Villa Cojimar Resort Hotel

We stayed at the Cojimar for 2 weeks in May, WOW, what a fantastic place. It’s not the newest or plushest of the 3 hotels on Guillermo but I would not have swapped. The beach is pure white soft sand, the sea changes to so many colours you would not believe it. There are 2 pools at the Cojimar, both clean and warm, loads of sun beds always available. Or walk a few steps and you are on the beach. The water is not deep on this beach, in fact at low tide you can walk out and still only be ankle deep.
There are free catamaran rides off the beach, what a laugh, you get absolutely soaked, at 1 point ours was on it’s side just like they do when racing them, great fun.
The staff are brilliant, whether they be entertainers, bar, restaurants, cleaners or grounds man, all say "ola" when they see you. The cleaners leave you fresh flowers and towels in clever designs every day.
Our favourite chef, Yose, became our friend, he joined us when we had a meal off complex at a quirky little restaurant called El Salvadors which is on one of the piers, it’s only small but the staff make you so welcome, Pedro is a scream, he had us dancing and making fools of ourselves, his determination to make sure you have a night to remember is so infectious.
We tried to give Yose a tip, he refused it saying he valued our friendship more than money, his only request was an English dictionary. We are getting a package together for him and sending it on with a note to say we are going back next May.
If you go to Cuba please be aware it is a very poor country, wages for a month are around $15, so take some colouring pens for the children, take extra toothpaste and shaving gel, they will appreciate these little things more than money as things like these are luxury items to them.
We left all our toiletries, flip flops and towels, also if you have any medicines left over they really appreciate them, we will take a bag of tablets, plasters etc when we go next year.
We left a $1 tip on our pillow every other day for the maid, and tipped the restaurant staff every few days. $1 to them is a lot of money, to us it’s about 70p.
If you do any trips I would recommend the dolphins as a must do, these amazing creatures are something else, you get to touch and swim with them.
Although we didn’t go on it, the speed boat trip was supposed to be great, you drive your own boat, as fast as possible, then snorkel and feed the fish.
When we go back next year we will do the 2 day trip to Jamaica, it’s a bit pricey but well worth it so we heard.
If you want to see the real Cuba then go to Havana, its a bustling city, but so alive with the true Cuban spirit that makes this country so special.
If you want to rest and relax totally stay at the Cojimar, you can swim, sunbathe, eat, drink, whatever you want for 2 weeks and come back feeling that you can’t wait to go back again.