We first stayed here in about 1983. We specificly asked the agent to put us her. she had never herad of it. Welll---- Alot has changed.

Staff is rude. The resort is dirty. The rooms smell. The "cleaning" staff has too much to do and not even real mops-- They spray the rooms with bug killer-- they spray the beds and the curtains and the towels (and your toothbrush...) We finally just told them to stop coming in to clean and put a sign on the door. We had to buy cleaner to clean the place. grung grows fast in a tropical climate. Don't stay here.

Dull food. Dirty dining room. Drinks are too strong. Not clean. Rude buffet -- PLEASE-- the meat is not cooked.

The buildings are rundown. The staff told us Cuba is directing tourists away from the Santa- Maria beach area. -- to resorts further from the towns or stuck on the restrictive Veradero pennisula. Tourism corrupts the people and makes them dependant upon gifts and illegal $. Find another place.

Most guest are old men-- really. European guys-- Italians and a few Belge. Fat. Old. Dyed hair. Old wives back home, I bet. Staff said they are the usual guests. They were there for "beach treasures"-- the live kind you pay for. They were searching for prostitutes. They found them. The guards at the little bridge enterance takes $.

Osman, the waiter is a prince. Put your comments in the book at the main desk, by the lobby phone. The gov' t really reads it. He speaks several languages; gave us top info; is spotlessly clean and caring. Take little gifts for he and his family. Head ache pills; school supplies; plastic dish scrub; Try to slip them to him secretly-- off resort. Staff must share tips and few do any work.

Casanova is the local tour rep. He does nothing. I mean... nothing. Write that in the lobby book. Don't stay here.

There is garbage on the beach-- cans and plastic. Again, Cuba doesn't clean it because they don't want tourists in Havana area.

Havana is great. Alot to do. Safe; cheap and beautiful. Many buildings are in very poor repair. People are very poor. Yet-- people are real. There is alot to learn.

Very bad experience. The food is repetitive (pork-chiken-pork-chiken) some fruits always the same - no towels for the beach and pool, some days no wine, no beer, no butter, no toilet paper,
no towels in room,
The place is dirtty with garbage all around.
To be closed in may therefor personnel leaving and not beeing replaced

Room ok.Very worn air con unit. Door fell off cupboard. Cleaning staff friendly. Beach excellent. Diningroom and bar staff excellent.Pool lovely. Massage a must. Food atrocious, the gala dinner looked good but everything was tepid or cold. Have never eaten so many carrots and have never seen so many left overs served for breakfast, even sprouts! Activity staff loud and obtrusive. Great for the location, good for weight loss.

After tiring from the humbugging in Havana, my husband and I decided to book a three-night stay at Club Blau Arenal, 25 minutes outside the city in mid-September. As an all-inclusive, it was good value and the room was spacious and clean. The food was pretty atrocious, however and, though I never thought I'd say it, the alcoholic drinks on offer were almost undrinkable - cheap and nasty. I caught a stomach bug the second day we were there so that didn't help things. The cable TV didn't work after the first night and we were told constantly that "it would be fixed shortly" and there was a problem with the satellite - interestingly it didn;t seem to affect the cable service in the bar or the massage room. Also, at the "free" cabaret show on offer at night, we wee humbugged far worse than on any street in Havana. We hadn't taken any cash with us because we were told everything was included, but the outside performers had clearly been promised the touristas would line their pockets with gold, so they were somewhat upset when we had nothing to give. We even went back to the room to get some money and gave the group's director about 5CUC but they almost got physical with my husband and I when we refused to buy the DVD of their crap performance. It left me feeling shaken and unwilling to attend the next night's performance....but I was reassured by resort staff that no, we weren't expected to pay for any entertainment. The staff were very nice and the location and weather were lovely so for a bit of r&r with little expectation of quality in some of the other areas, I'd recommend it. Keep your expectations low and you might just be impressed.