Varadero Beach: Sandals Royal Hicacos: “A great honeymoon vacation”
We just got back from a week stay at Sandals Royal Hicacos(Sept 27 to Oct 4). This was our first time in Cuba, and the caribean. We arrived Sat. night in the middle of a thunderstorm, the next day was great sunny weather, until the night when it rained, the rest of the days had perfect weather, lots of sunshine, no cloud cover, and no rain. We have heard that at this time of the year, the weather in the caribean can be unpredictable, so we were really happy with the great weather.The staff at SRH were extremely friendly and helpful, they do their best to make sure that everyone has a great time. Based on previous reviews about the food in Cuba, we were worried that this would be be a problem. It was not. SRH has 5 restaurants to choose from. The buffet restaurant had different selections every night. Our favorite was Caribe and Don Pasquales.The beach at Varadero was as described, sandy beach and warm water,we were very happy,most water sports were included at no extra charge. The only water activity not included was parasailing($30.00US) I did try parasailing and it was fun, you get a great view of the resort from high above.If you like a little bit of history, the tour of Havana is definately worth the time. Out tour guide Herbert was very knowledgeable, apart from the standard tourist facts, he gave us great insights about life in Cuba. Just wear comfortable shoes, lots of walking, and dress very light, it was very hot in Havana.The only suggestions we have to make the resort better, is that the pools should be open later, till maybe 9pm or 10pm, presently the pools close at 7pm. Also it would be nice if they had bike rentals(they do have moped rentals)Overall, we had a great time, this was definately a 5 star resort, and would not hesitate to go again.
Varadero Beach: Sandals Royal Hicacos: “Simply Perfect”
My wife and I stayed at the SRH from Aug. 31 - Sep. 14 2003. We also got married at the Resort. Let me tell you that this place was just perfect ! From the welcome at the airport until the very last minute of our trip back to the airport everything was just perfect. The Sandals representatives who greeted us at the airport were very nice. The bus ride is fairly quick as the bus only goes to SRH. Once we arrived at the hotel, the staff were again very nice and courteous. Our room was ready when we arrived. From that time, our stay at the resort can be summed in one word: MAGIC !!Beautiful spacious room and balcony. Perfect beach, perfect weather (I know SRH does not control the weather, but it helps in the appreciation). All employees, and I mean ALL employees, were courteous.I guess if you're nice to them, they'll be nice to you. Same as anywhere. Respect goes a long way. Tipping was absolutely not required. From what I've seen, the people there would rather have someone treat them like human beings (as opposed to servants) rather than be tiped.Resort grounds are very clean, even the "public" washrooms. Entertainment was nice and the staff were not agressive to have you participate.The wedding wast just perfect. Thanks to Arlin. it was a magical moment and we got everything we asked for, and even more!What is very nice there, is that everybody minds their own business. And again, I mean EVERYBODY.So if you're looking for a relaxing time, in a superb location, SRH is the place to go.I've read the other reviews and just can't understand what the people expected and why they were so disappointed. As far as we're concerned, this place truly deserves a 5+.We will definitely be back... shortly we hope !
Varadero Beach: Sandals Royal Hicacos: “Absolutely perfect!”
My husband and I have just returned from SRH where we spent an exquisite week celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. The resort was breath-takingly beautiful, the staff were accommodating, humble, hard-working, polite and eager to please. Everything I've always heard about a 'tropical island' was accurate from the white sand and turquoise ocean to the swaying palms and warm evening breezes. In my opinion, everything was top-notch. If other travellers have given negative reviews about this resort then I can only assume that NOTHING would please them even if they visited Heaven itself!
Varadero Beach: Sandals Royal Hicacos: “Would not recomend Sandals to anyone”
Very disapointed with Sandals first and last time for us. Food, There was very little joice, unless you wanted to eat fish or chicken with rice every day in the so called buffet restaraunt The other Resteraunts were not any better with fixed menues offering about four joices the same each week,and if you order the beef for example a piece of beef is all you will get, the chicken is mostly leg with very little meat on. Entertainment, was almost non exsistant with one dance show on saturday nights, plus some magic shows, the piano bar was to small and would only seat about thirty people, there was a singer and group in the lobby bar that sang the same songs every night from 7.15pm to9.30pm. Swimming pool, this had no shade from the sun and was for sun worshipers only with sunbeds crammed tightly together, this was the first holiday were we never set foot in the pool, and spent all day on the beach wich was very nice. Rooms were very good, but our first room was facing the road with cement lorries going by every 5 miniutes, so we insisted on being moved,as the reason we went to sandals was to get away from building work at Beaches hotel just down the road,WELL suprise suprise Sandals also has building work going on about 10 feet away from the end of the hotel. Also they were still planting trees in the grounds On the wooden walkway around the hotel the boards were lifting and breaking,on the suspended walkways to the beach the logs were rotting ,and while we were there some logs had broken leaving dangerous gaps for people to fall through these had gone unchecked for over a week which were then covered with thin plywood. Staff, some were verey nice others were quite rude. Sandals is not a patch on Iberostar Hotels or Palace Hotels, as for entertainment we would rather have stayed at Butlins for two weeks.
Varadero Beach: Sandals Royal Hicacos: “Would definitely return to this lovely resort!”
My boyfriend and I just returned from a week at the Sandals Royal Hicacos. We visited the week of August 30th-Sept. 6th and can truly recommend this resort firsthand. I had read many reviews and expected a fairly high class resort with many amenities. I didn't expect that our vacation would be very close to perfect! Our room was beautiful-spacious, with a separate sunken living room and absolutely gorgeous bathroom. The bathroom even comes with a double tub so you both can shower or bath at the same time. And the bathroom was large with a big mirror and vanity which even made it seem bigger. We asked for bathrobes halfway into our stay and were given them without delay. The food was much better than I had anticipated. The buffet meats/seafood were better than most restaurants here in Toronto. The additional side dishes were fairly standard. The a la carte restaurants provided good service especially at Las Morlas. That restaurant was such a treat. I found the drinks plentiful. Only once did they run out of bananas for banana daiquiris. The only downsides (if you choose to let them bother you) are the ants in the bathroom. Very small and only in the bathroom. The mosquitos are quite rampant, but after I tried mos. repellent they went away. But this is typical of most Caribbean islands. Food in the buffet is ok. Really do spend most of your time in the other restaurants-especially Don Pasquale's pizza at lunchtime!! Sublime! Highlights-- The outside entertainment at night we thoroughly enjoyed. The male singer in the entourage was absolutely breathtaking to listen to. And the lobby bar band at night was also magnificent. The pool area is beautiful-floating around on those little blue rafts made me forget about real life!! Floating around in the sun in the shallow water was just a joy and we would have loved to spend more time doing this. Try the Havana Day Tour-it's worth the time/money. All in all, it was a memorable experience. I would highly recommend this hotel. I'd like to thank Yetsi for being such a joy to deal with and for helping to make our stay such a fabulous one.
Varadero Beach: Sandals Royal Hicacos: “Loved Loving It”
We looked at the various comments on tripadvisor before we went, and yes, there are quite a degree of variations, perhaps I can help shed a little light following our recent holiday (August 2003)?1. Mossies - The scurge of the caribbean! Well actually, we have a solution that helps us a lot. A fortnight before going on holiday we start taking Vitamin B tablets daily. We continue to take them every day of our holiday. Apparantly this causes the skin to exude a smell that humans cannot detect but that deters mossies. We can tell you that this really works and we no longer get plaggued with the Carribean Royal Airforce! (If one reviewer thinks cuban mossies are big, he ought to see the ones in Margarita!) To be doubly sure, you can spray exposed bits of skin with Mosiguard or Jungle formula (etc). Personnaly we thought that Sandals Varadero had the lowest incident of flying pests of any carribbean island we've been to. Possibly because of:2.Huge pools of Stagnant Water - This is a very unfortunate desription of the water feature. The resort has large 'still' water features. However they are far from stagnant. Every morning and every evening they are chlorinated (we witnessed this), and the staff also work their way round and clean every inch of the water features - this takes more than a day to do, but is constant and ongoing. I don't know, but as the water is chlorinated, I assumed that this helped with keeping down the number of mossies. All I know is, we had no problem.3.Bitten on the beach - as at any hot holiday resort, if you lie on the sand, you can get bitten by sand bugs - we wonder if this contributed to the bites of people? We also know that general advice is don't spray with perfume if you don't want to get bit?4. Restaurants. - Let me tell you, you do not get much fussier people than us. We carefully pick where we go for the quality and variety of food. We usually contact a resort before we book and look at menus. In truth the Las Morales A La Carte we felt did not quite live up to it's reputation, but then in hind site, perhaps that was because the other restaurants were also so very good? The El Viejo y El Mar A La Carte by the beach does lobster, steak, pork chops etc. Service is good, the sunsets can be unbelievable, and a soloist plays Sax on the beach. Exceedingly romantic. And we had no Mossie problems at all.The main buffet restaurant had a very good range of food available for each meal time. It did not matter what you wanted, you could get a good variety. As usual the bacon was more streaky than 'back' - again typical of anywhere outside the UK, and the sausages where a little strange by ' English porkfarms' standards, but a fried egg is a fied egg! There was a great selection of fruits, cakes, breads, yoghurts, cooked stuff etc. Chef does pancakes, omelettes etc to order, and at lunch times you can make your own toasted sandwiches. It was also nice to be able to have Champagne and Orange juice with breakfast if you wanted. Service was always quick, drinks refilled quickly, plates removed almost as soon as you finished. I am a bit of an amateur chef, I like flavour and variety, I like my food properly prepared and cooked. My wife cannot tolerate spices - between us we can be a nightmare to prepare food for. Not a nightmare at Sandals Royal Hicacos - we had a great time eating at every meal.We did use every restaurant and enjoyed all the food and service. By the way, do dress up for dinner - it is required in most restaurants and people do get turned away for inappropriate dress.5.Rooms - When we booked, we decided that we did not want to spend extra on upgrading to a premium as we felt it wasn't worth �11 per night each just to get robes and in room mini bar. When we arrived, we found that we had been upgraded to a premium room probably as we had booked to renew our wedding vows. The room is the same, just a couple of bottles of spirits and dressing gowns added to the room. Bed big and firm, separate sitting area, double bath, table and recliners on the balcony. No problem, and we had a sea view too (block 15 sunrise side top floor). Maid service was every day - clean towels and sheets - we had no problem with the spirits provided in the room - Havanah Club rum was fine by us, as was the London Gin, Russian Vodka and Chilean wine. We did however treat ourselves. We discovered that the Royal Suite was available for the last three nights of our holiday. And so we upgraded. Wow. What was good, became great. Separate sitting room, double jacuzzi bath, walk in shower, private patio, private entrance, twice daily maid service, two hand wash basins, breakfast in bed, priority A La Carte Service, Free Spa Treatments........ Yes it was a [[expensive]] treat, but really, we would have still had a great holiday if we had not done it.6. On our overnight trip to Havanah, we stayed in a 5* Occidental resort hotel. That hotel and it's service felt very very ordinary compared to what we had become used to at Sandals. We were glad we only had one night and two meals there.7. We renewed our wedding vows - all arranged by Arlin the wedding coordinator at Sandals. What a wonderful day we had. Sandals arranged a bouquet for my Wife and a button hole for me, Wedding cake and flowers were all supplied as was a translator for the Public Notary who undertook the service. We were given a special meal in the evening with a personalised printed menu, breakfast in bed, and whilst we did our vows, the maid nipped into our room and put satin sheets on the bed, filled the bath with hot water franced with oils and flowers etc. I can tell you that as we walked around the resort, so many people shouted messages of congratulation, that we felt so special for a long time. Tears come to my eyes even now as I relive the day in my memory. Breakfast in bed the next day was a treat too!7. What can I say, it was like a honeymoon. We did not experience the out of room entertainment on offer in the late evenings! Can't comment on it. Don't ask us to!!! The day time entertainment was there, pool aerobics, shuffle board etc, but to be honest we enjoyed each others company lying around the pools, as did most other couples.We found all the staff to be very friendly and helpful - it would really be unfair if I were to single out any for special mention. The resort, being mixed sex couples only, had an aura of romanticism that was very catching - we found ourselves wandering around hand in hand, the music whilst we dined was personal and well received. All in all, a great holiday, better than we could have hoped, and it certainly lived up to and even surpassed expectations.we are happy to share our experiences in greater detail if anyone wants to email us.
Varadero Beach: Sandals Royal Hicacos: “Not quite right yet!”
Just returned from 2 weeks in Cuba spending the first 4 nights in Havana before moving onto Sandals. Generally the place is very good but there a few things that still need improving. On arrival you are meant to get champagne - we didn't! The food in the buffet is good - the food in the a la carte restaurants is very good but not exceptional. The room was very comfortable with a great 6x6 bed and superb air conditioning. It was nice to have a fridge in the room but would have been even nicer to have some soft drinks in it! The daily towel art was a nice touch. Our room was at the back of the resort and was just 50m from a road used by construction traffic which wasn't very pleasant. The canal-type water feature which surrounds the resort wasn't complete in our section of the resort so we just overlooked a concrete pipe! There is nightly entertainment which ranges from poor (the blonde aggressive singer) to superb (the dancers). After that we used to enjoy the piano bar. The night club is incredibly quiet. In fact we could never quite work out where the 800 guests went in the evening cos the placce was pretty much deserted! The staff were wonderful - friendly, good english. To be fair, we pretty much got anything we asked for (with the exception of a change of room) - bathrobes (although i thought these should be standard), soft drinks, whole bottles of alcohol. But it seemed you did have to ask. The beach is stunning as is the pool complex. However the water feature did become stagnant and did seem to attract killer mosquitoes resulting in some horrendous blistered bites. I wouldn't say don't go there I would just say don't expect the same standard as other sandals resorts (and it is a good deal cheaper than other sandals resorts!). It's still undoubtedly the best resort in Cuba!
Varadero Beach: Sandals Royal Hicacos: “Honeymoon”
We went to the Sandals from Aug 24-31, 2003. I had read many different reviews and had a good ideal in what to expect. The resort is as beautiful and clean as everyone says. We paid for Concierge hoping to get upgraded to one of the royal suites because we where on our honeymoon but where told they where full (we should have paid for just the garden suite and saved a $700 and got bumped up to the premium suite instead). However we got a private pickup and dropoff by a taxi which was nice as we didn't have to ride the bus! (The bus didn't stop at any other hotels we found out. However we still enjoyed the taxi.)The departure flight was delayed by 3 hours and we where able to stay in our room until we due to depart a 7pm. The regular garden and premium suites had to check out by noon. So it was nice having our room to relax in for a late afternoon snooze in the air condationed room.The staff where very friendly and tried to make your stay very relaxed and enjoyable. The food was very plentiful in the buffet but was very bland for my taste. (Not many spices seemed to be used and they dont like to use salt when cooking.) They had a large selection of fruits/juices and the normal selection of bacon, scrambled eggs, omletts, french toasts and cheeses etc. I found the fruits to be dispointing in taste particular the papya which should have been more flavourful. The a la carte restaurants where much better then the buffet. I would rate the restaurants (a la carte) in the following order:1. El Carib (great jerk chicken) 2. Don Pasquale (good steak, over cooked pasta) 3. El Viejo y El Mar (beautiful sunsets loads of mosiqutos) 4. Las Morlas (nice white glove service)The one thing that I never tired of in the buffet restaurant was the ice cream and chocolate sauce. We would go there every night after eating our meals for ice cream.The suites themselves are very clean and roomy. I loved having the large window beside the bath tub as this allowed lots of light into the bathroom. After sleeping in the king size bed our queen bed at home looked like a single (sigh). We left a tip for the maid every day as the services was outstanding. The bar fridge was well stocked with lots of water, juice, beer and wine. If you talked to the man who was keeping the fridge stocked you could request certian bottles and he would provide them to you for a small tip. We requested a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label(1 L) and it only costed us $5 US. We talked to a few other people who had gotten different bottles and it all ranged in different prices.The night shows where a waste of time. However we didn't goto the sandals for the shows instead we went to relax and have some romantic time together which is exactly what we got. We wouldn't have a problem recommending the resort but keep in mind the food is somewhat bland(breakfest and lunch leaves a lot to be desired). The dinners are good in the a la cartes. We would likely go somewhere else next time but only because we would like to see what else is out there. (We would go somewhere else outside of Cuba.) There are alot of new resorts being built at the east end of the peninsula. We also enjoyed taking the bus into Veradera which only cost $2 US per person and was good for unlimited trips all day and the bus (double decker with a open top, good for sight seeing from) was new and very clean. So I would suggest watching for a deal and going last minute to the Sandals in Cuba and enjoy yourself.
Varadero Beach: Sandals Royal Hicacos: “Will Definately Return!”
We were at Sandals in Cuba between Aug. 2-9th/2003 and absolutely loved it. Here is a brief summary:Rooms Very tastefully decorated. Were all the same. King size bed, sitting area, large 2 person soaking tub with shower, his and her bathrobes, large terrace and fully stocked mini-bar.Resort Very beautiful surrounded by moats and gardens and the sound of waterfall. This was reminiscent of a tropical island.Food & Beverages There was one buffet restaurant and 4 a-la-carte to choose from. The food varied from good to excellent. Breakfast at the buffet had fresh juices and the usual eggs, bacon etc. Try the carmelized bananas (they are to die for). For dinner the buffet had plenty of seafood which consisted of octopus, crab legs, shrimp, halibut, red snapper, mahi-mahi, salmon etc. Their desserts were also very good. Don Pasquale was open for continental breakfast, lunch and dinner. The lunch was by far the best. They had great pizza and pasta and an cold antipasto salad bar that was amazing. Dinner was not very good and required reservations. Las Morlas was excellent for fine dining at dinner and also required a reservation. The Beach Grill was great at lunch if you wanted a burger, fries or sandwich. Dinner required reservations. El Caribe was also great for dinner (small portions but good food). Reservations for the various restaurants should be made within the first few days of arrival otherwise you might be out of luck. The bar drinks could have been a little better. They still need to perfect the mixed cocktails but the pina coladas were excellent and so were the banana daquiris. The lobby bar, El Mirador was a great place to hang out especially after 7PM when they had a band that played very relaxing music. Piano Bar was good but too smoky.Beach The best part of this resort is the incredible beach. Very wide and long and crystal clear water. You could walk 200 feet into the ocean and still not be in deep waters and the ocean bottom was very soft and clean. The beach sand was like stepping into flour. Lots of umbrellas at the beach and you always could find one without getting up at the crack of dawn. We took a long walk and passed the beach at the neighbouring resorts and Sandals by far has the best beach. There were jelly fish and one woman got stung but we didn't have any problems and we spent hours in the ocean.Pool The pool area was very large and had lots of lounge chairs and floats and also a swim up bar.Staff Very friendly people indeed and very appreciative of anything you gave them. We brought a lot of toiletries and gave them to staff.The only downside was the moats around the resort didn't have a filtration system and the water smelled at times. The staff work very hard every day to clean the moats but cannot keep up. Management is aware of the problem and are thinking of ways to rectify. The lobby bar tended to get very hot and uncomfortable but we were told the fans had been removed to be serviced.Overall a great place to stay and we will not hesitate to return.
Varadero Beach: Sandals Royal Hicacos: “Nice”
We went to Sandals in November 2002. It was a pretty relaxing vacation. At this time the resort was really new so all the grounds work was not completed. But everything was operational.Rooms were very very nice. No ocean view available here though. The resort is set back from the beach behind trees. But the walk to the beach is 30 seconds distance. Our rooms had beach towels already ready for us and bath robes. Also our mini bar/fridge was always fully stocked.Food and service at this resort was absolutely excellent. And in general I hear that food in most resorts in Cuba is not good at all.Beach is really nice, but not fine white sand. Its brown sand. Could have been maintained better, but maybe because they were still working on the resort and the beach at the time - maybe it's changed by now. If you like fine white sand, go to Mayan Riviera.There is no room service. That is a bummer. You have to ask for a specific Concierge service room and pay extra.This place has a "SPA" -but the spa is awful and would not recommend you wasting money there. If you decide to try it and really don't like it - tell them and they will waive the charge. But we went for a massage and the person had no clue what they were doing - really bad. Estethically it is very very nice but the massage is terrible. Get one before you go and spend money on something else if you have to. SPA in the title of the resort really should not be there.Service, staff and grounds were excellent, but we would not go to Cuba again, this is the best resort in VAradero so you would have to come back to the same place again.