When we booked our stay, we requested a third floor room, which we received (bloc Holguin - 4000), unfortunately, our room faced a building site. The workmen were tireless and worked long hours which meant hearing the sound of cranes and jackhammers late into the night. After our first night we changed rooms. We spent the remainder of our stay in bloc Sancti-Christi – 1000; the bloc furthest from the building site – a lot quieter!

Staff (5/5)
We found the staff to be helpful, enthusiastic, and very friendly. Our overall impression is that the staff has been well trained and in general can meet the guests’ expectations without too much trouble. Very occasionally there is evidence of the language barrier (we speak next to no Spanish - “our bad”).

Food (5/5)
Our previous experience of all-inclusive resort food wasn’t too good, so we didn’t have terribly high expectations. We were pleasantly surprised. There is one main buffet hall and a choice of 8 other eateries. Six of the eight are restaurants that serve dinner, the Port Royal serves food between 12 and 4pm and the Racqet Club is open 24/7. We had read on Trip Advisor that the Japanese restaurant was excellent, and it was pretty good, especially if you like to be entertained whilst eating. The chef entertains his customers at the hot grill with his knives and banter. On balance, the French restaurant was our favorite. The food was simple and good, and the pianist added to a pleasant ambiance.
As you might expect, the fish is always fresh and tasty but many of the other dishes are also very good, noteworthy of which are the Cuban dishes (roasted chicken, shredded beef, etc.).
You need to try different bars to try different takes on the classic Mojito, Pina Colada, etc. and the cappuccinos are consistently good everywhere.
For an all inclusive in Cuba we give it 5 out of 5 for the food.

Accommodation (4/5)
The Junior Suite room we had was spacious, clean, and reasonably comfortable. We originally thought the top floor (3rd floor) would be better, but when we changed room, we were on the ground floor which we ended up liking better because it was easier to go back and forth, especially from the beach.

Ambiance-public areas (5/5)
The public areas, bars, lobby, etc. are well staffed, clean, and welcoming. Generally in the evenings, live music can be heard – Cuban, classical, popular. The general feel of the hotel is laid back with a good range of age groups, probably more on the older side; not a crazy party resort. There is a large plaza, surrounded by the restaurants, bars, and a store, where the main evening entertainment takes place. The entertainment that we enjoyed was live Cuban music and dancers, and the Karaoke night was also amusing (especially oriental Elvis from Canada!).

Beach (4/5)
One of the advantages of being in a hotel near the end of the peninsula is that you have the choice, while walking along the beach, of people watching or nature watching. When facing the ocean, turn left and walk and you will pass by all the other resorts along the beach. Turn right and before long you will be walking towards a currently less developed area. The beaches aren’t as manicured but you notice more of the nature.
Both times we visited Varadero, the amount of time spent on the beach was affected by the high winds, especially in the afternoons.

Pool (4/5)
The pool area is in the center of the resort and consists of three sizable connected pools. The week we were at the resort, it was very windy especially on the beach therefore the pool area was very popular. At times, it felt overcrowded.

Gym (4/5)
Adjacent to the Spa and pool, the gym is small and functional. The treadmills were usually busy late afternoons. Unfortunately, the gym was only open from 7am to 7 pm; we sometimes would have gone later than 7 pm. The free weights are a bit old fashion. Small towels are provided to wipe your sweaty brow. It seems there wasn’t an opportunity to pull the blinds up so you are left facing the blinds instead of the pool area while running the treadmill. There is a fitness instructor available to help, at least some of the time.

Practicalities
1hr 30min from airport because the hotel is almost at the end of the peninsula and the bus needs to stop at a lot of the hotels before it gets to Princesa Del Mar. It is a similar story when you take a trip to Habana, probably an extra two hours on the bus in comparison to the hotel at the other end of the peninsula. We used the tennis courts 3-4 times; they are well kept and floodlit for part of the evening. There is a resident ``pro`` who seems friendly enough. The yoga ``teacher`` is also friendly and enthusiastic but unfortunately seems like she has received little to no training in teaching yoga – this would be a good investment for the hotel. We didn`t get the feeling that tipping was a requirement to receiving a good service.

Conclusion
Probably one of the best (top 5) hotels on the Varadero peninsula; we recommend it.

Second time there, first one being in the summer of 2009. First time I was with my wife, this time, two weeks with an excellent friend. VIP Service from the beginning to the end, resort was 100% full but we felt like being the only guests out there! Jonay, the manager, and his team well deserve our congratulations for their wonderful work (thanks for la avena lol). A few names of our excellent servers: Orestes, Cristina (Christy baby...), Ironeida, Grettel, Suyen at the buffet, Fernando at the French restaurant, Virginia at the Italian, , Yusmila, our favorite waitress, and my friend Victor (he is a lawyer) at the beach bar. Can't forget Ana, our beautiful maid. Once again, greatly enjoy my daily tennis matches with Julio, the pro. Great weather especially during our first week (we were there January 21st to February 4th). Trying to find negatives for this vacation, but I'm unable! No mosquitoes this time haha. Sure I will come back and sooner will be best.

We just returned from a week's vacation with another couple. The resort is pretty. Grounds well maintained. Our room was fine (#3201), but the other couple's room (#3204)smelled horribly musty. The maid offered room freshener spray but that didn't help. They were moved into another room (#3203) and it was alittle better. The buffet was luke warm at best but there is plenty to choose from. We always bring our own salad dressing because they only have a mayonaise type dressing. We tried the Chinese (yum), French (yuk) and the Italian (yum) ala cartes. I mostly preferred the Raquet Club food. Beach is great! Lots of loungers to use. White sand, clear water. Staff are all friendly and pleasant. Entertainment pretty good, especially the water ballet. Drinks were good but only the main reception bar had an expansive selection of alcohol and that is a fair walk from the beach (bring your bubba). Beach bar had very limited selection. The beach vendors were not pushy at all. There are these vicious little mosquito's at the resort that bite you without your knowledge then show up as a red welt on your body about 12 hours later. Worse when it rains. My girlfriend had to seek medical attention as hers became quite swollen...so load on the deet! The resort fogged each morning, making us feel nauseous. Overall it was good, but if I preferred the Iberostar Laguna Azul were we stayed last year.

Just returned from a weeks stay at the Paradisus. Beautiful, clean resort. I don.t know what people expect but the food was average. Once you can navigate around the buffet and find what u like it's not bad. Pasta is not that good but they do have turkey, pork and beef. Eat at the Raquet club, it is 24 hrs and the food it better than the buffet. A la cartes- we liked the Sakura, Japanese restaurant, show was awesome and food was good. French was o.k. as was the hilltop. I did not care for the Bamboo-Chinese and found that was the concensus of most people. Do not upgrade To Royal near all the construction and talked to people that aactually downgraded because of that. We were in the 1000 block of suites. Very close to the beach, and the rooms were clean and had king sized bed. Peddlers on the beach are not bothersome they ask you once if u like to puchase something and move on, better than Mexico or Jamaica. If you are a young person 20 or 30's i dont know if the is enough nitelife within the resort for you. they have a short show everynite and a disco but if you r looking to party might not be the resort for you. Piano Bar-very nice Yusmila, Yadiana and Junior can't do enough for you. Tipping is most appreciated but you get good service with or without. Remember no face cloths in this country so if you like to use bring your own. Beaches are nice and you neever have problem finding a chair. Like all resorts people are up early reserving chairs at the pool so if that your thing you must follow suit but i diddnt find it as bad as Mexico. Catamaran tour was awesome as long as u have a nice day. Stopped at Cayo Blanca beautiful island, lunch was terrible, the guys on the catamaran were great. Went into Havana was very nice lots of history. If u do not take the bus tour u can take a cab do not pay anymore than 150 pesos. The bus tour is air conditioned the cabs r cars from the 50's most r not and just about everything there is diesel so i found i was inhaling alot of diesel fuel on that trip. All in all a very nice clean resort, remember this is Cuba with an embargo against it. they do their best. If you r very picky or expecting to get waited on hand and foot this is not the resort for u but then again maybe Cuba is not the country for u either!!! Iwould definately return to this ressort