Playa Pesquero Resort

This hotel was absolutely beautiful; there was everything here that you would want to do on holiday. The only complaint we had was that Thomson told us that we didn't need a Visa for this holiday, good job I did my research on the net and found out that we actually did!
The beach is gorgeous, lots of sun beds and shade and plenty of water sports. The pool is very big, so you could always get a sun bed no matter what time of day you went to the pool. The swim up bar was also ideal, although children were spilling their drinks in the pool which wasn't very nice!
We did have a shock as we were checking out though; we were accused of stealing two flannels from the room!! The maid had wrote down that she had replaced two of them the day before we left, but they were taken away by her the week before and never brought back.
So I would advise you to check everything and make sure that when they replace your towels etc they have replaced the correct amount. I was pretty disgusted that we were accused of stealing flannels, and when we tried to explain to the man on reception what had happened, he didn't believe us, basically what the maid says goes!
Other than that, I would recommend this hotel to anyone, plenty of choice for food and lots of amenities and Cuba is a very beautiful country.

This has to be by far the best hotel I have ever been to! The rooms were very large and spacious and the facilities were great. Regular cleaning by the maid and stocking up by the bloke who puts cokes/beers in your personal fridge (tip give them small tip, bout a pound English money every 2-3 days, and they will be very happy - the cleaner will then make swans, hearts and all sorts with the towels and the fridge will have extra coke/beers - although note, drink them, as if seen to be getting chock a block they get taken back).
The pool is out of this world. It goes on and on and on! Quality poolside loungers and a bar in the pool area! No watered down drinks like some A/I! The weather was so so hot (38)!
Only thing to consider is going at the time we did (Late August/September), although really hot the hurricane Katrina was heading straight for us at this location and did a dog bend to New Orleans. We had one hell of a tropical rain storm for a day; it was awesome looking back now!
My only criticism with this hotel was the private beach. The lovely white soft sanded areas were often packed with people. We went a bit out of the way on the same beach to get peace and space, and found it very peaceful but the sand where we were situated was rough and stoney.
But we did have amazing peace and very few others were around us. I suppose I'm being fussy after experiencing man made beaches in both Gran Canaria and Cancun! The pool more than makes up for this negative though!
As for the restaurants, exquisite! Several to choose from. I kid you not I love my food and this hotel offered the best ever!
Other negative with the hotel was the entertainment. Very little during day or night. Plenty of day trips at extra cost. Although go with caution on day trips to Holguin centre as you will see it is poverty ridden!
Many a times on coach trips everyone on board had to get back on the coach at tourist stops, due to being over swarmed with poor locals begging for cash! This was very off putting!!! But an experience none the less!
However, if you are a couple or family and don't mind being restricted just to this fantastic hotel then this is definitely a place for you! I went with my girlfriend for two weeks and it was great!
We cannot wait to go back!

Just a quick comment as I spotted a review which said this hotel isn't good if your veggie.
I've done loads of all inclusive, I've never been to one which is great if your veggie, but I have to say I think this is one of the best I've been to on the veggie food front.
Sorry non veggies I don’t want to bore you I just don't want people to be put off, this is a fab' hotel, we’ve been twice and absolutely love it. Were considering going again (which is why I was having a read of a few recent reviews).

We have just returned from a week at the Playa Pesquero resort in Cuba and it was absolutely brilliant.
It was our first visit to Cuba and we did have worries about the money and travel arrangements. This couldn't have been easier to arrange. You can't take US dollars, but they accept pounds or Euros at the bureau de Change at the airport and there was also one at the resort.
The Thomas Cook flights are a little bit on the cramped side, but this was only a problem for us on the return, because you can't sleep. They have enough movies, television programs, and music to make the flight pass quickly enough.
Travelling was nice and easy. You get met at the airport by a Thomas Cook rep, who directs you to one of the coaches for your hotel. The rep then gives you information on the surrounding area and Cuba in general during the hour long journey to the hotel.
Once at the hotel, checking in was also just as easy, you simply state your name and pick up your room cards and info. You get whisked with your bags to your hotel room in a very quick golf buggy!
The resort is spectacular. It has many restaurants even though the buffet that runs every night also has a variety of foods. My girlfriend is Vegetarian and had no problem finding a good selection of food each night, and when we went to the Cuban restaurant they were very happy to cook a vegetarian meal rather than one of the options on the menu.
The service was absolutely fantastic. They have plenty of staff and there were always enough people behind the bar and in the restaurants to ensure that you had excellent service. There is a wide variety of Cuban cocktails and the beer tent caters for those who prefer lager! There is even a bar on the beach, which was within about thirty second’s walk of our room (but it could be three or four minutes if you were on the other side of the resort).
On the beach you can take out pedelo’s or snorkels. The sea is very clear and the beach is impeccably clean. You can get clean towels from the club house as many times as you want during the day (there is a charge if you lose them).
You need to remember to take good mosquito repellent and some good insect bite cream. Everyone on the resort seemed to suffer from mosquito bites, especially in the evening.
You can't buy any creams or medicines on the resort, so it's really important to take all of the stuff that you need with you. We found that if we covered up in the evenings, then we avoided getting too badly bitten.
There are a wide variety of excursions at a range of prices. You would probably need to take an additional £200 each on top of your spending money for these excursions, but they are well worth it.
There are overnight trips to Havana and Santiago (which are expensive) but cheaper day trips to visit a cigar factory in Holguin explore the surrounding area in a jeep tour (this was a fantastic excursion that we thoroughly recommend) and rent a speedboat and visit the surrounding islands. You can even have the opportunity to swim with dolphins!
All in all we loved this resort and recommend it very highly to all of you! We would certainly travel with Thomas Cook again.

1 reader found this review helpful

We have just returned from our two week stay at the Playa Pesquero Hotel in Cuba. Well what can I say apart from fantastic and this has to rank as one of the best holidays I have been on.
The staff are so friendly and the place is enormous with everything that you could possibly want from a holiday. The beach is just a short walk from the main pool area and is lovely and clean with plenty of sun loungers available.
Tip the attendant on your first day and he will have the loungers out as soon as he sees you coming onto the beach again.
The kids club is brilliant. Daniel is 3 and a half and he loved it. The girls are also happy to babysit in the evenings for a small charge.
The pool is freshwater and is enormous and is brilliantly designed to have shallow areas marked out with a stepping stone barrier so younger kids play safely in the shallow area and you can tell if they stray too far.
The swim up bar is just great for when it gets too hot and you need a cooling rum punch, or beer. It is advisable to take your towels out when you go to breakfast if you want a sun bed by some shade as they go pretty early on and we went in May and it was scorching and very very humid.
Also make sure to take plenty of mosquito repellent the one with DEET in it. Normal stuff is no good. I got bitten silly but a Canadian family left us their DEET replant and that did put them off a bit.
The rooms are lovely and clean and spacious.
Book the Al a Carte restaurants as soon as you arrive as they book up fast.
The Island Paradise tour is a must and the extra jeep ride is so much fun but it is a little hair raising and bumpy at times.
If you have any old kids clothes, or toys that you are able to take along to donate to the girls who work at the hotel that is brilliant as they have nothing. The locals are so poor in comparison to us it is just criminal so please tip generously and you will get really looked after.
Oh yes and book the VIP lounge for your return journey as the airport is hot and stuffy and the lounge is lovely with air con and free drinks and snacks etc. Well worth the small charge.

1 reader found this review helpful

Have just returned from the playa Pesquero in Cuba. This hotel is second to none in my opinion beating the sandals range of hotels.
The complex is huge but laid out well and easily accessible
The food and service is excellent whether tips are given or not.
There were a lot of mosquitoes so take lots of repellent. Items such as nappies and wipes for babies are hard to come by, I know, so take plenty.
Another couple of tips are to ask for an upstairs room and place a towel next to your door to stop insects coming in at night.
Tip the waiters and the bar staff at beginning of the week they will get to know you and give excellent service.
Take a thermal insulated cup, keeps drinks cold and stops ants getting in them.
Take an old point’s card, like a credit card but for supermarkets etc, club card that sort of thing to put it the electric slot as you have to use the room key swipe card and it will turn the air con off when you go out.
Have a great time, the staff are fantastic highly recommended, see you there next year.

1 reader found this review helpful

We have just returned (16th April) from Playa Pesquero, we had a fabulous holiday.
The hotel is excellent, although the complex is huge and the hotel was very busy you could always find a quiet spot.
The pool area is massive with plenty of sun beds; we never had trouble getting a snubbed whatever the time of day.
The beach was great the busier side was to the right of the hotel where all the watersports were located, however on the left hand side it was a much quieter spot, again with no problems over sun beds.
The food was very, very good with plenty of selection, the A la carts were extremely good, totally unexpected, considering Cuba is considered third world! Lobster and Champagne at no extra charge!
The staff are very helpful and nearly all speak at least a little English, most have very good English, the rooms were excellent, spotlessly clean and serviced every day.
The Cubans earn very little money about £3 or £4 pounds a week! So they rely on tips, they never ask for tips and the service is the same whether you tip or not!
However, there is not a lot to spend your money on because absolutely everything you could want is at this hotel and they are so grateful when you do tip, just a peso here and there won't break the bank!
I took little gifts, nailpolish, lipsticks, paracetamol, toothbrushes, things like this are luxuries to them, I left a little gift for the chambermaid each day, and she was so appreciative.
We couldn't fault this hotel in any way whatsoever and will certainly be going back.

We stayed at playa pesquero from the 8th-23rd march 07. We actually got married at the hotel on the 13th, and it was brilliant! We were slightly nervous about it being just us two in the party, but we needn’t have worried. The staff and people are so friendly; we were made to feel very welcome.
We thoroughly enjoyed the hotel, there are a few very slight things that if you wanted to be really petty about you could have a little moan (got eaten by mozzis second week, door on TV cabinet wouldn’t shut properly) But over all it was brilliant!
Lots of reviews complained about food, we couldn’t fault it at all. A la carte restaurants were very good, and buffet was a lot better than we expected. We found if you went earlyish there was lots of selection and it was very hot.
I ate lobster most nights! How can you complain about that! Hotel is massive, but we found it very easy to get around. Pool huge, always spaces, even though the hotel was full when we went. Beach beautiful, more crouded than pool area, though you could always find somewhere.
Overall a great value hotel, we paid about the same to go Egypt last year, and this was much bigger hotel, longer flight, and more selection of places to eat and drink.
We would definitely return!

1 reader found this review helpful

We went to PP to get married. Just us, our two kiddies and our mums.
We had the most wonderful time we could have imagined. The weather was glorious, 1 full day of rain the day before the wedding but that was all.
The food was great, anything you could wish for.
The wedding itself was amazing. Yali the wedding co-ordinator was great. She done everything she could to help.
Only downside was I didn’t like my hair for the wedding, but hey, I’m a woman, do we ever like our hair?!
The wedding ceremony was lovely, very simple, no major fuss, just the way we wanted it. We made so many friends there that in the end there was about 20 people at the wedding.
There are a couple of wonderful surprises for the bride and groom too. Won’t say what in case it spoils it for any brides/grooms to be.
Staff were lovely, beach was ok, not wonderful but sand is sand.
Drinks were plentiful and I just really can’t praise this hotel enough.
We loved it so much we returned in November 2005 and hope to return again next year. Loved it!

We stayed in the Playa Pesquero in October 2006 for 2 weeks, we couldn’t wait to go back so we have booked to go again this coming June.
What can I say, I cannot think of anything to complain about. I read lots of reviews before our holiday some were good and some were bad, but a few more bad ones appeared and I was starting to worry.
There were a few complaints about the food not being up to scratch and not much choice.
I am a vegetarian and did not have any problems with the food. There is so much choice and something for everyone. They have the usual buffet items like chips etc but also cook fresh meat, fish and pasta in front of you to exactly how you like it, and add whatever sauces and ingredients you would like.
Loads of veggies, salads, bread, to be honest most things you can think of are there. For breakfast, they make omelettes for you adding whatever takes your fancy. Fresh fruit, meat, bread, cereal everything, they even have a fruit smoothie bar, the banana ones were our favourite.
We were slightly daunted about going into the a la carte; we are a young couple and had never been to an a la carte before. Didn’t know what to expect, our worries soon disappeared after our first reservation.
Romantico- this was our favourite of the A la carte, this is the only air conditioned. The rest are outside. This restaurant is lovely, we had a pianist playing and rose petals scattered over your table, dimmed lighting. Food was lovely, especially the 'mousse with cheesecake’.
Seafood- This was also one of our favourites, this is 'not so formal' as the Romantico, its set on the beachfront and the waiters/waitresses are not dressed so smartly as in the Romantico. The food is gorgeous here, especially the shrimps. A wedding meal took place one of the nights we ate in the seafood restaurant and it was lovely to see.
Jade/Asiatic- I didn't really enjoy my meal in this one so we didn’t go back, although we both said next time we will try it again as we spoke to lots of people who really liked it.
It was a nice atmosphere and there was a violinist playing to everyone at there tables. Just try this one for yourself because I tried lobster for the first time in this restaurant, and have since tried it elsewhere and still didn't like it.
Gondola/Italian-this was the first a la carte we went too, food was nice although we regret not staying for desert as they looked lovely, but we were still quite jet lagged and were nearly falling asleep at our table so we left after our main meal!!!
The hotel is lovely; we had lots of space around the pool. We usually stayed in the same spot of the pool everyday and were usually the only ones in that part of the pool. The hotel holds nearly 2000 people and was only a quarter full in October 06.
The staff are the nicest, friendliest people you could meet. You have a minibar in your room which is re stocked every day free of charge; we took our drinks out to the gardeners/security guards every morning. Be careful if you do this that there is no one watching, as they can get in trouble for accepting drinks from you.
They were very grateful for them though as they work all day in such hot weather.
The bar staff are especially nice, made good friends with dianell, pavel, yuniel and alexei. They really go out of there way for you, and really made our holiday.
The rooms were lovely and spacious, the bed was huge and the bathroom was nice and clean. We used to come back to our room every afternoon with a new creature on our bed made from the towels.
Make sure you take the 'Jungle formula' insect repellent spray as we suffered a few bites throughout our holiday, but nothing too bad.
Overall this was a brilliant holiday and I would recommend it too anyone, there is so much to do and so much variety I don’t understand how anyone could not like this hotel.

If you have room in your cases, it’s well worth taking items like pens, pencils, toiletries and clothes to give to the maids and other staff as they are greatly appreciated.