Sol Palmeras

We visited the Sol Palmeras right before the travel industry was hit by this unprecedented world epidemic. The resort offers an amazing experience for families and groups. Standouts are the staff, from the wait staff to the housekeepers to bartenders. Everyone went out of their way to serve. The lobby is such a great place to gather (the lobby bar and mojito bar offer great cocktails). Get your coffee (cappachino) in the morning from the lobby bar. The juice bar offers fresh juices, amazing fresh brewed iced tea and flavoured water. The beach is amazing and where we spent most days. You can make dinner reservations in the lobby at 4 or 5 restaurants. The food is not gourmet but lots of options and you figure out what works for you. Guest rooms aren’t super modern but I had the best sleeps and rooms are well maintained and super clean. Make sure to tip and bring small gifts for the staff and you will get amazing service and conversation. Highly recommend doing a day trip to Havana - what a historic, beautiful, metropolitan experience. We did bus tour but next time would rent a beautiful old classics taxi and do custom trip. This was a stressful time as many resorts were starting to close do to the Coronovirus and all staff managed with a smile and care. Wishing a speedy return to travel and we will be back Sol Palmeras. I now understand why people return year after year.

This was our 10th visit to Cuba and first to Sol Palmeras. We were very happy with our choice and felt that everything met our expectations. The beach is one of the best in Varadero - very long and deep with plenty of sun chairs, palapas and soft white sand. We visited the resorts on either side and although look nice, beach area looked terrible. It was a nice walk, via the beach, to Plaza Las Americas. The food was excellent by Cuban standards - we ate at 3 a la cartes and enjoyed them all! (Chinese, International and Italian). Beach grill was yummy! The staff was wonderful and efficient everywhere (except the breakfast buffet at Latino restaurant could use some improvement). Special mention to Leonardo who makes the best Rum Punch! Our maid (room 2003) was exceptional - sorry I forget her name. The pool area was awesome, again with plenty of sunchairs and options for sun and shade. The pool and surrounding area was spotless, pool bar was great, with wonderful and friendly staff. No swim-up option which we appreciated ;). The rooms certainly show their age but were clean and the beds were very comfortable. The rooms are not a priority for us, but may not be the case for others... We were there just as the Covid crisis was hitting and the resort was preparing to shut down as tourists were no longer being allowed in - the staff never hesitated with a smile and a positive word for us. Kudos to all of them for their hard work amidst the impending crisis. We look very forward to returning as soon as we can. Wishing all of you the best in these hard times. Stay safe, xo

We returned in January for another 5 week holiday. I have been at this resort more then 12 times. I had read that some changes had been made and were shocked when we walked onto the beach. It had been reconstructed with more sand from the ocean and had new palapas since our last trip in 2019. It is huge and gorgeous with lots of room for the lounges. The resort has 5 a la cartes which at times only 3 were open due to the resort not being full of guests. Our favorite is the Chinese. The buffet seating area is large and at times becomes very noisy. There are two grills where you can get your omelet made in the morning or other food prepared at night. There is a variety of food choices, beef, pork, chicken and fish to name some at the island. The only complaint I have is in the morning and sometime in the evening the food is not hot but barely warm. Complaining to the cooks did not bring any satisfactory results. The servers are very good at picking up the dirty dishes and refilling your wine glass. Thank you to Asaer, Jacqueline, Maylynn and Nivia for looking after us. The maids do an excellent job of cleaning our room and always have. The lobby has 2 bars of which only one was open this time due to the resort not being full of guests. Again thank you to the workers at the bar that was open namely Rene, Yamile, Ernesto and Alex for the good service. Also thank you to Omar and Fidel at the latino and Noel at the TexMex a la cartes for their good service. The only negative things I have about this resort is at the beach there is a volley ball court where a guy is constantly blowing a whistle when a game is being played. This whistle blowing aggravates many on the beach who are trying to read a book or have a afternoon nap. The "only" people who should have a whistle and do are the Life Guards that walk the beach watching for swimmers in distress. I realize that this is a family resort but "some" families need to take some training on how to look after their children. At the beach the children scream at each other and are crying while mom and dad do nothing. In the lobby bar area they let the children run around and again do nothing to stop the kids. In the evening the music being played next to the lobby bar is so loud that when ordering a drink from the bar the bartenders have a difficult time to hear you. Also when having a drink with friends one can't have a conversation because of the loud music. This doesn't happen every night so why is it not being controlled? Thanks to Alicia, Gonzalo and Felix at the reception for their service. We can't wait to return for another holiday.