We stayed in the villa section of this resort, gardens and beaches superb, the cleanliness was excellent, but the whole family had the ame opinion about the food, not enough for childrens taste. Too many flies in the restaurant, although ate mostly in the hotel dining room.

The 24 hour bar/grill was very good with pizzas, doughnuts, hotdogs and hamburgers and fries, although out of fries for 3 days!

The hotel was a bit far out for us to go anywhere, although excursions were available, disappointed with the dolphin trip, although being revamped nowhere near as good value for money as 2 years ago.

The hotel staff were very friendly and helpful nothing was too much trouble for them. the entertainment was very good as they we working very long hours for very little reward. The standards seem to have dropped a little from 2003 so we will try something new next year

Our group of friends travelled to Cuba for a wedding.

We stayed for one week and experienced a variety of wonderful excursions throughout our stay.

The hotel was very accomodating and ensured we were satisfied with our rooms (as the travel agent booked incorrectly) The hotel staff were very kind and very funny to be around. The entertainment was great(always around to visit after shows etc. and the beaches and scenery were fantastic.

We participated in the fantastic tour (catamaran and snorkeling) which was excellent, and also the champion tour which was a jeep tour, horseback riding and speed boats.

The champion tour was an excellent way to learn all about the history of Cuba, a great tour for early on in your trip as it will allow you a better understanding of Cuba and it's culture. The hotel did a fantastic job of setting up a beautiful wedding.

This was a wonderful experience and Brisas Guadalavaca, the hotel, it's location and staff made it that way. We plan to go back very soon!

First time in Cuba for Christmas & New Year. Upgraded room as soon as we arrived because the one we were allocated smelt damp. Shown 3 rooms and opted for 3rd floor ocean view.

The food was not particularly good and the best meal for me was breakfast. It was not until late into the first week that we discovered that the buffet restaurant in the Villas was better than the one in the hotel. Plenty of meat on offer but where were the potatoes and vegetables? Also the sweets were nothing to write home about but on the plus side you could always partake of pizza (not during the evening), hot dogs, burgers, fries etc and after several drinks from the 24 hour bar who cared!!

The room maids, bar staff, waiting staff and the entertainers at this hotel are first class but watch out for the reception staff who I believe ripped us off with money exchange and the cost of phone cards.

One word of warning if you telephone home from your room make it very brief, I made a call to one of my daughters and it cost me

The Brisas is a lovely complex and is very clean. The cleaners in the rooms were very friendly and some of the towel sculptures were amazing!

The food during the day can become a bit monotonous but, there is always a good variety so something for everyone, if not in the buffet restaurant, then in the 24 hour snack bar in the hotel.

The fish and Italian restaurants are very good and the service is fantastic - the waiting staff can't do enough for you. Book early though as you can only visit either once a week.

The location of the hotel is fine. You are directly on the sea front, you can hire bikes for free and there is a free train ride twice a week (ask at reception) which takes you to other villages etc. There are taxi's readily available should you want to go further afield.

All hotel staff were fantastic and a $1 tip means a lot. If you talk to the staff, you will find that they are very well educated and have given up their professions as they can earn more in the tourist industry with tips. Old clothes, pens and toiletries are also greatly welcomed!

That said, the water sports people were quite unhelpful. There are 2 centres, one on either end of the Brisas beach. The one at the villas was closed for a few days for no obvious reason, with the staff sat in the shade.

The entertainment at the hotel was much better than I was expecting. There will be a sheet placed in your room each week with that weeks entertainment and info about which themed nights are on in the buffet restaurants. The house band get tedious with the same set every night before the main show.

Rooms cleaned well, but hotel was advertised as 4 star more like 3.

Buffet in the evening was a bit hit or miss, but food in the 2 a la carte restaurants were quite good. Only main restaurant in hotel block was air conditioned & at this time of year Cuba is quite warm 7 very humid.

Location was a bit more out of the way than we realised.

Most of the staff were very friendly, helpful & made you feel very welcome. Reception / handyman were less so it took 3 visits & 4 calls to get them to fix wardrobe doors that were hanging off when we arrived, if I had my toolbox I could have done the job myself in 10 minutes.

Our Holiday place rep was non-existent, she was off ill for most of the 1 st week, only managed to speak to her just before transferring to Havana.

Entertainment was second rate & a bit hap hazard, but did a few sight seeing trips & these were quite good.

Overall good 3 star accommodation, need to work on the food & entertainment, most of the staff really helpful & pleasant, but need to sort out reception & the handyman.

Owning a chain of restaurants i feel i can give a good honest view of this hotel.
Rooms and Hotel very clean.
All Restaurant area seemed clean had cockroaches. Food very poor not kept at correct temp i.e salads and hot cooked food. Very poor ala carte restaurant recycled food from buffet & restaurant. Italian restaurant is of a very low standard. Lack of knowledge of cooking and basic food hygiene. We could not eat for two week due to food poisoning, so please make sure you check what you eat i.e fresh hot 63-75c or cold 3-5C

Bar staff drinks and service very good

Second to none location

Hotel staff good poor run reception

Entertainment very very very good

Both my husband and I developed upset stomachs shortly into the holiday. It persisted for the remainder of the two weeks.

Upon returning home my symptoms became much worse, so much so that I became seriously ill and was admitted to hospital for a week. The diagnosis.... Gastroenteritis-Salmonella.

Thomson have received my complaint and I am expecting to hear from them shortly...

We stayed at the Brisas villas as part of a twin centre holiday - first 3 days in santiago de cuba - great! - then travelled to the Brisas for the remaining 10 days. We had the villa rooms which I would advise as they are better than in the hotel.

The rooms we had were quite large, but basic, hit and miss with sky tv and shower (best to have shower before 6pm as no hot water or power after then, ok if you like cold showers!). The maid was good and always left a towel sculpture on the beds to the amusement of the children! The staff were always cleaning - cannot fault them.

There was a beach restaurant which we ate at nearly every lunchtime. The food was fresh when ordered, but limited in choice - nice view. It was a seafood restaurant at night, voucher from reception was needed for evening you can only eat here once a week.

Villa buffet restaurant. You could eat here at lunch and evening, but beware of the flies and the heat.

Hotel Italian restaurant. You have to get voucher from reception to eat here once a week, but nothing special (food was cold had to send back)

Main hotel buffet. Same as villas.

All food is imported in for the hotels and no chance of getting a flavour of cuba unless you went out - which like all islands is limited as you are mainly hotel based. The main buffet restaurant in the villa complex is o.k., theres a pasta man, a grill man and self serve food but if you are picky this is not the hotel for you.

In the main hotel pool bar you can get snacks like burgers, hot dogs, chips, pizzas, donuts, popcorn up to 11pm.

At the villas there was a games room with snooker table, table tennis and board games and 2 pools which were o.k. warning weather was very hot - 45 degrees every day - take lots of factor 30+ and t-shirts as the kids will burn, its very strong, there are no parasols and nowhere to shade in this complex be warned. My youngest was 7 and she spent 8 hours a day in the pool as it was the only cool place, with t-shirt and hat on, factor 60 slapped all over and still came back with a tan!.

Advise you to take more suncream than usual. Better to put a 20+ on two or three times a day and tan than be silly and use below because you will end up looking like a lobster, being sore and peel! Kids need 60 block. Saw some nasty burning going on. The weather can be deceiving as theres a bit of breeze from the beach.

Would not take kids under 6 as it is too hot and uncomfortable in the summer months.

Hotel staff only get 20 dollars a month so you find if you tip them a dollar for good service they remember you! We left most of the tipping till the end of the holiday and left toiletries and a few clothes which were appreciated.

Entertainment - what entertainment?

All in all I would like to come back to Cuba again but stay in a 5 star hotel as the ratings in cuba are not like home we all expected a bit more luxury than what we got here - the Brisas is more like a 3*star - ok but not the 4*star we booked.

I went to Cuba with my sister and 2 friends in July.

The hotel was lovely. We arrived very late at night/ first thing in the morning but the staff were very helpful and got us booked in quickly. We had some issues with rooms to start off with (we were put in villas and our 2 friend were right over the other side of the complex), but this was sorted out by our rep by midday on our first day there.

The rooms were fairly basic, but lovely and clean with plenty of wardrobes etc. Bathroom was large with all mod cons. We had a lovely view from our villa of the sea.

The hotel was absolutely spotless, and the rooms were cleaned every day without fail. The maids were lovely and friendly, as were all the staff.

On our first day we went to the hotel buffet restaurant, a gentleman told us the food was awful, but we found out that this was incorrect. The food was absolutely fine, I guess it

The hotel as with many properties in Cuba is in need of repainting especially on the exterior. Some of the shabby furnishings in the public areas are also in need of replacing. That said the hotel was spotless and the staff with the exception of the nautical team were first rate. The hotel food is repetative but you can always find something you like. The specially fish and Italian restaurants are at best average. Enetratinment is OK but nothing special apart from the water ballet. Although the hotel is four star I think it only deserves a three star rating.