Barcelo Solymar Beach Resort

i came back almost a week ago and i wish i was still there. it was my first trip down south and it litteraly blew my mind. the staff was excellent, even though some didn't always smile - give'em a break - they do live under the reign of... anyway, let's no talk politics. the trip. rooms were kept always clean (please leave tips for maids - they work they butts off), food and entertainment was good - the animation crew is a blast if you get to hang with them. only 2 things to make note of: bring an alarm clock (they don't provide them in the room for the power is generated by your access card therefore you'd have to reset the clock every time you enter the room) and the washrooms are few and relatively far between. don't worry, you'll know where they all are in two days but expect to walk a bit to get to the closest one. don't feel obligated to tip - but it comes back to you if you do - the service gets better. all in all, the resort is beautiful and i fully recommend it!

We stayed at the solymar for 2 weeks feb. 03. Since we go away every winter somewhere in thecarribean we have become as you would say "STREET WISE". The hotel itself is appealing to the eye, very colourful. You can stay in the hotel or in adjacent 2 sty bungalows. We preferred the bungalows,good size with fridge, safe, and patio. If you choose the hotel its means your going to have to go through the hotel,use the elavators to get to your room after being on the beach, not a good idea to us. The beach is great similar to punta cana but with the water colours of cancun. You can walk into town, about 20 min. or walk the other wayfor about an hour, lots of exercise.Food was goodmost of the time, lots of choice. Ala carts were goodto average. Tipping was fine but not always expected.The waiters share their tips. Maids,gardeners etc. keep what they get.Now are tips. 1) Rent a scooter 22$ a day or less. 2) Eat in town for a change eg. large lobster or shrimp pizza 5.50$ 3) Stop along the beach for a snack eg. barbecue chicken and a beer 2.75 and you get the ambience for free. 4)Old Havana a must. 5)Take a ride in a buggy, or coco taxi. 6) Visit Al Capones house, have dinner there if you like. 7) Barter a little in the straw markets, but its not like Mexico. 8) Same goes for the buggy rides. 9) Search things out for yourself at the hotel and you won't be disapointed. 10) Organize your own tours,there better than the ones hyped on your service rep. 11) Varadero is both very safe and the people very friendly, be adventurous and enjoy.

I'm writing this review kinda late... I went to cuba back in Last year may 2002 but thought i'd share a couple thoughts. One thing that was a big surpise was the fact that only one a la carte restaurant was open. Plus lots of the other activities were non existent. will explain later: FOOD: I'm not picky so it wasn't that bad. EXCEPT the a la carte dinner i had. Probably something wrong with the chef that week but my shrimp was pink on one side and um.. GREY on the other. How can ppl not see that it's not cooked?!@? They had fresh orange juice which was nice. The chicken at the pool bar was the best!! I could just eat that all day. SPORTS: This is where i was really dissapointed. Mostly due to the weather but also things were lacking from the resort. I see an archery/shooting range and yet they said it was closed. No one on the staff could tell me if there was a beach ball/volleyball available for me to sign out. I couldn't try any water sports cuz of the weather (too windy) so i can't comment on that. But i did swim around the beach. It's nice and clean that's for sure. But where the heck would you snorkel?? Unless you want to look at sand. I think you need to take an excursion to actually see any fish (which is what i did). ROOM: comfortable and clean. One of my friends had something wrong with their safe but the staff fixed that promptly. STAFF: The animation team were pretty cool. Very enthusiastic if not sometimes too pushy. As for getting help (directions, questions)... most of the time i didn't get a straight response. I couldnt even find someone to tell me what voltage of electricity my room had. SUMMARY: so all in all... the resort was ok. There were hit and misses but i still had a decent time with sidetrips (but that costs extra $$). If anything, at least i felt welcomed and the ppl were nice. I just don't think the resort was up to the 4 star standard when i was there. I don't think i'd go there again right away only in that i was very interested in the snorkelling option and i don't see that here at solymar.

We only went for a week, but I can say that the reviews I had read prior to heading to the Solymar didn't even come close to the mark, with the actual experience.ABSOLUTELY, amazing.Will be going again next year for sure.Entertainment was superb, and the weather and the beaches stunning.Some have said the food was poor. I completely disagreed. We ate mostly at the buffets, but there is so much available that if you spend the first day or 2 trying a little of everything, you will find Many things you will keep coming back for.Ala Cart. Very Very good. We did the Cuban one on the last day, and the food was excellent, as well, they made you feel you were eating at a very expensive restuarant, the service and the "feel" are not to be missed.The only thing that bothered me (and only a little) was that there are 5 elevators (3 on one end 2 on the other) which is plenty, but 2 broke on the 5th day there and weren't fixed yet by the 7th day. Again only a minor annoyance, everything was great.Highly recommend this hotel!

Hey everyone! I just arived home yesterday, Febuary 26th. This was my third trip to Cuba. I first stayed at Super clubs puntarena, and then Bris Del Caribe, and then Solymar. I would have to say I enjoyed Solymar the best. I have read a lot of different reviews from other people who had traveled to the same resort, before I left. These people make it sound like this resort is horrible. When we arrived, we didnt get the rooms we were booked to get, but there was no problem in moving us into the hotel(they are newer, and we liked them better than the bungalows) So the next day, thursday, we basically sat on the beach all day, and enjoyed the hot weather. There is always a lot of activities going on the beach, such as beach volley ball, soccer, stretching, aqua sizing. Then you also have your boat stuff! The entertainment was awesome, I made friends with some of them, they are really fun! I was in two different shows at nite. Which was fun. This was taken place at the outside entertainment area. Food, well i liked it the best out of the 3 hotels. You cant come to Cuba thinking because you are staying in a 4 star hotel, you are going to get fabulous food. This is Cuba, and no matter what hotel you go to, your food won't always taste the same. You adjust though. If you are really fussy, then go to a diffferent country where you know the food will be fine. The rooms were always nicely cleaned, hotel as well. Lots of security around, which is nice, good resurants at nite(the ones where you have to book) and some damn cute waiters! hehe =freddy!! The pools were cleaned every morning, well at least the pool we were at, and the cubans were always greeting you with a smile. Its great! I actually plan on going back to this same resort next febuary, but for two weeks! one week wasnt enough! Anyways If you have any questions, e-mail me, I know I didnt cover every single thing. Ill be glad to help you out, and if you want, I can show you pictures. Thanks for reading! byebye.

My friends and I just got back from the Solymar, and we had a geat time. Not only were the people friendly and the beach beautiful, it was the first time I have been away and actually enjoyed the food. My friends and I are already planning a trip back to the Solymar! While people were complaining about the resorts around us, not one of us had a single complaint!

Just like someone else said, there must be two of these resorts; or maybe a nice resort, with too many whiners. Ok here's my 2 cents: FoodPeople this is Cuba, not Canada. I've been to Cuba 3 times and the food has never been good. Sure I've had better chicken, yes I've had better rice, and I've even had better tasting pasta. But that didn't stop me from going back for seconds every lunch or dinner. I always ate lots, even though it wasn't always the best tasting. Some nights I found more things to eat than others. Some nights I can actually say the food tasted good. Its not like they are trying to make the food look bad... they really put a lot of effort into setting things up. Bottom line: If you're fussy, don't eat the food at the resort, because it does not taste "Canadian." If you can handle some change and variety, fill your guts. Drinks Yes they were small. So what, order 2 at a time. That's what a lot of people did. Rather than order one and then whine when it was all gone that it was too small. I really liked the Cuban beer, but some of the mixed drinks were strong. Simple, just ask for a little less rum or whatever next time. Toilet Paper? Never had a problem running out in our room. Always had at least 2 extra rolls on hand. I don't know about the public washrooms on the resort; I didn't use them since the rooms are close by. By the sounds of one woman who complained about them not having toilet paper, she was using them all the time. I guess its depends on your digestive tract if you can make it to your room or not. Yes in most public places and the airport you had to pay for it. I guess thats Cuba for ya. Simple solution, make sure to carry a roll with you in public and you won't have a problem. Service Easy, it depended on who you had. I found most of them very friendly and helpful. Sure, a few of them seemed to have a sour attitude, yes some were even slow, some were a little dumb, and some were slow and dumb, but I could say the same thing about some people here. In general I thought the vast majority of Cubans were very kind and friendly towards tourists. OtherI could blab on and on about other things. But the reason I went away was to enjoy the nice weather. And that's exactly what I did. Yes I even spent like $15 on tips (for those I thought deserved one, AND even though its all inclusive and it says tips are included!! Someone must have complained about that). If you see how these people live, you can understand that they really appreciate $1. But all in all I had a great vacation, I though the resort was really nice, and the beach was spectacular, not to mention the water was really warm. The day trip to Havana was a great experience too! Oh yeah, I went in February (the dry season = sun). If you go in June and July its going to be hotter, and if you go in Sept and Oct you're probably going to complain that it rained too much. Well that's because it is the wet season during that time period. Every resort is going to have good and bad reviews. Its more the nature of the person than the nature of the resort as to whether they thought it was nice or if they thought it sucked. This is a third world communist country people. Not the best rated country to live in (which Canada is rated). Expect things to be different. It's all part of the experience!If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to send me an e-mail.Happy Travelling

My boyfriend took me to Cuba for the week of Jan 25 and we had an amazing time! I can't believe people who complained about the Barcelo Solymar resort... you have got to be out of your minds. If people did not enjoy the Barcelo resort then these people can never be pleased. We had an incredible villa to stay in... it was a two floor house with a balcony to sit and watch the sunsets. OUr mini bar was stocked daily with water, beer and pop, and everyday we came back to our room to find our towels or blanktes folded in some creative way The food was great! We certainly did NOT go hungry. There are 4 a la carte restuarants to choose from, the International was our favorite. The Buffet restaurant also was great... there was tons of food there for everyone no matter what your dinning prefference was. There were bars located throughout the entire resort...everywhere we turned there was a new bar. Drinks on the beach as well as lots of fun provided by their entertainment staff. There were many water sport activites to choose from which were included in the all-inclusive package like water skiing, paddle boats, banana boats and catamarans, as well as two swimming pools and a beach side bar. This was our first trip together and our first trip to cuba and we will definitly go back one day. The weather was great and beach was beautiful. If you have the chance to stay at the solymar then take it. You will have a great time.

Food: When the weather is 'not so good', the food usually should be great-not so at Solymar! We were there from Jan 13-27, 2003. We had 6 days of outstanding weather. Not Cuba's fault that it was the coldest weather pattern in 60 years!The grub was plentiful in the buffet, but fresh fruit was missing, veggies were sparce at times. The al la carte restaurants seemed to have better food, except the consistency was not always there. One week you would have a great meal the next time you went back it wasn't as good. Trip into Havana was interesting but one does get pestered for dollars, especially by the children. Remember to carry extra U.S. dollars all the time for tipping, especially when you have to use the washrooms. Jeep trip into the country side shows very clearly that Castro's socialist experiment is not working in the country side. Lots of poverty, housing at a premium. They are losing there professionals to the tourist industry because the wages are better as well as the tips. Positives - Hotel rooms were clean, maid service was great. Lobby bar gave great service. Beaches and water were beautiful. The resort is very picturesque. Bussing to and from airport was good. Guides on the trips were very informative, however be sure to have extra U.S. dollars for tipping them. The Cuban staff at the hotel were very friendly.I would go back to Cuba in the future but only if the food improved. This hotel chain has excellent hotels in Mayan Riveria, and Punta Cana. One has to wonder why the food is not better in Cuba, is it a matter of supply?

My boyfriend and I stayed at this resort in the first week of January, 2003. A few days prior to our departure I had read the reviews of this hotel and chose not to believe what seemed to be nitpicky, whiny complaints of from fellow Canadians that had probably never left Canada before. Unfortunately, I found that most of the comments I had read were right. Having said that, if you have already booked your trip at this resort, you should still read this as I don't want you to have unrealistic expectations of this sub-standard resort. If you are still in the process of choosing an island and/or a resort, I would highly advise you to stay elsewhere in Cuba, or in Mexico, perhaps. What makes a trip unenjoyable is utter disappointment; my boyfriend and I experienced new disappointments at this resort everyday. So I have designed the remainder of this review in terms of what you should/should not expect at the Barcelo Soylmar:1) Do not expect a sufficient supply of toilet paper. The maids were pretty consistent with supplying our room, however, the washrooms in the lobby and by the beach were often out of toilet paper. I made sure to stock my beach bag with the stuff prior to heading to the beach/pool. 2) Do not expect good food. Do not expect okay food either. Expect horrible food. The 'a la carte' restaurants were in fact worse than the buffet in this regard. We're talking shrimp cocktail that looked like baby barf, fried pork as a house specialty and invisible lobster (i.e., it was nowhere to be found, despite the waitress telling us that lobster was the special for that evening or the promises of a flirty waiter saying that he would 'see what he can do'. 3) Do not expect to be allowed to go snorkelling. If the yellow flag is up, you don't have a hope in ****, although swimming is permitted (what is the difference between snorkelling and swimming? no idea...). If the green flag is up, which means that all water sports are, in theory, permitted, do not expect the guy in charge of the sports equipment to be bothered to fit you with snorkel gear. He may instead say, even though it is well before the closing time of 5pm, that he is closed and that no, you may not go snorkelling today. 4) Do not expect the people at the front desk to be courteous, to understand the question you have asked and/or to care about any of your concerns. Do expect them, however, to make up an answer to your question in hopes that you will go away. 5) Don't expect really good blender drinks made with fresh fruit. Expect everything made from a mix, with a slight taste of dye and too much sugar. 6) Don't expect your drink to come in a nice frosty glass. Expect little plastic cups with 200 mL capacities. 7) Don't expect good weather in January. It was cloudy and rainy most of the time we were there. 8) Don't expect to know where any of the restaurants are or for the people at the concierge desk to help you out. On a brighter note: 9) Do expect friendly people in the buffet restaurant who are more than happy to pour your morning coffee. 10) Do expect MTV in your bedroom - we were fortunate to be there during a weekend Jackass extravaganza! And that's it, I could go on for ever but those are my main points. vb