| Product: |
Tryp Peninsula Varadero Hotel (Varadero, Cuba) |
| Date: |
20/04/08 (400 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Lovely settings loads to do
Disadvantages: Food a bit basic at times
For our holiday in Cuba we stayed in two separate locations and the Tryp Peninsula was the second location after a few days in the hustle and bustle of Havana. The plan was to do the heavy tourist stuff in Havana and then have a relaxing week on an all inclusive resort. Certainly if you want to experience Cuba and also relax then I would recommend this kind of approach, once you get onto a resort you are pretty shut off from the local population other than hotel workers, in fact staying at the Tryp Peninsula you could effectively be staying on any all inclusive resort in the Caribbean with one exception, no Americans. Not that I'm anti American but their presence does bring with it a certain particular type of tourist (the minority thankfully) whose rudeness, arrogance and loudness I can do without. If I want that I can stay in Europe and deal with the Germans. Now that I have offended two nations I will move on although later I will deal with the Canadians.
We had booked our holiday with Virgin Holidays and according to the brochure Tryp Peninsula is one of their favourite resorts for families and under their rating system has a four tick rating however the local sign at the resort has it rated as a five star resort. Based on my experience I would challenge the resorts own opinion of itself and feel that Virgin have got it about right , it is an all inclusive resort located on the Veredaro Peninsula and is in the Punta de Hicacos Natural Park however do not for a minute think you will be surrounded by natural vegetation and the like. In my guide book which was only a year old, this was supposed to be the last resort on the peninsula however allowing another year when the research took place (or maybe not given recent reports on travel guides) there have been three other resorts built and another on the way, pretty soon the peninsula of Veredaro is in danger of becoming another Cancun but flatter. It is about atwo hour transfer time by coach from Havana.
Tryp Peninsula is an all inclusive resort which I reckon is probably three years old, this is the first time I have gone all inclusive so I have nothing to compare it against however based on what the kids have experienced they felt it was pretty good, in some they have been to they said that many activities attracted a charge which was not the case here, even mechanised water sports like the banana boat were free and there were no restrictions on them getting ice cream or drinks.
In all there are 591 rooms with the highest being on the third floor, the standard rooms were pretty spacious and well fitted out within certain limitations. The resort is telf is well appointed with its own beech front and the accomodation is in the form of a number of small wooden buildings. I found it to be a quiet resort and even though our room was near the pool intended for small children (there were two othr pools) we heard no noise if we were in our room during the day. There was building work going on nearby but again we heard no noise at all.
Our room had three what I would call three quarter size beds in it, between a single and a double in size, there was also a sofa, desk come dessing table, a walk in closet and a nice big bathroom with sperate bath and shower. All the facilities worked well such as the TV and CD player and there was a safe in the room that was free to use. When in Havana I had wondered why there were no drawers anywhere in my room given we were staying in a famous hotel, well the answer came to me while at the Tryp, my rather sad delight at seeing draws soon came to a premature end when I opened them and they collapsed and then jammed, similarly the bathroom door either refused to close or wedged shut, there was no happy medium unless you blocked it with a towel, hence my conclusion is that woodwork is not on the national curriculum in Cuba. Other guests said they had the same problems, still in Cuba there are some things you just have to shrug off and accept. The room was air conditioned however it was rathr noisy and not incredibly effective, I would not want to be in that room in the height of summer when it is very humid. My only other gripe was that the walls did bare the remains of the odd osquito and could have done with a wipe down. Despite these small issues the rest of the room was clean, well stocked with toiletries every day and they left me beer in the fridge so I was happy.
The hotel is set in some lovely grounds with lots of water features and wooden walkways across the water. The main lobby has a nice seating area with water features and even a couple of four poster beds converted into seating for you to lounge on. There is also a piano that in the evening provides some lovely back ground music. The whole resort is very clean and there are no shortage of domestic staff ensuring it is maintained to a high standard. The money change facility was open long hours and there were a few shops to buy gifts or essentials like sun cream as well as a gallery from where you could purchase some Cuban art.
As with any holiday especially when kids are concerned there has to be lots to do and Tryp Peninsula was not lacking in this area, especially as you did not need to dip into your pocket at all while on the resort. There were three pools in all, one was nominally intended for adults only as it had a wet bar but no one bothered with such rules, none of the pools were guraded however they were all pretty safe as long as people were sensible. The beach was excellent and did have life guards and a flag system although to be honest the lifeguard semed more concerned with trying to flog trips to Havana or black market cigars rather than actually scanning the water. There was plenty to do on the beach, catamarans, sea kayaks and pedellos as well as wind surfing. For some things you needed to book but the staff were friendly and quite flexible at times. There was also a banana boat and paragliding as well but these tended to move up and down the coast spending an hour or so at each resort rather than being dedicated to one resort only.
For those not wanting to get wet there was a fitness centre with a gym and also sauna and jacuzzi as well as regular fitness classes. There were four tennis courts and a basketball court which doubled up for volleyball and five a side football tournaments which were part of a busy activities programme. One nice touch for those who are not sporting was the option to take some classes in Cuban life such as cooking, cocktail making or dancing which was quite popular.
In the evenings there was an entertainment programme for kids in the early evening then a different show for adults each evening which was not bad but a bit limited at times and then there was a disco until the small hurs however the soud proofing was superb as you could be stood outside and not hear a thing unless the door was opened.
Naturally with an all inclusive reort, especially one located away from any alternative dining places the food and drink are key. Lets deal with the important stuff the alcohol. This cannot be faulted, plenty of choice was available including a rather lovely rum punch and a fairly good Mojito although the pina colada was poor as they used powdered coconut milk.
When it comes to food it was a bit variable to be honest. Most of the meals are taken in a huge self service dning room which had set hours however these were long and you could always find somewhere open for food on the resort. In addition there are three al a carte restaurant which have to be booked in advance. Depending on the length of your stay decides how many evenings you can book. We had one meal in the Italian restaurant which was excellent and as it looks out over a water feature it was a nice evening, we also went to a Cuban restaurant which was a set lobster and steakstyle menu which was ok but did include the meal of lobster with a side of brussel sprouts and stir fried veg which was a strange combination.
Certainly you will not go hungry on the resort as the buffet style restaurant had masses of choice both at breakfast and dinner (it was open for lunch but we never bothered) and there was something for everyone. My two criticisms we that the quality at times was not great and there was a lack of fresh fruit to be had, basically water melon or pineapple were the two staples with some banana's as well (although these were lovely and bought back memories of what a banana should taste like). There was a bit too much fried stuff for my liking although to be fair they did make an attempt at cooking vegetables. On the plus side there was always a carvery available and the staff worked reall hard at keeping the tables set up and free from clutter and bringing you drinks.
The staff were very friendly and most had really good English, far better than my awful Spanish anyway, with the odd exception most were keen to chat and not just looking for tips, indeed I felt the staff were happy in their work on the whole. It is a good idea to have things like crayons and books to leave as gifts and certainly clothing is a nice alternative to the traditional monetary tip.
I felt that a one week stay was about right for this resort; I think I would have become bored for two weeks but then I'm not good at lying around in the sun. We did do a couple of day trips and there are plenty of things to do off site as well as some excellent scuba diving The resort has a visiting dive instructor who does pool sessions for try dives with a sea dive costing 40 cuc (about £25). The only concerns I would have with revisiting this resort is the fact that firstly I have seen it and there are other places around the world I want to visit, I would also be concerned given the quality of some of the building work how well it will age over the next ten years. In addition I did find the food a bit repetitive and while my wait band did expand thanks to some truly tempting desserts I did hunger after more fruit.
It must be said I do have high expectations when spending a few grand on a holiday so I expect things to work and that the service will be top class as I believe I'm paying for it.
Prices vary depending on time of year with the current internet price on the Virgin site being advertised from £755 per person for stays up to the middle of June, I think our prices for the Easter holidays were up around the £1,100 mark per person for the week. It is also worth noting that adult prices start from age 12.
Finally the resort is very flat and with a large percentage of the accommodation on the ground floor it is suitable for those in wheel chairs or those unsteady on their feet which is not something you would be able to say about other parts of Cuba. In fact there were not many stairs at all if my memory serves me right on the resort.
Summary: Acceptable all inclusive resort.
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