Gran Caribe Barlovento Hotel

I honestly don't understand why some people post such bad reviews of Cuban resorts, I think they have never travelled or that they are impossible to please. A vacation is what YOU make of it. Being rude and ignorant will only frustrate the poorly paid staff who wait on you hand and foot only to be abused by your lack of manners! Remember that the staff make less than USD$10 per month. Smile and remember to speak the language whenever possible (you are in a foreign country) and say gracias and so forth. A smile and a pleasant manner will get you much futher than complaints and frowns. The Barlovento is a great resort, just steps away from the FANTASTIC beach. The beach is simply heaven on earth - pure blue warm waters that are clear, white clean sand. I have been to Punta Cana and Cancun, and I can say that the beach in Varadero is far superior to Punta Cana (full of seaweed and rocks) and similar to Cancun's fine beaches. The staff are friendly and always helpful if you are willing to share their language. It shows respect to try a few words of broken spanish rather than simply refusing to even try! Tip the bartenders USD$10 each at the very beginning of your stay and you will get fantastic service. Arrive early for the buffets and you will get hot food. The food is not great anywhere in Cuba, but you come for the beaches, the people and culture. Book yourself meals at the Mexican restaurant for a change. Arrange a day or overnight trip to Havana and you will see many incredible historic sites. Pack pencils, pens, notebooks, anything for the children you see on the streets, or give these gifts to your maid by placing them on the pillow each day or at the end of your stay. Little things make the world of difference, combined with a friendly, upbeat attitude. Act like you are seasoned and friendly world travellers and NOT stuck up rude Brits or Americans/Canadians who give us all a bad name! The rooms are clean and pleasant. The views of the gardens and pools from our room were nice. Yes there are dogs and cats on the resort property, but SO WHAT? I like those dogs and cats and they are very tame and friendly. This is a perfect resort for those who are not looking for luxury, but instead a pleasant, quiet, friendly stay. The resort is close to town, so you can walk easily to shops and it is just steps from the beach.

If all you want is basic facilities, friendly-ish staff (depending on your tipping abilities) and a small leap to the beach and you are renowned for not caring what you spend your hard earned cash on, this is the place for you. If you had spent £700+ per person (as advertised in the Thomson brochure), you will leave Barlovento with stripes across your forehead where you spent the week scowling in dismay. You will have scowled at the fact that the food was abysmal (barely edible at times), that this wasn’t the luxury relaxing break away you’d expected and best of all that your final bill was a different figure each time you asked for an itemised bill. Varadero itself, well, clearly the sea has always been there, but its infrastructure was built for tourists, so need I say more. If you’re after a genuine Cuban atmosphere and culture, you won’t get it. This is an "exclusive" resort for "exclusively" tourists and Cubans trying to earn a living from the trade (who can blame them when someone is silly enough to spend £700 + on a week at Barlovento). Strongly suggest if you have an urge to go to Cuba, you take the DIY route and plan your journey in advance. Do Havana, do the mountains, do Trinidad, take a peek at Varadero if you must, but please don’t find yourself at Barlovento....

My boyfriend and I (25's)just returned from the Barlovento, and I am happy to say that the hotel did nothing but contribute to a fabulous trip. Arriving at the hotel, we found that the lobby (and especially the grounds) were beautiful and the staff treated us perfectly. We happened to be the only two checking in at the time, so I'm not sure it always goes this smoothly, but we were in our room within five minutes. However, we were a little less than impressed by the room when we walked in. We were there on a special vacation and had requested an oceanview room with one king bed. What we had was a room with two double beds pushed together and a view of the staff living quarters, albeit among some palm trees (306). Now, the hotel is pretty much directly on the beach, but the restaurants and pools are mostly between the rooms and the beach so there are no rooms (as far as we could tell) with an oceanview. It also turned out that there was no hot water in our room, so when we spoke to our travel rep (sunwing) the next morning, we were moved by that afternoon. No problem. This new room had a very nice pool and palm tree view, hot water, and was nice and clean (321). The food was better than we had expected, more than edible and we never got sick. It inevitably becomes a bit repetitive as you eat three meals a day there for an entire week. We found that the Mexican restaurant (on site) was a nice break from the buffet food. We also found a restaurant just to the left of the resort called "Casa De Chef" which served incredible lobster dinners for 10 pesos - well worth it! The beach is unbelievable- the most beautiful I've seen. Soft, white sand and blue blue water. No jellyfish and some days with waves- just enough to be fun, not dangerous. The only tips I can think to offer- -tip at the mexican restaurant and the servers with generally invite you back as many times as you want (without reservations). The cuban restaurant is worth trying once, but we were unimpressed. -we tipped the bartenders 10 pesos at the beginning of the trip and five about two days before we left. We recieved perfect service. -the shows are worth checking out- the first four days were incredible professional-style dances and very entertaining interactive skits. The last few were alright, but still entertaining. -bring bugspray and use it as soon as the sun starts to go down- my legs were covered in huge red welts by the end of the week. Men, you're in luck though- I only saw the welts on women! All in all, I thought this was a very good resort. It's not five star, but then it never claims to be. Go expecting a three and a half star and I think you'll be very happy with what you find.

The food is what was expected... fresh and local, but it got boring by the end of the week. The pastries and the breads are excellent. Thank goodness we took our own hot sauce as that was not readily available. Next time, I'll also take worchestire sauce for the bloody marys and garlic powder for just about everything!. Better than the food at some of the local restaurants though! And the chefs arranged the food nicely. The staff are very friendly, although many don't speak much English. The staff at the bar and the restaurant are especially nice, and the cleaning staff also are nice, although with limited English. The beach was nice, but there were three red flag days when we couldn't swim, and the other day I was on the beach, it was still a bit rough. One of the pools looked dirty as people were jumping in with suntan oil on. Unfortunately, the back patio door did not lock properly, and someone came in and stole a jacket and about $200 Cdn. Likely a tourist, as the punishment for stealing for the staff is probably horrible. That kind of spoiled the vacation,but life goes on. The entertainment sucks, and they seemed to think the tourists would like theatre (mostly in Spanish, vaudeville, tropicana style shows, and fashion shows. Don't go here for the entertainment. The bar staff will keep you well liquored up for a decent tip, and the pina coladas are excellent. Within walking distance of the flea market, and entertainment, if you like to walk. Otherwise, $3-6 pesos will get you downtown. Talk to one of the guys in the restaurant for a relatively cheap trip to Havana for the day ($100 pesos while the other taxis charge $150, and it's about $70 each if you go by bus.... we shared the fare with 3 of us.). All in all, worth the money we paid for an all inclusive, and I would go back there again.

My husband and i went to the Gran Caribe Club Barlovento in Varadero Cuba for a 1 week stay, from March 26 to April 02, 2005. It was a paradisiac week like we've never lived. The sea is just breathtaking..i felt like crying... the beach is so clean and there is always a place for everyone...the nautical sports are very interesting but the animation (dance and aerobics) was not very polpular..the room was spacious, sunny, clean and tidy....the food is good, clean,...you always find something to eat but the last 2 days, it becomes a bit repetitive. We liked the mexican restaurant but not the cuban. The shows are average, although the actors try to do their best and practise a lot. The employees are very kind, they speak a little english...some of them speak a clear and understandable english...you will always be able to be understood somehow. Bring lots of gifts with "CANADA" written on them....they are very highly appreciated by the staff and can allow you some luxury (coconut at the room,....)..and of course, never forget to tip....in Cuba, you tip like you breath... To sum up: do not hesitate....go there!

I just returned from my first trip to Cuba - Spent a week at Barlovento - It was very enjoyable - food was average - different main dish every evening, plenty of it. Took a tour of Havanna which again was excellent. except the bus driver had parked a fair distance away and it was a very hot day. Would have been much better if he had picked up outside of the market. Rooms were clean, maid service good. Entertainment was average, although they tried hard. Best was the tropicana nite. Pools were ok. Beach was excellent although most of the time was very windy but we enjoyed our time at the beach. I would recommend this hotel to any one.....also felt safe and would consider travelling alone.

We spend 2 weeks in feb-march 2005, It was very clean, people very polite, the beach very nice and clean. The food lots of shrimps and fish and pork. It was very good. Just the drinks could have been better. The maid service very good.

I stayed at the Barlovento for reading week (feb 17-24 2005) with my boyfriend (we're both in our 20's). We had a relaxing and great time! This resort was smaller than the huge resorts (Barcelo or Breezes etc. for example), but this is the main reason why we liked it so much! The rooms are very clean, and the property is very well kept and nice. There is a great selection of food, all special diets can definately be accomodated at the buffet and no one will go hungry. The a la carte restaurants were really nice, and we liked the Cuban one in particular..nice staff and yummy food! Drinks are good and the service is good (unless there is a big line, it's a little slower). It is a bit of a walk into Varadero but it's not too long (40 mins). As far as stuff to do at night, the lobby bar is open until 1am and there is a dance preformance every night. Nightlife isn't too big of a problem because the clubs in Varadero only charge $10 at the door for all you can drink, so the nights that you want something more to do just take a quick cab ride in to a club. Don't believe any of the bad reviews..they seem to be written by people who had an unusual experience or were just very picky about every detail!! Just a few suggestions though, only convert as much money as you need, at the airport they rip you off with the exchange rate(1peso=1$cdn there instead of 1$USD)...and make sure you bring some old clothes or shoes to leave your maid! Email me if you have any other questions or concerns!

I just returned today from my stay at the Gran Caribe Club Barlovento in Varadero, Cuba. The best part of my vacation was the flight home. The hotel is disceiving. It appears quaint, quiet and cute when in fact it's none of those. Upon arrival our rooms weren't ready. Which was forgiveable, it happens...but we had to wait 2 hours for our room to be ready which was not quite as easy to forgive. The food was very blande and quite cold 90% of the time. There was a terrible problem with flies and animals such as cats and dogs wandering around in the buffet area where you eat as well as throughout the hotel. The buffet area was nice in appearance I will give them that. The hotel appears very beautiful, but once inside things aren't so gravy. The service of the staff (other then the maides) was extremely discouraging. NO ONE speaks English, and they make NO attempt to try. There is no listing for what drinks are offered at the bar, you basically need to ask other guests what it is they are drinking, and ask for one of "those". The selection of drinks is slim, maybe 6 or 7 drinks if you're lucky. The service of the bartenders is slow, and if you dont tip them, they will skip over you to someone who has already. The rooms are very small, the bathroom doors are see-through. The hotel staff doesnt keep a very good record of who has paid for what, as we were asked to pay again for our room safe AND our phone bill, both which we had paid, and had receipts for. Costs for phone calls were not accurate whatsoever and no one really knows how they calculate your cost. They had little "shows" each night for entertainment. They were okay. Some nights it was entertaining, other nights most people just went to bed. The hotel itself, floors etc is quite dirty, the curtains were filled with dust, and when we moved them to open our belcony door, it appeared to almost be snowing in the room. I was trying not to make this into a completely negative review as there were some very nice aspects. The beach was definitely a sight to see. It was breath-taking. The pool area was gorgeous. The excursions available are definitely worth the money and I do recommend trying them out. Overall our trip was not what we had at all hoped for and it was very discouraging. I wanted to write a review because I don't want anyone else to go there, without atleast knowing what's behind the scenes. I wish I had known and I would have chosen another hotel.

Good Points The location next to the beach - great The entertainment - they worked very hard and we had a few fun nights - particularly with the audience participation nights The rooms - a bit of a musty smell on arrival because our room had been empty for a few days whilst we were in Havana - however once we'd got some fresh air in the room was fine - spacious and very clean The staff - they were great - we found a great waiter - Johnny - who was fantastic - always made sure our water and wine glasses were full and our tables were cleared quickly. The maid was also great too - she did a fantastic job. The entertainment staff were great also and happy to chat and socialise. The drinks - Unlike Mexico (where they put very little alcohol in) the drinks at the Barlovento were potent! Not so good... The food was pretty poor. The salad bar was the same every night - shredded cabbage, cucumber and beansprouts...one night they had some lettuce and beetroot but that was it. The food was tepid, dried out (if you timed it badly) and unlabled so you weren't sure what was on offer. The selection was very limited also. Having been all-inclusive in Mexico there was a marked difference in quality and choice. I know its Cuba and resources are not as readily available but I don't think you can put it all down to this - we had the buffet at the Hotel National de Cuba in Havana and it was great. If we had paid less for the holiday than we did when we went to Mexico it wouldn't be so bad so I blame the tour operators - they charge the same but you get far less value for money. I have no comparison to make with other hotel food in Varadero so I don't know if its just the way things are in Varadero or whether its just the Barlovento...