Playa Pesquero Resort

4 readers found this review helpful

We arrived in Cuba on 26th Dec 2008 and had Booked the Blau costa Verde what a huge disappointment so we paid an extra price to change to the Playa Pesquero Resort its a large resort and very busy we found that booking in was a chore it took 40mins without there being a queue we went to the room it was sold to us as a 5 star resort but more like a 4 star the mini bar had 2 cans of coke and 2 cans of beer the room was clean but we had continuous problems with the key fob decoding and the hairdryer not working the ironing board was unusable The patio doors did not lock so every-time the maid swept the balcony the door was left open not good as we was on the ground floor !!!!
We was lucky to get beach towels on the 30th Dec but then there wasn't any more towels clean or new till the 10th Jan we left ours out to dry one afternoon Hench they wasn't there when we got back.
When we arrived the choice of food was amazing along with the service as long as you tipped but after new years eve the quantity and choice of food changed and it was very basic and disappointing
The other big problem is biting insects not just mosquitos sand fly and definately something in the room that had a feast when you was asleep.
Just before we left we got a apology note and a bottle of Havana Club from the manager
We wont be ging back.

10 readers found this review helpful

We flew out Boxing Day and left temperatures at around 10 degrees in Manchester to arrive in the glorious Caribbean late afternoon sunshine. Already we were off to a good start. The hotel complex at first seemed huge, but after a quick reveiw of the map on our first morning we knew our whole way round and things were really easy to find. The rooms we stayed in were almost like two studio apartments, a ginormous bed, sofa and coffee table, tv and cd player, dressing table by the french doors which opened onto the balcony and a curtained-off area that had a large wardrobe and drawers and sink. Also the bathroom was in this area. We became very well acquainted with the mini-bar man who came around every evening and the mini-bar was always well-stocked. At one point over-stocked! The maid service was very good and the rooms always clean. She also liked to leave towel swans on the bed and on New Year's Eve she wrote out 2009 with them and on our last day 'bye'. A nice little touch.
We generally stayed around the pool in the daytime for the simple reason of the sunloungers being more comfortable than those on the beach! It also meant whenever we got too hot we could just jump in the pool which was perfect for cooling down in. The pool is lovely, and I, someone who is not in their comfort zone in water, found it extremely reassuring to find it was never too deep for me to touch the floor. Being only 5'4" this is usually a problem! However the drawback of this meant as you were swimming, you would often find your feet or knees touch the floor. But it was no real issue. The swim-up bar, also very good. Well-stocked and extremely popular. Just be careful not to knock your mojito over and spill it into the pool as my brother did! But being all-inclusive, this was no hardship!
For lunch our favourite place to eat was 'La Trattoria' on the boulevard. This was basically Italian, but not the same as in 'La Gondola', the main Italian restaurant. La Trattoria did pizzas, pastas, sandwiches and burgers. The only problem was that most people liked to go here and all at the same time, so as more people arrived during our holiday, we had to queue to wait for a table. Occassionally we'd miss the crowd and there'd be no problem. Also, the ice cream parlour is just next door, and we became very good friends with the workers of there also! We ate in the beer garden only twice as they didn't serve cocktails, but the food was ok. We ate in the restaurant opposite La Trattoria only once. In the evening I think this was the vegetarian restaurant, but in the daytime definitely not as the only dish they served was chicken. The food tasted ok, but did not get on well with our stomachs. This may just have been that we had the dish that was kind of similar to KFC, as my brother and boyfriend had different and were fine.
Of our eight reservations at the a la carte restaurants, my favourite was definitely La Gondola, where we unfortunately only ate the once. We had read reviews prior to our holiday stating that the 'Asiatic' restaurant was one of the worst, but it was certainly not. For us, our least favourite was the seafood restaurant. The original restaurant was situated on the beach, but was unfortunately destroyed by the hurricane. La Trattoria, in the evening, then became the seafood restaurant. The main issue with any of the fish they served in all the restaurants, was that they didn't take the bones out. We pretty much stuck to meats once we realised this. Apparently, before the hurricane La Trattoria was the 24hr restaurant, but now, since it is the seafood restaurant in the evening, the beer garden serves food 24/7.
The boulevard was really lovely and there were stall holders there everyday. They were different everyday, but there was always an array of wood carvings, crocheted dresses, leather wallets and hats etc. We brought home some maracas! Also, on New Year's Eve they were spit roasting 6 pigs and 4 chickens over coals on the boulevard. That was pretty cool. They often had 'Cuba Time' on the boulevard, which was basically music, food and rum! There was also a shop that sold rum, coffee, biscuits, chocolate and juice, but most of the drinks, i.e. the canned beer and juice cartons, that were sold in there, could be requested from the mini-bar man for free. So don't waste money buying beer or juice in there!
The beach was simply gorgeous. Truly what you picture when you think of the Caribbean. We unfortunately didn't take full advantage of the water sports available, but the pedaloes and kayaking was fun. The beach was also the perfect spot to watch the sunset, as we did on our first night.
Of the trips we did four: Sunset Cruise, Boat Adventure, Island Paradise and San Tiago one day. We had hoped to go to Havana but this was more expensive than we anticipated. I cannot say which was my favourite as they were all excellent. The only thing that stopped the Sunset Cruise being as good as it should have been was that the coach was 45 minutes late, which meant there was no time to swim, and we seemed to spend very little time actually on the catamaran. The lunch included in this trip however, was excellent. The Boat Adventure was good fun, but also pretty frightening. In the bay, where there were no waves it was fine, when you got out into the sea, however, it got pretty scary! Be prepared for lots of bouncing around if you choose this trip! It was a lot of fun though. Island Paradise was amazing. As we pulled up on the catamaran is was like something from a film-set. Just beautiful. There was also an opportunity to snorkel for an hour before we docked the boat, which i was very well informed was amazing! Also, the tour guide we had on this trip, Alberto, was by far the best of all the trips. He even sacrificed the tip of his finger just to show everyone a lobster! I definitely recommend this trip. The lunch included in this trip was also amazing. And if you do do this trip, you absolutely have to do the jeep safari! When the driver Lesandro whistled at the turkeys, they all giggled like a group of girls! The trip to San Tiago was our chance to see some real Cuba, and it really is like you see in pictures, all the old cars, tiny old women smoking HUGE cigars! Amazing. The only thing I didn't like was that the history we learned was very old, I personally wanted to know more of the recent history, but it was still interesting to find out.
Cuba, was by far the best holiday we've had so far, and Playa Pesquero made it so. One thing to be aware of is 'Cuban time'. Which basically means slower than the rest of the world. At first this was amazing, and so relaxing, but when it also means the coach for a sunset trip is 45 minutes late, can be quite annoying. The worst part of the holiday was losing my camera at the start of the second week and losing all the photos from the first. :(
Enjoy your stay, we certainly did!

3 readers found this review helpful

My husband and I have just returned from two weeks at the Hotel Playa Pesquero. It was fantastic! The choice of restaurants is better than any other All Inclusive we have been to before. The Romantico was excellent and the Italian was just as good. In fact it would be hard to fault any of them as there is so much choice. The entertainment is very good, there was a show every night we were there (and not repeated the secnd week like most places). The show for the children at Christmas was brilliant, the children were allowed to join in and dress up, it was excellent. I only wished there was a little more Christmas decorations around to make it feel more festive, but afterall we were in Cuba & not England so it was to be expected I suppose. Our room was cleaned every day with clean towels every day. The whole resort was very clean, not a single bit of rubbish anywhere. We were very impressed at how everything was kept so clean & tidy. The grounds were well taken care of and the staff was so warm & friendly. The only thing I can think of which could be improved is the furniture in the Lobby area which was a bit worn and tired. They need to renew these. The pool area was very large, but was kept very clean. There was no problem getting a lift around the resort from our room to the Lobby or Restaurants, the little trolly carts were always around and available.
We enjoyed this holiday from start to finish and would recommend it to couples & families. If you book with Thomas Cook, the return journey means you fly via Valadera where you have to get off the plane for approx 2 hours until they refuel & clean the aircraft. Bit of a pain as the journey is long enough. We flew from Manchester. Don't waste your money booking for the VIP Lounge either, it's a bit of a rip off. We paid £40 to get through the airport quicker but it did not apply in Valadera Airport. All we got was a plate of crackers & cheese/meat and a drink (about a fivers worth)so don't do it!
Apart from that, A GREAT HOLIDAY! ...... GO FOR IT 7 ENJOY YOURSELVES.

2 readers found this review helpful

We returned today from a lovely week at this resort.
Upsides:
Pool - size, cleanliness, safety and facilities. Lots of sunloungers and plenty of room.
Restaurants - buffet, Romantica, La Pipa (near beach). Really nice food.
The beach - wonderful! Safe, clean and lovely clear water.
Staff - very helpful (except reception, they seemed pretty clueless)
Accommodation - large and airy, air conditioned. Cleaned daily to a high standard (except linen).
Excellent representative.
Really really good for kids.
Downsides:
Asian restaurant - don't waste your time.
Lack of shops - unless I missed them somewhere? For just the usual bits and pieces that crop up and perhaps some worthwhile gifts?
Accommodation - getting tired and needs sprucing up. Bed linen not up to scratch. Cushions on the bed and throwover is obviously not replaced after each guest stay. The blankets in the cupboard were filthy.
Bites - mosquitos and gnats on the beach during the day. Remember to take repellent.
Please don't be put off. We had a lovely time. They just need to get their act together on a few things and it will be perfect.

2 readers found this review helpful

I think that overall our holiday would definatly have been a lot better had we had good weather. We went for two weeks and had four days of sun. Those days were brilliant! We took part in all the watersports and had great fun! The beach was wonderful as was the pool. On the days that it rained there really isnt a lot to do. I recommend that you take a few books and magazines as you cannot buy any. There is a book swap at the towel exchange but they are not big and sometimes had none. Not that it bothered me but I heard a few moans from men who were missing the football!!!!
I do not recomend you take the hotel train into the town as there is really not a lot to do there. There is a craft market there but the same stalls visit your hotels in the afternoons. We went and it began to rain on the train so not very comftable had a quick look around and ended up getting a Taxi back 20 mins later. There really is nothing to do in the area so you will be hotel based your whole stay. We went on a trip to Havana which was very good. The trips overall I found pricey. We did'nt do any others as we felt if the weather was to go against us we would have wasted a lot of money. Though I heard from other guests they were very good.
The romantica is a lovely restaurant and I do recomend to book as soon as you get there. This may seem like a chore as there was nearly always a long quee but the restaraunts were quickly booked. We could not visit the seafood restaurant our 1st week because it was fully booked.
Mosqitos really are a problem so you need to take reppellent and I recommend you take afterbite, I did not and I paid the price.
I would also take a waterproof coat and some jeans, you may be cold when the rain comes in your summer clothes.
As for tips we tipped whenever we felt we had good service. Particularly in the lobby bar and the ala carte restaurants. I did hear people complainig that they didnt get served if they didnt tip but I feel that was somewhat exagerrated. Often when it rained
and was busy everyone had to wait a bit longer.
The food was great. A large selection. You were able to have fish, steaks and pasta cooked to your taste in front of you. There was amongst other things a large seafood selection that we particularly enjoyed. I would say at breakfast, often we were not served with a drink.
The room itself was a bit dissappointig. Whilst it was large and comfy it was not so well maintained. The bathroom was great no complaints there. In the actual room though,there were a few, I can only describe as splattered mosquitos complete with blood on the net curtains and windows! Yuk. Our sheets were stained also, though I am sure they were clean but the stains had remained. Our one pillow case had a big stain on it (very noticeable) when we arrived and was still there when we left, two weeks later. The Ironing board was unusable, the cover was 80% destroyed. Severly ripped and burnt and there were a few scorch marks on furinture around the room.
The Staff are very friendly aend I would'nt say expect tips but are grateful when you give them.
Overall we enjoyed our stay but can't imagine we would go back but that is because of the weather. If we were guranteed weather we would certanly go back.

2 readers found this review helpful

We arrived on 14/11 the hotel was beautiful. We went straight to the buffett once we had checked into our room. There was a huge selection.
The food was great, although i dont eat much. The hotel itself was clean and tidy. Beware of all the mosquitos we had to go to the Drs to get some tablets.
One thing which i wasnt happy about was the constant need for tipping. We found if we didnt tip we wouldnt get served with drinks at meal times. This happened on a couple of occassions. I also found that the canadians are favoured over the british.
i would recommend the sun cruise. This was amazing. The dolphins were out of this world.
There are several different restaraunts, i would definitely recommend the romantica

3 readers found this review helpful

The hotel was lovely, room clean and spacious and well equiped with mini bar (tip the lad who refils it and he will refil it well!)
The pool was clean and very big, very good for families as its shallow in parts for children. Tip the people who bring drinks to your sunbed we got a bottle of champers n rum, in return my partner gave one lad his manu top. All the staff are so polite and accomodating, very friendly, they have nothing and welcome gifts graciously.
The food was very good, the buffet was fresh and they cook your preference fresh in front of you as well as having a large selection made up.
The beach is also beautiful.
The trips are a must so take some spending money, we swam with the dolphins and went to paradise island on cattermarans. the trips were well worth the money and very enjoyable!
The entertainment wasnt brilliant but the acts did well. I drank champgne every night!
There were a few weddings held while we were there and they looked beautiful!
I would definately recommend this hotel.

4 readers found this review helpful

We stayed at Playa Pesquero in May 2007 and had a lovely time. The hotel is set in very lush grounds with plenty of space between apartments. The pool was very large and there were all inclusive restaurants all over the complex so you never had to go far to find something to eat or drink. The coffee bar in the reception is wonderful - every kind of coffee you can think of containing every kind of alcohol you can think of!! The rooms are large and airy - the bed must have been 7' wide and very comfortable. The a la carte restaurants are fabulous - one even served lobster as part of you all inclusive - no extra cost. The seafood restaurant on the beach was lovely - we got stranded there during a storm one day - I can't think of a better place to be!! There was a Carribean street party at the hotel one night where everyone joined in - the entertainment was ok in general, but once finished there wasn't alot to do. We went on a couple of trips - although we have been to Cuba before we decided to go to Havana again - still wonderful - we had to fly there which was an experience but if you go to Cuba you have got to go to Havana - there is nowhere quite like it. Also swim with the dolphins - it was great and far cheaper than anywhere else. All told we really enjoyed our stay here - if you do find any holiday friends here make sure you know where to meet them - don't leave it to chance - we met some wonderful guests but the place is so big you can easily miss each other.

2 readers found this review helpful

Definatley recommend it!
The hotel and the staff were so good to us, we all had a fantastic time !
The beach is amazing, the food is fantastic, the bars are good (!) and theres loads to do for everyone, kids and adults alike.
We only had half a day of rain, just before hurricane fay hit the other side of Cuba so the weather was faannttasstic, the air conditioned rooms made the heat bearable!
The maids were brilliant but the entertainment was.... cuban. Stilll, very hilarious!
The best thing were the bands that came to your table at dinner, they were all fantastic and are so friendly ,, ask for a song that goes "boop boop cha cha" !
overall the holiday was amazing, and we'd suggest that everyone goes!
The one downside was the cleanliness of the pool, as it was only cleaned a couple of times during our two week holiday- but that doesnt stop the pool from being fantastic, its massive!
xx

4 readers found this review helpful

We have just come back and having read the reviews of other guests before we went I thought I better add my own the hotel itself is very clean and the pool and beach are probably the best I have seen and I have travelled a lot, but I thought I better warned people of the fact that all the restaurants are open and not air conditioned and that there are hundreds of blackbirds in all the restaurants flying on peoples food when left unattended plus there are things crawling over the food in the buffet restaurants and that there must of been 80% of the people there who got food poisoning First Choice where even paying for the consultation with the doctors I must say that the First Choice reps where very very good. We did a couple of trips while we where there and a must is the swimming with the dolphins trip. If you are going to Cuba do not go to this Hotel