We stayed for a week at this hotel and found the staff to be friendly and accommodating most of the time. The entertainment staff were excellent and for a three star the shows at night were good. The buffet was not the best with poor variety at night, no potatoes just rice. The wine was okay sometimes and bad other times. Its time they spent some money on buying proper pop and not mixing it in a plastic bottle with water.

The rooms were always clean and bright and the grounds were well kept. It is a smaller hotel which we like as you meet the people and chat. We were with a group of 7 more and had a good time. Weather was great for this time of the year.

The bus ride is quite long so we took advantage of doing the trip to Camaguey the day before departure. It was excellent and we saw the city, the sights, the shops and bars and had a good meal in a nice restaurant. We went to a bar and listened to a small band play and then out later at night to a show. We stayed in a hotel in the city which was nice. Best thing was it was only 15 minutes from the airport next morning so we didnot have to get up too early.

We would go back to this hotel as it was good for the price. You can wander out of the hotel and go through the other hotels nearby and also wander to the village and have a look around which was nice. Not a hotel for those who like to dress up at night, but fun.

Hotel Caracol, (Caracol is Spanish for shell) a great little find!!. This is along review but I think it will help other to prepare to travel to this resort. I had reviewed many of the posting on this site and made a decision to book this hotel and it was exactly what I had expected. To the negative comments on this site, If you want 5 star, then pay for 5 star, Do not except to pay rock bottom prices for an all inclusive and get the Taj Mahal. We stayed here January 26, 2012 – Feb. 2. 2012 with out children ages 12 and 11.

I want to take some time and provide a complete review of everything I could as my agent through the Flight Network was clueless and offered no assistance in details to the resort and actually appeared annoyed that I would ask for any further information. She just stated that she had never booked this hotel, personnel, as it was a last minute offer I did not think she wanted to book any time into something she was not making any money on.

We flew out of Toronto and this was a Nolitours package, cost was approx $500.00 per person with tax, and health insurance, 8 days and 7 nights. You must have health insurance when traveling to Cuba now and be able to present you plan if asked.

FLIGHT: Our flight was Canjet – no issues there. Flights were timely; Leaving Toronto was a bit of a zoo as Canjet was seating four flights out of the same line. So prepare to stand and wait. We got to the airport 2.5 hours before our flight (6 a.m.) and we were at least a 1.5 hour wait in line, and it did seem to move quickly. Remember there is no cash accepted for anything you want on the plane, headphones, drinks, pillows, etc. Credit Cards only. We brought dollar store headphones that worked just great.

AREA: Santa Lucia is considered a small fishing village area with only 4 resorts in the area. Drivers would know the area as the second largest coral relief in the world is located in this area. Santa Lucia is located 1.5 hours from the airport. The buses for transport look fairly new and very comfortable. (You can buy beer at the airport parking lot 4 for $10.00, no water, or pop) Scenery to the resort is mainly ranches, and large farms with small villages. You are going to a rural and remote area. We found it all very pretty and had fun looking for the animals, horse, goats, and pigs. We even saw some ranchers moving a large herd of cattle along side of the road on horseback and dogs keeping the cattle in line.

CHECK IN: Check in was quick, although our room was not ready, Others had rooms that were, I think our was delayed as they moved a single bed into out sitting room due to having 2 children with us. The staff met the bus with music and drinks.

RESORT: This is a small resort, which also adds to its character there are only 150 rooms and per I Travel 200, it is rated a 3 star. Although the Bris is rated higher at a 4 star, in discussions with others who were staying in the other club amigo hotels Hotel Caracol was the best. It is the only one were EVERY room is a mini suite. It is very brightly coloured. The grounds are kept very clean and you will see many caregiver working very hard a cleaning daily. There were many coconut trees and the caregivers were more then happy in cutting open the coconuts for my kids to stick a straw in to have a drink of coconut milk.

The pool is small but plenty big enough for multiple activities such as water polo, water volleyball. There is a pool bar, and there was always room at the pool bar. On occasion, the wind would blow some cups into the pool but it was cleaned very quickly. We found the pool very clean. It was open from 9 am – 6 pm daily. We found plenty of lounge chairs at the pool. The pool is surrounded by tile, which does get slick, and it is easy to fall so be careful regarding walking around the pool. There were ample washrooms, Banos, at the pool that were kept very clean.
The is also a beach bar, which only served drinks, a snack bar where you could get hamburgers, grilled ham and cheese, sausage and French fires from 10 am until 4 pm. The snack bar turned into the Ala Carte Restaurant at night, Cuban themed food – Pork, fish, or shrimp. There is a lobby bar, and lobby with comfortable chair in the lobby, although it was the only area I was pestered by black flies. It was clean and the girls were always cleaning but there were flies only in the lobby.

The lobby bar did not serve beer, but did have a number of different coffees. There is no beer available after 11 pm. If you are very hungry at night, the lobby bar will make you a sandwich.

There is a gym with multiple exercise equipment and a ping-pong table. There is a massage therapist there who is reported to be very good. If you want a massage book ASAP. $20.00 for an hour. He fills quickly as clients form other resorts also come for him.

The buffet is centrally located and is large. We never had any issues finding a seat. The staff is attentive and quick to provide assistance.

There is a small store with basic personal care items, cookies, ice cream, cigars, and souvenirs. Prices are reasonable. There is also a vendor shop near the buffet that sets up daily with jewellery, clothing, souvenirs, and again reasonable price.

There are many cats on the resort, which look clean and friendly to pet if you are feeding them. Not friendly to pick up. They are used to keep bugs/crabs down, and you will see one be place in the buffet area at night.

There were old bicycles and scooter available. We did not use either. The scooters would have been a great way to get around and see the area but there were deposits and you paid for any damage they found after riding. Many reports of crashes, and people getting traffic tickets.

At the end of the driveway to the resort, there is a disco; we did not participate in this so there is no comment as to the nightlife at the disco. Opposite side of the driveway is a playground with and open air bar. The playground is great and safe equipment for children. At about 9:00 pm you want to be about of there, and the open bar is a place to pick up young girls for the night. Many girls started showing up and men were sitting and waiting for them. We saw 2 young girls with a handler hiding in the trees walking back into the hotel after dark. These were the only place where I would say I saw any hint of prostitution. I did not see it in the hotel, there may have been one old man who had hired himself a girl for the week, as she too had a wrist band, but they kept to themselves and we only seen walking in and out of the hotel. No inappropriate acts in public or at the pool as others have written on this site.

ROOMS: The rooms contain a sitting room, baloney or patio area. A large bedroom and a large bathroom. The rooms definite showed signs of wear, but were very clean. The maids clean the rooms very well daily and we left some little items from the dollar store daily for here, candles, scarf, and mugs with Tim Horton’s tea, makeup, and feminine products (which are very expensive for the women there).

Critters in the room: Some people stated that they saw a cockroach in their room. We did not, we saw one dead one in the one bar area. In Canada we have ants, if you see and ant in your house do you freak out and think it not clean, no, in humid typical climates they have cockroaches, toss it if you see it. In our room as there was a crack under the door, we had visitors of: hermit crabs, geckos, and sand crabs. There were some mosquito’s. we wore mosquito repellent at night and I took the time to spray around the doors and windows, with mosquito repellent. Take a can of raid, in addition to mosquito repellent and give the room a spray once a day.

Beds: As far and beds and pillows go, I found them more comfortable then Holiday and Comfort Inn’s I have stayed in while in Canada. We each brought a small pillow from home as well as we like more then one pillow. The showers were always hot regardless of the time we took our showers. The sheets had a plastic lining mattress pad underneath, initially I though this would be a problem but it was not. I really felt better knowing it was protection from bed bugs, which I did not see any. Bed bugs bit is a line of 3 bite together. No bites like that on any of us. \

Room Towels: Here is an issue. One they are small as to be expected. Every day the maid made a design of the towels on the bed. There is a count of towels daily, and if the count is wrong, you will be charged for the missing towel or towels at $6.00 per towel. I knew this ahead of time but did not count towel every day. Mid week, the maid told me my towel count was wrong. I insisted we did not take any from the room and what she took daily is what had been provided. By coincidence, I was asked to fill out a customer satisfaction at the snack bar. I expressed my dissatisfaction of being part of this towel scam. Within hours, the maid hunted me down and stated her count was wrong and that there were no problems in the room. We heard of others that had to pay for towel and ashtrays at check out, They were not allowed to get on the bus until they paid.

Beach towels: There is a $15.00 deposit on each beach towel, which you pay when you get there and it is returned to you at the end if you do not loose any towels. We had brought 4 light beach towels for showers, and back up to out pool towels. I would suggest and take your own towel with you for any excursions as they are easily left behind on excursions. The beach towels were hard to exchange during the week as the person with the towels was not always available. I would highly suggest if you take, you towel to the beach, exchange it due to the sand fleas.

Safe; There is a safe in the room that you program with your own combination. It cost $2.00 per day.

Refrigerator: There is a small refrigerator in each room.

Electrical Voltage: Bring and adapter as all the plugs are 220 V, leave your hair dryer, straighter etc at home they will only fry with the electricity current. There is a weak blow dryer in each rom.

FOOD/DRINK:

Drinks: The drinks were by no means watered down. Plenty of rum and traditional topically drinks. Beer is served at the pool/entertainment area/snack bar and beach bar, but not after 11:00 p.m.. If you want beer after that, you must buy it in the store and take it back to your room. The drinks are served in 6 oz glasses. Before you come get some insulated glasses from the dollar store for all your drinks. They will fill however large your mug is and it will save you from running back and forth for 6 oz glass.

Food: Our food was really not that bad. There were nights that the dishes did not look very appealing, but there was always the pasta bar at lunch and dinner. Take some white wine with you for the chef to but in the tomato sauce and it takes the tanginess away. My picky eater kids even found enough to eat; there was always pizza, which they found good, rice, and very good breads. At lunch I would take butter some bread with ham and cheese in it and the chef would grill it, the kids loved it. We had a pig roast 2 nights. The pig was roasted outside by the pool all day and manually turned over charcoal for 6-8 hours. The crew had no issues letting the travelers sit and turn the pig for a while. We had a roasted turkey, and another night shrimp, which were all very good. I would advise to get to the buffet at 6:30 pm when it opens, if you wait, particularly on Turkey or Roasted pig night it is gone quickly. The line to the pasta and speciality meat was always long, prepare to wait. Do not sleep in or you will miss breakfast, which is typical eggs to order, pancakes, French toast, greasy fatty bacon, and ham. There were also watery scrambled eggs and hardboiled eggs daily. If you like, pancakes and French toast bring a small bottle of syrup, as there is none. There was also an ample serving of fruit daily.

No one got sick or diarrhoea from any of the foods.

Al Carte: This was so-so. It is located in the snack bar, there was a choice of an unknown fish, very boney, and still had scales, pork that was ok, and shrimp, really is nothing special.

Water: The water from the tap was supposed to be safe to drink but they did not advise it. It was fine for tooth brushing. There is water at all the bars, and dining room to refill water bottles to keep ample water in the rooms. Again no sickness in this family. My children and I drank drinks with ice ( and ate the ice) at all times, NO one got sick.

Dinner Exchange: You are allowed to have one meal, which you need to book at the Club Amigo Mayananbo, and Brisas Santa Lucia, both just minutes walks from Hotel Caracol. We went only on the Mayanambo and found the food at our hotel far superior. We found the Mayanambo loud, lack of serve from the waiters, and food was less variety and not as tasteful as our own hotel. We never kept the booking for Brisas, as it was a pig roast for us that evening.

POOL/ ACTIVITIES: The pool is small in comparison to any other resort we have ever been at. However, is also is a smaller resort then we were ever at. It had steps into the pool making it very easy to get in and out and was all the same depth. January is winter for Cuba as well, and the water was a bit cold but you got used to it quickly. The pool is open 9-6 daily and kept very clean, daily there was someone in it sweeping the bottom of the pool. Despite the size we never felt crowded in the pool and at times had it to ourselves, particularly at lunchtime. Everyone disappears.

There were plenty of activities planned hourly for kids and separate for adults. Kids activities ranged from sand castle competitions, drawing, soccer, ring toss, games, and they even had a kids fashion show one evening where the kids form the resort were in the show. Winners got a certificate.

Adult activities included water polo, water volleyball, bocce ball by the beach, darts, right toss, dance lessons and daily afternoon BINGO, there were always bottles of rum to be won.

Nightly shows: Every evening there was a kids show at 9 pm, a musical band or singer at 9:30 and a dance, or comedy show at 10:00 pm. The band and singers were good. The shows were ok. There was a lot of ballet dance and not as much traditional Cuban dancing. Get your last drink before they start introducing everyone as the bar is closed and bartenders gone before the closing credits.

BEACH: The beach is easily accessible via boardwalks from the paved pathways of the resorts. We were the only resort that had staff at the end or each boardwalk. They made sure you had a covered hut and lounge chairs. There was an algae line on the beach due to the coral reef, it was cleaned frequently but was always pushing more onto the sand with the tide. The water was very calm and was not deep; you could walk a long ways and still only be at chest level. Bring your own snorkel gear and you can snorkel right from the beach. The local vendors would not cross the algae line if the guards were present. If you wanted to buy from them, you had to go to the water edge, so no one bugging you all day long. The beach was windy and some days a bit cool from the strong winds. If you want to go into the water, you best bring water shoes due to the coral and debris from the reef.

For me the worse part of this trip and I am still dealing with it, are the sand fleas. I more so then the rest of my family have been eaten alive by the sand fleas. Please do some internet searching on how to prevent bites, as they itch like hell and do not come out until days later. Therefore, it is something you deal with closer to the time you leave and once you have returned home.

Water items available free; Snorkel gear, kayaks, paddleboats, and small catamaran drive by staff.

MONEY: Lots of information on the money available. Our travel agent told us to get our Cuban money from Thomas Cook exchange before we left- not possible bad information. As a tourist, you can only use convertible pesos. You can exchange Canadian money for pesos at the airport or at the hotel bank, the exchange was just less then dollar for dollar, I think it was 93 pesos for one Canadian dollar.

Hotel staff will ask to exchange Canadian toonies/loonies, which they cannot use for convertible pesos. The bellhop exchanged some of our money back to Canadian on departure – we lost a little in the exchange.

Know who the holder of your credit cards is before you leave, any America cards cannot be used. Gift MasterCard’s/Visa with flat numbers cannot be used- the kind you would but at Shoppers. We do not like taking credit cards where we need to worry about scams. We purchased a 500 dollar card from RBC with raised numbers and it is then registered to your name online. It worked for excursions, although it was processed at the airport in the duty free, the agent stated they would not accept the transaction as the Name is not on the c

EXCURSION: As I never know how much money to bring or what to plan for excursions, I will note what was available the week we attended and prices in convertible pesos. Children are 11 and under.

Excursion we participated in:
Lobster Dinner: 35 adult, 18 children. This is a good meal located at Coco Beach. There is dancing, sunset watching, and a bomb fire. The meal is great and is a large lobster tail rice, fruit, and bread. You can also order shrimp, chicken, fish, or a combination of all of the above. The lobster was ok, but a little tough. The shrimp and chicken were fabulous and the fish was to die for. I would suggest fish shrimp and lobster; you will get a partial tail rather then a full one. The beach here is very nice, and algae free. If you bring you children, take their swimsuits as it is better swimming then the resort and they have plenty of time to swim while the drinking and dancing is occurring.

Santa Lucia Visit 10 adult 5 children: Do not; waste your money. It is not very good you do get to see the school, a day care, taste some local honey, shop at the stores at the property line of Hotel Caracol, and drive by a village, police station, and fire house, and not slow enough even to take any pictures. If you have donations for the school, hire a horse and buggy for less money and go drop it off, and taste the sugar cane juice and honey before you go into the school Shop on your own time without paying. If you do go, the day care is in desperate need of new toothbrushes.

Cangilones Por Dentro: 69 adult 35 children. Well worth every penny. It is a combination of a number of the other tours. This is a full day event. First, you stop at ruins of a sugar cane plantation, and visit a farmhouse of a banana farmer He picks banana from the tree for you; you can see their home and animal, pigs, rabbits and chickens. Then you go to the Crocodile farm, you see many crocs, have your picture taken holding and sitting on them, and you also see iguanas. This was quite interesting. Then you are off to the jungle and visit a home of an aboriginal women and her farm, which is at the entrance to your hiking trial. It is a 2 km hike up hill have solid footwear at there is lots of leaves and loose rocks. The caves you explore at the top is extreme caving.( Rebelce Cave) There is rugged entrances, small crevasse to climb trough and some of the adventure seeking people did a free climb up the side to over head ( 70 feet) hidden rooms. This is not for the weak hearted, as there is a little couple inch foothold at the top to get around. Experienced climbers were staying at home they would not have tired it without safety gear. My husband did it in crocks, thank god no injuries. Lunch is provided and they time is spent at a nature Mable pool for swimming in a campground. ( Cangilones del Rio Maximo)

Other Tours:
• Camaguey Colonial: 49 Adults /23 children – trip in to Camaguey
• Cuban Countryside 32 adult and 16 children – visit a ranch, horseback riding, and a pig roast, - spoke of highly by others who attended
• Horseback riding: 10 adults and 6 children – riding through Santa Lucia from the hotel
• Deep Sea Fishing: 50 adult, and 20 children: fully booked for the week upon arrival
• Iguana Tour: 59 adult and 30 children – mixed review by others, lots of walking and only seeing 2-3 iguanas which we saw the same amount in the Cangilones Por Denito tour
• Playa Bontia: 69 adult and 35 children Full day on a catamaran, snorkelling, in the reef – only knew one person doing this one and it was cancelled due to weather conditions, we had 2 days of red flag beach warnings
• Crocodiles:: 43 adult, and 22 children : would be great, the same farm as attended with Cangilones Por Denito tour
• Coral Tour: 25 adult and 13 children – 2.5 hours of snorkelling in the reef – our tour was cancelled due to weather
• VIP Service at the airport: 20 Adult and 15 children: a true money grab check in an airport was quick and easy, no waiting ample shopping and food in the airport and access outside to a balcony. The people who paid did not even use their special VIP room, it was very small.

TIPS were greatly appreciated by staff, but never did I feel anyone was waiting for one or change service for or without tips., we saved out tipping to the end of the trip for staff in the hotel and were never ignored and not provided great service from not tipping along the way.

CLIENTELE: The week end of January we attend I would guess the clientele were 10% under 30, 10% families, 40% middle age couples, 40% seniors who were there for 3-4 weeks rather then Florida. There were no rowdy people or people just drinking to drunk. It was safe quiet place for rest and relaxation. Many repeat customers at this resort,

CLOSING I hope this review helps you decide and plan if this trip is appropriate holiday for you and or family/friends. We would return and recommend it to others.

I just returned from Caracol for the 8th time. This hotel is one of the best values out there not only for the buck, but the Staff are amazing. The Bar staff, the Dining Room staff, the Entertainers, Security, Front Desk, Administration and the Snack Bar are some of the finest I have ever encountered. They are very polite and friendly and bend over backwards to help you. Sometimes the language can be a barrier, but they try if you try and sign language always helps!!
The resort itself is well maintained with many positive changes since last year. The walkways to the ocean and recently many new chairs on the beach and at the pool with the damaged ones repaired and the awings at the pool replaced.
I highly recommend this resort, but remember it is a 3 star and it is Cuba where supplies can be limited. They do the very best with what is available to them, We will be returning for the 3rd time this year.

This is a long review. I ask you to take the time to read it. It is not a knee-jerk, pissed off review but is measured and thoughtful. I have no ax to grind with any individual or the resort itself.

As the title of this review states, this was our third trip to the Caracol. I wrote a review on another site of our 1st trip, positive, the same can't be said for this trip.

Our other 2 trips to the Caracol were very positive. Staff, food, drinks, beach, rooms, weather...all good. Our only complaint would have been rowdy guests and management's lack proper handling of the situation and the fact that my wife was ill on our 2nd trip. Stuff happens right? Remember this point! This still didn't prevent us from coming back.

With that as a backdrop, let me say that I was very disappointed with our recent experience.

First, the positives. The resort looks good. Lots of new construction since our last visit (Jan. '09). The entertainment, bar, restaurant, water sports and maid staff...excellent. We had a couple of issues with the reception staff, but not enough to sour our overall experience. The food at the snack bar was generally good, especially the fish and chips.

Now the negatives. My wife got sick again and I also got sick 2 days after her...a good thing as we would have had a big problem with only one bathroom!! We had forgotten that we had narrowed it down to ice from the bar the last time she got sick (our 2nd trip here) as she was drinking mixed drinks with ice while everyone else was drinking cervezas. I drank many mojitoes on both of our other trips and never had a problem.

Same thing happened this time. Our 2nd day at the resort she got sick again. She was drinking mixed drinks with ice, I was on beer and wine. She was violently ill that night, vomiting for several hours, followed by 3 days of diarrhea.

On our 4th day of our week I decided to enjoy some Cuban rum and coke...with ice. I had 3 drinks and my stomach began to cramp. Within an hour I was so ill I thought I was going to die!!! I can't even find the words to convey how violently I vomited!! I spent the whole evening and night in bed.

The next day I had severe diarrhea, so much so that I saw the nurse and then the doctor. I was given a shot in the bum and then a few hours later a bag of intravenous fluids with 2 other drugs pumped in. Thanks to these wonderful women, I was feeling much better within 24 hours.

The following day I went to see the doctor again for a checkup. There was a line-up out the door of people experiencing the same issues!! In talking to other guests we would estimate that about 10-15% of the resort was ill.

I discovered from a trusted staff member (whom we befriended on our first trip there) that the bars and restaurants use unfiltered local tap water for ice making as well as washing dishes, mixing powder based juices and even the water/ice in the pitchers on the bars! I was shocked! I tried to confirm this by asking another staff person if the water was unfiltered...his response? "I can't talk about that"!!! I took that as a yes!

On our transfer over from the airport the guide told us not to drink the tap water, except for teeth brushing as tourists can be a little sensitive to it. And yet, there at the Caracol, they pipe it into the bars and restaurants for our consumption!!! I'm not saying every person will get sick. I didn't on our 1st two trips. This is still so unacceptable! It's like rolling the dice with your health!

I should also mention that the food in the buffet was MUCH worse. By the end of our week I had lost my appetite. I ate mostly white rice and chicken when it was available. But this pales in comparison to the water issue. Putting guests in a position to be unsuspectingly drinking local water when they may be sensitive to it is unforgivable!! I am a relatively healthy 55 yr old. Many of the guests at the Caracol are seniors. Several of the sick folks were seniors! I shudder to think what could happen to a frail elderly person drinking this water!

I will not be returning to this resort because of this issue, which is a shame because there are so many positives here...mostly the staff. If I did return, the money that I normally tip would be going to buying bottled water/pop. I would also take a small ice bucket to keep the bottles cold and just get straight liquor from the bars and mix my own drinks.