We found the layout and location of this hotel excellent.

Its definately a well thought out hotel and its very clean and well presented. various restaurants however be warned, the brochures claim the buffets style restaurants are open for lunch and tea, they are not. The food is adequate but can be be lukewarm at best sometimes. They have yet to appreciate what a hot meal is all about. There is not a lot of choice for children in all restaurants except hot dogs and burgers ! The pizzeria is very slow.

Some staff are great but others treat the English like dirt, especially if they dont tip EVERY time they get served. The staff expect payments each time they serve you.

No entertainment daily but nights are great. Beer is good quaility and you wont go without a hangover or two. Pools are very clean.

Rio Sol Luna & Mares

Beautiful location, on our visit we had the pleasure of the builders (minor painting work as advised by travel company) building 2 large internal complexs between sites.

The food was luke warm or stone cold. Restuarants over crowded at lunch time as they only opened one buffet at lunch time, on the Mares complex.

Staff were very rude and would ignore you if you stood at the bar. They all seem to hate their jobs and treated you as an inconvience. I will never return to Cuba based on the experiences in an around this complex.

The Havana overnight trip is well worth the money (even if it is just get out of Luna & Mares for two days)

This hotel is fabulous. It is really clean, the staff, with only a couple of exceptions are fantastic, the beach is postcard perfect, the pool is great, I could go on and on but I won't!

We arrived at 10pm Cuban time and my kids were exhausted, but check in was very quick and efficient with a nice cold drink waiting for us which was very welcome.

The room in all honesty wasn't really big enough for 4, but all we did there was sleep and shower so it wasn't a really big deal for us. They did offer to move us to the Luna side, to a slightly bigger room but after we went and looked around over there we decided to stay at the Mares as it just felt nicer.

The Colon buffet restaurant is great, Liselle does the majority of the cooking on the grill and she is lovely. Special mentions to Victoria, Jula and Raphael too, all of whom went out of their way to look after us, whether we left a tip or not!

The variety of food is good, lots of seafood, fruit and cheeses, always some pasta and freshly cooked pork, chicked, fish and occasionally beef. The food that is pre cooked however tended to be quite cold if you ate after 7pm.

The entertainment team are really hard working, and good fun, be warned, they don't like to take no for an answer lol.

The pool is a great size with a swim up bar which is lovely.

The views from all areas of the Mares are fabulous.

The hotel is quite isolated, you can take a taxi to Guardelevaca for around $4 or a horse and carriage for around $12, the outdoor market there is very cheap and has lots of little bits for souvenirs, not much else to do though we found.

I would definitely recommend this hotel to anybody, you can do as much or as little as you wish in the fabulous surroundings that is Cuba.

The hotel we stayed in was nice. We stayed in Luna part which was the better out the two.
The hotel was very clean, and so was our room, the main problem with our room was that we constantly got ants and the patio door did not lock, but the security around the hotel was good.

We managed to get a meal one night on the beach which was lovely, and the staff were excellent.

The italian was a let down and the staff were not that helpful, and the food was OK.

The pools were very nice and big!

The only thing which I would warn you about is the water/food. Because there's so many different minerals etc in the water and food then in the UK, afew people had a tummy bug! I had mine for 9 days and I hardly eat anything the second week! Make sure you take enough pharmacy things, as if you go the doctors on site, its very expensive! One bloke paid

This is the fith time I had been to this hotel and I could not believe how bad it had become. I met my husband here (he used to work at the hotel) and at first it was wonderful but unfortunatly it has gone downhill.

We experienced constant water leaking into our rooms (we changed rooms twice) whenever it rained, not healthy when you have a two year old. The maid even said all the rooms had the same problem, despite the hotel just being refurbished!

The food was plain and boring and not much choice, considering this was meant to be a 4* and was much better the previous years.

The staff are the only people worth going for otherwise I would suggest another hotel, it doesn't even deserve the now 3* + rating it has due to the amount of problems we had.

My family and I stayed in this hotel last August for 2 weeks. We stayed on the Mares side which comprises of very large pool with a swim up bar and a 24hr bar.

Eating.
Both sides have buffet restuarants and a la carte menus. The a la carte restuarants have to be booked on the day you want to go to them but before 12. We didnt try these as i never know what i fancy for dinner at lunchtime!? There is a lovely poolside restaurant that does beautiful toasted tuna sandwichs andpizzas for the kids. We spent a few days going to this as it had a very varied menu. This place doubles up as a mexican restuarant in the evenings and then at 12am it turns into 24hr cafe. The food overall was very varied. The flambed deserts were out of this world and the cook to order meat and fish in the buffet restuarant although a little bit samey were excellent.

Resort.

Situated in the resort of playa Esmerelda, there are 3 hotels within very close proximity and all with a stunning beach. White sand and turquise waters with a reef about 100m out to sea. Plenty of umbrellas and sunbeds. There is also water sports down here with diving and canoes etc. Taxis are plentiful as is a horse and cart our front which is very cheap but i felt very stressed about using this as it was so hot there. You are approximately 5 minutes drive away from Guardalavaca Village.

Money.

Everything in Cuba is purchased in American $. Take plenty of 1$ bills with which to tip the waiters and waitresses and barmen. Little gifts of soap, shampoo, pens and colouring books are greatly appreciated as it is expensive in CUba for things like these. The Cuban people are very friendly. They work very hard for little money. In the Village there is a small market where locals sell their wares. Wood carvings are amazing, i bought a carved hand and i love it!

Excursions.

We did only 2 excursions. The dolphins and the catarmaran. The dolphins were wonderful. My kids (9,10) loved it so much they both cried and were completely overcome. The dolphins are so gentle and intelligent. They physically pick people up by their feet and the people walk on water. Its amazing and the kids are always talking about it even now.
The catarmaran was also excellent with a stop off for lunch in a typical outdoor cuban restuarant. I had lobster which was delicious but i know hubby was very unnerved to see chickens walking at his feet while he was sinking his teeth into the leg of one of their cousins!

Entertainment.

The kids club was great. The people who ran it were very attentive to the kids and the kids in turn loved them! They do archery, shell designs, dancing, water games they just go along with them all day and genuinely seem to be enjoying themselves. There are organised games in both pools each afternoon. Participants on winning teams get certificates. A REAL winner with kids! The cocktails in the bars are amazing and the bar staff take real pride in them. The amination crew work very very hard and their shows were always a delight to watch.


Summary.

Cuba is a wonderful unspoilt paradise with great and friendly people. The beaches are amazing and i would stay in this resort or even just in Cuba again in a heartbeat. Hope you all find this interesting.