, so only 5/10 on this

THE RESTAURANT/BUFFET: The wait staff is quite decent to deal with. You have a whole range of waiters/waitresses from the rookies who are scared to try any English to those who are seasoned pros and know how to ask diners if they would like white/red wine or cervesa with dinner in English or French. They are quite attentive most times.
The food on the whole was very reasonable in quality and variety. Sure they could use more spices and variety with the fruits. They almost always seemed to have a beef, pork and chicken dish available. Their veggie selection was a bit on the lacking side but its hard to complain when you have choices such as Roasted Whole Turkey, Beef Tenderloin etc on some nights. Their sauce for their pasta dishes left a bit to be desired as per a tomatoe sauce, but it was still palatable. My favourite part of dinner - deserts. No real difference from the Grand Flamenco Xcaret 4.5* in Mexico, or the Blue Bay Club 4* in Cancun or Club Maeva 3* on the Mayan Riviera. They look better than they taste :>)) They didn’t have the selection of the others but there was usually at least one item that was good and a couple that were Ok.
My biggest gripe in the dining room was the itsy bitsy teenie weenie little dinky drinking glasses. To get a normal sized glass of juice you needed 3- 4 of them. BRING your own MUG!!! The flavour of the juice could also be drastically different from day to day. I did accidently try some juices that I normally wouldn’t have and some were really good.
One thing that I had to keep in mind, is that this is a country that has been blackballed by the USA since at least 1962 (more likely 1959) and consequently they lack many of the goods, foods and services that we take for granted. For the most part, the chicken you eat in Cuba is Canadian and most of the beef is either Canadian or from Argentina. It will be a sad day for the Cubans when the Americans lift their blockade, their way of life will forever disappear. It is very quaint to see all the cars from the 1930's, 40's and 50's driving around and it would probably take 1-2 years for the old vehicles to end up in the US. In summary Food 6/10, service 7/10, atmosphere 6/10
One item that was mentioned by a previous reviewer was bird droppings in the food. Well yes this is a possibility even though I can’t say that I personally saw it or heard about its happenstance. Since there are large windows left open in the dining room, there is a sparrow sized bird that shows no fear of entering the dining area to comb the floor for food. Personally I found that this does give the place a more tropical feel to it but there is always the potential for the old saying “birdie, birdie in the sky you put whitewash .......... I like birds and have had pet budgies in the past but it seems our feathered friends have but two purposes in life - eat and poop.

THE BARS and the DRINKS: Yes it is possible to get sick of the Drinks here. The selection is quite limited to beer and RUM. They do have a few other available drinks but what they could really, Really, REALLY use are some good recipe books as to how to make various mixed drinks using Rum. Even if they had these books then the next question would be availability of the additional ingredients to make drinks such as Planters Punch etc. One of the stupidest things I came across was how different bars had different types of drinks or lacked specific items. The pool bar didn’t have ice or beer. The lobby bar (to the side of the front desk) had beer, pop, a few mixed drinks and Rum, the lounge bar had Scotch and some liqueurs but no beer or pop. A real pain in their small plastic cups!!! Again hit Tim Hornies and but a Timmy MUG. After getting tired of Rum & cola, I was drinking Scotch and cola which meant a trip to two bars each time I wanted a drink. The scotch was actually quite good, in fact closer to a rye whiskey in flavour than a expensive Scotch. The pop is horrible in flavour. Worse than PC cola. You can buy Pepsi or Coke but even those have a different flavour since they come from South American countries. The bartenders have elbows that have a tendency to seemingly cramp when they are pouring the liquor so I got used to splitting what I normally got into two cups. When it wasn’t busy in the Lounge bar the one bartender was actually kind enough to do my pop runs for me when I had my notebook up and running. My utmost thanks go out to Fernando for courtesies shown and I promise when I return I will remember his school aged daughter. The service 8/10, the selection of drinks could be much better, so 5/10.

THE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP: I can’t really vouch for this as I only saw parts of two shows. One was a dance troupe that was brought in and they were very well choreographed and the costumes certainly didn’t leave much to the imagination. Another night the hotel staff put on a show and I saw one skit and that was enough. They did seem to have a presence on the beach during the day but again, they did their thing and my wife, daughter and I did our thing. It wouldn’t be fair to rate them.

THE FRONT DESK: There were some comments made in previous reviews that they really didn’t want to help people. Personally I think that their biggest problem is fluency in languages other than Spanish and how people describe the problems they have. In my daughter’s room once you flushed the toilet it kept running and running and running. Since it was a push down to flush rather than a lever, after my daughter and wife reported it to the front desk, I realized all you had to do was grab it and pull it back up and problem semi-solved. Try explaining that in a language someone doesn’t fully understand. When we went down to cancel the repair request they said that someone would be up in 10-15 minutes but we told them not to bother. In hindsight the trick may be to get someone who speaks your language and is fluent Spanish as well to explain your problem to the women on the front desk. Mid-trip I also asked for 20 single CUC’s from the front desk (for tips) and I left one behind for the desk clerk and she looked genuinely appreciative and when I came up for something else later she jumped up and was right there to help. At the beginning there was also one minor issue where my daughters room was initially on a different floor than my wife’s and mine. The front desk had that resolved in about 10 minutes at check-in. Rating 7/10

THE AIRPORT: We flew Cubana Airlines on this trip and the experience was far better than Skyservice or Air Transat. The supplied food was actually a decent quality and the seating area seemingly bigger. The exchange rate here is about as good as it is going to get, so you may as well use it here. Customs was quite easy to clear. Please note though that all DVD’s are illegal in Cuba so I pulled my DVD-ROM out of my notebook and left it in Canada and taped over the opening and got through quickly. For more information go to the Cuba Tourist Board in Canada @ --- where you will find more information and contact info if you have specific questions as I did with my notebook. The wait to leave the Havana airport is a little on the aggravating side. Its about a 25 minute drive, so the guestimate would be about 20CUC to get to the hotel by cab. If you can split the cost then this might not be a bad option, BUT if you do please let the tour rep know that you are doing it!!!! We waited an extra ½ hour, at the airport, on the bus, waiting for a couple that never showed up, but beat us to the hotel. Cubana Airlines compared to others 8/10. I still miss Wardair for service. Airport experience and conveyance to the hotel maybe 6/10. Probably be higher if it weren’t for the ignorant couple that didn’t check in at the airport and caused us to wait the extra ½ hour.

The CUBANS: On the whole they are phenomenally friendly and helpful. Their society is very different from ours in that their basic necessities are taken care of by the state. All health care and education are free. Apparently 1 out of 7 have a university education. The receive food rations that give them approximately 3 weeks of food, the rest they have to purchase themselves. Housing is relatively cheap and their utility bills are almost non-existent. Their overall cost of living is quite low. This is how they are able to exist on salaries of 9-17 CUC per month. To us an unbelievably low amoun,t since the CUC (Cuban Convertible Peso) is pegged at the same rate as the US dollar. When we returned to Canada we ensured that we brought virtually no money back, as we tipped a little bit of money, to a lot of different people to hopefully make their lives a bit easier. Even the beggars that we saw were pleasant and if you said no then they still looked at you and smiled.

IN SUMMARY: Given the cost and 2* rating we went to this hotel expecting no more than a beach, a hotel with a restaurant that had free drinks. Tropicoco and their staff far exceeded my initial expectations. Yes, there is a lot of room for improvement from the food preparation (spice it up), to the room decor to the over all appearance of the hotel, but I would not hesitate to return and am still wishfully eyeballing the cost of 2 weeks ther right now. Knowing what I know now, my second trip to this hotel and locale would be much more fulfilling. I would be better prepared to see the sights in and around Havana. Take a map of Havana with various sights to see and a large cup (large Tim Hortons Mug would be ideal) for you to get drinks with for meals and everyday drinks whether it be water, juice, beer or liquor.

Hola all! I just spent 8 days at the Tropicoco in the Playa del Este region about 18km east of Havana. I found this hotel to be somewhat utilitarian in nature, functional but not dazzling. The room had air, cable, free safe, good hot shower and little else but a wardrobe. Maid service was good and it was reasonably clean. They also did laundry (personal) on site for a couple pesos a load.
The food went from a poor standard (breakfast) but I didn't try the fresh omlettes made to order so I had fresh fruit, an egg, a roll, coffee.
Lunch was usually routine, with fries, patties, pasta, and always lots of salads and specialty dishes. Supper was actually quite good, roast beef, fish, chicken (kiev) etc. so it was OK.
The beach is mixed Cubans and tourists so it has a different slant to it and I snorkled and sailed a lot but usually it is a cash bar, not all in. Be wary of leaving items unattended.
There is a free bus to Old Havana every 3 hours return so it's a great way to pop into see the sites without becoming mired in a lengthy excursion.
All in all, it was a cheap place to go at $520.00 plus for a week and there is actually lots to keep busy. The pool is decent but not a sculpted and terraced design, the shows were OK and there was motorcycle racing on a track behind the hotel. Mosquitos were a pain some nights but no biggie.
It is a good jumping off spot for Havana and always holds a room, booze and meals for those times you need them. As it was originally built by the Russians to facilitate their officials and staff for vacation purposes it is not the fanciest, but it is truly a sprawling huge structure, holding shops and services. There are also several outdoor bars and the like in the immediate nieghborhood.

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