Hotel Playa Costa Verde

Just came back from a week at the Breezes Costa Verde resort in Cuba. We had nothing short of a fantastic time!! We were a bit nervous going down, as we had read some unflattering reviews on this site, but I have NO clue how anyone would not enjoy this spot. The food was very good, especially at the 3 a la carte restaurants, and the staff was always friendly and available, and their level of service was NOT dependant upon receiving a tip. The pool and beach were both spectacular, and the tours were fun and informative.The one thing I would recommend is going down at the end of April, or early May. The resort has many rooms, and I could see how it could be crowded at peak times. We will be going back here next May!!

I booked a trip in late April for my mother, five of our friends and myself to Costa Verde. I then started reading some of the reviews on the resort and was kind of nervous of what to expect. Well much to our delight we were very impressed with the cleanliness of the resort. The flowers and gardens were everywhere and beautiful. We had requested that our rooms be together and we ended up in two different buildings. That, along with the fact that the entertainment was very lacking was our only two complaints. We swam with dolphins and took a horse/cart ride into the market and in around the city. We always felt very safe and welcomed. The people at the market were very nice but not too pushy. The beach was beautiful with lots of room to sit. Everyday no matter what time it was we always found sun and shade for all of us. The pool was the same. There were always chairs available and the resort was completely booked. The pool bar was fun. The disco at the end of every night was a great time. The music was great-a mixture of everything. The Cubian people really know how to dance. The food was good and we all found things to eat. The desserts were excellent. Take bug spray because the mosquitos do come out at the buffet. The Italian al'a cart was really nice. It was my birthday while I was there and the chef made me the best cake I have ever had. I would have no hestitation in booking this resort again although I will probably go to a different one to see more parts of Cuba. All of the beach toys were included in our price. On the resort there was no extra charges. The weather was 34 degrees everyday with a little bit of rain one night. What a fantastic time. This resort was worth the money for all of us.

I just got back 2 days ago and just had to write this review to warn all potential vacationers of Breezes Costa Verde. A group of 40 of us went for a friends wedding -- wedding on the beach was GREAT! But that was the only great thing about this resort. The food was absolutely DISGUSTING. It was tasteless, mushy and limited variety. Many of us got sick off of it......some even in bed for a few days! I pretty much ate buns and bread for the week to be safe.The service was seriously lacking as well. No one went above and beyond and acted like it was a huge chore to service us....when it is their job!! You had to tip the servers inorder to get a drink in a timely manner, and if not, you were left thirsty.And last but certainly not least, the PLUMBING was OUT OF ORDER for 24 hours. There was no running water and toilets would not flush. This was the grossest experience of my life.....toliets over-flowing and the hotel did not really address the issue. When asked, they would say "one more hour" but it turned into 24 hours of not plumbing for a huge resort where people are eating and drinking lots....some getting sick......it was nasty.Heed this warning and pick another resort to spend your money on!

We just returned from Superclubs Breezes April 26/03 after a one week stay. We've stayed in 4 star resorts in cozumel and the Dominican but this resort tops them all. We had an upper level room and it was very clean and quiet. There are so many all inclusive activities that one week is too short! We highly recommend taking the free bicycle tour of the local village and school. It's very safe and a real eye opener. Bring with you old toys or summer sports equipment. Their teachers will be very grateful and the children will go nuts! They literally have nothing. One thing that you can have your travel agent do is list you as a repeat guest. This perk will net you free golf shirts with the Breezes logo and an exclusive meet the managers cocktail gathering.

My girlfriend and I stayed here for two weeks in April 2003. As this was our first time to Cuba we made sure that we read lots of information on the internet about this resort. I have to say that all the negative reviews that we read did make us a little uneasy about going there, but we had already booked.I am very happy to say that the resort was great and just could not see how so many reviewers had experienced such a bad holiday(vacation).I mainly wanted to go to Superclubs Costa Verde for the inclusive scuba diving, and was not disappointed and would rather spend more time talking about this than the fluffy stuff.So all I will say is the resort is set in lovely grounds that are well kept, the rooms are large, very cool and well appointed.The food is of an ok standard and should have something for everyone, you will not starve.Regardless of what has been said already it is not necessary to tip, but if you choose a favourite bar person or waiter/waitress and tip them early in your holiday, you will be guaranteed fantastic service for the rest of your stay. Ok, the scuba diving. Certified divers only can dive at 9am and 2pm each day. Beginners can only dive at 11am.You have to book your dives the day before at the water sports centre and it is advisable that you get there for 8am because when busy the diving gets booked up rather quickly.The Cuban Dive Masters are certified by the ACUC (Being european I had never heard of them but some PADI certified Canadian diving friends said that in Canada they are referred to as ACUCless)Yes Rob, I am quoting you. The Cuban DMs believe that if you are a certified diver then you are fully experienced and that you can dive to 30 metres+ (100ft+), go through canyons and caverns without panicking and be relied on as a professional buddy ie you have all your basic skills in place. Not an unrealistic assumption. These guys will not treat you with kid gloves and can not refuse any certified divers.Far too often on the morning and late afternoon dives we came their bouancy skills were very lacking and that they were consuming their air at twice the rate as everyone else.If you are newly certified or have not dived for a long time, then it may be better if you joined the beginners for a little while until you get use to the diving conditions.Not only will this help your confidence it will also prevent the more experienced divers having their dives spoilt.For the morning dives I would recommend diving with DM Miakel (Mike) Very good, likes the deeper dives where he can show you his skills at diving through rock formations, cracks and tight openings. Get him to take you to La Sirena, you can go deep but also a lot of sea life, especially the big Groupers that like feeding from the divers and enjoy the odd regulator or two. For the afternoon dives Leo is good, so is Carlos, Oz and young Santi.All in all the diving is very good, if you are a expereinced diver. They have deep walls, shallow reefs and some very interesting rock formations that will challenge most sport divers. It is a very much a hands on dive experience and if you are use to the American style of everything being done for you, then forget it.They have reasonable dive equipment for the guests, but if you have your own gear I would recommend taking it, the storage facilties are very good and the security arrangements they have are very tight. 24 hour security guards. The make up of the guest is I would say 80% Canadian ( including French Canadian, and these guys are crazy, especially the divers)20% European ie British, German, Netherlands and maybe some French but it was hard to tell as all the French Canadians speak a form of French.All in all I thought it was a great resort with very nice friendly people, including the guests ( who ever said the said the British like a drink had never spent any time with the Canadians on holiday).Regardless of all the political comment, I found Cuba and its people to be very nice, friendly and refreshing.

What a disappointment. We have been to SuperClubs in Varadero and were disappointed with the level of service, lack of friendliness and mediocre food we found in this resort.Everything is hard to do from trying to get a reservation at the restaurants, a chair on the beach or sign up for water sports. It is like they make everything complicated so you are forced to give out tips. Once we gave tips we found out that things started to work. Never again did we need to make a reservation for a restaurant nor wake up at the crack of dawn for a chair. Cubans make very little a month and $10 goes a long way. It is worth the investment.We would still go back to Cuba and Breezes but the one in Varadero.

Just returned from Breezes Costa Verde on April 6th, it was a fantastic holiday at a beautiful resort. My wife and I have been at 5 star resorts in Barbados and Mexico, and this 4.5 resort was on par or better than most of them. I was very impressed with the plush grounds the resort is on and the plant life is amazing. The 1 hour bus ride from Holguin is very nice as you get a great view of the Cuban landscape and the farming lifestyle so prominent in this area. Rooms are very large, and clean, make sure you ask for 1 king size bed or you may get two doubles , to each his own. The pool area is fantastic, very large pool, a little cool, but refreshing none the less. Always lots of chairs available, and the resort was nearly full. The short walk the the beach is worth it as the water is as advertised, lovely shades of blue and quite warm. A little bit of coral as you enter so you may want aqua shoes, I did get a small cut on my foot so be careful. Like the pool, chairs are a plenty and their is plenty of beach for everyone. The 3 a la carte restaurants are very good, especially the Japanesse and Italian, greatly entertaining meals, great food! The Cuban rest. was alright, just had some undercooked shrimp and it was replaced. Jimmy's Buffet is fine, always lots of variety for picky eaters and staff very friendly. Lucy's poolside cafe is a great idea for afternoon snacks such as fries, burgers, and pizza, and their is no shortages of bars to keep you happy. Take some tours, they are all very good, especially the Holguin Cigar tour and the free bike tour to a near by village to see the school children and visit a farm. Very rewarding experiences as the locals are so pleasant and willing to share. (mango, sugarcane, etc.)Overall, my wife and I who are picky and spolied were very impressed with this resort and will go back some day. The negative reviews on this resort are very confussing and I think these people are the impossible to please type! Good Luck - Chris

We have just come back from Breezes Costa Verde 1hr from Holguin, and I have to say that both my husband and I have had the best vacation ever!... I have read the recent poor review on this resort and we didnt have anything of the like happen to us.... The Cuban people are the friendliest people we have ever met, and the staff at costa verde rate right at the top. Just ask and you'll get what you need. To start the resort its self was beautiful, huge pool, and plenty of sun chairs and towels for everyone, the grounds immaculate, rooms very tastefully decorated and kept nice from the maids. The bars were fully staffed at all times, along with extremley personable bartenders, the wait staff in the restaurants are very attentive, and are always on hand when you need something, the a la carte restaurants were great, the Italian being the best in our opinion. The food at the buffet was fine, nothing gourmet, but what do you expect when they are trying to feed 500 people, and there is something for everyone. The beach was very nice with shallow enough water you could walk out some distance, and the snorkelling was great! There was plenty to do, snorkel, dive, swim, horseback riding, mopeds ( they were fun and reasonable $$ ) whatever you wanted. We spoke to numerous people that have been there 5 or 6 times, 1 man 9 times in the last year, what does that tell you. I cant comment enough on the outstanding staff and the extremley friendly people that we met both on the resort and off, they made our holiday, and we'll be returning and taking our 2 boys with us next time. Fantastic!!

I highly doubt this review will even be published. We travelled to Cuba on March 7, 2003 for 1 week. There were 10 of us - 2 families with 6 children between us. We arrived at the resort at 10:30 pm with absolutely no welcome. Check-in went well, however, our 4 rooms were all over the place. Not safe when travelling with children. Our room smelt like a sewer for 3 days and that was before the water came through the ceiling for over 24 hours. The service was terrible. They tried to get most people over to the new resort next door as they had overbooked. Apparently in January 2003 one-half of their staff went over to this new resort, which is not quite finished and left the Breezes Costa Verde with little staff. They were over-worked and not very friendly. Sure if you slipped them a couple of bucks, you might get some service. I prefer tipping once I have had the service, not to receive the service. Our rep, Caroline from World of Tours had only negative things to say about Cuba during our orientation. When we approached her with all of our problems, she even agreed that there were problems. Most of the time there were no beach towels. You had to guard them, as they were easily stolen. We even had clothing left to dry on our porches stolen. The food was terrible. Same thing every day. Because of the lack of staff, line-ups went on forever and once you entered the main restaurant it was half empty. Most bars, staffed by only one person were also lined up forever. We had to argue for everything. Our children would line up for water sports early in the morning and once they arrived at the front of the line (one day they were 3rd in line), they were told, sorry we are booked for the day. Apparently, if you slipped these people a couple of bucks they would pur your name on tomorrow's list. Totally inappropriate - as this is supposed to be an all-inclusive. We rarely saw anyone tending to the grounds or the beach. I have heard the beaches in Cuba to outstanding - our beach was dlls. One of the biggest problems at this resort was lack of management and of course staff. I felt this resort is extremely over-rated and would never recommend it to anyone. I could go on and believe me, several people we met felt the same way. We paid top dollar for this holiday and feel totally mislead. I have been to several other resorts and never have I had such a bad experience.

Me and my Husband spent two weeks at Superclub Breezes Costa Verde last year. What a place, it was wonderful. Being the first all inslusive holiday either of us had been on, we didnt really know what to expect but the food was great, From the buffet to the japenesse. All of the staff were so friendly, from reception to bar staff to maid service, they just couldnt do enough for you. The beach was great, the soft white sand, well what can i say just out of this world.We visited Guardlavaca village and the market, the amount of things I wanted to bring home with me. I would have felt perfectly safe walking around there by myself, there wasnt any pressure frm anybody. Swimmimg with the dolpihns was something I didnt think I would ever do, but I have, and what an experience. Such lovely mammels, when you see pictures of them they always like as if they are smiling, well its no different when you see them. wonderful.As I said earlier thw hotel itself was wonderful, the satff were great. There are lots of excurstions offered from, so if you want to go out and visit places you can or if you just want to have a lazy holiday (and who doesnt) this is the perfect place to visit. We enjoyed it so much we have decided to return again this year, we are both looking forward and looking forward to getting back there to visit agin.THIS REALLY ID A MUST!!