I stayed at Hotel Palma Real, Varadero, Cuba in September 2005 with a friend. We both had a fantastic holiday. I would rate this as a 3/4 star hotel, as it is typically at the lower end of the pricing for holidays to Varadero. However, don't let this put you off this merely makes it even more value for money!
Location# The hotel is situated approximately 150 metres from the beach. Literally cross the road and you are there. Facilities on the beach include sunloungers, parasols, snack bar serving food and drinks, watersports, dance classes. The beach itself is beautiful and is around 20 miles long so you can walk as far as you like. We didn't find a problem with the beach being across the road, if anything it made us explore a little more than if we had been staying at hotel that was on the beach itself.
Hotel Facilities# The hotel has a large lobby which accomodates the reception, lobby bar and seating area, small shop, hairdressers. Nightly entertainment happens here. There are two swimming pools. One has a pool bar and is usually used for pool sports such as water polo and volley ball. There is also a small gym located behind this pool. The second pool is larger and has a shallow childrens pool attached. Also the local synchronised swim team practise here a couple of times a week. I must stress however this doesn't take up much of the pool space and is actually quite entertaining to watch! We found both pools to be very clean and there were always plenty of sunloungers available for use.
The hotel has three restaurants; a pizzeria, a buffet restaurant and an oriental style restaurant (advance bookings only). We found the food to be good in all. The pizzas in the pizzeria were not quite what you might be used to, but freshly made and edible all the same. The variety of food in the buffet restaurant was fantastic. There was always a good selection and plenty of everything. The fresh fish was particularly lovely. The oriental style restaurant was also great, however you do have to book at reception for this, but worth it for a change.
Rooms# There are 3/4 blocks of apartments. We were in the furthest away from the lobby. This had its own bar, with TV showing sports. Our room was large and clean with a large veranda. The 'towel art' provided by the maids was a particularly nice touch. There was also a safe.
Entertainment and Staff# We could not fault the staff at the hotel, they would do absolutely anything to help you. They even come out to the clubs with us and showed us around! The nightly entertainment consisted of party games, live music, etc. All good fun if you like that sort of thing. If you are interested in going to nightclubs and bars outside the hotel complex there are a few to choose from. There are two in close proximity to the hotel (one is attached to the hotel). There is also a bar a couple of streets down. Entrance to the clubs is by cover charge i.e. one price in and all drinks are free. Generally between 5-10 Cuban pesos which is extremely cheap when you compare it to prices at home!
Excursions# We went on a couple of excursions whilst in Varadero. An overnight stay to Havana and a trip to a deserted island.
Havana - worth a visit. A truly beatiful city. Please be aware however that the trip is around 3 hours by coach from Varadero and if you do the trip which takes you out of Havana on the second day to a cigar factory, the trip back is around 5 hours! Not recommended for those travelling with children, however a worthwhile trip.
Deserted island - this takes you out on a catarmaran to a small deserted island (albeit used for these commercial trips) which has the most amazing white beach. There is a stop on the way for snorkelling, lunch is taken on the island.
Hope I've not bored you but at least given you a good insight should you be considering this hotel for your holiday....
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