Hotel Playa Almeda Reviews

This hotel was the Playa Almeda but now managed by the Iberostar Group. Could not really fault the place. All staff were very friendly and the standard of service was very good. The rooms we big enough and the cleaner did a good job.
The food wasn't great but there was always something to eat, having said that plenty of people seemed to load their plates! You can book for one of the other restaurants (Italian,Romantica or Sea-food) which made a change.

Plenty of places for snacks and booze. Small disposable cups at the beach but not a problem. Plenty of loungers at the beach, Beach was clean and you could walk along it past other hotels whilst picking up shells......better than working!
Tipped cleaner each day (1CUC) which was appreciated and left her all our toileteries which like everything else would be expensive for the locals. Also tipped bar/restaurant staff and was well appreciated......a few 1CUC tips (about 55p) will not break the bank!

Went to the Dolphinarium on the hotel bikes, only 20 minutes away and made a change. Show was 15 CUC's and to swim with the Dolphins and show was 90 CUCS (80 on a Thursday) but you need to book up for the swim so maybe cycle there first to book it up. Worth the experience to do the swimming bit.

The Beach Bus (open top double decker) cost 5CUCS per person and ran the length of hotels to the American Shopping Mall ( about 20 shops all selling the same thing) and then onto Varadero. Not much there, but a nice park. Best t shirts were at the 2 shops just up from the park, bus does stop there. Beach Bus doesn't stick to the timetable but at least you can hop on and off.

Didn't do any trips since started our holiday in Havana which was great. Stayed at the Panorama....highly recommend it and will post a review for it.

So all in all, the Playa Almeda should be fine for you, not much to do outside the hotels but for some r and r and plenty of booze you can't go wrong. Lots of nationalities there but all got along well.

Enjoy your holiday and compared to other hotels on the reviews this came up trumps!

We spent a week here after our first week on a ";Highlights of Cuba"; tour that took in Havana, Trinidad and other places. The first week was full of interesting sights and our guide was 5*+ in his information and English. It was a severe cultural shock to see the poverty of the Cubans who are not allowed to buy or sell cars or houses and are still on food rationing.

Moving on to Varadero was like going to another planet with plentiful and varied food such that we felt guilty after what we had seen in the first week. Anyone who goes only to Varadero and thinks they have seen Cuba is deceiving themselves as Varadero could be any beach resort, anywhere.

Our hotel was very good but minor things could be improved - hot food actually being hot, effective mosquito control in the rooms, rooms properly checked out before new visitors arrive so that the safe or the air-con actually work.
Evening entertainment was to an excellent standard although each night tended to be a bit of the same - ie fantastic choreography in dancing but too much of the same gets boring.
The a la carte Fish and Italian restaurants were disappointing but the Romantique was good.
Hotel staff and general layout of the hotel complex were all good but the hotel shop was poor and considering that there are no other shops within walking distance, this could be improved.
Varadero is a good place for clean beaches etc but the town itself (reached by bus in about 30-40 minutes) has virtually nothing to offer of interest.

We were originally booked into another hotel but First Choice advised us that building work was going on nearby and so we changed to the Almeda. The brochure price for the Almeda was slightly less than our original choice but First Choice refused us any rebate which we considered sharp practice. It so happened that we had no complaint about the hotel but there was a principal at stake and we think First Choice was less than fair with us.
Anyone going to Cuba might take things like soap, shampoo and pens to give to the locals who are very appreciative of these simple gifts.

Whatever you pack to take with you is what you will have to survive with as you wont find anywhere to buy the things you have forgotten.

What a nice welcome - cool drinks and dancers. First impressions of the hotel - brilliant! Room great, near the beach and with a pool view. Plentiful buffets, lots and lots of choice, we never found the food cold. 3 restaurants also very nice, no complaints about food. Entertainment was OK, we all made our own by playing poker and then went into the 'disco', hmm not a great choice of music but after oodles of gin and tonic you're not that bothered anyway.
Havana is great, well worth going. We didnt go to the tropicana show but the overall opinion was not good, and very expensive drinks wise if you want something other than Rum.

Beach fantastic, and no hassle by any vendors - we had a bad experience in Gambia of constant harrassment so being able to sit around unmolested was really great.

All in all we really enjoyed this holiday. We went for 2 weeks of complete relaxation, not lots of trips and tours so this place was perfect for us. We found the hotel to be of a very high standard, we went into Sandals for a beer and it looked slightly shabby in comparison... apart from the plastic glasses were bigger I wouldnt say it was worth an extra £1000+.

Take your own insulated cups - the ones handed out at the beach bar are like the vending machine plastic cups... saves you a few trips as the bar is not on the beach itself... plus the bartender is a bit of a misery guts unlike the rest of the staff who were fab.(Mind you he might not have liked me having a giant mug for my lager!)

The only downside was being delayed due to the London Bombings, which meant we were on the island for a major hurricane. We got evacuated from our hotel (was told by Julie in the bar at midnight that we were being evacuated at 7 the next morning, some of the British holidaymakers were not told and went down to breakfast at 9.We should have been told by our rep Osmany.

The next morning we boarded buses(mistakenly as it turns out) to the Playa Varadero 1920. Do not book this hotel, it's grim. Rooms/pool/restaurant - awful. Plus as it is run by an Italian firm, the Italian holidaymakers got precedence with the rooms which meant after waiting 3 odd hours for a room (which we only got at all as one of our party went ballistic with the receptionists) all the British holidaymakers were given beach bungalows next to the sea... great with a force 5 hurricane heading your way. Plus the rep, Osmany, did a runner. If it wasnt for the kindness of 2 Virgin reps, who none of our hotel evacuees travelled with, we would have been stuck in these rooms however the reps argued and found us alternative accomodation (the hotel gym) we were honestly terrified of being so near the sea - some of the rooms flooded out. I still have not been given a satisfactory explanation of why our rep deserted us and will certainly not be going with First Choice again, even though the planes, hotel etc. are very good, all the British felt in danger that night.
So a short summary...

Hotel and resort - brilliant. Pool/beach/rooms - cant fault. Ace for relaxation, but if youre into activities and endless trips this aint for you.
First Choice - dreadful. Sent several letters, had a few 'Looking into it' type replies but no explanation or apology. Know the hurricane was no-ones fault, but being abandoned and not told where to go or what to do was bad news.

Would not return, but it's a big world.

This hotel was called Maritim Beach Resort when we booked back in March but has since chnaged its name, which we understand is par for the course in Cuba.

We flew First Choice and had an excellent flight, 33 inches from seat to seat 2inches better than BA and 1 inch better than Virgin, so they say.
On arrival in Cuba given drink and cigars, seemd to wizz through imigration and luggage collection. Watch out for 'porters' who grab your bags as you are heading for the coach transfer, it cost us £5 to carry 2 bags 50 yards, so i suggest you change some money at the airport before emerging out.

The hotel was great, fantastic grounds very very clean everywhere, friendly staff and lovely location right on the daily cleaned beach, which some of the others along the peninsular were not.
We had a sea view, and the room was great, albeit be are used to Greek Self Catering...., bowl of fruit and bottle of Rum on arrival, and free mini bar.

The welcome party was the usual stuff, but he did'nt ram the trips down your throat, 'here they are, see me if you want to go...' which we liked.
The buffet food got a bit boring but there was plenty of food and choice, we just longed for a good english roast dinner after a week or so.

Did a day trip to Havana which was enough for us, our tour guide was Lionel a great guy, what he didnt know about Cuba wasnt worth knowing, a great place to visit.

We had no complaints although Osmany the Rep, was getting some grief from a few people who felt things were not up to scratch.Not realy sure if they were being 'picky' or we were easily pleased...

Varadero is just a 20 mile peninsular stacked mainly with hotels, so not a great deal to see. There is a open top double decker bus which runs along the strip from 8am till 9pm every day and costs 5 Pesos, you can get on and off as many times as you want during the day.

If you want a holiday where you can relax and do very little Varadero is the place for you. If you want a more active time I would suggest its not.
We had a great time.