Your rating of this hotel:
8.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
7.0
Service:
10.0
Cleanliness:
8.0
Food:
9.0
Amenities:
7.0
We rested at the Be Live Experience Varadero hotel from April 11 to April 20.2018, then April 20-23 in Havana.
This review is long as it describes many points that were not clear to us before going to Cuba. I note that the local travel agency believes that the high season in Cuba is from December 16 to April 30 (at this time, prices for excursions are higher).
air travel
There is no direct flight from Kyiv, so Air France flew: Kyiv - Paris (a-p Charles de Gaulle) - Havana. The flight there went well, but it is necessary that the connection time is at least 2.5 ...3 hours, because Charles de Gaulle airport is very large (the same applies to the airports of Madrid and Munich).
The return flight from Havana should also be on April 23 to Paris, but on April 21. On 18 we received an e-mail that due to the strike, the departure of flight AF825 (departure time 19-40.23. 04 and 24.04 is canceled, and Air France will send us to Kyiv before 30.04. 18.
After 2 days of correspondence with Air France (the main contribution to it was made by the travel company i-tour, N. Ostapchuk) on 23.04 in the morning we were informed that we would still be sent on 23.
04, but with 2 transfers: Havana - Madrid (a-to Air Europe), Madrid - Munich (a-to Luftganza), Munich - Kyiv (a-to Luftganza). Although on 23.04 Air France had another flight Havana - Paris (at 22-40), we were sent on a less convenient route.
It seemed that flight AF82.23, departing on Monday. 04 sold few tickets and was canceled under the guise of a strike. Moreover, in the following days 24.04 and 25.04. On the 18th this flight arrived at airport Charles de Gaulle as scheduled.
Worse, in Munich, in the transit zone a-p at passport control, we were detained by the police for entering Germany without visas (we have ordinary, not biometric passports). For some reason, this did not bother anyone either in Paris or in Madrid. And in Munich, we spent more than half an hour writing an explanatory note that we were not going to visit Germany, but ended up in Munich because of Air France. As a result, we barely had time to check in for a flight to Kyiv.
Fly with Air France?
At Havana airport, prices are in CUC everywhere, they take any currency, but at a low rate. The price of 0.5 water is 1.5 CUC.
Guides Join up
The Varadero Israel guide from the host Terramar Caribe gave full information about Varadero and the hotel and provided everything we wanted, including transfer to the hotel in Havana.
But the guide in Havana, Mario, at first avoided meeting with us, did nothing to help in the situation of canceling the flight, and then completely stopped answering our calls.
The memo of the tour operator Join up in Cuba states that after registering for a flight to Havana airport, you must pay an airfield tax in the amount of 25 CUC / person. But that's not the case - you don't have to pay anything.
Transfer
Every day, several flights arrive in Havana from Paris and Amsterdam, which you can transfer to when departing from Kyiv. Our flight was the very first, so we did not order a group transfer with the risk of waiting at the airport for 3-5 hours. The taxi driver (or rather, their breeder) to Varadero requested 70 CUC - we bargained for 60 euros + 5 dollars.
We ordered a group transfer from Varadero to Havana from Join up for $25 per person.
The hotel's swimming pool features a hydromassage tub. The hotel has a very friendly attitude of the staff, they greet in Russian.
Wi-Fi - at the reception 0.5 CUC per 30 min. , or 1 CUC for 1 hour.
The exchange rate at the hotel is very unfavorable - 1 euro - 1.01 CUC (dollars should not be taken to Cuba at all). At the bank on 31st Street (the Central Park is also located there, but it is not very large) 1 euro = 1.19 CUC. For the exchange you need a passport.
In Cuba, check in is 16:00 and check out is 12:00. After the room is handed over, the bracelets are not cut off and you can dine and use the bars.
Beach
In Varadero, near our hotel, there is a wide sandy beach with a gradual approach. But already after 10 meters at high tide and after 20-25 meters at low tide you can swim. The sea is lifeless - mask and snorkel are not needed here. For 10 days, only 2 times the sea was calm, on the other days there were waves of different sizes, and one day there was a strong storm and it was impossible to swim. When the sea is calm, you can ride a kayak, pedalo or catamaran with an instructor for free.
One of the reviews complained that the beach bar is far from the beach - however, it is only 100 steps from the beach entrance.
Number
Quite spacious (we had #2625 on the 6th floor in the east wing of the hotel with partial sea views on both sides of the Varadero spit). Everything worked in the room (including hair dryer) hot water was constantly. Voltage - 220 V. Furniture "tired" but quite tolerable. The central air conditioner was constantly noisy, sometimes you could hear motorcycles under the windows of the room, once at night they turned on the generator located at the cistern under the hotel building.
The room had a free safe, which was opened by a card from the room.
After we left the money to the cleaner, "flowers" appeared on the beds, and a swan appeared in the bathroom. Every day in the room 1.5l bottle of water when cleaning. This is not enough, and we poured a bottle of water from the vending machine in Ch. restaurant (it has two types of water and 3-4 carbonated drinks).
Nutrition
Very good.
Large selection of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
In the morning there were fresh juices of several types, eggs in 3-4 types (including poshot), yogurts, numerous salads, fried bacon, chicken. A wide variety of cheeses, including blue cheeses (not every day). Even sausage (3 types) was quite edible, and not "chemical", as in Egyptian-Turkish hotels. There were always pineapple, watermelon, papaya, bananas. But there were no tomatoes and cucumbers a couple of times, sometimes the tomatoes were unripe.
Champagne was freely available in the restaurant from 7-00 in the restaurant in the ice bucket (it was also available freely in the lobby bar until 18-00). For those who like to add liquor to drinks - near the coffee machine in Ch. restaurant 3-5 types of liquor.
For lunch and dinner there were always several types of meat (pork or beef), chicken, 2-3 types of fish. Often fish and meat were fried right in front of us. True, a couple of times the bacon was overcooked, and the pork was “rubber”, but there is always another meat and fish to choose from.
There were shrimp a couple of times.
There is a restaurant for an early breakfast, or a late dinner (from 23-00 to 6-30) at the beach bar, which we used after a late return from the tour.
We did not go to a la carte restaurants.
The drinks
The hotel operates on an extended All system, and in addition to Cuban drinks, tequila, whiskey gin, brandy, Amaretto liqueur, etc. are included.
The reviews wrote that the hotel did not have enough disposable cups, so we brought our own. In vain - there were enough glasses. Bartenders make for people with thermoses and thermo mugs right by the pool a cocktail with a volume of 0.5 ...0.7 liters, or pour a similar amount of cold beer. And then the owners of the thermos sip from it for a long time, without leaving the pool or being on the beach.
Animation
It is available both on the beach and in the evening by the pool. Evening shows were very good.
Tours
From the hotel in about 25-30 minutes.
The price of the tour is the same for both the tour operator and the local company "Gavanatur" - 93 CUC / person. including lunch. There were 6 French and 8 Russian speakers in our group. Therefore, 2/3 of the time the guide spoke in French, and only 1/3 in Russian. The tour is very long - we left the hotel at 7-00, and returned to it at 23-00. That is, they missed both breakfast and dinner. We drove 760 km. Therefore, if you are not a fan of Che Guevaro, it is better to go Trinidad - Cienfuegos without visiting Santa Clara. And less tiring, and you will see more in these two cities.
Tourists
Most Canadians. There are Czechs, Poles, Germans. Russian speakers are about 5-7%.
If you have any questions, write to sk_lora@ukr. net, we will answer.
Alexander and Larisa
Liked: the friendly attitude of the staff, food, swimming pool, do not cut the bracelets.
Disliked: high humidity and unstable weather, rough and lifeless sea, air conditioner noise.
This review is long as it describes many points that were not clear to us before going to Cuba. I note that the local travel agency believes that the high season in Cuba is from December 16 to April 30 (at this time, prices for excursions are higher).
air travel
There is no direct flight from Kyiv, so Air France flew: Kyiv - Paris (a-p Charles de Gaulle) - Havana. The flight there went well, but it is necessary that the connection time is at least 2.5 ...3 hours, because Charles de Gaulle airport is very large (the same applies to the airports of Madrid and Munich).
The return flight from Havana should also be on April 23 to Paris, but on April 21. On 18 we received an e-mail that due to the strike, the departure of flight AF825 (departure time 19-40.23. 04 and 24.04 is canceled, and Air France will send us to Kyiv before 30.04. 18.
After 2 days of correspondence with Air France (the main contribution to it was made by the travel company i-tour, N. Ostapchuk) on 23.04 in the morning we were informed that we would still be sent on 23.
04, but with 2 transfers: Havana - Madrid (a-to Air Europe), Madrid - Munich (a-to Luftganza), Munich - Kyiv (a-to Luftganza). Although on 23.04 Air France had another flight Havana - Paris (at 22-40), we were sent on a less convenient route.
It seemed that flight AF82.23, departing on Monday. 04 sold few tickets and was canceled under the guise of a strike. Moreover, in the following days 24.04 and 25.04. On the 18th this flight arrived at airport Charles de Gaulle as scheduled.
Worse, in Munich, in the transit zone a-p at passport control, we were detained by the police for entering Germany without visas (we have ordinary, not biometric passports). For some reason, this did not bother anyone either in Paris or in Madrid. And in Munich, we spent more than half an hour writing an explanatory note that we were not going to visit Germany, but ended up in Munich because of Air France. As a result, we barely had time to check in for a flight to Kyiv.
Fly with Air France?
At Havana airport, prices are in CUC everywhere, they take any currency, but at a low rate. The price of 0.5 water is 1.5 CUC.
Guides Join up
The Varadero Israel guide from the host Terramar Caribe gave full information about Varadero and the hotel and provided everything we wanted, including transfer to the hotel in Havana.
But the guide in Havana, Mario, at first avoided meeting with us, did nothing to help in the situation of canceling the flight, and then completely stopped answering our calls.
The memo of the tour operator Join up in Cuba states that after registering for a flight to Havana airport, you must pay an airfield tax in the amount of 25 CUC / person. But that's not the case - you don't have to pay anything.
Transfer
Every day, several flights arrive in Havana from Paris and Amsterdam, which you can transfer to when departing from Kyiv. Our flight was the very first, so we did not order a group transfer with the risk of waiting at the airport for 3-5 hours. The taxi driver (or rather, their breeder) to Varadero requested 70 CUC - we bargained for 60 euros + 5 dollars.
We ordered a group transfer from Varadero to Havana from Join up for $25 per person.
The hotel's swimming pool features a hydromassage tub. The hotel has a very friendly attitude of the staff, they greet in Russian.
Wi-Fi - at the reception 0.5 CUC per 30 min. , or 1 CUC for 1 hour.
The exchange rate at the hotel is very unfavorable - 1 euro - 1.01 CUC (dollars should not be taken to Cuba at all). At the bank on 31st Street (the Central Park is also located there, but it is not very large) 1 euro = 1.19 CUC. For the exchange you need a passport.
In Cuba, check in is 16:00 and check out is 12:00. After the room is handed over, the bracelets are not cut off and you can dine and use the bars.
Beach
In Varadero, near our hotel, there is a wide sandy beach with a gradual approach. But already after 10 meters at high tide and after 20-25 meters at low tide you can swim. The sea is lifeless - mask and snorkel are not needed here. For 10 days, only 2 times the sea was calm, on the other days there were waves of different sizes, and one day there was a strong storm and it was impossible to swim. When the sea is calm, you can ride a kayak, pedalo or catamaran with an instructor for free.
One of the reviews complained that the beach bar is far from the beach - however, it is only 100 steps from the beach entrance.
Number
Quite spacious (we had #2625 on the 6th floor in the east wing of the hotel with partial sea views on both sides of the Varadero spit). Everything worked in the room (including hair dryer) hot water was constantly. Voltage - 220 V. Furniture "tired" but quite tolerable. The central air conditioner was constantly noisy, sometimes you could hear motorcycles under the windows of the room, once at night they turned on the generator located at the cistern under the hotel building.
The room had a free safe, which was opened by a card from the room.
After we left the money to the cleaner, "flowers" appeared on the beds, and a swan appeared in the bathroom. Every day in the room 1.5l bottle of water when cleaning. This is not enough, and we poured a bottle of water from the vending machine in Ch. restaurant (it has two types of water and 3-4 carbonated drinks).
Nutrition
Very good.
Large selection of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
In the morning there were fresh juices of several types, eggs in 3-4 types (including poshot), yogurts, numerous salads, fried bacon, chicken. A wide variety of cheeses, including blue cheeses (not every day). Even sausage (3 types) was quite edible, and not "chemical", as in Egyptian-Turkish hotels. There were always pineapple, watermelon, papaya, bananas. But there were no tomatoes and cucumbers a couple of times, sometimes the tomatoes were unripe.
Champagne was freely available in the restaurant from 7-00 in the restaurant in the ice bucket (it was also available freely in the lobby bar until 18-00). For those who like to add liquor to drinks - near the coffee machine in Ch. restaurant 3-5 types of liquor.
For lunch and dinner there were always several types of meat (pork or beef), chicken, 2-3 types of fish. Often fish and meat were fried right in front of us. True, a couple of times the bacon was overcooked, and the pork was “rubber”, but there is always another meat and fish to choose from.
There were shrimp a couple of times.
There is a restaurant for an early breakfast, or a late dinner (from 23-00 to 6-30) at the beach bar, which we used after a late return from the tour.
We did not go to a la carte restaurants.
The drinks
The hotel operates on an extended All system, and in addition to Cuban drinks, tequila, whiskey gin, brandy, Amaretto liqueur, etc. are included.
The reviews wrote that the hotel did not have enough disposable cups, so we brought our own. In vain - there were enough glasses. Bartenders make for people with thermoses and thermo mugs right by the pool a cocktail with a volume of 0.5 ...0.7 liters, or pour a similar amount of cold beer. And then the owners of the thermos sip from it for a long time, without leaving the pool or being on the beach.
Animation
It is available both on the beach and in the evening by the pool. Evening shows were very good.
Tours
From the hotel in about 25-30 minutes.
The price of the tour is the same for both the tour operator and the local company "Gavanatur" - 93 CUC / person. including lunch. There were 6 French and 8 Russian speakers in our group. Therefore, 2/3 of the time the guide spoke in French, and only 1/3 in Russian. The tour is very long - we left the hotel at 7-00, and returned to it at 23-00. That is, they missed both breakfast and dinner. We drove 760 km. Therefore, if you are not a fan of Che Guevaro, it is better to go Trinidad - Cienfuegos without visiting Santa Clara. And less tiring, and you will see more in these two cities.
Tourists
Most Canadians. There are Czechs, Poles, Germans. Russian speakers are about 5-7%.
If you have any questions, write to sk_lora@ukr. net, we will answer.
Alexander and Larisa
Liked: the friendly attitude of the staff, food, swimming pool, do not cut the bracelets.
Disliked: high humidity and unstable weather, rough and lifeless sea, air conditioner noise.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
Comments (0)
leave a comment
Show other comments …
OTHER REVIEWS ABOUT THE HOTEL
- Cuba is my love!
- Good hotel, unstable weather
- Ola Cuba!!! (magical place)
- I recommend Villa Cuba
SEE ALSO