Blau Varadero

We spent one week in a Select room at the Blau Varadero and loved every minute of our holiday. Coming back, we are deeply grateful for our time at the Blau and wishing to go back. BEACH The absolute highlight is the fantastic beach with sand as fine & white as powder sugar and perfectly clear turquoise colored water. It is amazing to take a swim in the early morning hours, watching the sunrise from the waves. FOOD Everything else is equally perfect: great food and drinks in various restaurants and bars, a spacious pool, large and impeccably clean rooms, and lots of things to do. With an all inclusive package you are truly pampered and have nothing to wish for. We saw other reviews complaining about the food quality, and we have to say we found the food fantastic. Cuba is not a Western country, but a tropical island. To expect the same food like in London or Paris is a bit foolish. In fact, we adored the Cuban evening with the Moros & Cristianos most of all food choices. If anything, we would have wished for even more local food – it is simple, but delicious, and to discover truly Cuban food such as the strange & tasty Anon fruit was a special experience. Also the Saturday barbeque at the pool restaurant was fabulous. PEOPLE But what truly sets the Blau Varadero apart from other hotels is the fantastic staff. Everyone we had the pleasure to interact with was cheerful, professional, funny, and incredibly helpful. Most of the staff speak three or even four languages (Spanish, English, German, plus I heard some French, Italian, and Russian). It is a wonderful to feel completely welcome as a guest, and we wish to extend our thanks to everyone, especially to: * Aymé, who kept our room spotlessly clean (sorry for bringing in sand from the beach!), * Betty, who spoiled us with beautiful smoothies from fabulous exotic fruit, * Roberto, who ran a fabulous pop-up bar on the beach * Orlando, our waiter during the first dinner, who introduced us to Cristal beer, * Evilio, who surprised us with in-depth knowledge of Swedish hardrock, * the lovely staff at the beach bar (“Here, have a waiting beer, while I fix your pina colada for the sunset”) * George, who handled our bath towels (“I’ll solve all your problems!”) * Elvis, the kind and fun yoga instructor * the salsa dance teachers who cheerfully and fearlessly taught the most untalented students ever (masters of the old soft shoe meeting us with our elephant feet), * the girls running the fruit bar next to the pool, wish someone would provide me with fresh pineapple, papaya, and guava on sticks now, * the two super strong guys handling our sunbeds, * the helpful ldady who booked our 9:00 transfer bus to Havana and recommended the Los Nardos restaurant opposite Capitolio, we fully enjoyed the meal there, * all the musicians who embraced us with a world of sound, what a treat to fall asleep to live piano music breezing up from the bar, * and everybody else… sorry for not learning all the names, my brain was on holiday mode! RECOMMENDATIONS for potential guests Bring your own insulated mugs, so you don’t use so many plastic cups & keep your drink cool longer. Pack some house shoes so you don’t spread so much sand in your room. Learn a bit of Spanish, you will find tons of people you can have fun practicing with. Book now! Go there fast! It’s paradise!

The hotel is in a great location on the peninsula. The initial welcome was great and the room spotless. All of the staff at the hotel are fantastic. They are always happy and provide great service at all times. The pool is great, the beach amazing and the pelicans fishing a treat you cannot get bored of watching. The only let down is the food. There is plenty of choice every day and there is no complaint whatsoever about what is on offer, it’s just that apart from the day I was served a lump of raw pork from the griddle, the food was, generally, seriously over-cooked. There are two “a la carte” restaurants. One in a purpose built building was very pleasant in atmosphere, great in service and ok for food. The other, which is where lunch is served was allegedly Italian. This food was, with the best will in the world, appalling. The risotto was served in three mounds!!!. Special mention must go to Betty, who, in between constantly singing, dancing and being probably the worlds happiest person, makes the most fantastic smoothies and even goes to the effort of removing all of the watermelon pips before crushing (unlike her colleague). In essence, a great place to stay, just don’t expect much from the food.

Our vacation was March 27/18 through April 5/18. 2 couples of our group of 9 (from Canada - Edmonton & Winnipeg) had stayed at the Blau Varadero before, but this was our first trip to Cuba. Our expectations were set high for the beach, ocean & weather, and had been told by our friends the food was great at the Blau. All these expectations were exceeded - everything was terrific! Staff and service were both exceptional... the staff's English skills were very good. We were served on the first day, and most days following, by Evilio and Marianna(?). They recognized us each time with a warm greeting, great service and made us feel like good friends. Each evening, we spent some time in the lobby bar and were most often served by Gretchen and Lisy... they also got to know us, provided great service, and were always smiling and waved even if we were just passing through the area. Our housekeeper was Mayelin, the room was always in good order, spotless and cleaned in the morning... she'd leave a towel animal/creation for us each day, and we met her on our 3rd day shortly after she'd finished our room. The Italian restaurant was very good, and the International restaurant was nice. The food at both the buffet and pool restaurant was great every day, with many choices available. Entertainment (bands, singers, live statues) were all so very talented. Front desk staff were always pleasant and happy to help. The beach was always free of litter and always clean of ocean debris. The water was the same blue colour you see in the photos, warm and usually calm. We intend to return to Cuba for another vacation in the future, and this property will be at the top of our list.