I was there many years ago and had a great time then ... and its gone through renovations and upgrades...and still getting better all the time... and We were all impressed... great beds and baths, patio to sit out on.. 24 hour drinks and snacks.. all very tasty, the buffet was great.. fresh and tasty... flavors for everyone... .we asked for hot peppers once and they were there the next day and each day after on the buffet.. the alacart restaurant was good too... ok the beef was a little tough.. but you know what.. it was tasty too.. maybe should have been tenderized but..im a seafood lover any way.. the chicken was great... the Pork was the best.. wow.. all fresh fruits and veggies and salads, and pasta of your choice ..you build your meal the way you want... oh.. smiles are free and tip them they do deserve it.. oh when we got off the plane and setteled .. message therapist ... was great.. then we hit the beach.. rented a motto, took the double decker bus all around town, had pinapple and coconut with rum at the one stop.. seen dolphins, camel rides, disco at night , evening entertainment ... games on the beach.. cubana day..evenig walks, what ever you wanted ... all at your finger tips... The employes at this resort are top notch.. and we really had a great time... were going back.. thank you staff at Puntarena and thank you Charlotte and Angella at Travel Master...J & B Niagara Falls

My family group, consisting of daughter, son in law and 2 grandchildren holidayed here from Dec. 24 to Jan. 7, 2012. The beach in front of the hotel was wonderful, spacious, but beware of the dropoff into the ocean. The water was clear and no jellyfish when we were there. You must pay a $10 deposit for beach towels and try as we might, hotel reception staff refused to reimburse us for our deposit. They physically changed the numbers on our receipt. So instead of reimbursing $50 for 5 towels they rembursed $40 only although we had 5 towels to turn in??!!! Push hard to open your patio window....Bathtubs are rusted, there is little water pressure, not much hot water, water dripped from ceiling in bathroom, small towels, no face cloths, one small roll of toilet paper. Tip your maid for better service. We didn't mind the food available at the smorg.//there was a great daily omelete bar and a speciality meat prepared each night. The bread products were delish and cooked fresh daily! We were served lobster on New Year's Eve. The entertainment was great. Bar service was good, too. But do not drink coffee in the smorg., get lattes and tea from the bar. Take advantage of the outside "Take Out" sandwich, hamburger stand, where you can get a snack between meals. Carry toilet paper with you always, as often there will be none in the lounge and pool areas. And tip/tip/tip!! These people are poor. Take extra clothing to give away; they depend on this from the tourists. Thank goodness reception did not keep our passports although I saw this being done. We were able to exchange our Canadian money for CUC at the hotel, which was open 24 hrs. Take Canadian cash from home and exchange it at the hotel. For $100 Canadian we were given $89 CUC. Do not exchange more than you need, as you are ripped off when you change CUC back to Canadian. We used our visa to pay for our excursions. We did the Havanna day trip and the jeep/snorkelling/boating tour. We did have a great time here and met many fellow tourists and formed friendships. We befriended Linda , an activity guide who gave us massages, organized games and activities and negotiated taxi fares for us. She was awesome, but the hotel reception staff were nasty, grumpy and not helpful. The washrooms in the bar area in the evenings were disgusting. No soap/no toilet paper/no toilet seats/water all over the floor. Beware!

On January 29 I returned from a stay at Puntarena with my wife and 15 other family members ranging from a 10 month old baby up to my 74 year old father-in-law. All things considered it was a pretty good hotel with decent staff. Although I'm thinking it might be a great idea if someone was hired to go around and pick up the plastic cups and straws and all sorts of other pieces of discarded plastic. But I guess that's not really a complaint about the hotel as it doesn't seem anyone in Cuba has ever heard the words 'Reduce, Re-use, Recycle'. The meals were pretty much standard and nothing too exciting but decent enough and safely prepared as none of the 17 family members got deathly ill. (One afternoon a group of 8 of us had lunch at a different restaurant in town and it wasn't any better or worse so it could be that all meals in Cuba are much the same.) So, here is a recommendation. Bring your own drinking cup! Something re-useable like a travel mug or such. You will find that every time you go to the bar to get a drink they will give you a dinky throw away plastic cup. And if you take advantage of the many drinks you will go through in a week that adds up to a huge pile of junk plastic. And not only that but the cups are small so that by the time you get to your table the drink is gone and you have to go back and fight through the Russians to get another one. And here's another suggestion especially if you are with a large group. Don't let the porter take your bags to your room when you arrive no matter how persistant he is. Our group were put into rooms on several different floors and the porter had a heck of a time finding us all. One brother-in-law waited about a half an hour before his bags were delivered and then was expected to hand over a tip. No serious complaints and the hotel was good value for the money and I wouldn't hesitate to go there again. Although I would have preferred a room on the ocean side so try and get one of those.

First, let me preface this by saying that this was my 4th time in Cuba, but 1st time in Varadero (I've previously been to Santiago de Cuba, Cayo Guillermo, and Santa Lucia). My boyfriend & I booked a very last minute trip (booked Friday, left Sunday) to this resort based on the price. We picked this resort solely based on price. It was a short trip (only 3 nights), not long enough to get sick of the buffet food (a common-looking complaint, based on other reviews).

The Good
- the 'Snack Bar' was quite convenient. We didn't get to the resort until after 10pm & so had missed dinner. The Snack Bar does not have an extensive selection (hamburgers, ham & cheese sandwiches, orange or pineapple juice...) but is open until the wee hours of the morning. The ham & cheese sandwiches were quite nice.
- the Lobby bar is 24 hours.
- the pool area is great, even without a swim-up bar (there is a bar right next to the pool area though).
- we found the staff quite friendly and accommodating. Yes, you get better and quicker service if you tip - however that's how it works here at home too. I found it to be comparable to the other resorts I've been to in that respect.
- The buffet food was plentiful & quite typical of Cuban all-inclusive fare. No complaints on that front & neither of us were sick at all.


The OK
- As the other reviewers have said, the beach was lovely but not very well maintained. There was an abundance of shells and it was a bit painful to walk around barefoot (not overly so though - I still did & didn't get cuts on my feet).
- The hotel is quite far from the main Varadero strip, and so if you want to go into town you need to either hop on the bus or take a cab.


The Bad/Not-so-Good
- Upon arrival at the hotel, the front desk staff tried to hold onto our passports overnight so that they could complete the registration forms. Not being comfortable with that, we chose to stay at the desk & wait for the forms to be filled out. The staff did not seem to impressed with us, however we were not about to leave our passports with anyone.
- It is a multi-storey building with very slow elevators which close quickly & unexpectedly. The elevators appear safer than the stairs though - which are outside, rusty & don't seem quite safe.
- The room was really not what I had expected from a 3.5 star resort. As I've said, I've been to Cuba in the past (also at resorts in the 3 to 3.5 star range) and so do not believe I went in with expectations that were too high. The room was loud (we were on the 5th floor overlooking the canal & the noise from the pool & shows put on by the entertainment staff were so loud it sounded like they were in the room with us) and quite tired (the bathroom especially really was in need of an update - the bathtub was so worn that it looked like the bottom had rusted out, the mirrors looked like they were mouldy...)

With the exception of the room it was a pleasant stay, however I don't believe we will return to this resort... I'm confident that we got what we paid for, however next time would drop a few extra bucks to be closer to the city and at a nicer place.