Loved your pictures and review Lyn, I'm thinking the same that I'll never beat it..It was everything I imagined paradise to be and I'm hoping my holiday to the Dom Rep at Christmas will just be as good, but once you've had perfection can it ever be matched? Maybe we were spoilt and I'm wishing now we'd booked to go back to Cuba instead of DM but I guess if we don't try these other places we'll never know.

I've also been doing lot's of looking today at various prices . I cant seem to find anything with as good reviews that comes anywhere near the price for SRLM .Admittidly i've only looked at DR & cuba but I wont setle for anything less or we will go back to Turkey . Then again the prices are even higher for what we want .

Fantastic photos Lyn
That's us decided - maybe see you there !

Have you done your review yet Lesley . Looks like's there's a new one showing not approved yet (unless it's mine still)
and getting excited with anticipation that you have been hard at work this morning fingers banging away on that keyboard .

Lyn, you know me too well Yes, just awaiting approval. It is probably not very exciting as I found it hard to add anything new.
Noticed there are photos on TA of a new room and they may all be refurbished. Might have to return quickly before the price rockets!

starry, your review has now been approved. Thanks for that.

luci

Great review lesley .One thing I didnt ask you was what side you stayed in .Did you have a nice view .

Would you go back next year . ? I've just looked at those room update pictures and sounds like they are doing them all .I don't think that would effect my choice of whether to go back next year but if we leave it until the year after like you i'm worried the price will start shooting up .It won't take the tour operators long to cotton on they it's become very popular.

My other consideration would be getting back before the American embargo is lifted which I don't suppose will be long considering Castro isnt in the best of health. No doubt as soon as he goes cuba will become the next cancun ,(not that I've ever been to cancun), money will flood in along with half of America. It won't ever be the same again . I sort of feel we need to make the most of it and I'm gutted now we didnt go to Havana . With 6 of us I put the cost first (which at £1800 for us all) we couldnt afford . In hindsight I should of dumped it on the nearest credit card and worried about it later . I've been told it was hotter & more humid there though than in resort .

lyn x

We were on the Luna side, furthest block 8000. It had a side sea view but nothing compared to your pics

Hubby says he definitely wants to visit Havana next time. Not sure I would want the extra travelling in the middle of the holiday and it would almost certainly be too hot and humid for me. When we were returning from a trip on a Saturday evening there were about 50 locals on the side of the road waiting to get a lift back into Holguin. The tour rep said it is so hot in the city that everyone tries to get to the beaches at the weekend. I don't blame them and thought it was nice to see local families enjoying the beach. I kept wondering though, how long it took them to get home!

You found my pictures then Lesle .
You must of been close to the French restaurant and 24 hr snck bar then .

I also enjoyed seeing the cubans on the beach of a weekend .They all looked a darn sight happier than us and we were on our holidays. The boys were playing football with a little cuban lad for a while one afternoon and it was very heartwarming .

One morning there was a group of cubans coming down the hotel path that i'm assuming they are allowed to use carrying on a big board above their heads a humungous pig (cooked of course) .I asked the security guard if it was for the hotel and he said "no very large cuban family on the beach " and that was their food for the day . Dave laughed and said what a sucker I am and he was having me on but I like to think he was telling me the truth .

There's a good chance that he was telling the truth! The extended family is alive and well in Cuba - I've long learnt that there's no point in trying to keep track of who's who when I stay with families in Cuba and that's before you get to all the honorary aunties and uncles etc. And even in the towns, many families raise pigs - up on the flat roofs along with the chickens! So if the family had a big 'do' coming up (family celebrations often do centre on a beach picnic because no one has a house big enough to accomodate everybody who'll expect to be invited) there is a good chance that someone acquired a piglet and built a pen up on the roof for it and everybody who was likely to be invited will have contributed to feeding it up with scraps. It was probably slaughtered up on that roof to - don't ask! Think of the film 'A Private Function' and you'll start to get the idea.

Pork is very much a staple meat and a whole pig done on a spit over an open fire or in a fire pit, is a popular celebratory meal - and I can vouch for how delicious it can be. And the pig arguably had a better life up on someone's roof being petted and fed a constant diet of titbits by all the kids, than one reared in an intensive indoor shed. Bit don't ever be fooled into thinking that Cubans keep pigs as pets - it's only a pet until it's big enough to eat.

SM

Thanks for that explaination Sma . That's very interesting .

There was a lot of comotion & people around watching them and all the guys carrying it looked very excited so I bet you are right .

The hotel do a hog roast around the pool every week and although it was much smaller it certainly was delicious .Just wasnt a pretty sight looking at that piglet on the end of such a huge spike .

Thanks for your review Lesley. I am all set to book for next July
Just wondering if you or Lyn noticed if they cater for veggies in the a la cartes - not for me but daughters are true veggies !

Hi Lally,
I am sure they would look after your daughter in the a la cartes. For example in the Romantica restaurant, it was a set meal. I mentioned that I do not eat meat (I do, but prefer fish) and they cooked me a lovely local fish. I am sure they would come up with something vegetarian for her.

A good idea would be to email beforehand. I did this to inform them that my son had a nut allergy. All the a la cartes are pre-booked for you. They alerted all the a la carte restaurants of this (then of course he made friends and wanted to eat with them in the buffet and I had to cancel his reservations!)

Seemed to be plenty of veggie choice in the buffet.

Hi again
Thanks for that
I know they'll be fine in the buffet but didn't fancy being sat in the A La cartes bymyself or even worse with them sat there with nothing to eat !! I will e mail them but its good to know they will accomodate requests
forgot to say earlier , but glad you had a great time
Lynne

As lesley says Lynne I'm sure they will be only too happy to prepare her something should there not be anything suitable. They really are eager to please there and genuinely want you to have a wonderful holiday

many of the recent reviews elsewhere mention an excellent customer relatations lady named wendy whom people seemed to be emailing ahead as she goes that extra bit . she seems to lay on loads of extra surprises , & meals if you have a birthday /anniversary so I'm sure she will help with the a la cartes too if needed .

Thanks all

Hi
Just to say I took the plunge today and booked for next July
Lally

Well done Lally, I'm sure you will have a wonderful time!

Thank You ! Only 331 sleeps