• traveled 15 years ago
Flying with Aeroflot. To Havana 12 hours 40 minutes, from Havana 11 hours 40 minutes. Our tour operator was ICS. At the Airport, we were quickly met and put on a bus that collected everyone else for another 40-50 minutes. It takes 2 hours and 30 minutes to get to Varadero with an intermediate stop at some place like a cafe, where everything costs 2 times more than in the expensive Varadero (according to the locals, it didn’t seem so to us).
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Flying with Aeroflot. To Havana 12 hours 40 minutes, from Havana 11 hours 40 minutes. Our tour operator was ICS. At the Airport, we were quickly met and put on a bus that collected everyone else for another 40-50 minutes. It takes 2 hours and 30 minutes to get to Varadero with an intermediate stop at some place like a cafe, where everything costs 2 times more than in the expensive Varadero (according to the locals, it didn’t seem so to us). Arriving at the hotel around 11 pm, we received boxes of food and went to look for our room (ourselves, since there are simply no porters there). The hotel has 2 buildings old and new. Rooms with balconies are only in the new building and 2 rooms in the old one with ocean views. The rooms are quite old and shabby, but spacious and carefully cleaned every day. There is a TV with about 40 channels, one of which is Russian-language NTV America.
The hotel itself is located in the south of Varadero next to the Acuazul and Club Amigo tropical hotels.
This area is much more fun and lively than the north of Varadero, where there are mostly 5 * hotels. The territory of the hotel is quite well-groomed. In a separate room you can play ping-pong (free of charge) and billiards (for a fee). The exchange office in the hotel with a very bad exchange rate. Pleased with colorful animation (in Spanish, German and English), animation in the pool and dance lessons). Live music once a week on Thursdays in the main restaurant. The food is delicious and plentiful, unless a flock of Canadian pensioners passed in front of you))). at 16.00 an Italian restaurant was opened (included in the price, i. e. free of charge) where you can order pizza, pasta, 2 types of soups and sometimes lasagna. On the way to the beach there is another restaurant but for an additional fee (15% discount for hotel guests). there you can taste a lobster for 10 CUC, excellent sandwiches.
By the way, if you leave the hotel through the reception on the other side of the street, there is an excellent cafe with live music and excellent Mojito and Pina Colada for 2 Cookies per glass))). The body also has a shop where you can buy cigars, Rum Havana Club (5 cookies per liter), Varadero and Santiago.
About bars. There are 4 of them. One in the hotel lobby, one by the pool, one huge wooden bar from which you can see the scene with animation, and one on the beach. Excellent coffee is brewed in the lobby of the hotel. The pool bar has cocktails (with wild rum content). It is better to ask to add a Havana club, others not so much. There is also just super beer Crystal on tap, Whiskey, Vodka, Gin, juices, cola, fanta, sprite. Bartenders do not spare alcohol and pour until you say stop. Beach bar: sandwiches at lunchtime, and from 10 am to 5 pm beer, cocktails, rum. In a large bar opposite the stage, the largest selection of cocktails is probably 20 pieces, rum, whiskey, beer and a lot of non-alcoholic drinks.
In the main restaurant, white and red wine are served for lunch and dinner. In the morning, the bar in the main restaurant is closed, but there are fresh juices of mango, guava, orange, grapefruit. As for the beach, it is quite large, there is a volleyball net, a lot of sun loungers but few umbrellas. Free catamarans and sailboats. you need to queue for a sailboat because a sailboat can just ride, or they can give you a mask and fins and take you to the reefs for an hour and a half (there is usually a queue for this adventure, so when approaching the people responsible for this, say what purpose you want to go on a sailboat). The hotel also has a representative of the KUBANAKAN travel agency from which you can buy tickets for the buses Varadero Beach Tour and Matanzas Beach Tour. We did not take a safe at the reception, but left everything in a suitcase with a lock. Nothing was stolen. The hotel lobby is quite large with armchairs and tables where you can sit, smoke and drink cocktails.
Leaving the hotel through the gate to the beach, you can walk both to the right and to the left. Next to the hotel is the largest souvenir market in Varadero. bargain)))). There is also a taxi stand nearby. The cars are just amazing. Often there is a long pink Cadillac, be sure to take a ride))). If you want to sunbathe by the pool, you need to throw a towel on a sunbed in the morning (although this does not guarantee you a place and someone can easily throw it off by taking a sunbed, and someone can simply lie on your towel, so monitor the situation periodically))). Your room will be cleaned equally well whether you leave a tip or not. To have both towels replaced, throw them on the floor. You can not take beach towels, but use those that are in the bathroom.
On the beach, sometimes during a storm there are red flags meaning that you can’t swim, then you don’t need to climb into the water, because you will hear the whistle of the beach medical staff, who can simply come up to you and ask how you feel if you are sitting in the shade and even wearing a T-shirt and shorts). When you enter the hotel through the gate, you can sometimes check the bracelet if you are not remembered, but this once again proves that the security is doing a good job. in the same place at the gate there is a shower and a tap to rinse off the sand coming from the beach. A couple of times I saw huge cockroaches in the city, but I didn’t even see a mosquito in the hotel. Some opened the window at night and then the mosquitoes bothered them a little))). If you have a balcony facing the reception and the entrance to the hotel, then there is both a minus and a plus. Plus the view from the balcony. To the right is the ocean, to the left is the ocean and the lighthouse, straight ahead is the city. The minus is the roosters screaming from 6 in the morning.
But for example, we woke up no later than 6, since it was already 2 in the afternoon in Moscow and we simply didn’t feel like sleeping anymore, but in the evening after dinner, we had to sit out another hour of sleep for another hour and you can sit until the wooden bar closes. Until 1 am. You can sleep in the heat between lunch and dinner. In general, the hotel is close to 4 *, the impressions are only good, so I advise)))) A trip for two for 11 nights cost 91.000 from two from Moscow. By the way, who will fly away on Aeroflot flight 334 at 10.45, you will leave the hotel at 5 in the morning (the hotel is located so that it will be a maximum of the third bus stop on the way from Havana, which is good since Iberostar vacationers, for example, travel around Varadero for another hour and a half) dry You won't get rations, so take something from dinner and fill an empty bottle of mineral water at the bar. Finally, I will say that do not rush to buy rum, cigars and Coiba cigarettes at cheap prices in Varadero.
In duty free in Havana, the prices are the same and you can buy it there and carry it on board and not in checked luggage. When buying souvenirs, consult a guide, as some souvenirs are taken away upon departure and the reason is explained with gestures or in Spanish. )))) Have a good rest.
The hotel itself is located in the south of Varadero next to the Acuazul and Club Amigo tropical hotels.
This area is much more fun and lively than the north of Varadero, where there are mostly 5 * hotels. The territory of the hotel is quite well-groomed. In a separate room you can play ping-pong (free of charge) and billiards (for a fee). The exchange office in the hotel with a very bad exchange rate. Pleased with colorful animation (in Spanish, German and English), animation in the pool and dance lessons). Live music once a week on Thursdays in the main restaurant. The food is delicious and plentiful, unless a flock of Canadian pensioners passed in front of you))). at 16.00 an Italian restaurant was opened (included in the price, i. e. free of charge) where you can order pizza, pasta, 2 types of soups and sometimes lasagna. On the way to the beach there is another restaurant but for an additional fee (15% discount for hotel guests). there you can taste a lobster for 10 CUC, excellent sandwiches.
By the way, if you leave the hotel through the reception on the other side of the street, there is an excellent cafe with live music and excellent Mojito and Pina Colada for 2 Cookies per glass))). The body also has a shop where you can buy cigars, Rum Havana Club (5 cookies per liter), Varadero and Santiago.
About bars. There are 4 of them. One in the hotel lobby, one by the pool, one huge wooden bar from which you can see the scene with animation, and one on the beach. Excellent coffee is brewed in the lobby of the hotel. The pool bar has cocktails (with wild rum content). It is better to ask to add a Havana club, others not so much. There is also just super beer Crystal on tap, Whiskey, Vodka, Gin, juices, cola, fanta, sprite. Bartenders do not spare alcohol and pour until you say stop. Beach bar: sandwiches at lunchtime, and from 10 am to 5 pm beer, cocktails, rum. In a large bar opposite the stage, the largest selection of cocktails is probably 20 pieces, rum, whiskey, beer and a lot of non-alcoholic drinks.
In the main restaurant, white and red wine are served for lunch and dinner. In the morning, the bar in the main restaurant is closed, but there are fresh juices of mango, guava, orange, grapefruit. As for the beach, it is quite large, there is a volleyball net, a lot of sun loungers but few umbrellas. Free catamarans and sailboats. you need to queue for a sailboat because a sailboat can just ride, or they can give you a mask and fins and take you to the reefs for an hour and a half (there is usually a queue for this adventure, so when approaching the people responsible for this, say what purpose you want to go on a sailboat). The hotel also has a representative of the KUBANAKAN travel agency from which you can buy tickets for the buses Varadero Beach Tour and Matanzas Beach Tour. We did not take a safe at the reception, but left everything in a suitcase with a lock. Nothing was stolen. The hotel lobby is quite large with armchairs and tables where you can sit, smoke and drink cocktails.
Leaving the hotel through the gate to the beach, you can walk both to the right and to the left. Next to the hotel is the largest souvenir market in Varadero. bargain)))). There is also a taxi stand nearby. The cars are just amazing. Often there is a long pink Cadillac, be sure to take a ride))). If you want to sunbathe by the pool, you need to throw a towel on a sunbed in the morning (although this does not guarantee you a place and someone can easily throw it off by taking a sunbed, and someone can simply lie on your towel, so monitor the situation periodically))). Your room will be cleaned equally well whether you leave a tip or not. To have both towels replaced, throw them on the floor. You can not take beach towels, but use those that are in the bathroom.
On the beach, sometimes during a storm there are red flags meaning that you can’t swim, then you don’t need to climb into the water, because you will hear the whistle of the beach medical staff, who can simply come up to you and ask how you feel if you are sitting in the shade and even wearing a T-shirt and shorts). When you enter the hotel through the gate, you can sometimes check the bracelet if you are not remembered, but this once again proves that the security is doing a good job. in the same place at the gate there is a shower and a tap to rinse off the sand coming from the beach. A couple of times I saw huge cockroaches in the city, but I didn’t even see a mosquito in the hotel. Some opened the window at night and then the mosquitoes bothered them a little))). If you have a balcony facing the reception and the entrance to the hotel, then there is both a minus and a plus. Plus the view from the balcony. To the right is the ocean, to the left is the ocean and the lighthouse, straight ahead is the city. The minus is the roosters screaming from 6 in the morning.
But for example, we woke up no later than 6, since it was already 2 in the afternoon in Moscow and we simply didn’t feel like sleeping anymore, but in the evening after dinner, we had to sit out another hour of sleep for another hour and you can sit until the wooden bar closes. Until 1 am. You can sleep in the heat between lunch and dinner. In general, the hotel is close to 4 *, the impressions are only good, so I advise)))) A trip for two for 11 nights cost 91.000 from two from Moscow. By the way, who will fly away on Aeroflot flight 334 at 10.45, you will leave the hotel at 5 in the morning (the hotel is located so that it will be a maximum of the third bus stop on the way from Havana, which is good since Iberostar vacationers, for example, travel around Varadero for another hour and a half) dry You won't get rations, so take something from dinner and fill an empty bottle of mineral water at the bar. Finally, I will say that do not rush to buy rum, cigars and Coiba cigarettes at cheap prices in Varadero.
In duty free in Havana, the prices are the same and you can buy it there and carry it on board and not in checked luggage. When buying souvenirs, consult a guide, as some souvenirs are taken away upon departure and the reason is explained with gestures or in Spanish. )))) Have a good rest.
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