What a dissapointment!!! My husband and my 2 yr old spent 7 days at this hotel, from May 24th to May 30th. Even though the hotel is old there is no excuse to be dirty. The pool area is OK, the lobby is outdated, there were leaks on the roof , the reception area looks like a 2 star hotel, the drinks are just OK, washrooms are dirty and smelly, the hallways were never cleaned or vacuumed all they did to my room was making the beds and sometimes sweep the floors, they changed the white towels every one day and remove the garbage, it was dusty at all times and beach towels were never replaced for 6 days even though we asked and leave little gifts and tips every other day.
The food was terrible and I arrived with very low expectations, I've been in Cuba before... the buffet is very poor , we ate bread and butter most of the times, the staff at the restaurants don't care, they are not polite at all, you dont feel like tiping them 'cause if you do they treat exactly the same way so there was no point.
A la carte restaurants are litlle better... try to book them every day.

This was a family reunion, luckily other family members were at another hotel and we managed to spend a couple of days at their hotel and just sleep at ours, both hotels are 4 stars and the price of their hotel was even cheaper , I have to mention that Sol - Sirenas Coral was way better, the food was above average, the staff were nice at all times, even the snack bar was good, the hotel in general was clean and it looks that they try to keep it that way.
I could go into details but there is no point, I read reviews before about Arenas Blancas and most of them were good, that is why I've chose this hotel and will never do it again. Maybe people don't mind stteping into dirty floors and smelly hallways, food that is crappy and bad customer service, I do ! and even though we managed to have fun and forget about it the reality is that we felt that we paid for a 2 1/2 stars or 3 for the price of 4.
Vardero beach is indeed gorgeous and will come back in a heartbeat of course to another hotel.

I don't even know where to start. This is a bad review because it's a bad hotel... Period.

I see a lot of people say that food is not important. Well, It is if you spend 4 days out of your 7 in bed vomiting... And you even get to take it home with you for an extra week or so... Nice eh ?

I give Cuba the gold meddle for the worst food in the world and the Arenas Blancas Hotel should take first place. I'm sure they get their food out of the dumpsters from other hotels..

Their plan is keep you drunk and keep you tipping.
There were almost NO young people there accept for about 3 couples. The rest were 60+++. I spent 4 days there before I complained to be moved to another hotel. Anything... Please help me !!!

The beach looks awesome, but don't be fooled. I had so many sand flea bites on my back that I had to stay clear of the sand for the rest of my trip. I saw a girl bitten from her toes to her knees with the worst bites I have ever seen. OFF don't work because I brought it with me... I wish I could show you some pics right now but I don't want to gross anyone out... 3 weeks later I still have them.

The plugs in the hotel are the same as ours here in canada with the 2 prong + ground... I tried to unplug a lamp (NOT plug anything in - Lets be clear about that) and it blew up in my hand and burned me.... See my pics.

The room was wet and stunk all the time and even my fresh cloths were wet and smelly ... Everything in the room was wet.. No Sleep and no food for days which seemed to go on for a lifetime...

Bad time of year.. the beach was empty (See Pics taken at noon) and was filled with nothing but retired senior citizens in the pool area (Someone shoot me please)...lol!

The staff was down right lazy and was constantly looking for tips before they give service. Seems like anything less than a cuban Dollar was an insult to them.

Oh .. Let's get started about the money exchange from Canadian Dollar to CUC / Cuban Tourist Paseo.... They have us so sucked in that they even made seperate money just for us and it's worthless in canada - They will laugh at you in the bank if you try to trade it so it's best to just give it away to them... Ha!! Fooled ya again.

1 Canadian Dollar is worth about ... Well let's be honest - They give you what ever they feel like. One day you get 60 cents for our dollar and the next you get 50 cents after they take their own personal cut ... Suckers. And then they want a tip for changing your hard earned money.... Sounds like the canadian government to me ... I could have stayed home to get ripped off for less money !

Do you really think Cuba is cheap ? If you do then you couldn't be more wrong. I could have gone just about anywhere in the world and I chose 2 weeks at the Arenas Blancas Hotel... I'm a real sucker.

If you go to this hotel I promis you will be back here like me giving a bad review... Sorry about your luck.

Take my advice or find out the hard way... Most of these people who give good reviews for this hotel are probly seniors. Not to offend anyone but that's all I saw there.

If you're single or young couple just forget it.
I spent my last day in Cuba and will never go back there even if it's free ... I can't even tell you how much I hate that place. There are much better places to go for a lot less money.

I stayed at Arenas Blancas for 2 weeks at the end of Feb/ beginning of Mar 2008.

I have to say that the property is kept immaculately clean by the staff, but the rooms are in need of a coat or two of paint (although paint is horrendously hard to get your hands on in Cuba, so it won't be happening too soon).

My only complaint about the property is that the air conditioner was faint, and I had to lay in the right spot so I could fall asleep.

The bar and restaurant staff are fantastic -- tip them and you'll have friends for life. A few CUC now and again and you'll get great service.

Take advantage of the A La Carte restaurants, although the food at the buffet is good too. I found the complaints about Cuban food to be over-rated. THe food is good, but the flavours are subtle.

THe pool is nice, although not terribly deep in any spot -- even kids could stand up in the pool.

The greatest advantage of Arenas Blancas is its location. You can walk down the street to great restaurants, like La Barbacoa or the restaurants in Josone Park, or to bars like CAlle 61, with great music every night.

Arenas Blancas is definitely the best of the 'in town' hotels. I would definitely recommend it, but just make sure you go with an open mind!

My husband and I stayed here for four days. It was great! I booked online instead of doing the package deal so it took reception a little bit longer to find our reservation, but there were no problems and they were courteous. The rooms are great, very large and they have nice big beds (sometimes you get two small single ones). The resort is well maintained and rooms are kept very clean. The staff were friendly and the food was good, nice selection. There are two large pools and a great beach - nothing to complain about there. There is a disco, but as per usual it's pretty dead - just have to get the other tourists to join you and make your own party. It's very close to downtown if you want to shop at the market or go to the bars. All in all it was a good relaxing time and i would recommend it to everyone, young and old.