Barceló Solymar

Only a 10 min. walk to town of Varadero. Nice staff. Great live music nightly in this resort. Neighbour resort is co owned so you also receive resort privileges there. A younger crowd enjoys this resort so is lively and loud in a fun way. So beware, not a quiet place to rest and relax.

Where do I begin. Cuba is a different world on it's own and we (couple in our mid 20's) knew that going in. When we arrived the front desk tried to tell us we were not booked at their hotel but at their sister hotel down the street. This was in fact false and we luckily brought our email receipt and confirmation number from booking direct with us. When we got up to our room it was beyond dated, but had a small flat screen tv and air conditioning. There were two double sized beds that we had to push together. The mattresses were so old and tattered that springs were poking us. There was nothing but a sheet provided as a blanket. We asked the front desk several times during our stay for a thicker blanket and they kept saying they would bring one and never did. Our shower had rust all over the sides and our soap dish was rusted. They do not provide conditioner for any of you who care. Do NOT expect to get more then one pool towel per person ever. We stated for 6 days and got one blue towel each. We went every day to the "pool towel guy" and he had nothing. If you loose it they charge you $25 FYI. I'm not sure if it's Cuba, Varadero, or this hotel in general but Vodka doesn't exist, plenty of rum though. The food is terrible (also knew that about Cuba). Overall we kinda of got what we payed for but 3.5 stars is not a global rating at this hotel. We'd give it a solid two at best. Oh ps. I was a ghost town tried to make as many friends as we could. Thank goodness we found one group our age on the beach. We primarily booked this hotel because of the "party atmosphere" it suggested it had.

We love this resort. The beach is beautiful and the location is the best. Can walk to town. Looking forward to being pampered by Katerine and Jenny in the Buffet. Hope they are still there as they are so much fun and great servers. We have stayed at 3 other more expensive resorts in Varadero and returned to Solymar the last 2 years. It is always improving with renovations and we have always found it to be exceptionally clean. One of the Chef's even brought me a fresh bin of cooked pumpkin from the kitchen because the one on the buffet was too close to the shrimp which I am allergic too. We find the staff super nice and very accommodating. We arrive late on January 29th and hope to get a nice room again on a high floor above the buffet and away from the nightclub. King size bed please and overlooking the pool and beach is always beautiful. After a very stressful year (my husband had a terrible accident at work) we are looking forward to our trip to our HAPPY PLACE! Barcelo Solymar, Varadero, Cuba is our happy place. See you soon.

During our first night, we heard furniture being moved above our room at 1:45am. Around 2am, someone rattled at the door, trying to open it. We thought it was just a late, maybe a bit drunk other guest and I was going to go to the door to tell them that they had the wrong room, but as I came around the corner, there was a man in front of me. When I shouted at him, he took off. I tried to ring my husband's room and reception, but the phone wasn’t working. We then went to reception and told them about the incident. They came back to the room with us and said they would place a person outside our room. The next morning, we were transferred to another room, which had an additional lock on it unlike our room (please see photos). My husband wanted to move to room next to my daughter and me, but reception refused, stating that they needed to install a lock and that they didn’t have the cylinder lock that would usually go in there. However, after refusing my husband to have the room, someone else moved in and there was certainly no new lock installed. We spoke to guest services the next morning when they opened and we were met with the utmost disrespect. Guest Services as well as security accused us of making it up, having the door open, basically that we were just lying. They tried to prove that nobody could get into the room with a card by downloading and showing us the log. But I never claimed that it had been opened with a card, it was broken into. Please see the attached photos with all the marks of the door being levered open. When we pointed those marks out to security, they said this is maintenance. We were also told that nobody without a wrist band could enter the hotel, however, there were always loads of people that did not have a wrist band. We were also relieved of our wrist bands on the last day and still were able to use all facilities without the wrist bands, so the statements we were given were all made up. Even though it was September, so not the high of their season, they regularly run out of towels. On several occasions, we tried to buy wifi cards at both receptions (next door hotel) and they were sold out. This went on for days. However, neighbouring hotels still had them. On the last day, we went for lunch and my daughter mysteriously had paint on her hand and on her shirt. We went to the manager of the kitchen and he vehemently denied that any place in the restaurant had been painted. But later on, a waitress confirmed that the area next to the kitchen doors (where also food is served) had been painted between breakfast and lunch. The manager of the restaurant offered to have my daughter’s shirt cleaned, but we were only there for another hour before heading home. The staff again made us feel like we are making things up and that everything was our fault.

First you need to understand Cuba has many limitations. We stayed in a superior room which was ok, but I heard many people complaining for the state of regular rooms. The staff from the bars and restaurants is good but the ones in the front desk seem to care more and even take care first the male customers. A couple of times I was waiting along with men and the female staff from there took care of the men customers before me, even though they saw me arriving first, so I decided to send my boyfriend and he was taken care before me at all times.