My husband and I stayed at the Ole Caribe hotel mainly because we needed a place to stay before and after our week on Margarita Island (we stayed two separate days there).
Booking the reservations was a bit of a pain as we had some difficulties with the correspondence via email. My emails were usually answered, but it would take days or in some cases weeks for them to reply to me. I ended up having an acquaintance we know who speaks Spanish to call them to confirm our reservations. To make and "confirm" our reservations, we had to fax a copy of our picture ID as well as our credit card to the hotel (international phone number that was NOT toll free). I was not comfortable in doing this, but the Ole Caribe didn't offer any other choice. Thankfully, we haven't had any problems with unapproved charges to our credit card 1 1/2 months later.
We prearranged with the hotel on taxi transportation to and from the airport. We had confirmed this with a phone call made by our Spanish speaking acquaintance about 2 weeks prior to our departure. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the International Airport of Venezuela, there was no taxi waiting for us. We were told someone would be holding a sign with our name on it, but we found none with our name. We waited about 30 minutes after picking up our luggage (thankfully we had no lost luggage to and from Venezuela) and decided we'd better call to see if they forgot about us. We used a phone from one of the tourist booths. They were kind to us by allowing us to use the phone free twice. The first time we called the hotel, we were assured in English that there was a taxi on its way to get us. We waited another 30 minutes, and still nothing. We called the 2nd time and we're given the same story. This time he said they'd be there to pick us up in about 15-20 minutes. We waited another 45 minutes or so. Still nothing.... We decided to just take an available taxi at the airport. The driver didn't speak much English, but he offered us a ride for $20 USD. I offered $15 and he accepted. We didn't have any bolivars yet. We didn't exchange in the airport even though two different men offered us 5,000 bolivars for one USD. We didn't feel safe in doing so especially since we were "in" the airport. There were too many "officials" in uniform there, and trading on the black market is illegal. It took us about 20 minutes to drive to the Hotel Ole Caribe.
We finally arrived at the Hotel Ole Caribe about 3 1/2 hours after we had landed at the international airport. The grounds were very well kept and the surrounding areas of the hotel property felt very safe. There was even an ATM provided on the hotel property although we never used it. There was beautiful greenery and flowers (see the photos I’ve posted of the hotel). Because it was about 10 a.m. when we arrived, the room wasn't ready (normal check-in was 4 p.m.). We ate some lunch (I had pizza and my husband had fettuccine alfredo) at restaurant next to the pool. The food was okay. Afterward lunch, we swam in the nice sized pool, laid on the chaise lounges & and took a nap until our room was ready. We had flown over on a red-eye flight from Houston, TX so the nap was very much needed.
The room was averaged size, but seemed clean. There was a sink area separate from the bath/shower area. Unfortunately, I don’t think they offer anything larger than a full-size bed. With my husband at 6’6 it wasn’t the most comfortable. Also, it was the hardest bed we’ve ever slept on. We found it very uncomfortable. The TV didn’t have the best picture quality. We were not provided wash cloths and we only were given two bath towels. I thought this to be a bit skimpy, but I guess we didn’t need more as we only stayed one day before and one day after our week on Margarita Island.
The hotel staff we felt were for the most part not very friendly towards us. Few spoke English, and unfortunately my husband and I speak little Spanish. We were able to get by, but we felt ignored at the hotel restaurant where we ate our meals. They didn’t offer us a menu for quite some time. Ordering food and drinks took a while as well as receiving the food. You pretty much have to ask for your bill when you’re ready to leave. We’ve noticed in Venezuela that rarely will they give you your bill unless you ask for it. I guess they figure you might want to eat more? We also noticed cold reception from employees in the pool area. I’m not sure their lack of conversation with us was because we were American or if they knew we didn’t speak much Spanish and they didn’t speak English. Most of the hotel employees were not cheerful even to other hotel guests. Maybe it’s perhaps their not happy with their jobs or President Chavez? We’re not sure why, but that’s our observation of the staff.
Thankfully, internet and computers (4) were provided for free. One computer I noticed had headphones and a lady was talking in Spanish when she was on the computer. I’m not very computer/internet savvy, but I thought that was interesting. The connection speed isn’t the fastest, but I was happy I could check my emails and send messages to family and friends that all was well with us.
Check-out was quick and painless. There was a hotel taxi/shuttle that took us to the airport for $28 US. We wish we had some bolivars for the taxi ride back to the airport, but we ended up paying the steep price in USDs. The 2nd stay we had at the Ole Caribe after our week on Margarita Island was much more economical as we had bolivars that time. We traded for a good price in a convenience/t-shirt store. Paying in bolivars proves to be a better deal in most circumstances.
I hope I’ve covered any questions or concern about the Ole Caribe. Please feel free to PM me if you have any inquiries about the hotel. Hopefully it'll make your trip to Venezuela more enjoyable. Happy traveling….
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
