Blau Varadero Reviews

Excellent Choice Of Hotel, Very Clean With Very Friendly Staff. Good Quality All-Inclusive Drinks. Room Minibar Poorly Stocked. Palma Real Al-A-Carte Restuarant Food OK, But Service Very Slow & Staff Poor Attitudes.

My wife and I stayed at this hotel in February 2010 and found it most enjoyable. The staff are very helpful, smile and greet you. Just greet them with a "Hola!" and their face lights up; they seem to be so willing to help. Tipping was obviously gratefully accepted but never sought after. We made some good friends in the staff in the restaurant and also at the outside bars. The food in the restaurant is varied and there is always something good to eat. In the mornings omelettes are cooked as required in addition to a huge array of ready foods. In the evenings there is again a great array of food on offer. Remember this is a third-world country! There are two a-la-cart restaurants which you can obtain tickets for. These are also free but you wil be charged for special wine apparently. We did not use these as we preferred the main restaurant and the choice there. Friends who did use the other restaurants complained the food was often cold. In the rooms there is a mini-bar which is stocked with two beers, two cokes and a bottle of water; these are replenished daily. If you want more drinks there are the bars! The rooms were quite adequate and bedding was changed daily. There is no coffee machine in the room. The bars are well stocked and the staff prompt and courteous. The beach side bar is a very different way of life, plenty of music, but not really a disco as suggested. Slightly bohemian perhaps but OK. The nightly entertainment is very good and the entertainment team work really hard. There is a magic show which is amazing, couples night, and a chance to dance with the dancers. After a week it can get a bit samey and it's a shame they do not have much live music. There is entertainment and games throughout the day round the pool but you are not pressurised to join in if you don't want to. The poolside music varies in both volume and type throughout the day and this is most welcome. The gardens are well laid out and there was rarely any difficulty in finding sunchairs. There are bicycles for hire (free for two hours which is probably enough). There are red and blue open-top tourist buses which pass the end of the road to the hotel about every half hour, going to the marina in one direction and Varadero in the other. It costs 5 CUC's and you can get on and off wherever you like. It gets very crowded but it's fun. There is also a road-train, calls at the hotel roughly on-the-hour. They charge 4 CUC's and you may wish to check you do not get re-sold a ticket! Outsied entertainments? Not much in the area, but there is a Mambo Club a short walk away which opens at 11pm and costs 10 CUC's entry. We went to the Tropicana at Matanzas. A bottle of rum is included for the table of four persons, within your ticket price. There was a litlel snag when we we arrived at the venue about 9.35pm to be told the rum would not be give until the show started at 10.10pm and "perhaps you would like to buy a drink before"! The show was very good but at times the dancers showed signs of tedium 'Done this before'! (Our party thought our hotel dancers put on a better effort.) After the show the dancers came down to the floor and encouraged you to dance with them - which was great until one whispered in my ear "You have some money for me?" Make of that what you will. However we had a great time at the Blau and will be going back there next year. Just hope it's warmer next year as we had quite a few very cool days this year, which as we know from experience is very unusual in Cuba. Currency? Take your British pounds and change them at the hotel. Easy. Don't mess with changing to Euro's in the UK, you don't need them and it will costs you money to change them twice. Don't bring US Dollars - they are not welcomed and you will be charged an extra commissions for changing them. The Cuban Peso is very easy to use. We were both in our fifties and enjoyed this hotel and there were people of all ages who all seemed to fit in easily and enjoy themselves. Any questions - please e-mail me and I'll see if I can help: terryswoffer at yahoo.co.uk Viva Cuba!

One of the best hotels me and my fiancé have ever stayed in! Lovely looking place, ideally located on a stunning stretch of beach and all inclusive too! Can't get much better than this. We will a 1000000% be returning!

The hotel Blau varedero is excellent value for money in my opinion. The hotel is realy only suited for couples who want a relaxing holiday as its entertaiment is very limited finishing at 11.30pm most nights. Although they do have a 24hour very basic disco at the beach bar. Which is good as you cant hear it from the hotel.. The rooms in the hotel are very basic but do include int the all inclusive deal a mini bar with 2 beers and 2 soft drinks and a bottle of water every day. The rooms are cleaned twice daily and the maids create little sculptures with your towels curtains etc.. The food in the buffet restauraunt I personally found to be very good with a great choice of pasta avery day and you could create your own pizza. Also there were salads and food choices of fish, meat and poultry everyday plus a wide selection of vegetables/potatoes. Unfortunatly we found the a la carte restauraunts to be rubbish, The service was brilliant but the food was bland and not cooked properly, although the presentation was brilliant it looked good enough to eat, but it wasnt. The beach was beautiful and included watersports the mini-catamarran trips are great fun and included in your deal. The pool was also very clean and plenty of sun loungers to go around, and if there wasnt enough in the shade there was always space on the beach. I reccomend it for couples here as there was no rowdy groups of people and not many children. Although there is a kids club Building there was only 3-4 children during our stay so tis may change during school holidays. The bars are reasonable quite often drinks strengths will change depending on who served you, oneil is the best barmen there look out for him (he's the one spinning bottles and catching ice over his shoulder) I recommend taking a insulated mug as at the pool and beach bar you get very small plastic cups. Overall I would recomend staying here the only big downside is the location there is not much to do locally and there is nothing within walking distance. But if you just want to sit back and relax and enjoy the all inclusive holiday this is the place for you.

According to most brochures, this is technically a 4* hotel, but wow, what value for money. Near enough everything is included, from the obvious candidates of food and drink (including cocktails) to tennis courts, gym and sauna. Pretty much the only things not included are excursions, laundry, phone and internet.

We stayed for 10 nights after having 4 nights in Havana and couldn't have asked for more. Check-in was simple and efficient, rooms were cleaned daily (the cleaners truly go to town with your towels!) and the facilities were generally very good. Food is plentiful (3 meal times a day, all buffet style...try the fish!), all buffet style, though you get one evening meal in each of the 2 a la carte restaurants per week that you stay. Of these, the "Adelfas Grill" is a little disappointing, with a limited menu...however, the other restaurant is more up-market and doesn't disappoint. One thing to be aware of...Cubans LOVE their sugar and you'll find it in just about everything, so the food does have a habit of being a bit on the sweet side (for example, when getting a fresh smoothie prepared at breakfast a "little" sugar constitutes a tablespoon!!). No wonder there's something of a diabetes problem over there.

Aside to the hotel itself, the entertainment staff are great and very. The daytime entertainment has something for everyone (aqua aerobics, volleyball, salsa classes, water polo, etc), though be prepared for lots of dance shows in the evenings...they do get a bit samey (though I'd recommend the water show), so you may well find yourself meeting people and spending your evenings drinking cocktails at one of the bars instead!

All in all, a truly great holiday and somewhere I'd certainly be willing to go back to. I'd do it sooner rather than later though as my one fear is that when Cuba opens it's doors to the USA, the college students will undoubtedly turn this into another Cancun...which will be a great pity.

We chose the Blau varadero because of recommendations from friends and we weren't disappointed. When we booked, we were offered a couples upgrade where we had a bottle of champagne in the room on arrival, as well as a free 15 minute massage each which was very nice. The rooms were kept spotless and had no problems in that respect. The maid would top up the fridge each day with 2 cans of lager and cola which were nice to enjoy on the balcony after a long day's sunbathing! The resort itself was beautiful with a central pool surrounded by nicely landscaped gardens. Small paths allowed you to roam the grounds discovering nice sunbathing spots. There were also table tennis tables, tennis courts and water polo available to keep you entertained. Between the hotal and the beach was abotu 20 metres of trees and bushes with a nice walkway through onto the beach. The beach itself was amazing. Lucious white sand and clear blue water. Pedalos were free to use although it was too windy when we were there and wern't allowed by the lifeguard. The food was OK, but i'm told that it is better than average in Cuba. It is a buffet format with all food tastes catered for and there is a couple of more up market restaurants which holiday makers can use once a week. The food in these was brilliant and we were treated like royalty. Overall, a brilliant stay at the Blau.

The hotel was clean, spacious and had a lovely beach. It was windy in January time and overcast but there were always spaces on sunbeds and the pool bar was excellent.

Food wasn't amazing, could be dry and over/undercooked.

The staff were very friendly and check in was efficient and no problems with the room.

There was a kids club but as a young couple with no children we didn't feel like it was overrun with kids.

This hotel has great rooms and all very clean. Our room was cleaned regularly and we were provided with new towels and sheets everyday. The service at the restaurant was really good and the staff were great.

Blau Varadero is a great beach hotel in Cuba. We went for a week all-inclusive and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and felt very relaxed after the break.

The rooms are great with a stunning view of the hotel pool, beach and the ocean. The entertainment team are fab. The drinks were lovely and the food was nice.

Would definitely go back.

Beautiful hotel on the inside (standing joke about the outside which is supposed to look like a pyramid but doesn't quite manage it!)

It is right on a beach of white sand and clear water. We went in the low season (hurricane season was just starting as we left) and so the hotel was not full which meant that we received drinks etc really quickly. The a la carte restaurant which you could visit twice was really lovely with live music and made a change from the buffet restaurant.

You must go on the catamaran trips especially the sunset one (which was free if you booked the daytime trip). My best moment was watching the sun go down whilst eating fresh lobster and drinking a cold rum and coke!
We went to Havana through Airtours and in hindsight we would have been better going by taxi as we found a driver who spoke English and was keen to tell us about his country. (We met him in Havana with another family). We would have been able to visit the places that we wanted to see and been less rushed.

We chose this hotel as a final family holiday before our daughters go their own way. I was worried that they may be bored without much nightlife but instead we sat in the piano bar with cocktails and just talked and laughed.
So to sum it up this is a fantastic hotel in a safe, tourist resort with friendly staff who go out of their way to help. (The reception staff tried for an hour to phone the UK for me. NB it is difficult to phone from Cuba but you can email from the hotel).

It is a relaxing place and so may not be for you if you enjoy a hotel with lots of reps providing entertainment.

Well I have to say it was a beautiful hotel, entertainment staff was absolutely great!! The only doubt id say was if you were going as a large group this would always be a problem at meal times. There was 11 of us and every evening we would have a problem getting a table, the manager wouldnt let us put tables togother to make a table of 11, and when youve paid all that money for a holiday you don't expect to be sat seperately across the other sides of the room in small groups!

Another thing, as english we tend to tip at the end of the holiday but basically at the pool bar if you didnt tip straight away or have money in your hand they would keep you waiting longer, some of the pool bar staff were very rude, I have to say, we were constantly tipping, that didnt bother us it was just they would keep taking and taking but thed still be rude to you. The majority of the staff were lovely, just the occasional 2 or 3 familiar rude 1s!

Having found no review on this recently opened hotel I thought by giving our opinion of this hotel it would encourage others to do this.

We arrived after a long flight to what I would only say is an amazing hotel. The entrance hall was spectaculor and there were glass lifts on either side of the hotel. This is a very modern hotel and has about 13 floors, we were on the 12th floor with a lovely sea view.

The room was very spacious with a king size bed and a seperate walk in wardrobe area. In the room is a fridge which is stocked daily with water, beer and cola. There is also a hairdryer and a safe.

The restaurants is buffet style. For breakfast they make smoothies on request with traditional breakfasts and also fruit. Dinner time is in the grill outside where you see the chef cooking burgers, pizzas and fresh fish. Evening meal is back in the buffet with many lovely meats, fish salads etc. They also have an a la carte restaurant which you can visit 1 time for each week you stay, this was nice but the buffet was as good as this restaurant.

The pool area is massive with a small part of the pool a jaccuzi area. They play games during the day you can either join in or watch which ever you prefer.

The beach is simply amazing white sand and beautiful blue sea I will never forget it!

The entertainment is ok they really do put their heart and soul into this and we had a few good nights watching them.

The staff are so friendly and we left little gifts on the beds for the maid which she really appreciated as she left us thank-you notes each day. We did tip the staff but I dont think it was expected.

We only went on one trip and that was to Havana which you must see if you go to Cuba it is a magical place although in some parts I feel you have to be a little aware.

All in all we had a wonderful holiday a nice new clean hotel, lovely people and beautiful surroundings. Would we return? Without a shadow of a doubt!!

We stayed here for 2 weeks to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The most endearing part of the holiday was the people. The service in the hotel was exceptional. The trip to Havana was OK although there is little time to explore as the schedule is pretty tight and closely controled. The bus journey to and from Havana is longer than you think however if you get the right guide, there is plenty of fascinating information about Cuba.

Varadero itself is a taxi ride away and besides a few markets, there's not much to see but still worth a visit.

I would definately recommend Cuba and particularly this hotel