My husband and i along with our ten year old son have recently returned from a two week stay at the Solymar. First impressions of Cuba apart from the fact it was pouring with rain, i was a little disturded that my son had to go in to the passport cubicle on his own and shut the door. And be advised that the ladies in the toilet at the airport have a little dish out for a tip, thats even before we had had chance to change any money up.

First impressions of the hotel were good with check in very smooth and as i had been for warned from reading trip advisor that they would keep my passport i was not too alarmed allthough i have never had that happen any where eles i have traveled too.

Rooms are very basic but clean, be warned though we booked a three bedded room which actually is two beds and a camp bed, apparently your travel agent should point this out. My husband and i shared a bed, not good as they seemed to be fitted with a rubber under sheet which all seems to fall apart in the night so you end up on the bare matress in the morning.

Room was cleaned every day but we did have an ant problem. Water replaced every day but why the maid had to knock the door early in the morning to ask if you wanted any, and not just check the fridge when she is doing the room is beyond me.

The main buffet hall at breakfast is good. After a week we were all fed up with the evening selection.The dining hall stinks of fish which i hate. The chefs use the same knives on raw and cooked meat, and if you watch them on the grill they cook the raw meat from left to right so raw meat is constantly dripping over cooked meat.

The staff at the Cuban resturant think they are working at macdonalds as we were in and out in about twenty minuets.The food was not good and they want to know what you want for sweet as you are ordering your starter.

The Itallian had run out of what we wanted when we went but apparently if you go early it is good.

The snack bars are fine if you want hot dogs or burgers, everything eles is horrible, dont ask for bacon with anything, it seriously will be a streak of fat. Coffe and crossonts are okay at the first snack bar if you miss breakfast.

The pools are nice, the arobics in the pool are a joke, wear your sunnies as the glare from the insructors chunky gold neclace is bright! the aqua ballet is brilliant, and the dog show worth watching.

The beach is stunning, and comments from people saying its dirty are true but only because lazy people drop there cups and fag buts on the floor, there are bins everywhere so there is no need for it.

The beech buffet for lunch is good, it then becomes the sea food resturant in the evening and then the late night bar and grill after 11pm, all very confusing as no one tells you that when you check in and you spend the first few days looking ffor three different resturants.

Be warned this hotel tries to cater to all and as we found it does not work. They organise " Beach Parties" every night for the younger hotel ocupents where by a number of taxis or coaches arrive at the hotel at around 11.30pm and take them off to a night club, how ever they bring them back at 5 am, and they proceed to scream shout bang doors etc etc.

My ten year old son watched some youths smoking what i recognised as a bong, i told him it was a sherry decanter with a hose pipe attached, this was early evening in the pool bar, and then the following evening a hotel guest was so drunk by tea time he fell asleep totaly unconsiouse and promptly wet him self. This was then washed into the pool by the bar staff.

The security on the beech is so hot and yet around the hotel the youngsters can drink and get completely smashed
with no one to police it. Dont get me wrong im all for a party but there were a couple of occasions where i felt very uncompfortable.

The mosquitos are really bad,espesially at the beech resturant, take the highest deet content spray you can find.

We met some realy lovely people and that was the saving grace of my holiday.

The catamaran, swimming with the dolphins and the boat adventure were great, but be prepared where ever you go and what ever you do to tip tip tip.

I had never been on a package before when I booked a trip from Halifax to the Barcelo with my wife in late April 2007. I wanted to visit Cuba before it "changes," now that Fidel is in semi-retirement. We are in our forties, without kids. I have always travelled independently, and had a few qualms about booking a package when I chose the Solymar based on the reviews I read on TripAdvisor. Even though there were some mixed reviews, based on the ratio of good:bad reviews, and the nature of the bad ones, I decided that I would take a chance on the Solymar.

For the most part, we were pleasantly surprised. Some of the negatives I read: unpleasant desk staff, unfriendly staff of other types, bugs, rowdyism, tipping, food issues, room quality etc.

Arrival- no problems at the airport on arrival, and no one trying to grab our bags for tips, as I had read.

About desk staff: check-in and all my encounters were positive; some of the women didn't speak English well, but we were always able to communicate with a bit of patience. I thought most were quite sweet. Some spoke French as a second or third language. I also learned that there was something of a local/Cuban scandal with respect to questionable activities that went on with respect to the desk staff in the last year; as a result of it, all of the staff was replaced recently, which might explain why more recent reviews may not agree with older ones on this particular issue.

About our quarters: we stayed in one of the bungalows, which was well located near a pool, and offered two floors, and extra space which was nice but we didn't really need. The AC worked well enough, and no problems with the bathroom, hot water or any other necessity. We had enough bottled water. I didn't have high hopes for decor, and it was pretty much as expected, but what can a country locked in a U.S. stranglehold do? Beds/furniture dated but serviceable. I had booked an AC supersaver Special, so we didn't know what to expect: maybe a poor room facing the highway, so we were happy to have the bungalow.

About tipping: We tipped because we'd tip anywhere else, and tipping isn't part of the package. Sure, the food staff "sucks up" a bit too much, but the service was good and they work hard, so we always left something. I had to make a point of getting lots of coins when I went to the hotel exchange office. I would also leave a bit for the chefs who worked behind those hot grills etc, and they seems to genuinely appreciate it. We also got to the Dollar store back in Canada to buy a bunch of stuff to hand out where appropriate. Used some of the lists found here with respect to stuff: makeup etc for maid + lingerie, reading glasses (different strengths, one dollar per pair; opticians in our area had no old ones to donate), baseballs, frisbees, colouring books and more. I was glad to have the baseballs etc. for the May Labour Day parade, which was huge for a small town like Veradero. We were blown away.

Didn't see maid much, but she seemed happy with gifts and money tips we left. The reading glasses proved to be the opening for the most interesting encounters. I was advised against dropping them at seniors' facilities, whose staff might profit on them, so we ended up gettiing some to the senior grounds staff, who don't seem to benefit from tipping. Also gave the rest out to seniors in Havana, who really seemed to be happy with them. Our guide (unofficial guide we had hired to take us to Havana for the day) got quite a hoot out of it, but he said people were happy with those glasses!

Bugs- came ready for that, but never found it much of an issue, except at the Seafood restaurant after sunset.

Food. Much has been said and written. I like food, and while the buffet gets a bit tired after a week, I could always manage to find something worthwhile. Best fresh OJ around. Good breakfasts. Of particular interest to me was the flambe-d bananas; when nothing else seemed too appetizing, these could fill the void. My wife was a little disappointed, because she's a good cook, and had her sights set higher. However, as I kept saying, if we want the best food, we'll have to pay the piper and book elsewhere, like Sandals. I never got too sick there, although had a close call. My wife never suffered that way, and had quite a variety of foods, being a bit more adventurous than I am in the food department.

Had to agree with most reviews about the beach and ocean: spectacular. We were always able to get a thatched umbrella over our heads. Never bothered much by peddlars on beach. My wife managed a better deal on some baskets by bringing the peddler a couple of beers from the beach bar. Short walk from our bungalow to the beach-liked their arrangement. Beach clean as far as I could detect. Looking at the Solymar from the beach, the design is a bit dated or maybe retro, but it is well kept, which compensated.

Cautionary tale: I tan pretty easily and am dark complected; even so, I used sunscreen. On the one day I decided to stay completely out of the sun under the thatched umbrella, but on the beach, I didn't use sunscreen, thinking I was out of the sun. Wow, did I get a bad burn! Sun must be bouncing off the sand all around. If I hadn't built up some tan already, I would have been in real trouble.

Pools- clean and lovely, and not overcrowded. Pool bar restaurant OK, drinks mediocre. We're not big drinkers, so no big deal for us.

The entertainment was OK, but we often crashed after a late dinner.

Discovered good company at the end of the trip in the Sports Bar. On these review pages, I had read about a barkeep there named Anubis, who is a Harley man. I brought him some good stuff in that vein that I happened to have, which started things off well. Met some good people in there- better later in the afternoon.

A la carte restaurants were a disappointment, but I was not expecting too too much. My biggest complaint there is that they seem to want to get you in and out. True at "Cuban" and Seafood restaurants; food not great at Italian. Oh well...

Lots of young folks there having a good time into the late hours-if you're not participating, I highly recommend earplugs, as you may be awoken as late as 3:30 AM by homeward-bound revelers. I brought them, and used them. My wife slept through it all without assistance.

Had fun in Havana by renting a car and arranging an unofficial tour of the city. "Guide" signed for the car and we paid. We had agreed on all prices beforehand, but he was so good, that I went beyond our agreed price. The guide was a great guy, and I peppered him with my huge backlog of questions about Cuban politics and history, and got some straight talk on the trips to and fro. Havana was great, even if I would like to have stayed longer. I have stayed in touch with the guide since the trip.

Would I come back to Cuba? Yes. The Solymar? Probably not, although we enjoyed ourselves there- it was really only my wife's longing for a better grade of food. However, if you can't afford to stay in Cuba's top resorts, I would recommend the Solymar for a trip to Cuba.

Went for my brother-in-law's wedding. First time ever at a resort. Please keep note that neither myself or my husband are big fans of the beach or resorts for that matter.

Hotel: Arrived at 11pm. Line up to the hotel was ridiculous. Had to exchange our funds from Dollars to Convertible Pesos, which btw is worth more than a Canadian or American dollar! Not the hotel's fault but then this means reconsider spending at the hotel. Woke up first thing in the morning body full of hives. I believe it was either bedbugs(I'm highly allergic to bedbugs) or the detergent they use. I had to rush to the hotel clinic, which btw did not open until 9:30 (or whenever they show up which was not until 10am, I was there at 8am). Itchy and swollen, I waited at the clinic as a cockroach passed right by my leg. I killed it. Cleaner passed by right after to "mingle" with the doctor. Guaranteed saw the dead cockroach and the other ones that are there and of course, she walked right by it with no concern at all. Anyway, bedbug, once she's put an hypoallergenic sheet and providing her a $10 tip and $1/day on top of that, we had the cleanest bedroom there.

Food: Expected from Cuba I guess, not so good. Apparently, the burgers are not really made from beef but goat. Buffet is not so bad. Just not a fan of the flies all over the restaurant. Unlimited drinks, so I guess that's good. The servers though at the restaurant are great. They had a wonderful birthday celebration for me. We went out to town which was only a few blocks away for local food. Note: Cubans like salt for some reason so be prepared to have salty food. At the resort: opt for the beach lunch buffet, it's less choices but it's better selection, better, fresher food and view.

Note: Don't go to Cuba in June or during hurricane season. Scary hurricanes in Varadero because the resorts are at a peninsula so the wind is worse and you see trees right on the ground.

Entertainment: Sucks but you're close to town and make sure to be careful of locals while at the clubs. However, chances are, you're more at risk from the fellow drunken young tourists taking advantage of allucandrink at the resort and of cheap drinks at the bars. Bring your own toilet paper for the washrooms and hand sanitizers otherwise there is no soap and you'll have to pay for toilet paper.

All in all, experience probably was expectant. We probably will not be visiting resorts until we retire.

I have just arrived back after a two week stay at the Barcelo Solymar. We found most of our stay to be very enjoyable however at times it did feel like we were in an 18/30's holiday camp for the Canadians.

Hotel Room

We found our hotel room to be very clean and were pleased with the maid service. They attended the room daily with fresh towels and bed sheets were changed every other day. Floors were also mopped every day. SoI would suggest taking some form of bug killer as some of the other guests were complaining of ants, mosquitos and other creepy crawlies in their rooms at night.

Restaurants

The restaurants at the barcelo solymar were very nice however some were better than others. The buffet restaurant was ok to eat in in the first week but after that it became quite boring as most of the food was the same and as the hotel got busier obviously so did the buffet restaurant but the staff still seemed to work at the same pace so at times there was hardly anything to eat.

The other restaurants were an Italian restaurant, a Cuban restaurant, and a seafood restaurant, each of which you had to book in advance. We found the Italian restaurant to be the best as the staff were very professional and polite. We found the food to be very nice in the Cuban restuarant however the service was quite poor in that the staff were quite rude and seemed to hurry you through the courses. The seafood restaurant was very average. By that I mean that during my stay in Cuba I ate much nicer seafood than what was served in the hotel seafood restaurant.

The hotel also offered a 24 hour snack bar which after 12pm was located in the seafood restaurant, the food was freshly cooked to order but you were soon put off by the cockaroches running around in there after dark!!

Overall stay

We enjoyed our stay at the Barcelo Solymar, and met two lovely couples who we spent the rest of our stay with. We felt that it had lots to offer in that you could book all of your day trips inside of the hotel if you hadnt already booked them through your hotel rep. There was a different show on around the pool each day which was also quite good if you got fed up of reading your book!! and also different entertainment each evening.

We are a young couple of 25 and 29 and did feel at times the hotel got quite rowdy. On one occasion we went down to the pool bar to find around 20 canadians all around the age of about 18-25 smoking from a big pipe in the middle of the table being loud knocking chairs over and generally just making a nuisance of themselves and on another occassion a man had to be thrown out of the hotel because of his aggressive behaviour towards the bar staff after he had to be escorted from bar because he sat and wet himself in his drunken state. We do not feel that this hotel should be recommended for people with young families or older couples.

We would also recommend not to use the phones which are avaliable to use in your hotel rooms as we ended up getting ripped off by the staff on reception. It works out at 4.23 pescos for 1 minute phonecall (to England) and if you go over that one minute by 1 second they charge you for another whole minute. We found it quite expensive to call out everywhere in Cuba but the telephone service boxes around town are the best option.