Sol Cayo Coco, Ciego de Avila

...from two weeks at the Sol Melia Cayo Coco in Cuba and had a fab time. It isn't the best hotel in the world, but it certainly wasn't the worst.

Location: It's in Cayo Coco, which is a small island linked to mainland Cuba by a causeway. It is about 15 minutes from the airport in a coach, which is particularly good after a 10 hour plane journey! There is absolutely nothing on the island apart from hotel complexes, so don't go thinking ...
...17km of beaches and the Sol Cayo Coco is connected to two of them.

Beaches: The beaches are fantastic - exactly what you expect when you go to the Caribbean - with white sands and crystal clear, blue and turquoise waters. The Sol Cayo Coco is directly on one beach and is connected by a rickety bridge to another. We preferred the one accross the rickety bridge as it was quieter and felt a little bit more secluded. Both beaches have ... more

My fiance and I have just come back from two weeks at the Sol Melia Cayo Coco in Cuba and had a fab time. It isn't the best hotel in the world, but it certainly wasn't the worst.

Location: It's in Cayo Coco, which is a small island linked to mainland Cuba by a causeway. It is about 15 minutes from the airport in a coach, which is particularly good after a 10 hour plane journey! There is absolutely nothing on the island apart from hotel complexes, so don't go thinking you are going to see Cuba, unless you are willing to do a bit of travelling. Cayo Coco has about 17km of beaches and the Sol Cayo Coco is connected to two of them.

Beaches: The beaches are fantastic - exactly what you expect when you go to the Caribbean - with white sands and crystal clear, blue and turquoise waters. The Sol Cayo Coco is directly on one beach and is connected by a rickety bridge to another. We preferred the one accross the rickety bridge as it was quieter and felt a little bit more secluded. Both beaches have plenty of sun beds - although they are unbelievably uncomfortable. We had two blankets in our room which we folded up and used as padding on the sunbeds, which made them much better! Another couple we saw had actually brought thin camping mattresses with them as they'd been here before!

Rooms: We had a bit of trouble with our room on the first night and ended up switching rooms on the second day. The first room (number 2230) was awful really - it smelt really, really damp. The safe, fridge and shower didn't work at all. There was a snail in one of the drawers. The bed linen was stained and the towels were dirty. We asked at reception to change rooms and were told there wouldn't be one until the next day. When we did swap, the second room was far better. It didn't smell nearly as bad (we were told by the rep that the rooms tend to smell a bit because of all the problems they have with hurricanes), it was much brighter and just felt a lot cleaner. The rooms are very spacious, with either two or three 3/4 sized double beds, a tv, a table with two chairs, fridge, drssing table, large wardrobe, sink are and bathroom. The shower pressure was up and down - as you expect with a large hotel (the manager also said that they were having problems with blocked pipes that didn't help either). The rooms were cleaned every day and towels and bedding are changed on request to help the environment.

Food and drink: It's an all inclusive resort, which we thought made it fantastic value for money. You could fault the food and drink. There was a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner - all with more choice than you could imagine. Breakfast was pastries, toast, fruit, breads, potatoes, sausages, beans and then omelettes, pancakes, smoothies and bacon and eggs made to order. Dinner also had something for everyone - salads, soup, cooked meats, a selection of curries, roast meats, vegetarian options and then pizzas, pasta, fried rice, steak, fisha nd prawns all cooked to order.
There was also a few other places to eat, all included in the price. For lunch, the beach bar and pool bar did burgers and hot dogs, and the restaurant near the beach did fantastic kebabs. For dinner you could eat in the italian restaurant (which we didn't try) and the a la carte restaurant which we really enjoyed as it has a more formal atmosphere for a nice meal rather than the buffet. The asparagus soup here was delicious, as was the poached salmon.
There are plenty of places to get a drink all day - but if you get a drink at any of the outside bars, it comes in a plastic glass for safety reasons. There is a cocktail bar in the reception area - try the Blue Lagoon.

Staff: For the most part, the staff were very friendly and helpful - always saying hello and smiling. I've read on other review sites that you have to tip them to even get a smile - but we didn't find this to be the case at all. That said, some of the staff in the buffet restaurant were slow to say the least - but as they say, you are on Cuban time over there!

Activities and facilities: One thing I'll say is that for activities, this resort is far better than any other I've been to, as absolutely everything is included in the price. Down on the beach, you can use pedalos, kayaks and the laser boats. There is also mini golf, table football, giant chess, darts, pool, a gym, a jacuzzi, computers with internet connection, a hairdresser, a cigar shop and a shop selling crisps, drinks, toiletries and t-shirts (very random, I know).

Trips: The trips are quite expensive, as Cayo Coco is miles away from anywhere. There are plenty to choose from depending on what kind of thing you want - from hiring speed boats to go snorkelling in the coral reef (which is apparently the second biggest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef) to visits to traditional Cuban towns. There is a trip to swim with dolphins that we considered, but it was about £200 per person and was an overnight trip with a lot of travelling and from what I could tell, you only actually got an afternoon with the dolphins.
Obviously the trip everyone wants to know about is Havana. Again, it is quite expensive (we paid about £450 for two of us for a two day trip), but it is definitely worth it. Havana is an amazing city with such a fascinating history and we felt that it was the only time on our holiday that we actually got a feel for Cuba itself. I would recommend the two day trip as I don't think a day is enough and it's only about £40 a person more. However, as with all organised trips, they do tend to take you to places you don't really want to go (such as cigar shops) and on the first day we spent two hours eating lunch in an Italian restaurant! So, on the second day, we spoke to the guide and asked if we could go it alone - which was the best decision we made. It's so nice to wander round the streets soaking up the atmosphere at your own pace.

Overall: I really enjoyed the holiday and the hotel was nice enough. It is going to be closed this summer (2009) for a massive refurbishment, which I think it is long overdue as it looks a bit run down. I don't think I'd go back to Cayo Coco and it is too remote from Cuba itself and you aren't getting the lap of luxury at the Sol Cayo Coco - however if you want a couple of weeks of lying on gorgeous beaches, eating and drinking whenever you want and enjoying lazing around in general, it serves the purpose very well.

Anyway, I think I've covered everything - if there's anything else you want to know, send me a message and I'll get back to you!

Also on dooyoo under the same username. 

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