Tracy!

Welcome home!!! Glad you have a good holiday.....what didn't meet your expectations?

Karen xx

Hi Karen,

As i said it was just small things like at night, there wasn't enough bar tenders so it could take over 10 minutes to get served. The buffet restaurant i thought was pretty poor for a 5 star resort. The selection of food was fine but most of the time the food was only just warm - never hot. You could get chicken or steak cooked to order but who can be bothered to stand around waiting in 90 degree plus temperatures. I also think the restaurant should be enclosed and airconditioned - sometimes it was unbearably hot and there is a serious problem with flies and birds - especially around the bread and the dessert sections. Thankfully the al a carte restaurants were great and we ate in those for 9 of our 14 nights.

There are plans this year to refurbish the beach restaurant that serves lunches only and then the swimming pool. i really think they should also do something with the main buffet restaurant. The buffet restaurant at the Sol Luna resort next door is air conditioned and I really think the one at what is supposed to be Sol's top hotel should also have AC.

For anyone going to Cuba soon I would reccommend a very stong insect repllent as there are loads of mozzies around at the moment.

Tracy

Hi tracy, glad you had a good time we're off to the paradisus on 1st july just wondered if you thought tipping got you better service if so how much and if you thoght it was necesary Did you go on any of the excursions i.e dolphins and havana Weve heard they re not value for money Any comments would be great
Thanks Nige & Nic

Hi,

Tipping. In a word you have to do it to get good service at the bar. We tipped one barman and one waitress every night and received great service - especially from the waitress who would get us fresh drinks before our glasses were even empty. Unfortunately they both finished thier shifts at 11pm and the service after then was usually pretty bad. We tipped here and there but I actually like tipping for good service not in order to get good service. The service in all the restaurants, even the buffet was very good - and they were tipped accordingly.

Swimming with the Dolphins is 69CUC - a lot of people said it was very rushed and you were only in the water for 15 mins. The place they do the swimming with Dolphins is only a 10-15 stroll away from paradisus and we walked there (you can watch the dolphin shows etc without paying to go in) and I was dismayed at the small pens they were kept in and therefore I will not sanction these places with my custom and I would urge others to do the same. They say they are refurbishing the main tanks but these have been closed for well over a year and no work is being done on they at all so I guess thats just an excuse and they continue to cash in on people desire to swim with these wonderful creatures to the animals detriment.

Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now, I just hate to see animals kept in such places.

Tracy

Hi we are going 1st of july with first choice.We are actually travelling star class premier and wondered if you'd done the same?If so,can you tell us if it was worth paying the extra?
Also we have heard mixed review's about the al acarte restaurants.Was it a problem to book as we have been told it get's booked up very quickly.Apart from the noise of the building work,did it interfere with any other aspect's of your stay.
We are thinking of taking around 500 pound's with us either in sterling or traveller's cheques.Do you think that is adequate for the two week's we are there?We have a lloyds visa and a mint credit card,do you know if we will have any probelm's using these?
Thanks.Helen and Chris

PS.Was the wine any good????????

Hiya tracy
Thanks for the info, much appreciated We might be back to you if we think of anything else
Cheers Nige &Nic.

Hi Helen and Chris,

Sorry we flew in regular star class not premier which i thought was actually better than other airlines premier cabins. I am glad we didn't bother to upgrade as it didn't take too long to check in at either end (15 mins at LGW and 30 mins at HOG. We had friends in premier on our flight and they said the service and the food (which was different from ours) was very good.

I thought the al a carte restaurants were in fact very good and had good meals in all of them. i made our reservations the morning after we arrived. There always seems to be a queue to make reservations when the desk opens at 9am but at 1.30-2.00 it is was empty.

Only thing the contruction work affects is that you no longer can walk to the 3 private beaches, but what a lot of people don't seem to know is that the hotel runs a bus service there on the hour. The driver will pick you up at about 10 past the hour - just tell him when you want to return and pick you up.

We also took £500 in cash and actually brought back £375. Spent a bit at the airport on t-shirts, coffee and rum and the rest went on tips. Your mint card is definitely OK and I suspect the Llyods one is as well.

I was acyually plesantly surprised by the wine as i thought it would be terrible. The white we used to drink is the restaurants was a spanish chardonnay called Nord-est. I usually detest chardonnay but it was quite light, dry and crisp. The rose was a spanish light merlot and the chilian cabernet was the better of the reds. I did try a sauvingnon blanc which tasted like cats pee so i would avoid that. The spanish cava was OK, apart from it got a bit acidic after a while.

Hope this helps.

Tracy

Thanks for your info,we found it very helpful.If I think of any thing else to ask,I'll be in touch if that's ok.Looking forward to our holiday,will let you know how it went.
Thanks once again.
Helen and Chris

Hi Tracey, did you happen to get a close up view of the area that they have their weddings in please? I have seen it from the sea and it looks beautiful.
Ellie

Hi we are travelling next week and can't find out what travellers cheques we can take.
I was advised at TSB to take american express in Dollars??????????? Even I know that's no good....
Somewhere else told me to take all cash sterling...but I don't want to take too much cash. I have a TSB visa and Nat West debit card does anyone know if these are OK to use?
Can anyone help???

Kazzy, don't take travellers cheques, as you will not be able to change them anywhere except at a bank - and there isn't one that near paradisus. We took all cash as had no problems - just kept it in our free hotel safe.

I think your credit cards are OK but remember you cannot withdraw cash with them as there are no ATM's in Cuba.

Ellie,

we did see the wedding gazebo - it wasn't that far from our room and saw lots of weddings - there usually was at least one a day and sometimes there was 3 ! It did look lovel.The hotel provide a horse and carriage for the bridge and then the bride and groom and everyone seemed very happy.

Tracy

Hiya tracy .Off to buy some travel adaptors for our trip to the paradisus(only three weeks to go ).Just wondering wether we we need flat or round pins .Also is the voltage is the same
We fancy going scuba diving,can you give us any info on that

Thanks, Nige&Nic

Hi Nige and Nic,

Sorry can't be too much help about the adapters - we never took anything that needed plugging in. Some Cuban hotels use US pins some use European. The best thing I would say is to take an adapter that you can convert from one to the other - I got mine in boots I think.

As for the diving, the scuba shop is along the beach in between the Luna and the Mares and seems to be well run. We had dinner with some people who have been the last 3 years and dive with them every day.

Tracy

Hiya tracy .Thanks once again for the info.Iam Sure we will think of something else before we go.
Cheers Nige&Nic.

hi trace, i hear there is a large selection of ladies drinks at the bar and the bailys is not the real thing is this the case.

Enjoyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Hi Steve,

that's because I'm a lady, or maybe that's Dave !

Hope You're both well.

tracy

we are in the process of booking a holiday in cuba next january going to guardalavaca hotel paradisus rio de oro
for 10 days then going to Havana for 3 days at the sevilla could anyone please tell me if you had or know anyone who has been before I will be going with my husband and our son who is 18 and daughter who is 17 oh yes they want to come with i am glad to say

Well after much discussion we have finally booked the Paradisus - wasn't sure whether to go to Dom Rep (as I fancy Whale watching) Cuba or Mexico!

In the end decided to go with the one that first took my eye.

Really looking forward to going, off in Jan 2006 booked with Eclipse direct and have upgraded the flights to their premium service. I have been on holiday with Eclipse before and found them very good.

Just a question (or two)- does anyone know how long the building works are due to carry on for and what are they actually doing?

We have booked a normal room and asked for a quiet room pref with a sea view, does anyone know what the suites are like?

What about a web site or an email address?

Sure I will think of more questions!!

Hi, there are no standard sea view rooms as the 'normal' junior suites are located not on the edge of the property. There are superior junior suites that are nearer the sea, but not really much of a sea view - they are located in a forest area so mozzies may be more of an issue. All of the rooms are quiet so you won't have any problems. We had one quite near the building work and never heard a thing.

They are building a new spa facility and it was due to open late 2005 but I beleive this has now been delayed to 2006 (January i think) so you may be lucky and it will be open, it not it won't impinge on your enjoyment of the resort.
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