After getting married at the resort last August, my husband and I decided to head back to the RHE for our first anniversary. Some friends and family cautioned us against it, saying we wouldn’t have as great an experience the second time around, and we should find another all-inclusive to stay at.
They were dead wrong. We had a fantastic time – and considering that the pressures of getting married weren’t with us, we actually had a better vacation - which we didn’t expect considering how much fun we had last year.
We stayed at the RHE from August 2-9, and requested Marelys as our concierge – who is superb. We got to know her last year as she was the translator at our wedding and was our in-laws’ concierge. She’s absolutely wonderful, and is a pleasure to talk to. We stayed in bungalow 41 – which we love, since it’s in a perfect spot between the pool and beach walkway.
Food was even better than last year – although I can’t fully understand the ongoing complaints about this. The menus at the pool snack bars were expanded to include pizzas, grilled fish, and offered much more choice than last year. Typically lunch was eaten here. Tropical fruit was plentiful at the buffet, along with freshly baked breads in the morning – not to mention the fantastic Cuban-themed buffet night (try the Ropa de Viejo and fried plantains). Granted, the not all the restaurants were open every night, typically 2 were available and the buffet was open for dinner twice during the week. This didn’t faze us, as it was low season. Ultimately we ate at every restaurant we wanted during our stay – including the Gourmet for our anniversary dinner.
There was however, one small thing that bothered my husband and me, and it had nothing to do with the resort. There was a couple who whined the entire time, to anyone who crossed their path. They cornered us while standing in line at the buffet’s carving station and announced: “The buffet sucks, there’s no Canadian cheddar.” Are you kidding me? Who travels to Cuba for Canadian cheddar? There we were, at the Cuban-themed buffet night, surrounded by mountains of food, not to mention a whole roast pig, turkey, and side of beef at the carving station, and their trip was ruined because of cheddar? They then whined about the staff, the alcohol, the humidity, the temperature of the room and bar fridge, and on and on. Sure, everyone’s different in their expectations, but to find fault with everything – and then try to make everyone else miserable? At least we won’t be seeing them here again.
Now that family and friends know that our vacation was phenomenal the second time around, we’ll be joined by friends when we head back this February.
Thank you to Agnes (as always!), Marelys, Alia, Yurixa, Maikel and everyone else. Can’t wait to come back!