The Gran Caribe Sun Beach's Hotel is an inclusive hotel, 3 stars of category. Property of Gran Caribe's Company. An economic hotel located to the entrance of Varadero 80 m from the beach, beside the biggest commercial center of Artesany of the peninsula. 15 minutes from the airport of Varadero. Has 4 bars, 2 restaurants, comfortable rooms with hot water, air conditioning, activities and shows at night.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Centrally Located
Budget
Languages Spoken
English, French, Russian, Spanish
Location
Calle 17 Between 1st and 3rd, Varadero 42200 Cuba
Gran Caribe Sunbeach
987 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
Unfortunately we had an insident that from our room from my moms handbag were missing 200 euros. Most of the time we carried the bag with us but some days going to restaurant or to the pool we left bag in the room. Probably cleaning lady took the money (not all the money but some of the money so that maybe we dont pay attention to it). Also had big problem with dirty dishes in the restaurant.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Value
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The service was average. Staff was extremely helpful and friendly. However, the property was not worth the value. I have visited Cuba several times and this was the worst resort I have stayed in. The rooms are run down and unkempt. We had no lights in the hallway of our room and no toilet paper. The food was average.
The best thing about the resort was the location. Close to beach, vendors, pubs and nightlife. We felt safe.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at Hotetur Sun Beach Varadero for 2 weeks (beginning of May 2005). We had a very good last minute deal (Tour Operator: Sunquest ) and we expected less for money that we've paid. My husband and I are from Toronto, Canada and we are in our late 30. Weather was perfect during our 2 week stay, with only rain whan we arived (1 hour) and for 3 hours in Varadero (we were in Havana that day so we didn't even see 2nd rainy day).
RECEPTION: As we arrived we've waited for some time (with the smile and good attitude) to get the room (apparently the gests didn't leave on time) and while we were waiting our luggage was securely locked near reception so we could have lunch at the pizza restaurant (buffer was not open yet). Our first impression of the reception stuff was that they are not very talkative and polite but when we asked to change our non balcony room to room with the balcony and ocean view, we were given a new room with the smile immediately. After a day there, my husband didn't like the traffic noise (the room was overlooking road, some Cubans homes and ocean on two sides) in the morning with the buses, motors and old cars. I didn't hear anything. Anyway, we asked to be transferred to other room that overlooks pool and ocean and we were told to come the day after, when we were given the keys to see our new room and after we OKed it, we were given the key with the smile again. We gave them some gifts - after we were transfer because we liked their professionalism and help. I think that smile and nice words from a guest are having similar (or better) effect as tipping. HOTEL: Mainly renovated. 2 Towers, but only one was working during our stay (smaller one). 3 star. Nothing really fancy. Nice plain clean L shape pool with 2 bars around and Pizza restaurant near. We ate there only once and I didn't like the pizza the way it was prepared. But, I heard some people enjoyed the pizza and pasta and instead of having lunch at the buffet they were eating there. No reservations required for pizza and was open the whole day. Nothing fancy with the drinks and cocktails. Mostly bear (Crystal) and wine as well as mojito (without the herb) and rum punch that was prepared every time the other way. The people that serve drinks are expecting the tips and the quality of the liquor in the punch is often related to the tip. No kids club and only two kids were at the hotel while we were there (we didn't mind that - almost like adult hotel without the price tag). Our room was on the 5th floor (higher the floor better the view) and the elevators were not working only one afternoon during 2 weeks while we were there. Although, we used stairs (recreation) every day. We were happy to find out that there was Internet Access available in the lobby and was working 24h/day. We used it few times per day/every day during our stay. 15 min was 1 conv. peso or 1h - 4 pesos. (They had 2 computers) and you can purchase your time at the reception. There was also a massage at the hotel (extra $). The electricity outlets were the same as in Canada, so we were able to charge our camera bateries with no problem.
BEACH: We knew that the hotel was located on one side of the road and the beach w/ beach bar across the street and we found it exactly like that. Not to much walking to cross the street and there was a nice path to the hotel beach. There was security guard at the gate from the hotel to the beach. No guard on the path, but there was security on the beach together with the Hotel employees. We've seen Cubans walking the beach and coming on weekends near the hotel beach and we didn't mind seeing some real not tourist related Cubans around. We were leaving our hotel beach towels (you pay 30 Conv. pesos deposit and you get towels you can exchange while you are at the hotel and when you return them you get deposit back) and other stuff on the beach chairs while on lunch and we never had anything missing. During our 2 weeks there, we couldn't find sun umbrella only once. As the pool is not fancy and the beach is breathtaking, the guest were all mostly at the beach unless there were huge waves or wind. The thing that we didn't like was that the beach chairs were taken and secured at 6.30pm and as we liked staying on the beach until 7.30 or 8.00 pm we could do that only sitting on our hotel towels. The beach bar was serving drinks (all inclusive) and sandwiches only. The ocean was great for swimming. Some parts were shallow, while some not. So for us that like to swim a lot and walk a lot on the beach it was great. Nice white sand and the long beach you could walk forever (we liked west side better ) with many small nationalized villas (now small motels) and big hotels. Great clean turquoise ocean you could swim for hours. For sea lovers - looks like paradise. The beach was cleaned every night but not in between the sun umbrellas and you could see some cigarettes around as most of the guest were smoking on the beach as well as everywhere else. We are not smokers but we didn't mind that, except for the sand that didn't look to its best.
ANIMATION: Animation stuff was working hard and they had morning exercise on the beach around 10.30am and some dance lessons near beach bar in the shade appx. around 11-11.30am and than the beach volleyball. The same stuff was arranging entertainment in the evening (after the show or other happenings) or on days when there was no show. Only 6 cabaret shows for 2 weeks. All entertainment (games & other funny stuff) was done by 11pm. There was some restaurant just next to the hotel, with shows every night, magic show, cabaret, dancers, singers etc... that would end at 12am and that quietly continued until 1-1.30am. No entry fee and driks were appx. 0.5-2.5 conv. pesos. As there was loud music from the hotel until 11pm and than from this restaurant until 12am it was not easy sleeping for people that wanted to go to bed early. We didn't mind the noise as long as all was finished by 1-1.30am. There was a meeting at the Reception at 11pm every night for guests that wanted to go to disco and they went together with the Animation stuff -sharing taxi (van or few cars or vans) often to Havana Club (techno disco regeton music), Mediterano (live Cuban music - outdoor), La Rumba (we didn't go there and heard only from other guests that is the best) etc. They were all around 10 conv. pesos all inclusive with the drinks with Mediterano being ?! as the board was showing 5 conv. pesos for all inclusive entrance with the drinks, but the security guy was asking 10 anyway and putting in his pocket. As the hotel is located on the 1st and 17th street, there was a lot of restaurants with the music and show within the walking distance in either direction (better on the west) as well as many restaurants offering lobster & fish. As we paid a really good price for our hotel we enjoyed eating lobster and fish in some restaurants on the beach (from 12-25 conv. pesos for lobster to 5-10 for fresh grilled fish). Big souvenir market is near 1st/44th street and taxi is appx. 4 conv. pesos from the hotel to there or maybe less. They charge in average appx. 1 conv. pesos for 10 streets. You can always find somebody from the hotel to share the taxi for shopping or evening fun. It is good to negotiate the price before sitting in taxi. Bus station is at 1st/35th or 36th and there is VIAZUL air conditioning bus that goes to Havana at appx. 8.30am and return at 6.30pm from Havana (often half empty). Check with receptionist. This is tourist bus and the price is 10 conv. pesos per person one way - 20 return ticket. It is good buying one way each time. Bring cash for return. You can arrange with the driver to leave you at the Old City and pick you up there around 6.30 (ask the street and place they will write that for you) and than drop you off near your hotel on your way back. Otherwise, you can always go to the bus station. Visit to Havana is a must. Other way to go is to go on private tours offered by some stuff at the Beach (ask Beach Animation Stuff for help) or there are some people offering you drive and tour by small bus or cars for 30-35 conv. pesos per person (return). You can also rent a car for 60-80 conv. pesos a day and share with two more or check tours with your travel agency or hotel they sell it from 70-95 per person. Once you are in Havana, (if you take rent a car) park in secured parking and all you should really see is in Old part of the City and we would suggest you to go on foot. It is really great experience seeing architecture and people live their life and there are several museums, galleries, well known hotels etc. The famous tourist street is Obisbo - there are few banks there to change your foreign money to either conv. pesos (no more US dollars). The rates are posted and as far as we noticed, they are government dictated. Other good more Cuban street is San Rafael. Hotels in Varadero often have not as good rates as at the airport or in Havana, but the difference is really not important. Rum is cheaper to buy at Varadero (appx. 5.60 conv. pesos for a 1l - Silver Dry) comparing with the airport. There was a store at 1st/23rd - like a corner store with shampoos, food and drinks that offered all kinds of drinks for sale. There are some tobacco stores (really nice), but we bought all our cigars at the airport. They had much better selection of medium priced wooden boxed cigars. (if you buy cigars ask for receipt and check boxes carefully as we noticed when we arived home that one seal on the cigar box was broken even though we bought cigars at Cuban duty free). We had snorkelling trip - 30 min drive by the catamaran and that 1h snorkelling. We paid appx. 12 conv. pesos per person (4 of us went by the catamaran) with a "sailor". It was nice but nothing spectacular. There was a tour to Cayo Blanco for 75 conv. pesos for a day and all that did it were stunned. The same tour can be likely arranged by the beach hotel stuff or at the hotel reception and we would do it next time for sure. We did horse back riding for 15 conv. pesos per person for 1 hour (including transportation) and it was good experience, but.... Partly on the beach (not very nice part, lot of Cubans bothered by us, some strange smell around etc..) and near Freeway. The horses looked very tired and skinny and I felt sorry for them. I wouldn't do it again.
YOU SHOULD HAVE BOOK - CUBA - guide or similar with you. It is a great tool. You can borrow it from the library or buy it. It explain everything including places you should visit, restaurants where you can eat good food etc.. We borrowed it from the couple from Slovenia (former Yugoslavia) and it helped us a lot while in Havana and in Varadero.
ROOM & ROOM SERVICE: We were presently surprised that rooms and washrooms were renovated and decorated nicely. You can see some moisture impacting melamine white furniture but overall was fine and OK. Two doubles that you can pull together if you like. They have Central Air in the room but we didn't use it as the weather was fine for us. The water preasure was fine, and we run out of water only once for less than 1hour (early morning). We found that rooms with a balcony are much larger and have a sitting area also (even numbers). The room was cleaned every day and we were happy to notice that the badshits were changed every days together with the towels and new soap was left in the sink. No shampoos or face cloths. No bar in the room and no fresh water daily. Safety deposit box was available for extra 2/day with deposit of I think 25. We had it while there where we've kept our documents and cash. We left some tip (conv.. pesos or some stuff for maid every or every other day). As there was no laundry service in the hotel we asked maid to was some stuff for us (pants) and even though we asked her how much she said nothing but we left her some tip and gift for that.
FOOD: Only two places to eat in the Hotel- Buffet Restaurant (Nautilus) and Pizza Restaurant (Beach Bar had only ham and cheese toasted sandwiches). Selection at the buffet is plain but acceptable. There is always something to eat like pork, beef, chicken and fish for almost every meal with one or two national Cuban dishes (tail, tongue etc..) , same salads every day and few vegetables like potato, bean, rice, etc.... They even had hamburgers (grilled) with fries few times a week. Pastry table with some cakes, rice pudding for almost every meal and of course always selection of 3-4 fresh fruits for every meal. As we like grilled fish or meat, boiled vegetables and fresh fruit we didn't have any problems finding something to eat. There was only one soup for lunch and dinner - often very oily or from concentrate (tomato). Only few times a week they had nice bean Cuban national soup. Very nice ice-cream (hazelnut, vanilla, or fruit) - only two selections and only for dinner. Breakfast was always with eggs, ham, cheese, butter, jam, cereal and great yoghurt and of course fruit table. There are coffee and tea machines as well as juices for you to serve yourself for breakfast. There was a grill table with the cook to make you eggs the way you like (and with what ever you like) for breakfast and to make grilled fish or chicken or pork for lunch or dinner. We never had line ups for grill or for lunch or dinner (never more than 2-3 people in front of us and that happened only 3 times for 2 weeks). We were always able to find clean table to sit. Well, we were always last to come so maybe that was the reason why we never saw any crowd. We think that the fish served was frozen and we were sorry to find that no shrimp or other seafood than frozen fish was served at the restaurant. There was a restaurant across the road of the hotel (I think hotel owned) with nice selection of food and decent prices where gests have 15% discount. Lobster was appx. 15 conv. pesos and fish appx. 6-8 (and all -15%).
TIPS: We brought some stuff, some close, cosmetics, soaps, shoes and money to give to the people. We gave tip and some gifts to the maid (every second day) and we gave some gifts (pens, nail polishes, soaps, shoes, some bathing suits etc..) to the kitchen help stuff, buffet girls, towel exchange guy, reception stuff, animation stuff but mostly to some very poor looking Cuban people on the street (while walking around Varadero). The ones that are in tourist industry (maids and barmen's) are constantly and daily getting a lot of tips and gifts and they are considered very rich by other Cubans that are working for 10 conv. pezos / US $ per month. The food is very cheap so feeding the family is not a problem, but TV, Fridge, Stove etc.. are very expensive (same as here) as well as cosmetics (soaps, shampoos), shoes, clothes etc... Few security guards asked for our shampoos or other toiletry. We were looking for some ordinary non tourist related Cubans to help them with some gifts and items they can not buy or get elsewhere. They were often so happy, surprised and grateful. Nobody ever refused. As for the hotel, we often tipped for the service. When we noticed that there was difference in the service based on did we tip that day or not, we stopped tipping that person. As we were there for 2 weeks, we couldn't have enough change/cash to tip every employee at the hotel every day, so we made difference as who is doing his job good and who is just laying around and doing bad job just to get a tip. We never felt it is necessary to tip. Though, maybe we are not the right to tell, as we are not heavy drinkers. We had only few drinks for the day - yoghurt or tea for breakfast, water during the day and mojito or rum punch during the night show.
OVERALL: The hotel is plain and quiet with a lot of guests from Europe (Germany, former Yugoslavia, Spain) and some from South America. Only few were from Toronto and more were from Quebec. While we were there the majority were Germans, guests from former Yugoslavia and then some from Quebec. Mostly adults and only few teenagers and two small kids. We made friend with some German tourists, few from Quebec & Spain and with some tourists from former Yugoslavia and had some great time. We found that all Hotel stuff that we spoke with was speaking English in addition to two or three other languages. We didn't have any problem communicating with the hotel stuff. With the German / Quebec / Spanish tourists it was possible but not as easy.
While at the Hotel, we didn't have anything stolen or missing (as far as we know for now). The service was better than we expected and hotel stuff was polite and helpful. The food was plain but it was possible finding something healthy to eat for every meal. The drinks were limited quality and selection for heavy drinkers. Wine was sour and having strange taste, bear (Crystal) was fine, juices were from concentrate and punches and mojito served with bare minimum. The Night Bar barmen was serving the worst drinks (punches) - every each time different taste and quantity. So if you are OK with simple grilled food, boiled vegetables and fresh fruit, water, maybe bear and rum punch/mojito here and there you will not be disappointed. The Hotel has own beach, but with no fence, so you can see Cubans around. They are not mixing with the tourists and often stay at the end of the beach but they are around. There are only few vendors allowed on the beach (souvenirs and some that offer trips to Havana and horse back riding) and they are not bother. Do not make arrangement to visit Cuban family for lobster dinner at the beach as they charge 15 conv. pesos and promise more but offer less than you get in the restaurants. Private (homemade) dinner should be appx. 7-10 conv. pesos and you should get 2 lobster trails with vegetables or lobster and shrimps for that money. If you meet nice person in the Hotel you can visit his/her family for dinner or just go to the restaurant. The Hotel have some nice stuff going when big tourist groups are coming and leaving (the best food, live music during the diner, night cabaret show and beach cabaret & music during the day), other days it's just simple and nice. Some fun around the hotel (games, dance lessons etc..). The Hotel is in the town, on 2 streets, surrounded by some Cuban homes and few restaurants. For younger and active guests who like to wonder around it is great as you have a town feeling while in the hotel and around and just when you cross the street you are on the path to beach and on lovely outstanding beach with relaxed isolated resort like feeling. For us, this holiday was better that we expected for the money we've paid. We heard some guests complaining for food, soup selection etc. but they paid just a little less for a week than we for 2 weeks and they were comparing with a hotels where they paid less and get better food and service. At the end it comes just to a price you pay and what you expect for that. As Varadero Beach is stunning wherever you go in Varadero you'll get the same white sand, palms and great ocean, so it will come only to a food, drinks, pool shape and maybe resort isolation and privacy and if you pay more there are plenty of hotels to choose in Varadero. For the price we've paid we would always go back. We are beach lovers and we enjoyed the beach. Everything else was decent and acceptable. We had great relaxed holiday, wonderful white sand beach with palms and at the same time we've seen real Cuban (Varadero) life as the hotel was in the town with Cubans living and working around. Great beach and holiday and great Cuban experience (for us)!
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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The hotel, the rooms are nice, there is no pool service or restaurant. In the hotel there is no soap to bathe. You have to eat outside the hotel in a ranch that belongs to it, the service is terrible with very poor quality, the tables are dirty, the delay in service is very bad, the presentation of the dishes and the order horrible service. The sun loungers on the beaches are super expensive even if you are a hotel guest.
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Date of stay: September 2023Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Myself and 3 other people stayed in this resort. The hotel was fairly dirty, the pool isn’t as big as it looks in the pictures or as nice (old pictures I imagine) and fills up with people quickly. The lobby is the only place in the hotel that lived up to expectations. The rooms are quite small and also dirty. Most of the staff were good to deal with except for two ladies working at the front desk, any time we needed anything they always gave us the run around. “Come back before 2pm tomorrow “ they would say. So we’d come back at 1pm the next day then we’d get “oh no you have to come back after 2pm” it was a never ending cycle. There was supposed to be an allacart meal included in our stay. We tried booking it and we were told to come back the next day between 10am and 12 to book it, we knew this was going to be part of the run around again. So we came back the next day at 10:30 and we were told the allacart was “broken” I don’t understand how a whole restaurant is broken but what ever, we where expecting that. The food In the buffet was ok. Breakfast was the best meal. The drinks that are included in the all inclusive are made with the cheapest liquor Cuba has to offer, the beer at supper is either watered down or non alcoholic. you won’t be getting drunk off of it Unless you drink a gallon of it. We stopped eating in the dinning hall cause of the smell and the appearance, the ceiling is disgusting. The rooms appear to have a balcony on every one in pictures but they don’t. The rooms don’t have a microwave or a fridge so your 100% at the buffets mercy. One of the two rooms we had didn’t have a functioning safe, the key was “missing” we were told. Lots of previous reviews mentioned that the hotel was full of Russians , there was a lot of Russians there for our stay but we didn’t mind them. They kept to them self’s seemed like clean and quite people. Only reason I’m mentioning them is cause previous reviews complained about them. The beach is across the road , we knew this when we booked. Getting to the beach is easy though, the drivers in Cuba are very respectful of pedestrians and other drivers. Winnipeg drivers could take a lesson on this, us four did. Over all our stay was good. The garbage hotel didn’t ruin our trip we made the best of it. Varadero was very nice had good restaurants , easy to get transportation to and from places. Lots of taxi options from horses to double decker buses.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We booked this trip at the very last minute . Sunwing special $715 one week Marlana at the front fest went above and beyond for us upon check in as we were over 5 hours late arrival. 3 meal sittings a day and there was always lots of food . Each night there was a specialty meat/ fish grilled fresh . Lots of fresh bread daily and it is delicious! The snack bar has freshly made burgers and sandwiches . The beer is always cold. The beach is a 2 minute walk across the road . Beach towels are available at front desk . Wifi cards are $1 for an hour and can be bought at front desk as well. There is nothing fancy about this place but they do have brand new and very comfortable poolside loungers . The staff are continually cleaning . Our room had a bathtub as well as shower and there was endless hot water . The rooms are cleaned in the morning and they replace the towels in the afternoon . The hotel is directly beside a huge outdoor market , vintage car taxi and horse and buggy taxis . We loved our one week stay and do not have one single complaint about the hotel
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
First let me start by saying that you have to pay for water!!! Second the plates at the buffet are dirty they do not wash the dishes with soap! The rooms are old no fridge in the room no toilet paper in the bathrooms except for the rooms all the other bathrooms had no soap no toilet seat and no toilet paper! The food was not good except from the eggs at breakfast and lunch they would serve fish porc and chicken thats it. No toaster. Some of the tourist are rude and disrespectful! Some of the staff was very nice I must say its the only thing positive about the hotel. some of my familly member had a room with a toilet seat that was broken and all week his room smelled really bad! Overall I would not recommend this hotel
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Date of stay: March 2020Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I love the hotel lobby as it offers 24 hour service and is enjoyed in a friendly atmosphere. It has varied gastronomic offers and good prices. The decoration of the hotel presents a nice space to share with friends and family. I want to thank the charismatic brunette girl who prepares delicious and beautifully decorated coffees her name is Dayana very kind and charismatic.
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Date of stay: August 2023Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Keep working with a lot of love and dedication. want the offers they offer to be better and...
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Best experience in Cuba. I was alone with physical limitations. There was always an arm to help me. Without pity but only human. Great animation. Great food. A whole team. Special thanks for the service to Bryan Ginette Ernesto Zurama and Linda Leyla. Gracias à todos y a la roxima. Mathias fought there.
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Date of stay: August 2023Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I have spent two great weeks in Sunbeach Varadero Hotel at the beginning of April and I must say that everything was even better then I expected. During the preparation for this trip I read lot of rewiews (including this forum) and I was prepared for the worst but at the end this trip succedeed my expectations. First of all I must say that my girlfriend and me are from Europe (Croatia) and during this trip we wanted to explore Cuba. The easiest and the cheapest way to get there and have food and accomodation for us was to book two weeks all inclusive package. I am writing this because it is a difference when You fly ten hours to Cuba from Europe and when You fly for example for Canada for three or four hours. For us this was a unique opportunity to visit and explore Cuba so purpose of our trip wasn't staying at the beach and in the hotel but travelling around. As I said this was the cheapest way to get there. This is maybe one of the reasons why rewiews from people from Europe are so different then ones from Canada - objective of our vacations is different.
Anyway, let's get to bussiness. First of all the hotel. As I travell a lot because of my work I have learned couple of things that I want in a hotel. First of all it has to be clean and in Sunbeach that was the case. Maids changed towels every day and room was always clean. Rooms are big enough (we had room with the balcony) and what I liked the most was big bed.
As I read lot of people have complained about the food. First of all I want to point out that in the buffet restoran You could not stay hungry. They had good choice of food and even if You don't want to try cuban food You always had spaghetti or burgers and fries. Besides that there is an excellent Italian restaurant with great pasta and an average pizza. You shouldalways have on your mind that this is a 3* hotel and that You cannot expect lobster for dinner. If You are not the pickiest person in the world You will not be hungry. Bars were great and You could drink couple of sorts of coctails, two sorts of beer and white and red wine. Of course there are sodas and similar stuff. Bartenders were friendly and they didn't go cheap on rum.
Staff in the hotel were excellent besides people at the reception that were "by the book" and that is it. As my girlfriend and me like to play beach volley we had an excellent time with guys and girls that do the animation in the hotel. They were very friendly and we easy made friends with them.
The beach is beautiful and you can very easy relax on it. We had great weather all the time so we spent most of our thime at the beach where is also a small bar with music and drinks. Hotel pool was very clean. I saw that they were cleaning it every morning.
What can I say about entertainment. There is always something going on at the evening in the hotel, an there ara lots of bars around hotel where you can enjoy good drinks and excellent music. You have an option to go to a disco (10 EUR and open bar for the whole night). We did it one night and it was the worst thing that we could do. Discotheque was like any other in Europe an only tourists were inside). We preffered barc in a town with local Cuban people, good coctails and fantastic music.
The main thing that we came to Cuba was exploring this country so trips that we took were the highlights of our vacation. We did it by the concept 3-2-3-2-1-1-2. That means that we stayed at the hotel for three days then went on a trip for two days, then back to the hotel, etc. Anyway I recomend that You take your first trip to Havana with the tour guide. We did it on a two day trip. First day we explored Havana and stayed overnight in Habana Libre hotel (former Habana Hilton, 5* but beware no hot watter). On second day we went to the western province of Cuba called Pinar del Rio where they grow tobacco and have some amazing nature. Price was 140 EUR but I have to say that we didn't go to Cabaret show (If I wanted that I would go to Paris), with Tropicana show it is 190 EUR. Second trip that we took was even better. We went to the central part of Cuba and visited three cities (Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Santa Clara). On that trip You will experience the real Cuba because You can see how people live outside the cities. On that trip pay attention to Trinidad that is the oldest Cuban city. As this is the two day trip You will sleep over in Tope Colantes mountains and next day You have the hiking tour through the national park. Be sure to go canyoning with the guide during that walk, it was great (bring some extra clothes and shoes). The third trip was again trip to Havana but we did it our own way. Five of us rented a car (around 20 EUR per person) and drove to Havana and explore all the things we didn't see on the first trip. I also reccomend this because now You know where to go and what You have missed on the first trip. As I said we have different objectives during the vacation. We came to explore Cuba so we didn't go to a crocodile farm or swimming with dolphins as other people did. Instead we wanted to get to know this beautiful country and people and we chose those trips that I highly recommend.
For the prices You must know that obviously they have double standards. They even have money for tourists and if you are not Cuban you will pay more. At the end souvenirs are always the sam price. T-shirts for 10 EUR, etc. We bought couple of T-shirts, some great Cuban music, couple of cigars (they are not cheap as You would imagine) and of cours 5 bottles of rum (greta stuff).
I hope that this rewiew will help you and if You have any other questions be free to e-mail me. We had great time and for sure we'll go again to explore the southern part of the island that we couldn't do this time.
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Date of stay: April 2006
Value
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
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Entrance to hotel is ground level Main buffet restaurant is off lobby at ground level so no problem
I don’t believe you’d have a problem accessing the pool or even the restaurant on the other side of the pool as there are ramps
Hope this helps
There are more places to choose from in the Varadero area.
PRICE RANGE
$31 - $46 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
bellevue sunbeach hotel varadero, hotetur sunbeach hotel, resort all inclusive hotetur sunbeach
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
BelleVue Sunbeach Hotel
LOCATION
CaribbeanCubaMatanzas ProvinceVaradero
NUMBER OF ROOMS
272
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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