Me and 4 girl friends came here for 2 weeks from mid-June. We came from London, England so this was a completely different kind of holiday for us. But we loved loved loved every minute of it!

The hotel itself is beautiful. The lobby with the leaves is a quite different, some liked it but others didn't, but its not really as important as the rest of the hotel. The rooms are perfect; very clean and spacious. We had three beds in one room, but it was fine. Always make sure to tip your maid, we usually gave 3-5 pesos a day.

The swimming pool is really nice. We spent alot of time with alot of other younger people we met, most of them from Canada (hi guys!) so it did tend to get a bit loud during the day. Thats probably why I would recommend this hotel more for younger people than those with kids. Athough we did meet a few families who didn't seem to mind it as much. The bar by the pool is probably the best invention ever made, food and drink is always available and the bar staff are very friendly - Pedreso is the best, always supplying us with enough vino blanco :)
The beach is AMAZING with beautiful white sand and clear water. There's also alot water activities available if and when you might get bored.

The hurricane season thing is a bit annoying. The day that we arrived (Monday), there was a really big thunderstorm and serious lightening. The day after was pretty much the same, but the following day it got better and by Thursday it had cleared up completely and it stayed sunny and dry for the rest of our holiday. The few times it did rain was early morning, like 5am for about 20 minutes, but it didn't effect us, I found it quite nice actually.

The hotel always organises nights out to one of the various clubs, its a different one everyday. Everyone meets up at 11.15 to get a cab to wherever it is. The cab is usually 3-5 pesos. Most of the nights out are really good, theres a place called Caves which is one of the best. Theres a pool party and a beach party, both of which are very fun. Also, a club called International which is right next to Solymar is good too.

Basically, it was the best holiday we ever had, we met soooo many nice people there, and have been suffering depression since we've been back in London (ukh). Definitely going back ASAP and definitely back to Solymar - it is seriously one of THE best hotels in Varadero!

100% Recommend!!

BARCELO,SOLYMAR- Relax away from 18 hour work day race.

We have over the years travelled largely in the Caribbean Islands, FIRST time to CUBA.

BARCELO,SOLYMAR staff, management do know the world.

We as a family respect and enjoy knowing more and more about the local culture,food, life-style. BARCELO,Solymar staff shared their desires for the future of Cuba, local history of who, what, where, when why and how much whenever asked. i.e. Server Loui positive attitude, from the heart for Cuba always!

Our needs are yes all different from North America, Europe,South America the rest of the Caribbean. The commom denominator as a tourist to the world look for is the pride the local working, and hospitality world recieves our family.....BARCELO musicians, entertainers, tour guide i.e. ROBERTO and videoman DIANN shared their passion and history value. We recommend CUBA...the Caribbean for value of the tourist dollar.

Need to relax for your daily dollar .....visit CUBA

Gerry
gerry@bequiamarketing.com TORONTO CANADA

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.