We were supposed to be staying in Cienfuegos, but we heard from the tour agent the day before we left UK that we had been transferred to this "hotel", and was somewhat concerned that they felt it necessary to give us a range of "compensations" for the change. I was right to be concerned. Not only was this place around 15 miles out of Cienfuegos, making you a virtually prisoner for the evening, but the state of the "accommodation" was awful. It is a shame as it occupies a lovely position with superb views over the Caribbean. On our way to it, our tour guide said that it did (at least) have one advantage over the hotel we were supposed to stay at in that it had a pool. He was right, but that was of little value to us in that the very basic square pool was empty! Nevertheless there were two beaches which looked quite attractive from the distance - I say from the distance as the small one appeared to be completely fenced off from the hotel, and the large one only seemed accessible by going back to the main road, quarter of a mile or more down the drive of the property. So, it was back to the "room" - we did not have a very good start to the room, in that we opened the door to find a gecko running across the floor. However, there was a balcony with a lovely view over the sea - unfortunately, this came with a flurry of mosquitoes, an extremely rusty air-conditioning unit which appeared to be about to fall off the wall, and a door which would not shut. The air-conditioning at least did work (albeit somewhat noisily) and we had a fridge in the corner of the room, although the electrics connecting it to the wall would fail any health and safety regulations. As to the bathroom, the less said the better - it appeared to be decorated by a 3-year-old (although that's maybe unfair on 3-year-olds) with paint slopped everywhere, and we were unable to tap into any hot water after 10 minutes or so in the evening and again the next morning. Finally, the breakfast was easily the poorest we encountered in a fortnight in Cuba and the "breakfast experience" was dominated by the swarms of flies on the food! As to service, we did not really experience any - the tables at breakfast were left with dirty plates on them for long periods, and although we did get drinks at the bar the previous evening, the service was somewhat haphazard with the bar staff uncertain who they were serving! Altogether not to be recommended - fortunately we only had it for one night.
- Hotel Amigo Faro Luna
