We stayed at the marina palace from the 16/06 to 30/06 which is classed as low season so the hotel was no where near its capacity.

The hotel itself was far better than I expected beautiful grounds very scenic,buildings well kept as the hotel is under 2 years old, our room was spacious and well designed beds were comfortable and sheets were clean and new, bathroom was small but perfectly formed shower did leak a little but no problems otherwise, plenty of strage space for clothes and belongings, there is a chest which you could use to store valuables in providing you bring a paddlock, but the safe is more than adequate for small valuables. Balcony area was small but no real need for it with all the other areas to relax at the hotel.

The pool and beach are excellent well worth going if these are the things you look for in a holiday. the beach is bliss pure white sands crystal blue ocean plenty of sunloungers and umbrellas. We were warned prior to departure that we would have to be careful with our belongings whilst on the beach but we experienced no evidence of thefts nor did we hear of any, there is a security guard on the beach all day long. There are pedaloes,kayaks,snorkelsand masks, hobie cats, life jackets all available to use but when the weather is windy they sometimes may not be available to hire. Pool area is excellent very clean and today, pool bar is more than adequate and service is prompt and friendly.

My only complaint would be the mosquitos and the food. the mosquitos cannot be helped they are a force of nature a very annoying one albeit, we took every conceivable precaution and still got bitten nothing seems to work and its just luck of the draw if the little blighters find you tasty!! my only recomendation is if you can try and cover your legs up in the evenings, i unfortunately had very few pairs of trousers with me but i would recommend taking a few pairs and wearing them instead of getting you legs savaged. We took 100% DEET and I am sad to say it did not work for me and it was uncomfortable using it on alreadt bitten areas not only that its greasy and smells unpleasant. I took vitamin B as recommended but this also had no bearing. A plug in for your room is also an idea but doesnt seem to help any. We swatted most mosquitos prior to going to bed and slept wrapped up tightly in our bedsheets but when the maids clean they leave the doors open to let in another litlle army of them.Your basically fighting a losing battle but to be honest if you are of a sunny disposition you just grin and bear it its really not bad enough to ruin your holiday its just funny when its the topic of most conversations!

The food however caused us more problems no complaints with the al a carte restaurants they were lovely, but the buffet really let the place down, there is plenty to choose from and it tastes ok but its not until a few days in you realise what its doing to your belly and we found out the hard way myself and partner were ill for most the time we were away. I dont believe they have the same food hygeine levels that we have coupled with the sweltering heat and flies and mosquitos the buffet can cause the most robust of stomach problems! My advice take plenty of immodium! we spoke to many people and most had the same troubles as us and not just in our hotels in most of the hotels in varadero. I would say that if your a foodie then you dont come to cuba we got by eating as plainly and as little as possible.

On the upside if you can upgrade to the private island cayo libertad then do so allthough its a little further away and very quiet you can eat all your meals at their al a carte which is tremendous. We only discovered it towards the end of the holiday so it wasnt worth it for us. But if you are having food problems then then you can book in for a meal priced at 15 pesos per person thats about £8 and if you really cant stand the buffet food then this is an option for the evenings.

The staff at the hotel were wonderful they couldnt do enough for you, they work damn hard and expect very little in return, you do not feel under pressure to tip constantly they are glad to help. we tipped the maids evryday only a small amount to us but everyday we got a lovely clean room. the staff at the buffet we a little slow and it was low season so expect it to be worse at high season.

We had read some terrible reviews before leaving and were not expecting great things but i was pleasantly surprised. I fail to see how mosquitos and food can ruin a holiday in such a beautiful sunny place! my advice go prepared and you will most definately enjoy!

We had a really great time at this place. Good food, fantastic service, beautiful beach, great pools.

Just don't get a massage from a man. Totally inappropriate touching. Also walked in on me naked: that should have been a hint, I guess.

We would try a different resort next time, but we had a good time at this one.

Make sure you check out some of the excursions. They're worth it.

Just returned from Cuba. I stayed at the Barcelo Marina Palace for one week.

The accomodations were great..nice room and service. The staff was very accomodating and pleasant.

The ocean was beautiful...beach was very clean (some algae) and pool also very clean.

There was no life at this hotel..very few people..almost looked deserted????

The one MAJOR problem were the swarms of mosquitoes at night.

After having supper...there was nowhere to go but your room. The problem was the mosquitoes..wether you were in the lobby having a drink or at the show...I felt bad for the animators of the show who practiced all day but had no audience at night.

The staff advised they fumigate twice a day..but it is not enough!
They say that the hotel cannot afford anymore costs to treat this problem???

Therefore, if you hang around..you get bitten to death or you go back to your room all night because even repelants don't work!

Not sure if it is the same in the other hotels, but I was told this occurs at this hotel because of its location at the end of the penninsula.

I would go back to Cuba for the beautiful beaches and friendly people, but never back to this hotel.

The food at the buffet was always the same, not much variety every day..

I'd like to mention that the staff works very hard and earn so little, so I would encourage you leave them TIPS and anything else you can bring for them. They appreciate it very much., as they don't have the means to get things we have back home.

I enjoyed my visit to Havana and our guide with transgaviota was superb and very knowledgeable.

I would recommend Cuba to all ..it is very safe and super clean everywhere you go...just shop around for your hotel, as the mosquito problem at this resort will ruin your holidays. I am back home and itching like mad as a result of all the bites I got on my arms and legs.

Hope this helps your travel search.

Ok folks....I just returned home to (Calgary, Alberta) on June 14th, 2008. My aunt and I stayed at Barcelo Marina Palace for the duration of one week, needless to say both of us were relieved to be home. The food was absolutely disgusting, and I mean DISGUSTING. I spoke to alot of people around the resort and that was certainly the general consensus, alot of people got very sick from it including both my aunt and I. The service was terrible as well, the front desk people were very rude and unwelcoming, the bar tenders would ignore you if you didn't tip them after every drink you ordered etc. When we arrived to our room our bathtub looked like it had not been cleaned for a very long time and our sheets were dirty. The mosquitos are terrible as well I got around 50 bites and my aunt got closer to 100 and that was with bug spray!! I will never return to CUBA after this experience and I would not reccomend anyone to stay at this resort.
Happy travels.