We rested at the hotel in September, through a travel agency, the overall impression is excellent. In order: flight Kyiv - Paris - Havana cost us 1200 dollars per person. The flight was operated by Air France. There was some discomfort with the Charles de Gaulle connection on the way to Havana (about 4 hours), but compared to many flights, this is an excellent connection.
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We rested at the hotel in September, through a travel agency, the overall impression is excellent.
In order:
flight Kyiv - Paris - Havana cost us 1200 dollars per person. The flight was operated by Air France. There was some discomfort with the Charles de Gaulle connection on the way to Havana (about 4 hours), but compared to many flights, this is an excellent connection. Arrival in Havana was in the afternoon, late in the evening, and given that the hotel is located on Santa Maria, we stayed overnight in Havana. You can choose a hotel in Havana, we were offered Occidental Miramar 4 *. About the hotel: the room is large, quite tolerable, although the hotel itself vaguely resembles Intourist from the times of the USSR. You can have dinner in the hotel at the bar, but you should take into account that you will have to eat sandwiches (they are delicious, especially with tuna ($ 7 + $ 5 beer), because the hotel restaurant serves exceptional muck for a lot of money (do not go even if you die of hunger).
In the morning, at 7:00, we were supposed to be picked up by a bus and taken to another airport for a flight to Santa Maria. As promised by the agency, the bus arrived 2 hours late (it's normal for Cuba, it's even more accepted, so don't panic). Flight to the island is about 1 hour. I did not identify the plane, but in my opinion it was a screw Foker, quite comfortable, although dirty (such a flight cost about 350 dollars in both directions for two).
Currency:
Settlements in Cuba only in national currency. For the local population, this is one peso, and for foreigners - convertible pesos (Cookies). For exchange, it is better to take both dollars and euros, and change what is more profitable. On our trip, it was more profitable to change the dollar. You can exchange currency both at the airport and at the hotel. The rate is the same everywhere (about 1 dollar = 0.97 convertible pesos).
Settlement:
In general, without incident and in a great mood, by 12 o'clock we got to the hotel.
We were given a room very quickly, I must say that it was a good room, but when we went out onto the balcony, we began to doubt that this was a room with an ocean view, for which we paid (of course, the ocean was visible, but somehow out of the corner of our eyes from the corner balcony). We go to the administrator, we find out that this is not a room with an ocean view - they messed up something. We are taken to another room, far from the reception - again we go out to the balcony, look - a view of the ocean and the construction of a new hotel. We change the room again, - we go in, - there are two separate beds: ) Honey Moon, damn it. In general, on the fourth attempt we get into the number that we wanted. Tip: take rooms on the second floor and close to the lobby.
Hotel impression:
The hotel is huge, on the territory of 2 pools (for a relaxing and active (with animators) recreation, about 7 restaurants, with two accesses to the beach.
Electric cars drive around the hotel, which can deliver lazy tourists, or tourists with disabilities to a room, restaurant, etc. This transportation is free, but it is customary to tip (1-2 cookies). The hotel area is not much different from other beach hotels around the world. The only thing you should be prepared for is that an uncleaned piece of paper can lie on the stairs for a week, the ashtray at the entrance to the bungalow can also not be cleaned for several days. Although the cleaning in the room is ok. In general, it should be noted that, due to socialism, Cubans are lazy. As a local guide told us: "The state pretends to pay us, and we pretend to work. " But in general, it does not bother. Vacationers were mostly Canadians. We saw one pair of Russians and one pair of Poles, there are Argentines and Spaniards. The language in the hotel is Spanish and English.
Beach:
The beach is excellent. The entry into the ocean is shallow, the water is clear, the sand is white (see.
a photo). There are no fish, except for needles, a few small carp, and for three days a large barracuda walked along the coast. It was amusing to watch how the tourists jumped out of the water in waves along the route of its route. Crabs live under the sun loungers on the beach, there are not many of them, but they are there. This is the best beach on Santa Maria and the hotel is the best. We walked through all the nearby hotels - believe me, Melia Las Dunas is the best. We are very happy that we chose this hotel.
Nutrition:
The food is delicious, a bit repetitive. We were on All Inclusive and it really is All Inclusive. This system includes any drinks (including 12-year-old whiskey) and 5 free dinners in Ala Carte. Very tasty cocktails.
Tips:
Do not regret tipping, at breakfast, lunch and dinner, in the bar, to musicians, service staff, in general, to everyone. Think of it as payment for their services. You will receive attention, care, non-standard cocktails and benefits.
For example, in a mini bar for a tip of 3 cookies, they will bring you a bottle of rum or champagne, worth 7 cookies. In general, for the entire holiday, we spent about 150-200 dollars on tips. You can exchange money at the cash desk of the exchanger, again for a tip : ).
Tours:
Pleasure is not cheap and dubious. We took a catamaran trip (cost 80 CUC per person) with a visit to the dolphinarium, snorkeling, lunch and beer on board.
I liked the dolphinarium, they let me see the dolphins, they make a small performance (but the price of the entrance ticket, in my opinion, is about 5 cookies, if you come on your own (about 10 km from the hotel). There is no snorkeling - there is nothing to watch. In general, - a tedious excursion and not worth it. The rest, I think, are the same.
Car rental:
We rented a car at the hotel, it was Fawn 208.16 000 run. The cost is 75 cookies with a mileage limit of up to 100 km. and without petrol. each kilometer is paid more (I don’t remember the exact cost, but I think it’s 0.45 cookies).
Gasoline is also not cheap (1.4 cu/litre). We got to Santa Clara via Kyberien. I won’t describe much, but I highly recommend it, it’s much more interesting than excursions, and you can stop by the same dolphinarium along the way. Traveling by car allows you to see Cuba, not a hotel, which is the same as everywhere else. Decent and kind people, they tried to give us change from one cookie when buying pineapple, banana branches and avocados : ). By the way, they brought a stone from this avocado with them and it grows with us, a tree has already grown up to a meter : ).
Entertainment in the hotel:
We didn’t have much fun, we like a relaxing holiday. Animators hang out near the pool during the day. Once there was a disco on the beach. Evening shows. On the beach there are catamarans, windsurfing (included in the price).
My conclusion: you will not regret if you go to this hotel. Do not press on an internal flight, Varadero is much worse (crowds of Russians, a la Egypt).
We flew back with the guys who were on Varadero - they spat. Leave yourself a couple of days in Havana - an interesting city with its own character. Take a private guide there (about $10 per hour). Drive your car deep into Cuba, there are pioneers there - I saw them.
And the last finance:
The tour with all flights on "All Inclusive" cost 5100 dollars. , tip 200 dollars. , excursions, restaurants, guide, souvenirs - about 1000 dollars.
In order:
flight Kyiv - Paris - Havana cost us 1200 dollars per person. The flight was operated by Air France. There was some discomfort with the Charles de Gaulle connection on the way to Havana (about 4 hours), but compared to many flights, this is an excellent connection. Arrival in Havana was in the afternoon, late in the evening, and given that the hotel is located on Santa Maria, we stayed overnight in Havana. You can choose a hotel in Havana, we were offered Occidental Miramar 4 *. About the hotel: the room is large, quite tolerable, although the hotel itself vaguely resembles Intourist from the times of the USSR. You can have dinner in the hotel at the bar, but you should take into account that you will have to eat sandwiches (they are delicious, especially with tuna ($ 7 + $ 5 beer), because the hotel restaurant serves exceptional muck for a lot of money (do not go even if you die of hunger).
In the morning, at 7:00, we were supposed to be picked up by a bus and taken to another airport for a flight to Santa Maria. As promised by the agency, the bus arrived 2 hours late (it's normal for Cuba, it's even more accepted, so don't panic). Flight to the island is about 1 hour. I did not identify the plane, but in my opinion it was a screw Foker, quite comfortable, although dirty (such a flight cost about 350 dollars in both directions for two).
Currency:
Settlements in Cuba only in national currency. For the local population, this is one peso, and for foreigners - convertible pesos (Cookies). For exchange, it is better to take both dollars and euros, and change what is more profitable. On our trip, it was more profitable to change the dollar. You can exchange currency both at the airport and at the hotel. The rate is the same everywhere (about 1 dollar = 0.97 convertible pesos).
Settlement:
In general, without incident and in a great mood, by 12 o'clock we got to the hotel.
We were given a room very quickly, I must say that it was a good room, but when we went out onto the balcony, we began to doubt that this was a room with an ocean view, for which we paid (of course, the ocean was visible, but somehow out of the corner of our eyes from the corner balcony). We go to the administrator, we find out that this is not a room with an ocean view - they messed up something. We are taken to another room, far from the reception - again we go out to the balcony, look - a view of the ocean and the construction of a new hotel. We change the room again, - we go in, - there are two separate beds: ) Honey Moon, damn it. In general, on the fourth attempt we get into the number that we wanted. Tip: take rooms on the second floor and close to the lobby.
Hotel impression:
The hotel is huge, on the territory of 2 pools (for a relaxing and active (with animators) recreation, about 7 restaurants, with two accesses to the beach.
Electric cars drive around the hotel, which can deliver lazy tourists, or tourists with disabilities to a room, restaurant, etc. This transportation is free, but it is customary to tip (1-2 cookies). The hotel area is not much different from other beach hotels around the world. The only thing you should be prepared for is that an uncleaned piece of paper can lie on the stairs for a week, the ashtray at the entrance to the bungalow can also not be cleaned for several days. Although the cleaning in the room is ok. In general, it should be noted that, due to socialism, Cubans are lazy. As a local guide told us: "The state pretends to pay us, and we pretend to work. " But in general, it does not bother. Vacationers were mostly Canadians. We saw one pair of Russians and one pair of Poles, there are Argentines and Spaniards. The language in the hotel is Spanish and English.
Beach:
The beach is excellent. The entry into the ocean is shallow, the water is clear, the sand is white (see.
a photo). There are no fish, except for needles, a few small carp, and for three days a large barracuda walked along the coast. It was amusing to watch how the tourists jumped out of the water in waves along the route of its route. Crabs live under the sun loungers on the beach, there are not many of them, but they are there. This is the best beach on Santa Maria and the hotel is the best. We walked through all the nearby hotels - believe me, Melia Las Dunas is the best. We are very happy that we chose this hotel.
Nutrition:
The food is delicious, a bit repetitive. We were on All Inclusive and it really is All Inclusive. This system includes any drinks (including 12-year-old whiskey) and 5 free dinners in Ala Carte. Very tasty cocktails.
Tips:
Do not regret tipping, at breakfast, lunch and dinner, in the bar, to musicians, service staff, in general, to everyone. Think of it as payment for their services. You will receive attention, care, non-standard cocktails and benefits.
For example, in a mini bar for a tip of 3 cookies, they will bring you a bottle of rum or champagne, worth 7 cookies. In general, for the entire holiday, we spent about 150-200 dollars on tips. You can exchange money at the cash desk of the exchanger, again for a tip : ).
Tours:
Pleasure is not cheap and dubious. We took a catamaran trip (cost 80 CUC per person) with a visit to the dolphinarium, snorkeling, lunch and beer on board.
I liked the dolphinarium, they let me see the dolphins, they make a small performance (but the price of the entrance ticket, in my opinion, is about 5 cookies, if you come on your own (about 10 km from the hotel). There is no snorkeling - there is nothing to watch. In general, - a tedious excursion and not worth it. The rest, I think, are the same.
Car rental:
We rented a car at the hotel, it was Fawn 208.16 000 run. The cost is 75 cookies with a mileage limit of up to 100 km. and without petrol. each kilometer is paid more (I don’t remember the exact cost, but I think it’s 0.45 cookies).
Gasoline is also not cheap (1.4 cu/litre). We got to Santa Clara via Kyberien. I won’t describe much, but I highly recommend it, it’s much more interesting than excursions, and you can stop by the same dolphinarium along the way. Traveling by car allows you to see Cuba, not a hotel, which is the same as everywhere else. Decent and kind people, they tried to give us change from one cookie when buying pineapple, banana branches and avocados : ). By the way, they brought a stone from this avocado with them and it grows with us, a tree has already grown up to a meter : ).
Entertainment in the hotel:
We didn’t have much fun, we like a relaxing holiday. Animators hang out near the pool during the day. Once there was a disco on the beach. Evening shows. On the beach there are catamarans, windsurfing (included in the price).
My conclusion: you will not regret if you go to this hotel. Do not press on an internal flight, Varadero is much worse (crowds of Russians, a la Egypt).
We flew back with the guys who were on Varadero - they spat. Leave yourself a couple of days in Havana - an interesting city with its own character. Take a private guide there (about $10 per hour). Drive your car deep into Cuba, there are pioneers there - I saw them.
And the last finance:
The tour with all flights on "All Inclusive" cost 5100 dollars. , tip 200 dollars. , excursions, restaurants, guide, souvenirs - about 1000 dollars.
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