Sol Cayo Guillermo Hotel

2 readers found this review helpful

We stayed at Sol Cayo Guillermo during the last two weeks of the season prior to it's closure for refurbishment.Although it was evident that things were winding down, it didn't stop us from having a fantastic holiday. The staff worked tirelessly to ensure we were well looked after, and the rather depleted entertainment team were fantastic and always gave 100%.
As in any all- inclusive resort the buffet can become a little repetitive, however, there were chefs available to cook e xtras if required. There were two other restaurants in the resort, including an A'La Carte, providing a varied choice .Due to diminishing guest numbers, the A'la Carte restaurant was able to be booked nightly if required.
To reach our room we walked through beautifully kept and maintained gardens often passing the very friendly gardening staff. Our room was cleaned daily with many extra touches, such as the very imaginitive use of our towels! Some guests complained of articles going missing from their rooms, this is certainly not something we experienced despite leaving some articles on bedside tables etc. Any articles of any value we left in the safety deposit box provided in our room.
The beach was beautiful with white sand and warm shallow water, this was cleaned daily when the tide went out.
The staff made a big effort to compensate us for the imminent closure, providing champagne in the buffet every night and laying on a lobster and champagne dinner.
If I have any complaint, it is with Thomas Cook for not informing us beforehand that the resort was closing and we would be the last guests.
We did still have a fantastic holiday and look forward to returning one day and experiencing the newly refubished sol cayo guillermo.

4 readers found this review helpful

I am a bit late writing this review, but i do feel others should know how beautiful cayo guillermo is but how horrible the complex here is. The only reason i didnt fly home is because my boyfriend and I lived on the beach most of the days or went to the other sol hotels that we could get all inclusive in (the food was as bad at the trip hotel, but the drinks were better). There are two shacks on the beach which sell lobster at a very good price, other wise we would have starved to death.
The staff here are all on the fiddle, they were all stealing the all inclusive food and drinks and packing it into parcels for their families (they are welcome to it!) and I also had stuff stolen; our driving licences out of the safety deposit box!, but luckily they left our passports. The bar staff at the main bar were only nice to you if you continually tipped, especially the females and you only saw the gardeners move if you were tipping them for giving the ladies a flower or buying their grass insects. Also the maids in our room drank the bacardi which we brought with us from england and they stole many of our fags. The people we were next door to also had stuff stolen.
However, may i say that the rooms were spacious, and we had the most spectacular views over the sea, it was beautiful. I have been to the caribbean many times, but this is the best sea view i have ever had.
Goodluck to anyone who stays here, one can only hope that it improves when it has been refurbished

2 readers found this review helpful

We had the most amazing time staying at Sol Cayo Guillermo. We had a beautiful beach that was kept clean daily as well as our resort and rooms. The food did become repetitive at times, but there were many other options to choose from as well as being offered to visit the resturant as many times as we'd like. The bar staff and entertainment team were fantastic and worked very hard to please the guests staying at this resort. I would strongly recommend staying at Sol Cayo Guillermo and am looking forward to our next stay in the near future. My only complaint is that Thomas Cook did not inform us that the resort was closing for refurbishment the week of our stay. Some people complained that items went missing from their rooms. We certainly did not lose any of our items as all valuables were put into the safe provided in our room!

3 readers found this review helpful

I cant Believe People Are Saying This Hotel Is bad
Was A Great Holiday, Loved It
The People Were Soo Friendly, Made You Feel Really Welcome
Food Was Excellent,
Pool Was Clean, They Cleaned It Every Morning
Evening Entertainment Was Really Good
Deffinatley Going Back There Next Year

2 readers found this review helpful

Very disapointed in the 4* which Thomas Cook advertised this hotel at, as the food was below average and not really too good.
Where anybody got above 2* rating for this hotel is kidding themselves as this was a great beach but the hotel was rubbish.
I would never ever use Thomas Cook ever again, we booked premium seating only to find a hole in the seat on board the plane and there was no alternative seats.

2 readers found this review helpful

well, what can i say!! i booked this holiday for my husband and i and it was the first time we had stayed all inclusive so wasnt really sure what standard to expect.
we had origaionally been booked into the Iberostar just down the beach but that was closed for a refurb so we were moved to this one which was supposedly a better hotel!
the beach and sea is beautiful and the snorkleing is amazing, but you could be in the middle of spain as there isnt really anything to prove its cuba around you! you are on an island that has four hotels and thats all, no local village or pubs, you are literally stuck on your resort, and by the end of the holiday we were certainly begining to feel 'cabin fever'
we found the trips that were organised to be expensive and for most of them you had to waste a day sat on a coach to get there as you are that far away from civiliasation!
whilst we were there several people had thing stolen, off the beach and by the pool but also from inside a locked hotel room and the police were as much use as a chocolate tea pot!! so please keep your valubles locked away in the safe.
I WILL SAY though that the entertainment staff were fantastic and really kept the place running, they worked their socks off trying to organise pool activities and an early evening show, and only get paid peanuts for working six days a week and 15/16 hours a day!
the night time entertainment is restricted to a tiny disco bar that allthough air conditioned is probably no bigger than your front room!
i would only advise this place if you really want to get away from the rest of the world!

2 readers found this review helpful

After a long and weary flight stuck in the back row of the plane - recommend your pre-book your seats - we arrived at the resort, quickly collected our luggage and out onto the transfer coach. On arrival at the hotel we were greeted with cool drinks and the cubans singing and dancing dressed in their traditional dress. Were shown to our room which was large, airy, ok basic furnishings but clean.
There are 3 restaurants 2 of which are a la carte with one visit to each per week, found the food to be varied, fresh and plentiful, recommend the pasta bar, they cook your pasta in front of you, same with the meat bar. Drinks aplenty worthwhile paying the cocktail bar a visit, ended up there every day for the 3 o'clock club were we all met when it got too hot for a drink or 5! The nightly entertainment was varied never the same show twice, the entertainment staff were all very friendly made you feel very welcome and worked very hard for the measly wages they earn.
The beaches are stunning, warm shallow waters, just like you see in the brochure, I spent many a happy day there on my own, where was my partner - try the cocktail bar!
We met loads of great people from all over Britain and still keep in touch.
We went on the James Bond boat trip, you get to drive your own speedboat, amazing, also went on the catamaran where you could snorkel and the cuban beachparty were we learned to salsa.
Overall excellent holiday would go back in a minute, and the crabs that bug me the most are those holidaymakers who go on holiday and expect it to be just like home, why bother going all that way in the first place just to complain at the slightest thing, it is Cuba after all.

1 reader found this review helpful

****in'. Myself and my girlfriend Nikki stayed at this hotel from the 17/5 to 01/06 2007, Having travelled extensively together through our lives and my time in the Royal Navy neither of us has ever experienced a more idyllic and wonderfull place as Cayo Guillermo. Anyone who has published anything other than 10 out of 10 for this holiday needs a slap back to reality as we were blown away by the island and its wonderful people. To experience the way of life that these people have and still turn up to work with the biggest smiles and an unequalled energy to make sure that the hotel residents have the holiday of a lifetime. It was absolutely wonderful. The beach is second to none with silver clear crystal seas as warm as your bath and bright white clean sands. looking back to the hotel from 100 feet out to sea where you are still in only 3 feet of water all you can see is palm trees, none of the buildings are over 2 stories.
We were spoilt for choice from an exquisite array of food and also sports and entertainment facilities are too many too number. This is also an ideal holiday for children with an unrivalled staff entertaining children all day long in extreme safety conditions. We also made some great friends in the hotel namely Guillermo and Carlos (rum Bar) Carlos (24 hour Bar) ulysses (Rum Bar) and not forgetting Lazarus for his kindness and lots of fresh coconuts. All in all we were gutted to leave and WILL be returning to this hotel. It blows us away to see bad reports for this hotel and Cayo Guillermo in general.
The Holiday of a Lifetime.

2 readers found this review helpful

I only gave this hotel 1 in my overall rating, this is for the hard work of bar and restaurant staff. It was the worst holiday I have ever been on. The food was repetitive,the birds landed in the food trays,the pool was filthy,the accommodation was dated, our sons bathroom ceiling was falling down,broken floor tiles and full of cockroaches. People we met on holiday had items stolen from their room had a horriffic time with police and security,which led to police and security to believe that my family stole their belongings, other British holiday makers also had belongings stolen,but, obviously did not report it to security. Ive never been a criminal in my life but I was there for the final week. They even took me away at the airport to search my case insisting that one of the stolen items was in my case,good try Cuba but I have never stolen anything. We had originally planned on getting married there, but something made me cancel (well it was actually mis-sold to me by First Choice and Thomas Cook) Thank God is all I can say, I felt so sorry for the people that did get married in this hotel, there was no effort put in, as the other surrounding hotels did for people we had met on the plane.Anyway this hotel closed for re-furbishment on 7 May 08 so that tells you how bad it was, always check the law of each country before you travel and push your travel agent to check of any special conditions any country holds, Thanks Cuba and Thomas Cook you nearly ruined the best day of any womans life but instead you just ruined our honeymoon and my sons very special holiday, you only charged us £6800

1 reader found this review helpful

A nightmare of a holiday
we had items stolen from our room and as you would expect reported this to reception. Police arrived at 9.30pm and took a statement from my husband. At 11.30 they took a statement from me. At 1.30am they wanted a statement from our daughter 13 years old. When I refused they were not happy at all !! We were then told we could not retunrn to our room as it was a crime scene..... at 2am after lots of arguing via the receptionist - the only person who was avaialble to interpret for us we went to bed - being told to expect forensics at 7.30am
We rose early and waited all morning until 2pm when 18 military, police, detectives, etc.. turned up. The saga went on... AT 5.30opm , now 36 hours, we were all fingerprinted and told we were suspects in the case. The case was that our items were not stolen and we had made it up !! Why bother making up the loss of an Ipod, Watch and Glasses - to us £500 to a Cuban several years wages !!.
The following day Sunday our Thomas Cook rep (Cuban) told us we were not allowed to leave Cuba and we faced up to 10 years in jail as we could not prove there had been a theft - can you imagine how we felt.
Eventually this was overturned and we left feeling like common criminals all for just reporting our stolen items - but it did not end there.
At the airport we were flanked by 3 security/police who watched our bags go through check in.
A family we had met on holiday's case appeared the other side of check in. The wife was taken into a room and searched for our items.. Clearly they were not there !!
The final insult came on the carousel at Manchester... my bag - filled on leaving Cuba - came wobbling along the conveyer belt - half empty !!
Whomever the security people were that took note of our bags had been through them at the airport removing most of my clothes and a camcorder - and had failed to put them back
Thanks Cuba - we have been four times - BUT NEVER AGAIN