Barcelo Solymar Arenas Blancas Resort, Varadero

Ok I have been to Varadero Cuba 5 times in 6 years and 1st time I stayed 2 other hotels at Superclub Breeses Varadero (2 times in July 2006 and July 2007 excellent hotel got to love it because it is pure adults and the people worked there good and excellent service) and Melia Varadero (2 times in July 2008 and in July 2009 also a good hotel good service and went all perfect no problem).Due to in 2010 I did not go to Varadero Cuba due to I had to work at the FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010 so my 5 time I went to Varadero Cuba in August 2011 I stayed at the Barcelo Solymar Arena Blanca Hotel. Here are some numbers to tell you about this hotel: 1. This hotel is full of drunk teens make so much noise in the hall ways and from their room. 2..I did not like the people who worked at the front door, because this hotel I was getting phone calls middle of the night from some drunk teenns and I have tried to call the front desk to see If they can trace the phone call who was calling me and the front desk people were not bothering picking up my phone calls 3. Ok so I am fluent in Spanish, I speak, read, and write in Spanish Also again the people who works at the front desk they were so rude to me before before I had to give me room I had an old Cuban friend since I met her in July 2006 and not had spoke to her since July 2009 that I was trying to get a hold of her all week in August 2011 but I had bad luck to try to meet her or talk to her but she was working in another province (Santiago) I did not have a contact number to call her because she was busy working and now she is long gone to work in Spain.So she calls me the last day and I was there when she called for me I was at front desk that time and I said to the front dek people can you please transfer me the phone call at the front desk customer telephone please? and they said no. So I do not get it. I gave them nice tips to the cleaning ladies all time when I was there.. 4. I did not like the idea when I gave my room. I had to give my room before 12 PM and I remember my bus was coming at 7:45 PM and I told the front desk people in my fluent Spanish so when do I have to book a room to come for a shower after when I go to the beach? And they said yes come in 1 hour and 30 minutes later. So I come back 1 hour and 30 minutes later they were like oh so are you ready to take a shower? I said no I am not you told me there are times to book a time to shower after I gave my room and they told me after ok come before your bus comes and I said Oh geez now you tell me. So I ended up booking my shower time at 6:00 PM and oh boy the room they gave me was so dirty. The toilet, the bath tub, and the floor was so dirty. I wish I did not even take a shower, Oh I must say there were no clean towels in that room too and no body lotion or shampoo.

What an experience it was having to be in a hot place when you are from a very cold town. From snow to beach. OA & AA

My son and his friends went on spring vacation there. I was trying to call to the hotel to find out if they arrived. Well, if finally some one answered a phone over there (in the hotel's front desk), that person would hang up on you right away or in a moment. In end of the story my son's phone bill was $80, though he did not talk with me this much, they charged him even for non-connected phone calls. Also, he told me that it was very noisy, some people are wild, really. I wonder, if their (hotel's) air condition system has being cleaned ever because all kids came home sick.

We just come back from our vacation in Cuba and we stayed at Barcelo Solymar. It was a terrible experience and we are very upset that we spent so much money for this trip. The hotel is quoted 4 stars, but in reality is 2 and maximum 3 stars. The service is very, very poor, the food consist in left overs, and you can have the surprise to eat rotten fish or chicken. The rooms are not clean, they don't change towels and sheets. Also, the hotel is very noisy, many drunk teenagers, screaming until 3-4 AM. I've called the security, but nobody did anything. One night some teenagers started a fight, called again the security, but nobody did anything. Overall terrible experience and I would not recommend this hotel to anybody. Please read carefully other reviews and make the right decision. I didn't do that and now I'm very, very sorry

The food was horrible. The hotel rooms were infested with cockroaches, not domestic ones, they were at least 2 inches long. One of my friends found a bug in her suitcase when she arrived home, and it was still alive. I visited this hotel 2 years ago and loved it. I don't know if it changed management, but I was so turned off by the food and cleanliness, that I'm not sure if I would ever travel to Cuba again. Travelers be aware, I would pay more money to stay some place where you are guaranteed good food and clean rooms. Our trip was ruined.

The grounds are spectular and very well maintained, the beach is second to none, water is warm and crystal clear. Hotel is clean, although rooms could use some updating, staff are very friendly and helpful. The bar service is great- food is so-so, you can always find something to eat, I reccomend bringing ketchup and butter. The day trips to Havana and the day on the catamaran were awesome. Saw a great magic show at thehotel, musical entertainment was always top notch. Weather was great. My only complaint would be the lax smoking rules!

Very disappointed in this resort. The beach and pool area is very nice and well kept. As for the rooms, we purchased the ocean view room, 1442, we did not know that it overlooked the bar in the lobby, the noise went on till 2:30, 3:00 a.m.The weather changed on the 4th night and the wind whistled off the ocean and the sliding door to the balcony did not close properly so we heard whistling all night. Changed rooms only to realize we were over the party room 1308 that noise went on till 12 midnight, In this room we had a flood outside of our door and lost power 3 times that day. Will not stay at this resort again. Food is as expected for Cuba, got sick of rice and beans after 5 days.

dirty, horrible food- hot dogs on the breakfast buffet, the same food was recycled day in and out, no flavor, no presentation, dirty check in at 2pm, flight was delayed, arrive at 5pm, room still not ready, finally at 7pm the staff bring us to a room that was filthy with garbage all over the floor not even 2 star

I was in the Barcelo Solymar Hotel and I have to say that the overall service is really pitying. First it has so strict schedules that it seems more a concentration champ than a five star hotel. There are times in the day where you will not find where to eat. A la carta restaurants are only open in the evening, never during the day. To eat there, you have to book them and you can do it a limited number of times depending on your stay duration. For example, for one week, you can only book twice! The result is that you have almost forced to eat always at the buffet restaurant, full of people. Every day the same food. No variety. Hygiene is not preserved. After 5 days I ended up with a diarrhea. The meals are pretty cold and most are fatty. Breakfast is even worse. Coming on Friday and leaving next Friday only on Thursday I noticed a little improvement. The food is very poor anywhere you go. The Italian restaurant is not that good and the Sea Food restaurant is very limited. I didn't had the chance to eat in the creole restaurant. But, I suppose it's not better. The hotel has no discotheque. Just the seafood restaurant transform into it after 11 PM. The room service is inexistent. Staff never answer. In a week, my girlfriend was never able to call the room service. Not only the open bar closes a midnight (!!!), but drinks are fully loaded with lemon juice, and very little rum, vodka, etc. The tendance of the staff to give as less as possible is accented on the bar, contrary of most other all inclusive hotels, which are generous in this respect. If you want to drink a whisky, you have to pay for it as well as other valuable beverage. And almost any cocktail, have at least 75% of lemon juice (not natural and very disgusting), 15% of alcohol and 10% of all other ingredients. The rooms are not very clean, sometimes the waiters even forget to clean it. The staff is quite rude, the service is not good at all. Despite of its five-star, don't expect luxury at all. And finally, smoking is allowed EVERYWHERE, except the buffet. In spite of the Cuban law issued on 2004 about smoke interdiction which is applicable to *any* closed public space, in the Barcelo Solymar, smoking is actually permitted. Conclusion: too many people, the organization is null, the service and the food are very poor, all the included services are cut as much as possible. I really wonder how a serious chain such as Barcelo could make a 5-star hotel and transform it into a 2-3 stars quality at most. It's really incredible. I had another concept about Barcelo and I surely will never return in any of their hotels, everywhere in the world. Or, maybe the hotel belongs now to Gran Caribe only (a Cuban chain). In this case, I wonder as well, because they cannot use the name of Barcelo to maintain such as incredibly poor hotel. Barcelo should bring a suit against Grand Caribe to use their name and ruin their reputation, if this is the case. Anyways, don't go at Barcelo Solymar Hotel. It doesn't worth the price in any case. If you are looking for a nice hotel in Varadero, go instead at Melia Las Americas hotel or any other Melia. It's really superior, even if it's a bit more expensive, but it really worth each extra dollar you may spend.

We plan to go back next year to the same resort. Service was fantastic. Drinks were great. food was okay. Most importantly, the beach was fabulous! My husband and I travel a lot and we both felt that for the money, this was one of the best valued resorts we've visited. You would have to be hard to please to not like this one. There was a show every night plus live entertainment in each bar every night. The only negative was that people could smoke almost anywhere they wanted. Not good if you're a nonsmoker. Will definitely revisit!