Club Amigo Guardalavaca

10 readers found this review helpful

We read the reviews and I paniced! OMG I though what have I booked. My fears were soon put aside. We stayed in beach Villas, we didnt have a sea view but we only had a two minute walk from the most fabulous beach.
The villa accomdation was lovely, it was spotlessly clean, we had a glitch with the safe that was fixed in 15 minutes.All of the staff went out of thier way to help us including you holiday rep "geordie"who was excellent!
We have been to Cuba before and stayed in 5 star acoomodation and it was not dissimilar only newer. Club amigo was built in the 80's, the front part of the hotel reflects this but dont let it put you off. The apartments were spacious and the pools all clean. if you wanted a quiet beach no worries you have two small beaches and two big beaches one with music one with out, win win if you ask me! The main resturant feels a bit open as the ceiling is so high and after two major storms it sprung a leak but the staff soon put this right and the food was wondeful,basic but fresh, the selection of veg was local, but was really tasty we especially enjoyed the pumpkin and yucca, I recommend both the pork and the fish dishes all locally produce again. I have to take on board the comments made about flys, I am not sure if it due to the season but we only had a few flys, realistically its a hot country and they are expected, if in doubt have your meal cooked by the chef ITS FRESH!!Major bonus no mosquitoes! We will be going back without hesitation. And for all you divers out there it was supererb, and the local dive centre Eagle Ray are equipped to the highest standard the dives are very reasonable working out at about £15 a dive. If you intend to do more than 4 dives book with Eagle Ray when you arrive.

14 readers found this review helpful

My boyfriend and I stayed at the Club Amigo Atlantico for 2 weeks in January 2009 and after reading reviews on here we were a little apprehensive of what lay ahead, however, it was the best holiday I have ever been on.
On arrival at the hotel we were greeted by friendly reception staff who allocated us our rooms.
We were in the Villas section of the hotel, (all thomas cook customers are placed here at no extra cost) and were impressed with the room. Our room had two double beds, satelite tv, air conditioning, balcony,safe and a reasonably big bathroom.
Our room was cleaned every day of the 14 we were there and was always spotless, the cleaner was fantastic!
We spent most of our days on the beach, which was brilliant. There are water sports included in the all inclusive (kayak, pedalo and catamaran, snorkelling kits) and these are well worth giving a go!
The pools are quiet (most guests tend to use the beach) but clean and there is never a sunbed shortage.
Food was ok, not the best, not the worst. There are 2 al la carte restaurants and a grill and you are entitled to one visit to each per week - take advantage of these.
The buffets in the bungalows and near the entertainment stage were much quieter and more relaxed than the rush and push of the main buffet restaurant in the main hotel.
Omlettes at breakfast were great, made fresh and with the fillings of your choice, and also fresh squeezed orange juice was lovely.
For a quick snack in the day go the snack bars, the ones near the beach or the bungalows pool are the best. Pizzas, Burgers, Chips and a friendly service!!!
Bar staff are friendly enough, but as like the restaurant staff, they tend to serve those who give huge amounts of tips (Canadians throw money at them) before they serve you.
Go to the market which is next to the hotel for some great souveniers. There is no hassle from the sellers, all are very friendly and helpful and dont make you feel uncomfortable in any way.
We went on two trips, Sun Cruise - included dolphin swim and Island Paradise. Both were fantastic and I highly recommend the dolphin swim.
Trips are quite pricey though so have the credit card ready!!
All in all a fantastic holiday with no problems. Would definately recommend this and wouldnt hesitate in going back!!!

3 readers found this review helpful

Arrived home yesterday from what can only be described as Benidorm for the Canadians.Luckily we were in the Villas but can't think what it would be like in the main hotel. Did try to upgrade but Thomas Cook wanted an extra £360.00 each. Anyway food terrible but location and staff superb hence a score of 5. Please when you book increase to 4 or 5 star it really does make all the differance.

3 readers found this review helpful

we spent 14 nights at club amigo 1st room we walked straight out it was foul the 2nd room we spent 1 night there was no key for the safe our next room was ok but very basic though it was clean they were in the bungalow section we had friends in the main hotel they said the noise was terrible the food was tasteless and allways cold i watched the chef put cold cooked chicken on a hot plate and recook it again we both caught a stomach bug i wonder why on the plus side the people were friendly apart from larger lout canadians entertainment was good we were entertained in one of the al carte resteraunts by a rat walking down the walls then sitting watching us from on top of the air conditioning units in my opinion the hotel is lucky to get a star not the three it is rated at its put me off all inclusive i would avoid this hotel at all cost

3 readers found this review helpful

We were very disappointed in our room and the food was awful. It was the same things over and over again. Our room smelled mouldy and there were not any little things that you get used to when you travel. No coffee maker, two small beds, one skinny pillow each, one towel each and the floor was always wet in the bathroom because there was no bathmat and the shower curtain barely reached the lip of the stall. There wasn't even shampoo in the room. We mostly ate at the snack bar as it was better than the buffett.
There was a lot to do and the staff was friendly. The beach was beautiful and the water great. The pools were fine. It was the room and the food that really was a great disappointment. We spoke to some of the others that were around us and they all pretty much felt the same. One lady cried herself to sleep a couple of times. If you get a room in the actual hotels they seem better.
There were days there that we did not even have water. One day I was glad to have a cold shower as the day before there was no water at all in our room.
I would go to Cuba again but I would stay somewhere else.

1 reader found this review helpful

We arrived at Club amigo Atlantico on 24/12/2007 for a 3 week stay we had booked with Airtours and had paid £420.00 to upgrade to a villa due to the reviews. We were checked in and taken to our room - it was not a villa! Although you book with Airtours it is a Thomas Cook Flight and Rep etc.
Airtours had not passed the fact that I had booked a villa on to TC and therefore as TC customers automatically get a villa without paying a supplement they had given my villa to another customer! I stood at the reception for 4 hours after around 10 phone calls to the rep - which wasn’t present! decided as we had been travelling for 17-18 hours we were going to give up and accepted a normal room until the morning - the only way I can describe this room was like a hostel two hard single beds for a could anything wood had been eaten away at and anything metal was rusty it faced out onto a generator, the lights worked varyingly - absolutely horrible!!.
The food that night was minimal but the following day (Christmas day) we were left waiting in reception for the rep to sell his trips before sorting us out! he told us we would not be getting the villa as there was not one available but we would be moved to Brisas Guardalavaca for the remainder of our stay we sat at the reception at 3pm waiting for the taxi as the rep asked but it didn’t show - the rep arrived after a phone call and paid for us a taxi at 4.15pm!
We went back to the Club amigo for a couple of drinks after 2 weeks and it was a very nice atmosphere the staff are lovely and can’t help you enough - I would stay here if I returned to Cuba again but would not book through Airtours!!
If you are going with Airtours and have booked a villa take your booking documents as if I did not have proof all I would have been able to do is reclaim my supplement once home!!
For holiday details see my review on Brisas Guardalavaca.

3 readers found this review helpful

I had the best holiday ever when I went to Cuba!! The resort itself was fantastic as it catered for everyone, if you want to relax you can, if you want to be up and doing things then you also can. The pools were lovely and the beach is a stone’s throw away. The staff were very friendly and were always willing to help (they love you even more if you try and speak some Spanish)!!
The room was beautiful and clean, and I always came back to the room to find fresh towels made into swans on my bed! The air con in the rooms was a God send as it does get very hot...on one of the days it was 47 degrees!!
I went swimming with dolphins which was really nice as in the morning you go to a banana plantation and get to go on a horse ride and then eat some of the nicest fruit you will ever eat!! Then you go to the dolphins and after swimming with them you have a lovely meal of fresh fish and meat whilst being entertained by the wonderful authentic band (I loved them so much I bought the album!)
I also did the salsa under the stars trip which involved getting picked up at roughly ten pm and going down to the beach where there is music and a bar and you are taught how to salsa dance with the soft sand under your toes....very funny especially after one too many mojitos!
I’m back to club Amigo this summer and cannot wait to relive all my memories!!

5 readers found this review helpful

We booked this resort holiday as it gave us a relatively cheap way of visiting Cuba.
The hotel in general was quite shabby and dated but very clean and with extremely friendly and helpful staff.
There were 3 types of accommodation - bungalows, villas and the main hotel. We stayed in the latter which was definitely the oldest section and so furnishings were quite basic. That said it was comfortable and clean and very close to all of the bars and pools.
We went to see the villas and bungalows and these were more modern but seemed to be visited more regularly by the local Caribbean wildlife than our room was!
The food in the hotel was very basic - the buffets seemed to have the same choices every day/night and the bars mainly served fast food although there was a lovely daily barbeque at one of the poolside bars.
You could also book in to the hotels different a la carte restaurants and we did this and had different levels of success. At some the food was little different to the buffet fair yet at others we had delicious meals.
There is very little to do around the resort apart from visiting the local villages on a small road train or partaking in watersports on the beach.
We chose to book ourselves on a 2 day tour of Havana which definitely ended up being the highlight of our trip.
Overall I would say that the hotel is ok if you go very clearly expecting 3 star accommodation. The resort is fine for those who just want to relax on a beach or by the pool but is not really the greatest for those who want to experience real Cuba.

1 reader found this review helpful

A friend and I just returned today. We were upgraded to a bungalow and that was very nice, lots of room. But keep the air con on or you tend to get bugs in the room.
Food was ok but I could not wait until I got home for a hot meal. I like cold or hot food but not luke warm. The menu did get boring after a while. The wait staff were courteous. Do NOT but anything from any of the staff in the dining room, as ever after almost all staff will be coming to you with something for sale and before you buy anything check at a regular shop in the down town area as quite often it's cheaper!
The entertainment was quite good at times but the music was way to loud for the area. The piano player in the upstairs lobby bar was lovely and we found most people gathered there as they could chat and meet people.
I would have come home well pleased with the property until the last day. In my rush to get out of the room because the cleaning lady was on the doorsteps, I left all the clothes in one of the dresser drawers - 3 pairs of capris (expensive ones) and 3 scarfs (1 an Italian designer scarf). We did not leave the hotel until seven hours later and were in the lobby area for a long time. I know the room had been cleaned by then and I feel any good hotel would have tried to return property to a guest of the hotel. Any hotel we have ever stayed in has a policy of property found in a room is to be taken to a designated area and stored in a bag with the room number and date of stay as well as the guest name. The staff can’t say they did not know we were in the hotel. Believe me, everyone on staff knows when you have arrived and when you are leaving and quite often where you are most of the time. Staff could always manage to find a guest at any other time of our stay.

1 reader found this review helpful

We had a lovely time in Cuba, the weather was fantastic. Don't expect too much from the food side of things as you will be disappointed if you do, it isn't horrible but its basic. They have nothing to stop flys coming in the eating areas either and they get everywhere which did drive us mad.
The hotel rooms are clean and tidy and the maids are lovely.
There are lots of things to do (trip wise) we swam with the dolphins, had the day on a boat, flew to Havana for the night and enjoyed the famous Tropicana Show, went speed boating and danced salsa under the stars!!!
I wouldn't recommend leaving the complex, if you book trips every few days like we did its nice to chill out in the sun for 2/3 days doing nothing whilst looking forward to your next trip.
We took about £1000/1200 spending money and came back with about £200, most of our money went on trips.
You could quite easily go to the complex to eat and drink only and spend very little money and still have a nice time, but we like to explore a little that's why we booked as many trips as we did.
I only got bit twice out there and my partner only once, we took sprays and repellents and kept our A/C on 24/7 so the mossi's didn't bother us.
I loved Cuba and for the price we paid we couldn't complain about the hotel too much!