Veradero?

[gmc72]

Wife and I are thinking of taking a trip to Veradero. We both have never been and are wondering what it is like.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks

[vengie]

We took our family.
We liked it.
Cuba is very poor.

Stay in a 5star.
Complaints about food are overblown (I'm not picky)
Beaches are amazing

[eblend]

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We took our family.
We liked it.
Cuba is very poor.

Stay in a 5star.
Complaints about food are overblown (I'm not picky)
Beaches are amazing

This basically sums it up. The cheaper the hotel, the higher the concentration of drunk Russians.

[danno]

I’ve been, can’t remember where we stayed but it was fine other than a freezing cold pool till 11-12.

All my friends wanted to do the Ernest Hemingway tour in Havana, and did the Tropicana show at the end of the day.
I was not excited, but found it to be a fun day in the end. 6am on the bus and back at the resort at 3am or so.

[killramos]

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We took our family.
We liked it.
Cuba is very poor.

Stay in a 5star.
Complaints about food are overblown (I'm not picky)
Beaches are amazing

This echoes my experience though I haven’t been in probably a decade, not convinced that place changes much.

[gmc72]

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I’ve been, can’t remember where we stayed but it was fine other than a freezing cold pool till 11-12.

All my friends wanted to do the Ernest Hemingway tour in Havana, and did the Tropicana show at the end of the day.
I was not excited, but found it to be a fun day in the end. 6am on the bus and back at the resort at 3am or so.

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We took our family.
We liked it.
Cuba is very poor.

Stay in a 5star.
Complaints about food are overblown (I'm not picky)
Beaches are amazing

We probably would not be leaving the resort. Looking at all of our options right now.

Thanks.

[03ozwhip]

Literally just talked to a friend 10 minutes ago about varadero since he's been at least 5 times. He isn't picky but has said his family brings their own suitcase full of food.

Also echoing that if you stay in a 5 star(3 star max anywhere else) and you're expecting a 5 star, don't bother. Go for the beach and the people and nothing else and you'll love it, go for good food, you'll never go again.

I've been deciding on Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba type places under 6k for the 3 of us and from what I'm told, Cuba can be had well under that, but my friend basically solidified me not going there.

[taemo]

We are going there later in April, staying at Iberostar Selection Varadero.

Haven't made any plans or high expectation, just want to go somewhere warn where the little one can enjoy swim. Will update this thread how it is when we are back.

Didn't feel like going to Mexico or Jamaica, Hawaii was tempting but figured we wanted to just relax, go AIC and not spend too much money as we are also going to Japan later this fall.

[gmc72]

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Literally just talked to a friend 10 minutes ago about varadero since he's been at least 5 times. He isn't picky but has said his family brings their own suitcase full of food.

Also echoing that if you stay in a 5 star(3 star max anywhere else) and you're expecting a 5 star, don't bother. Go for the beach and the people and nothing else and you'll love it, go for good food, you'll never go again.

I've been deciding on Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba type places under 6k for the 3 of us and from what I'm told, Cuba can be had well under that, but my friend basically solidified me not going there.

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

We are going there later in April, staying at Iberostar Selection Varadero.

Haven't made any plans or high expectation, just want to go somewhere warn where the little one can enjoy swim. Will update this thread how it is when we are back.

Didn't feel like going to Mexico or Jamaica, Hawaii was tempting but figured we wanted to just relax, go AIC and not spend too much money as we are also going to Japan later this fall.

Thanks. We are going at the end of March. My wife has been to Cuba before and said that the food was MEH, so not expecting much there. Just want a place to sit on the beach, by the pool and relax. This all helps, thanks.

[vengie]

Bring toiletries and other hygiene items as "gifts".
This in many cases is preferred over tips.

With the embargo's, access to these things for locals is difficult.
Goes a long way.

[94CoRd]

Just returned from Cuba early February; stayed at the Iberostar Selection Varadero. We picked Cuba because we wanted an all inclusive, Mexico was insanely expensive, and Cuba fit the budget.

The food was really good. I did read about food shortages prior to going, but I don't believe the resorts, at least ours was not affected. There was something to eat for everyone in our family, albeit, we did not see any beef during our 7 days there. Mostly fish, pork and chicken. The baked goods were phenomenal.

The beach was way nicer than anything I remember being at in Mexico. White sand, and if there's no wind, the ocean felt more like a swimming pool. The staff were exceptional. Always treated us very well and our toddlers appreciated the extra attention at the a la carts.

I would go back to Cuba (Varadero) before Mexico I think, if there was some way around connecting through Toronto. Pearson was the worst part of the vacation.

EDIT: Echo what vengie said. We took a bunch of Dollar store toiletries for tipping the maids. They were very receptive. I would also suggest (if you can) taking any clothes you'd donate here, down to Cuba. We ended up giving some of our toddler's clothes, which wouldn't fit her this summer to some of the maintenance staff. They were beyond grateful.