I just returned from Los Galeones. I went by myself for my first trip to Cuba. I will preface my thoughts/observations below by saying the whole vacation was beyond excellent and I definitely appreciated the whole experience.

Los Galeones is probably best for those who don't want to go to "Factory" resorts of 200+ rooms, organized activities, and buffet line ups. Los Galeones only has 32 rooms and is adults only. The staff are absolutely wonderful! They are so friendly. As well, I really enjoyed meeting all the guests and even though I was traveling by myself I was made to feel at home and made new friends. The view offered from Los Galeones is unbelievable since it is on the hill.

Los Galeones is located about 2 hours from Santiago de Cuba Airport. The main road leading to the resort is interesting at best. There are many potholes and some sections of the road were water-logged. I would suggest taking a bus/taxi to get around because when I was there, a couple of rental cars belonging to some guests were damaged pretty good. Los Galeones is affiliated with Brisas SierraMar, where you can go there to eat, drink and use their amenities. It is about 20 minutes in between the resorts and will cost about 5 CUCs (Cuban Convertible Pesos) each way including tip. I went to SierraMar originally for the day, but after staying at Los Galeones I found it so impersonal there and couldn't wait to get back. There are about 200 rooms at SierraMar and some access to recreational equipment/trips, but they are in short supply and may not be available.

There is one restaurant and one bar up at the resort. The atmosphere is so casual that people can go behind the bar and make themselves a drink. The bar is open until 1 AM. There is a wide array of liquors. There is beer and wine. I did not like the juice, it was not the same type here. The water is very safe and clean to drink. Don't expect fancy food - however, that being said, their a-la-carte menus offer quite a few options and the food in my opinion tastes pretty good. Breakfast is part buffet and you can order eggs & bacon from the kitchen. Lunch and Dinner are a-la-carte. Breakfast runs from 7:30 - 10 AM, Lunch runs from 12:30 - 2 PM, Dinner runs from 7 - 9:30 PM. There is live music every day at dinner. Most nights we passed the hat around and threw in a peso or two. After dinner, a lot of us gathered outside the bar for the rest of the night.

The rooms are pretty basic. I stayed in the 100 block of Rooms, which offered out my front door a view of the town of Chivirico at the bottom of the hill of the resort and a view of the entrance and Caribbean Sea out my back door. However, it's the set of rooms located farthest away from the main area. The 200 block of rooms offer the best view of the Caribbean Sea. The 300 block of rooms offer a great view of the sunset and mountains and are closest to the main area. The 400 and 500 blocks of rooms are directly fronting the main area but face Chivirico and the Mountains - very little water to see. I had a TV in my room which received local TV, Showcase, CTV, CNN, and TNT. A few people said they had a refrigerator, but I did not. I had two twin beds pushed together. There was an air conditioner in the room, but it can be a bit nosey. The beds were a bit on the firm side and the pillows were really firm so if you need a soft pillow, I would suggest bringing one. I could not open the balcony glass door because there was no screen door. Someone I met said she brings down some netting and affixes it to the door so she can have the door open. I received quite a few mosquito bites while outside and there are small creatures like crabs, lizards, etc. that pass by outside the room so I kept the doors closed. I had a desk in my room with a little dinette table. A great feature in te room is a small safe. I felt great knowing that I can put the 25 CUCs for the departure tax, passport, etc. in a safe place while I was at the hotel. There were a couple of small lamps and one oddly placed overhead fluorescent in the corner. In the bathroom in my room, I had a small hairdryer with a couple of overhead lights. The water pressure in my room was a little weak and it took a few minutes for the hot water to kick in. I would recommend bringing a couple of flash lights as the power was knocked out a few times, not an uncommon occurrence. As well, I brought some small things for the cleaning staff as well as some small pesos for tips at the end of the vacation.

There is a private beach for the resort, however it is 296 steps down and is quite a walk. Be careful coming back up, pace yourself. There is a beach side bar that runs from 10 AM to 4 PM and they may have lunch if there are enough people down there. The sand is very dark. In the water, there is quite a bit of rocks/coral/sea weed, so I would suggest bringing water shoes.

Also, I went to town and walked down the road from the top of the resort. This is a very steep walk down and again, pace yourself coming back up. It probably takes about 20 minutes to walk each way. For every week you are there, you can received a complimentary massage. I found that very helpful at the end of my vacation as I pulled a muscle coming up the hill. In the town there is a small art gallery, a few basic stores in and around the square. There is a bank to exchange money. You can also exchange at the airport and also with the Front Desk. Someone told me the resort offers a slightly better exchange rate than the Airport.

So those are pretty much my thoughts/observations on Los Galeones. Again, if you want a place where you can go at your own pace, want to purely relax, to not have the hustle of big resorts, then this may be the place for you.

we have just returned from a memorable one week escapade in a special experience. when we were their, the hotel was practically to ourselves, we were only 6 guests and had the impression we were at our private estate with our staff standing by to serve us with a smile.in the morning we went down to the beach where waiting was Yaumar who had caught fish for lunch on the bbq. we went snorkeling in clear calm water (very warm) and we felt like jacques cousteau exploring rich marine life and the amazing coral reef. after lunch we would swim again and lay in the shade resting undisturbed.after the day the walk up the 300 steps was a welcome exercise. then it would be the pool or the jacuzzi and a pina colada or a mohito. the supper was always excellent and various,the service was also great. the rooms were always very clean . i found the matress in my king size bed a little soft but had a deep restfull sleep every night.in the morning we would have our coffee on our balcony and contemplate the carrabean in all of its splendor.we met very kind and interesting staff and guests and will certainly return to reconnect with the true sense of gratitude.

My husband and I stayed for a week in February, 2008. We are both in our late-twenties and felt a bit out of our element for the first couple of days, as the crowd is tad older with many cherished regulars. But once we relaxed and got comfortable we really felt welcome and enjoyed ourselves tremendously. The staff is fantastic, the feel for the place is totally authentic, the adults-only restriction is kind of nice too if you don't have kids, (there are limited facilities here) and you quickly meet the other guests as there are only thirty-two rooms .

In order to enjoy yourself though, you have to let go a bit and loosen up. The walk to the beach takes 300 steps down winding stairs so you have to pace yourself (more so, back up). The beach is an awesome natural beach, dark sand, goats and a beach dog, an amazing bbq lunch and fantastic snorkelling.

I highly recommend if you just want to relax, a fantastic 'natural beach' holiday. I wouldn't recommend this place for the food, although it was always fresh and I never went hungry, it is good, but this is a very small resort. If you can arrange some specialties, try talking to the staff about it, as the fish and seafood are amazing but may take some effort on your part to attain. I highly recommend the beer, the wine, the Pina Colodas and the Mohitos, and anything else with rum. If I could choose a day trip again, I would rather go see a coffee plantation than the Santiago de Cuba tour, the country-side is beautiful and the city is not quite the same.

We met some really lovely people while we were there, we hope to see them again some day, we would definitely go back (hopefully sooner than later).

Cheers,
N&B

My Husband and I looked forward to a quiet relaxing vacation at Los Galeones. Having visited there 12 years ago just for a look-see, we thought it was ideal for stunning scenery and peace. The drive to the Hotel is very slow because the road has become very damaged due to devastating hurricanes, but it is not an unpleasant drive because you can enjoy the wonderful unblemished coastline all the way there.We were greeted warmly by staff and tourists at the lobby and taken to our room quickly. This Hotel is a very small property and apparently this is the draw for the mostly senior regulars. We found there was no where to go except down to the beach to get shade because the "regulars" set up camp early in the a.m. in all the spots with shade. The beach is lovely to look at but the water was very murky and the bottom is uneven, rocky and covered in sea grass. We got down to the beach at 3:45 and asked for a drink of water but the bar tender said that was not possible, the bar was supposed to be open till 4:00. It is a long 300 steps back up from the beach but we knew this before we booked the trip, it was not a problem. We were unable to get a drink in the bar at the pool because there were no staff a lot of the time. The food was the very worst we have ever encountered in Cuba and this was our 5th time to Cuba. We are well aware of water difficulties in the Caribbean and we dont worry about hot water being available at all times, however there was no water for a good portion of our stay and guests in the know, were scooping water out of the pool to flush the toilets!!!The" straw that broke the camels back" however was the over whelming disgusting chokingly foul odour from the septic system, that wafted into our room and made me sick to my stomach.I asked for some help with this situation but it was 10:30 p.m. and the only person around was a staff member tending the bar and she could not do anything to help. I read all the reviews on this property on Trip Advisor and I am very discouraged that no-one has written about these very real problems. I am an avid traveler, I love Cuba, but this Hotel should be in my opinion, the last place one would pick for a holiday.We were very lucky to have been able to de-camp this Hotel and head down to Sierra Mar where we spent a most enjoyable rest of our vacation.