Spent a week here late Jan/early Feb.
A bit surprised to read some the recent positive reviews, we found the hotel to be a bit disappointing.
Good points were the hotel and rooms were always kept scrupulously clean. Staff generally friendly and helpful.
Not so good points were that our room (in Block C) was very tired looking. The furniture and fittings had clearly seen better days (threadbare settee, cracked sink in bathroom for example). I don't know if all rooms would be the same, some blocks seemed to look a bit more modern from the outside.
Maybe we're just fussy eaters but we thought the food was very limited and done on a very low budget, although to be fair we always found something to eat. The all-inclusive wines and spirits were also the cheapest of the cheap, but the beer was ok.
The evening entertainment in the bar was nearly always a bit shambolic apart from one night when they had a really good Barry White tribute act. The problem was mainly due to the poor acoustics in the room but also the fact that everything was repeated in five or six languages. This all meant that it was very difficult to know what was going on half the time.
It wasn't helped by the leader of the 'animacion' team (a short guy in a white suit and black curly hair) whose incessant use of the word 'shoop' when he wanted your attention, really got on my wick after a short while.
But the sun shone most of the time and when I consider what we paid for our week, I don't suppose it was too bad. But I wouldn't hurry back.
- Barcelo Guia De Isora
- Barcelo Hotel Varadero
- Barcelo Varadero Hotel
