One of our friends went to Cuba and stayed in hotel Palma Real.He says:
It's not a 4 star luxury all inclusive holiday resort but its worthy of a visit!! All these people who slate it obviously paid lots of money and expected to be treated like royalty !! Me and my friend spent 2 wks in the Palma Real hotel soaking up the sun, alcohol and made lots of friends!!
The check in and reception staff were all really friendly and always helpful - drawing maps and writing road names/bars etc down for us to find.
The rooms in Palma Real were really clean - everyday from top to bottom including under the beds and the balconies. Clean sheets and towels made into swans, words 'hola' and 'bye' etc.
The Palma Real pools were clean and there are always enough sun loungers for everyone as there are 3 pools and a swim up pool bar. The were activities going on for everyone if you wanted to get involved such as salsa dancing lessons, spanish lessons, jogging (too hot!), snorkelling in the pool, syncronised swimming and pool parties with games for all the family.
Cuba Varadero beach is a couple of minutes walk hotel Palma Real across the road and is beautiful. There were lots of sunloungers and parasols to sit under to keep out of the sun. Also several pedalos and boats to hire for free. The Varadero Palma Real Cuba beach bar serves paella and sangria every lunch time, also chips, burgers and toasties.
Hotel Palma Real Cuba restaurants in the complex...ok so after 7 nights I did fancy a change of food, but I never starved. The pizzeria was edible I ate alot and like previous reviews pointing out that their pizzas are thinner than in UK but they were fine. Fresh bread and good ice cream in the pizzeria too. It is true about the sparrow type birds that fly around the place and poo but not where your sat usually by the plants in the middle!
The Buffet was hard work - we got fed up of seeing the same food and I did eat alot of pasta, chips and bread. There was a selection of fruit and veg though and a choice of meat if you got there early but it was a bit like rationing first come first served. The pumpkin was tasty !! Also they will make you omlettes , scrambled, fried egg if you ask which are obviously made infront of you :) . Well, just Cuba. Hotel Palma Real.
The ice cream was really nice definately try it.
Hotel Palma Real bar by the internet place serves the best Cuba pina coladas. The main bar though the staff are friendlier- tip them 1 peso on your first visit to the bar and they will look after you all week with cocktails and beer - they remember what you order. The bar is like the main meeting point and gets quite busy until the show later in the evening, go and see the show majority of them are watchable and the dancing is good. There is no music in the bar so it gets a bit depressing sometimes but the hotel Palma Real Cuba reps try to keep you entertained.
When the bar shuts at midnight go to Habana Club, La Comparsita, La Rumba and Mambo Club all open until 3am you pay 10 pesos (£7) and get unlimited drinks all night - it's Cuba. Hotel Palma Real. The music is a mixture of salsa and r n b and some chart music, mainly full of english and cubans but it was fun.
Cuba is definitely worth a visit and so are the following trips if you've got a bit of money to spend
Club Tropicana open air night club in Havana
Havana
Three Cities tour - Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Santa Clara - a long days travelling but very interesting
Catermaran Cruise to Cayo Blanco Island you get to snorkell.
Hotel Palma Real Cuba:Just go and give it a chance - think the worse and you`ll probably enjoy yourself as much as we did !!
