It is rated a 2*and is just that, for 40CUC a night when next door the Hotels are 120CUC a night what can you expect.
It is a basic place, and old hotel aged and tired. Don't forget that in this apart hotel, the kitchen and lounge is shared with another room.
The hand rails, were rusted and not safe, only one of the outdoor showers worked, the bar way overpriced, the furnishings simple, no swimming pool and the breakfast not great.
On the positive side the bathroom, was clean, no mould, the rooms have two single bed which were clean and the air conditioner very effective.
A bigger plus is that it is walking distance from the Viazul bus station, and the best part of the beach is a few metres on the right at the front of this hotel. The Hotel provides a shop for your provisions, but it is price twice as much as the shop which is 100m on the main road.
The meals in restaurants in Varadero are the cheapest I have found in Cuba. Averaging 3-5CUC for a main meal, this is what happen when the tourists stick to all inclusive packages. So it is not so much a tourist trap. Being in a tourist resort you will also have restricted meats like Lobster and Beef on the menu. This is one of the few places where the national dish ropa vieja was readily available.
This hotel is perfect for backpackers, people who just need to drop their bags for a couple of days and soak up the sun and beach, which for me rates as one of the best in the world.
In balance there were more positive than negatives, to make Varadero and my stay at this hotel pleasant.

This hotel is about the cheapest on the Varadero beach strip and it's right on the beachfront. But it's very rundown, not too clean and some of the staff not very friendly. What is it about hotel reception staff all over the Cuba? They don't smile much and almost throw the room key at you.

Our experience was mixed. Here is why... We were on the 4th floor and got robbed in the middle of the night. We have no idea how the thief got up to the fourth floor through the window. We suspect it might be an 'inside job', The police came and 'investigated'. We were moved to a different room. When we passed by our 'old' room the next morning, the police was sleeping in our room. I guess the investigation had taken a toll on them...
This happened a few hours before we were to catch our plane and put our return home in jeopardy.

My husband and I stayed here for three nights. We had foolishly purchased a Cuban flexi pass which gave us a basic model hire car and a choice of a few hotels in each town. The Club Herradura was one of the very few in which we were entitled to stay in the expensive tourist strip of Varadero. This was the end of our Cuban adventure and we were looking for a few days of relaxation and we were well aware that this area is not the real Cuba.
Our first impression of our room was not good but we knew how few options we had to stay somewhere else. Our room was one of the tiny bedrooms attached to the apartment style accomodations at each end of the U shaped hotel.We shared a livingroom and balcony with others. The room was very run down and tiny with access along one side of the bed only, and the bathroom fittings were rusty. My husband didn't sleep at all the first night with the upstairs air conditioner dripping every second of every minute of every hour (!) onto the metal casing of our air conditioner less than one metre from his head. The next night he placed an old rag there and the dripping was muffled and that problem became manageable.
Once we got over the terrible room, we looked at the upside and there were quite a few. 1.We were right on the beach and the turquoise sea was magical.
2.The meals were inexpensive and delicious - we had fish every time as it was superb.
3.The mojitos were the best I had tasted in Cuba and were cheap and well dosed with rum .
4.The waiting staff were all helpful.
..and ultimately for us, the overiding factor was location, location!