Just spotted this, Fiona, but I need to get the tea on the table and I see that it's over 30 mins long so will view it later and and any additional tips that I think might be useful to others.

I've had a chance to view the whole of the video now, Fiona, amd I think you're right - it is a very useful one for first timers. There's nothing in it that I would rgard as incorrect info but there are a few things that I can perhaps help clarify, expand on for others so here goes :-)

TOILETS

I'm surprised that she encountered bathrooms in casas without toilet seats - I've personally not encountered this since my first trip in 2005 when there were some real shortages. I've sometimes found that there is no seat in bars aimed mainly at locals rather than tourists but even this is rare now. If in doubt when out and about, use the toilets in a hotel - I've never known a tourist be challenged.

TOILET LADIES

Yes, they do usually expect a tip in exchange for toilet paper - even those at the airport before you have been processed by Immigration. I keep some change at the end of each trip to take with me on the next trip for this purpose but they won't turn their nose up at UK coins. They wait until they have £1's worth and then ask tourists if they can change it for a £1 coin and then when they have 10 £1 coins will ask if you can change this for a £10 note for them which they can then take to a Cadeca and change for CUCS. As for bars etc they would regard her as a very good tipper giving them 25 cents - they will accept less and I usually save 10 cent coins for the purpose.

Rather than posting a huge comment, I'll stop there and make separate posts for different topics :-)

Thank you Sma
You have always helped out with information on Cuba. It's much appreciated.

CASA PARTICULARES

I usually book these in advance with a UK based agency that I have found to be excellent but if you are booking them yourself as you go whilst out there, then make sure that they are registered and displaying the following sign

http://therewardboss.com/how-to-book-a-casa-particular-in-cuba/

They will ask to see your passport and will note the number and ither key detailsdown in the register that they are required to keep by the authorities. In Cuba, the head of the household is responsible for anybody staying under their roof so never take someone back to the Casa with you without letting the householder know and never ever take someone back to spend the night without clearing this in advance and making it clear to your guest that they will need to bring their passport with them and if they a a local, that they will need their national ID papers. Follow the rules and you will find that most hosts are very hospitable.

I have found the food to be very good and except for really top class hotels better than you get in many hotels. If your casa doesn't provide an evening meal then it is often a good idea to ask them about whether there are any paladares they would recommend. These are pop-up restaurants that Cubans are allowed to run in their own homes as long as they have no more than 12 'covers'. The choice of menu will usually be limited - usually a choice of grilled meat or fish done on 'la planche' ie an iron griddle with salad and one or more sources of carbs plus fresh fruit or the unbiqutous 'flan' (baked egg custard) but it is usually excellent. 10 CUCS a head including drinks will count as an expensive night in most places.

PS The reason why she didn't get offered much beef is because it is usually awful! Meat is usually very well done in Cuba - Donald Trump would feel at home! But more importantly most beef on offer is from very old dairy cows that have reached the end of their milk producing life. Beef is a very costly way of producing protein in comparison to chicken and pork ( many families will keep bot chickens and a pig for fattening up on the roof). If beef is on the menu it will usually be in the form of a very slow cooked stew - delicious if eaten in a family home but it can still be really tough if served in a restaurant. If it's on offer in a 4 or 5 star hotel then it will probably be imported from sotuh America because so little is produced locally. Those leather goods re coming from the hides of old dairy cows not steers raised for beef. And I've never been offered lamb or even mutton - I can't ever recall seeing sheep in the fields,

AIR CONDITIONING AND ELECTRICS

Most of air conditioning units you'll encounter are as she says very noisy - most will be Chinese these days but you might still encounter ancient Soviet era ones. The key thing is that they will invariably be connected to the only 220v supply in your room and unplugging it from the standard round 2 pin socket is the best way of charging your phone etc. But do it whenever you can if touring! Most of the power sockets in your room will be the for 110v supply that usually take 2 flat pin plugs. These date from the pre-Revolutionary era so it's best to take adaptors for both European sockets as well as USA flat pin sockets. I did once encounter what turned out to be a 3 pins in a row Soviet style socket in hotel!

I've never stayed in a Casa or hotel where there wasn't a fridge for your sole use. Part of the arrival briefing at a Casa, as she says, usually includes arrangements re keeping it stocked for you. In my experience they will only charge you the shelf price for it and will re- stock daily. Even if there is a small mark-up I think it's worth it to avoid having to go shopping for water etc and lugging it home.

WATER

Which brings me to water - contrary to what she says, in my experience the locals are very cautious about using water direct from the tap themselves. It is standard practice for them to always boil it first. The more well off families might have an electric water purifier but even then they will always restock any fridge in your room with bought in bottled water with an intact seal. This is usually because in most houses the covered water tank is on the roof, and by the end of the day it is often lukewarm. I've often showered in just so-called cold water because it is refreshingly tepid! But, yes, always brush your teeth in bottled water.

I've never enountered problems with having ice in my drinks - most bars seem to no longer make their own ice (I assume because of the faff of needing to boil it first) and they get it delivered in. That large chest freezer in the corner behind the bar is usually full of bags of ice. I usually take my lead from any Cubans in the bar - if they are happy to have ice then I am too - if they are avoiding it then I will as well.

IMODIUM AMD OTHER 1st AID SUPPLIES YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU PACKED.

It makes sense to take Imodium with you but in all the years of going to Cuba I've only used it once - and that was when the meal on the Thomas Cook flight out poisoned me! It happened so soon after landing that it couldn't possibly be anything I'd eaten once I arrived! But that said I'm meticulous about always carrying and using hand sanitiser with me. You might be equally glad of taking something like Dulcolax with you because of the effect of the time lag and change of diet on your digestive system! And likewise, it makes sense to pack a few packets of rehydrating salts for not just if you do get an upset stomach but if you end up not drinking enough water for whatever reason.

And I always take a basic 1st aid kit that also contains things like antiseptic wipes, sticking plasters, blister plasters and a couple of sterile dressings. Sometimes they are needed, sometimes they aren't but my hosts have always been grateful at the end of the trip for anything that is left in it. It's not that they cannot be bought out there but who wants to have go hunting for a pharmacy on their holidays and compared to wht they will have cost us as visitors they can be relatively expensive for locals. Any Cuban with kids will always be grateful for any leftover sticking plasters for grzed knees and the like!

Not quite a 1st aid topic but worth saying to any ladies is that it is a good idea to take your own preferred sanitary protection with you, even if you are not expecting to need it, because if you do come 'on' while away you won't find what you're used to easy to find. I remember in one early trip where even a tour of the expensive hotel pharmacies couldn't locate tampons for one of the group. And if it is something you are prone to attacks, take your preferred thrush and cystitis remedies with you as well - they too are not always easy to come by.

But if all else fails, have faith in the Cuban health care system - I have had to resort to using them on two occassions. Once for when Thomas Cook poisoned me and once when I had an acute Meniere's attack. On both occassions they sorted me out very quickly and very cheaply. On each occasion it wasn't worth the hassle claiming for the cost of tretment on my insurance because it was roughly around the same as the excess on my policy.

WIFI

Everything she says re WiFi is spot on but if you really need to get access to the Internet and can't find a WiFi hotspot then it is worth bearing in mind that if all else fails you can join the queue outside an Etecsa office and use their dial - up modem connected machines. If you need to make many long distance pbonecalls home then the cheapest way of doing this is to also go to an Etecsa office and using their phones.

MOSQUITOS

I'm not somebody who is prone to getting bitten by mozzies - even the notorious midgies at home in Scotland don't seem to find me tasty! I rely on putting a few drops of Oil of Citronella on a piece of cottonwool and dabbing that on my pulse points. It does the trick for me but others mightn't want to rely on it. I spent the whole of my last trip in March 2016 in Santiago and the risks of Zika virus infection was being taken very seriously there with regular fumigations taking place. From memory our Casa was done at least three times in 14 days with everybody having to get out of the house, clothes and beds being covered with dust sheets and nobody being allowed back in until at least 2 hours after the fumigation. The streets were regularly fumigated too and all the roof top cold water tanks were being regularly inspected to make sure that they had mozzie proof cover ps on them as well to check for any larvae in them. Householders with plants were allowed to water them but not keep the pots standing in saucers that would hold any run-off water. This attack on trying to ensure that there was no stagnant stabidng water in the cities even extended to people brushing water out of the potholes in the street afte rain.

MONEY

These days I just take enough cash in English banknotes for my stay because of the problems she describes with getting cash once you are there. One of the problems for visitors is that it is not easy to tell the difference between Banks as we know them and the offices of a credit or savings union - bit like a visitor to the UK not being aware of the difference between a bank and a building society. If people are having difficulties getting money from any particular ATM it is probably because the ATM belongs to a credit union and it will only accept the cards of members. Plus of course the embargo means that in most cases you can only use a card that has no American connections - best to always check with your own bank but cards issued by Citibank or MBSN or one of their subsidiaries probably won't be accepted anywhere but you are usually OK with a card that crries the VISA logo.

Contrary to what she says I have never experienced differential rates of exchange between Cadecas, banks or the hotel desks that exchange money. If travelling from a US $ area you will pay less commission overall if you exchange your $s for £Sterling, or better yet at the moment €s befo you enter Cuba. I usually change the first tranche of money at the airport Cadeca and have never experienced long queues at either Havana or Holguin but there again I'm not usually being hassled by a TO tour rep to get on the transfer bus.As a general rule, as a tourist anything you can buy with national pesos you probably won't want :-) But you are not restricted to only using CUCs and it is worth getting a small amount in order to be able to buy fruit from street traders and the like. Something to be aware of is the fact that as a tourist there are instances where you have to pay in CUCS but locals will be able to purchase much more cheaply in National Pesos and nothing you try and do will shift them on this, for example in pharmacies and clinics, but it will also extend to official state run cultural events in many of the Casa de Musicas and concert halls.

TIPPING & GIFTS

If in a bar or restaurant it is usual to round the bill up to the nearest CUC or to leave the small change behind unless someone has really gone out of their way for you and the same with taxis. It is also usual if there is a live band playing for a member of the band to come round with the hat and/or selling CDs of the band playing. If you buy a CD you certainly aren't expected to tip as well and maximum of 1 CUC tip per head in the group is generous. So generous in fact that one evening when I was out in a large mixed group Cubans and visitors (at least 20 of us) and the first person approached put a 5 CUC note in the hat (for him and his partner) the man with the hat assumed that it was the tip on behalf of the whole group of us and walked away after thanking him! Much to the annoyance of the tipper who then moaned that he'd been singled out and been diddled! He was only mollified when 4 others of us gave him the 1 CUC coins we had ready to put in the hat. Bear in mind that a CUC is worth about 70p at the moment!

Yes, generally the days are gone when things like soap were in short supply but there are still small gifts that will be appreciated, especially by women. The local nail varnish is generally of very poor quality and they use neat acetone to remove it so I always take some with me along with nail polish remover pads for the women dancers I know. Plus every Cuban has their own sideline and having good quality nail varnish means you can do manicures for friends and neighbours that they will pay you for. But more mundane things are also much appreciated, for example, on an early trip I noticed that the cleaner never used rubber gloves and her hands looked it, so when I went out 6 months later I took her a pack of rubber gloves and some decent handcream which she really was grateful for.

Re things like pencils, felt pens and blank notebooks, I usually still take some of these as well but hand them in at the local elementary school rather than just giving them out willy nilly. Parents have to buy stuff like that rather than them being provided by the school and the teachers know which families struggle with finding the money to do this and they are in a position to discretely distribute them to those in greatest need. The other thing that the schools very much appreciate is English language childrens's books. Cuban children now start learning English from around the age of 8 but the schools access to suitable books is very limited. A colleague of mine in a University Dept of Education was a rep for an educational publisher and when she retired the publisher didn't want her stock of samples of English reading books for Primary age kids returned to them. So I took a large caseful of them out to Cuba and passed them over via a contact to the local elementary school and to my embarassment the following day I had a delegation of teachers from the school turn up at my Casa with flowers in order to thank me. It made me realise just how much those books that would otherwise have ended up in the recycling bin were worth to them.

It is also difficult for Teachers of Spanish to speakers of other languages to come by suitable instructional books for the increasing number of people who combine a holiday in Cuba with learning Spanish. They will nearly all write out worksheets for their students by hand and so when another colleague (a Spanish teacher here in the UK) was retiring I asked if I could have any text books she didn't want. She also duly handed over a caseful and these were equally fallen on with delight.

Perhaps the most surprisingly successful gift was a case load of conference bags! I used to chair the conference organising committee for a national educational research association and it is usual to provide all delegates with their conference papers in a lightweight briefcase emblazoned with the conference logo etc. However, most don't have any further use for them so I took to providing a big box by the conference desk for people to leave them in as they went home if they didn't want to keep them. Having made a few inquiries, the advice I received was that these would be a very useful gift for teachers etc out in Cuba and furthermore that there was some kudos to be gained from people owning a bag which proclaimed them to have those sort of contacts with the wider educational community in the world. Result! No more throwing away of perfectly serviceble briefcases and a useful gift for teachers and lecturers who made a point on future trips of showing me that they were using them.

In other words, Cubans will still appreciate gifts that are of practical use to them and/or of better quality than they can obtain locally at an economical price.

COVER CHARGES

One of the things not mentioned in the video is the common practice in the main state-run music venues eg the various Casa de Musica and Casa de Trove you'll find in most towns as well as some of the hotels is the practice of charging an entrance fee or 'cover'. If you are on an organised tour then the guide will probably sort this out and you might not be aware of it but it is usual in places where there is band performing and the expectation is that people are there to dance and listen to the band. It is rare where the band is just playing as background music in an ordinary bar.

It's rarely a great deal in relative terms to most tourists and it is priced in CUCs for us but quite often in national pesos at concert venues for Cubans. I don't have a problem with this differential pricing system - after all, I'll have paid more the holiday than most Cuban's earn in a year - but it upsets some visitors. My view is either accept the system and pay it or don't go in. I'm happy to pay a 10th of what I've paid to see bands here in the UK and especially since the reason why it is referred to as a 'cover' charge is that it invariably includes your first drink, including cocktails. But if you are there in a group it is worth bearing in mind that you can pool your covers and instead of ordering individual drinks, you can usually order a whole bottle of rum for the table along with cans of mixers and use the pooled cover charge towards the cost. However, in many places the pooled credit will cover the whole charge - for example, at the Casa Grande hotel in Santiago the cover in March 2014 was 9 CUCS per head (expensive in local terms) but for 10 of us that covered the cost of keeping everybody in rum, mixers/soft drinks, beer and bottled water for the whole evening. In fact as we were leaving I checked with the waitress just to make sure that we didn't owe her any more and she said we not only owed nothing extra but still had credit behind the bar so would we like to take some beer and rum away with us? I said, yes, asked the 3 Cuban dancers which they would prefer because we had no need of it and the credit stretched to them each going home with a bottle of white Havana Club rum and a couple of cans of beer! So see the cover as less of an entrance fee and more a way of making sure that you do spend some money at the bar and you won't go far wrong.

Brilliant SMa & very helpful.

Thank you.

No sweat, Glynis, I enjoyed doing it. :-) One of the things I've very little experience of is the big AI resorts, especially those on the Cayos but hopefully someone will be along soon who can provide some tips about how to get the best out of a stay there.

I stayed on Cayo Guillermo at the Iberostar Daiquiri but you're talking over a decade ago so my experience is probably a little bit dated as there will be more resorts there now.

Don't get me wrong, the hotel was nice, the beach and the sea was gorgeous but it's not the place to go for authentic taste of Cuba, simply because of the fact that you're off the mainland and in an area that is geared around the tourist industry. That's not to say I would tell people not to go, far from it, but if you were planning to head for the Cayos, I'd ensure you make time to head for the mainland on at least a day trip to see what the country is all about. We flew up to Havana for the day - I'd say do more than one if possible because of the distance and so you can get the most out of it.

Have to agree with you there, Matt. The developments on the Cayos were started in the days when the Cuban government was much more isolationist in their attitudes and they were chosen not just because of the beautiful beaches but because the cayos concerned had previously been uninhabited and access to them could be easily controlled. And, yes, if you are going to Havana you do need to try and do an overnighter because otherwise you'll be on your way back to your hotel before the nightlife is even starting to warm up. Even in Santiago, were the hotel where most tourists stay is only a 3 CUC taxi ride from the centre of the city, they are taken to the Casa de Trove (of Buena Vista Social Club fame) for an evening excursion but more often than not they are bussed back just as the main band of the night is about to take to the stage!

I think the problem is that in an attempt to boost interest in the organised excursions, tourists are often fed the line that it is dangerous to go out on your own at night. Even to the extent that on one occasion when I was staying in the hotel myself and had taken a taxi into town to go to the Trove, when I was recognised by some fellow guests they tried to persuade me to go back to hotel on the tour bus with them. When I explained that I was intending to stay for the main performance of the night and suggested instead that they might like to let the tour guide know that they were staying on and would get a taxi back with me later so they could catch the excellent band as well, they made it clear that they thought I was being foolhardy, and especially so since I was on my own. At breakfast the following morning one of them came over to tell me how relieved they were to see that I had got back safely. I can understand why first timers might be cautious about venturing out on their own but equally I am sad that the excursions aren't organised in such a way that they can catch the best of the live music on offer.