sparkmark, we went to havana for they day or you can do overnight stay have heard this was a rip off depends what you want, and we also flew to jamaica for the day to climb dunns river falls good day out. These excursions were run by thomas cook i think they are they only ones who do jamaica, have a fab time you will love it. We are off to the cayos this year in june for a change.

Just got back and have some prices for the trips - this is first choice prices mind but think they are all about the same.
All prices in CUC Pesos
Havana overnight - 325
Havana 1 day - 199
Dolphin swim - 99
catamaran and dolphin swim (recommended!) 120
sun cruise 120
island paradise crusie (recommended) 120
"james bond"! boat adventure 35

Would suggest room choice in blocks 35, 36 are best.

Think spa opens at end of Feb.

Book at least 4 to 6 weeks ahead for dinner reservations - try and get the 8.30 sitting at japanese - Roibert normally does that one - very funny!

A massage in the hut overlooking the beach is a must, 30 pesos for 25 mins half massage, there is a 50 min one plus two other types but cannot remember prices.

take the tuesday morning fee trip with animation team to see the real cuba to a school and village. Take sweets, pens and stuff for the kids at the school, plus lets of medicines to the local doctor, calpol - anything.

Gifts for staff don't just give to maids but give to everyone, soaps, smellies, baseball caps, shorts, football shirts, t shirts, clothes, felt pens, colouring books etc. take as much as you can and take wrapping paper to wrap them up which takes the embarressment out of haning over a tube of toothpaste or bar of soap.

Rember 1 CUC peso is worth 25 of the local pesos. 25 local pesos will buy 5 pounds of quality rice or 5 months electric or 1 beer or a very small bar of lux soap. Amazing isn't it?

all the tips are spread fairly across all the staff in whole resort but so may do better than others. the gifts are not so look after the gardeners, chefs, porters too.

have a wonderful time - got back this morning and booked again within an hour for next year. Heaven.

Sarah - thanks for the tips.
Is anything else being disrupted because the Spa isn't open yet? Are they still building there? we go on 5th March. Am hoping all will be back to normal then but things seem to have taken a while on this Spa development!

Rosieh

Nothing in the hotel has been disrupted by the building of the spa, it is behind the hotel.

We were there in December 04 while the groundworks were being done, July 05 when the main building works were ongoing and again in December 05 and NEVER had any real disturbance so I wouldn't worry.

Thanks Durhamlass. I haven't seen a bad review of this hotel anywhere yet so we're really looking forward to it!

Well - we returned last Thursday, after a truly fantastic holiday, and everything was as good as everbody had reported!

A couple of things worth noting though;
Trips from the hotel - we booked our overnight stay in Havana from the UK. We used the Cuba Junky website (fantastic site - if you haven't looked at it yet - it's a must!) Flights with Aerocaribbean and hotel (the Parque Central - absolutely ideal location and a really good 5 star hotel) came to 317.00 CUC for BOTH of us! This is under half the cost of booking from the hotel. Also the hotel trip only goes on a Monday, so a bit restricting. For us Havana was a must, and was truly unforgettable, but that's another story. We did get a bit bored at the resort - and the 2 days out was just what we needed - Havana really rocks!

Dolphins - don't book just the dolphin trip for 99 CUC, (unless you really don't like boats). We cycled direct to the Bahia Naranjo aquarium to see if it was any cheaper direct - and it wasn't. In fact it was more expensive! However - if you take what they call the Sun Cruise, this includes visiting the dolphins. So for 120 CUC, you get a great day out on a 46ft catamaran with as much rum as you can drink, some snorkelling, swimming with dolphins and lunch at the aquarium too. Remember to take extra Peso's as the dolphins will do extra tricks with you if you pay the trainers direct. A fantastic photo opportunity.

Bicycles and mopeds - bikes are free, and mopeds are 8CUC for the first hour and then 6 CUC per hour after that. We used the bikes quite a bit (as I said earlier, we did get a bit bored). Go to Guardalavaca or the aquarium, or take the mopeds further afield. If you take some of your goodies with you take the time to stop and chat with the locals. As you are riding along they will come out and wave at you. They are so grateful for any item of clothing or toiletries.

Kayaks, pedaloes and Hobie Cats - all are free, take them out as far as you're allowed, which just about gets you to the reef by the wedding gazebo. If you're in a pedalo just jump in with your mask & snorkel!

Rooms - we stayed in 3526. We did email ahead with our Sol Melia reward number - but it did not work. However I got in the queue for check in straight away - and was able to request an upstairs room. They could not give me a corner one but I did get the only upstairs apartment in our whole group (15 persons). Upstairs rooms are definitely much better as we had no cat or spider problems unlike our ground floor friends!!

The only thing I think could make this resort better - is to keep the beach bar open at night. Even though the entertainment here is fantastic (as good as the Club Tropicana apparently!) you don't really want that amount of formality every night, to be honest it was really aimed at the older guests. We were lucky that with a group of 15 of us we could make our own beach parties. Ring room service for food and drink then get Raphael to drive you down - perfect! The security guys will catch you crabs or make you "grass"hoppers. The stars are beautiful, and a walk along the beach at night is so lovely.

Sparkmark, Barbaral and rosieh - you will have a ball!

Hi

Thanks for your trip report!

If you'd like to post a review for the hotel, you may do so HERE.

Many Thanks.

Pippy

I'm glad you enjoyed it Miss T! Three weeks until we get there (and counting!).

We've emailed the PRDO with dinner reservations for the A la Carte restaurants but they haven't replied. I've tried 2 email addresses,
paradisus.ro@solmeliacuba.com paradisus.rio.de.oro@solmelia.com

and quoted our MAS card number!

I guess we'll end up eating at 6.30 or 9.30 then!

Hello,
I am going on holiday in March 2006 to the Oro, does any one have any updates on the completion of the spa?
Thank you,
Debbie.

Hi Debbie

We returned from there last Thursday. It looked unlikely to me that the spa will be finished for at least a couple of months. The good thing is you wouldn't even realise there is any work going on, the only inconvenience is that the small path down to the "caleticas" beaches is closed. However if you ask one of the animation team - they will show the "new footpath"which runs around the back of the hotel and through part of the building site.

As I said - nothing looked anywhere near completion, but it is possible that they may ship in extra construction workers if they have a deadline to meet. Michael from animation said he thought that the building works should be complete by mid June.

Hope this helps!

Wish I was coming with you rosieh!

I did the same re emailing ahead, but got no reply and they said that they had not received the emails

However, we had no problems booking the restaurants at all. Just make sure you go to the booking desk as soon as you can. It's also worth noting that if there are just 2 of you - it's worth checking with the restaurant on the day as they quite often have cancellations. We didn't try it but a few of our friends did and they managed to squeeze into the mediterranean and the japanese on the day.

Have fun!

Miss T, I found another email address - I'll post it here for anybody else about to book:

mailto:jefe.rrpp.pro@solmeliacuba.com

and a lady called Mabel emailed me back to say they had already made my reservations. I must admit I don't like all this "booking ahead" business, but everyone else seems to so.... (just call me a sheep!!)

Will the spa ever be finished!? To be honest I was more interested in the caleticas, so thanks for the tip about another footpath. Are the caleticas nice beaches?

Miss T
Thanks for your info - most helpful.
We are most interested in the dolphin swim. I unfortunately get rather sick on boats - especially worth eh rum. Is the catamaran really choppy??
We have swam with the dolphins in Florida but Cuba seems soooooo much cheaper ( can you let me know what the sterling rate was you paid roughly, as I cant find a rate of exchange?)
Would two 9 year old boys be ok on this trip?
Which restaurant did you like the best. We have a birthday when we are there so I want to book the best one in advance.

Sooo looking forward to

Barbaral

at Xmas the exchange rate was approx 1.54 to £1.

The Japanese is probably the most spectacular, but therefore the most popular also!

thanks durhamlass!!

miss-T & ali47
Thanks for the great info Its ages away yet (july) but im really looking forward to it. sorry i havent be online sooner iv been working every hour of the day!
Gad you had a good time miss-t sounds like you all got out and about a fair bit!
I can see your point about the beach bar, where better to spend the night? A reall shame. Thanks for all the ideas, Havanna sounds great

Durhamlass... maybe you can confirm the latest update that I found on another forum:

*Edit to remove copyright material, please feel free to post a link instead. Pippy*

Durhamlass... have you been corresponding with the staff recently? Maybe you can find out whether this is going to be a "renovation" or still be a "demolition" as earlier thought? Thanks for any information on this

Gardengal

The way I understand it, the restaurant is too close to the shoreline and under Cuban law must be demolished and moved back.

Don't know timescale, but even if I did I am not sure it means much! we were told by several staff that spa would be open in late January and I understand that it is still not open!

Sorry Pippy Didn't know about copyright rules...
Here is the link:

http://debbiesreviews.proboards35.com/index.cgi?board=Cuba&action=display&thread=1140561769

Durhamlass.... thanks for your reply, the staff that we talked to in Nov05 also confirmed that the "Santa Maria" was to be relocated.... I just hope it is done by November 06 when we return... nothing beats sitting and watching the waves roll in, while enjoying a fabulous seafood meal and a cool Cuban beverage

Gardengal