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Brisas Guardalavaca 09/26/01
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
My husband and I, and our two teen boys (16 and 14) vacationed at the Brisas Guardalavaca resort in Cuba from August 11 to 18, 2001.
FLIGHT
We flew with Air Transat from Montreal and landed on time at the Holguin Airport. For some reason that I still don't understand, we had to wait at least 15 minutes in the plane before getting off because they were checking papers or something. When we finally got off the plane, there were so many people (security guards, military police, etc.) watching us going in the airport that it was almost frightening. Getting through customs took a little while, but it went pretty well. We then proceeded to meet our Air Transat Vacations representative so she could tell us which bus we had to take to the resort. The trip to the resort was very interesting.
CHECK-IN
We arrived at the resort in about 1 hour and 10 minutes. The lobby area was very beautiful, very big and immaculate. They offered us a glass of non-alcoholic punch upon arrival which was very nice because it was so hot. Check-in was the longest one I have ever experienced in my life. We arrived a bus full of people and there was only one clerk at the reception and let me tell you that this woman won't die of a heart attack due to stress. After waiting for quite a while, one of the bellboys decided to give her a helping hand and things finally started to go a little faster.
ROOM
The resort is divided into two sections - the hotel section (3*) and the villas section (4*). We had a room on the ground floor of the villas section near the pool. The room was a bit musty when we got in but that problem was solved rather quickly by opening the patio door for a little while. Your room key is a card which opens the door and which turns on the electricity when you insert it in the slot next to the door. The bad thing about that is that when you leave the room and take your key, the air conditioning and the fridge turn off as well. So when you come back, the musty smell returns and it is quite hot in your room. To remedy the situation, just go to the reception desk and ask for a second key then leave it in the slot but please be considerate enough to turn off all the lights since they have this system in order to save electricity. But apart from that, the room was spotless and very large. Every day, the maid would create something wonderful with the towels on the bed. Once it was two big hearts decorated with a nice red flower and once she made two swans and put the kids' baseball caps on their heads. It was very funny. The bathroom was quite big compared to what we are usually accustomed to and had ceramic tiles from ceiling to floor and was always cleaned thoroughly every day. Don't forget to bring facecloths. They don't have them there. As for the beds, they were very comfortable but the pillows are way too thin. If you ask them for more pillows, they will be more than happy to bring them to you.
PERSONNEL
Wonderful from the start. When the bellboy took us to our room, he asked us over and over if we needed anything else to make our stay more pleasant. He offered us more towels, more pillows and anything else he could think of. Cubans are warm, gentle, sociable and very likeable people but they are very shy when you tip them or give them little gifts. However, you can see the happiness on their faces when they receive something (tip or gift) and know you appreciate what they do for you. They love being photographed. All and all, everyone was very nice and polite.
WEATHER
We had the most wonderful weather all week. It rained twice - once during the evening for about 10 minutes and once from 11:00 p.m. through the night. It was extremely hot every day and we were glad that it was a bit windy on the beach because the heat would have been unbearable. Bring lots of sunscreen, you're going to need it.
LANDSCAPING
The landscaping is absolutely exquisite. Everything is immaculate. They have a bush shaped like a sofa and one shaped like a basket that are just wonderful to look at. There are also some of the most beautiful flowers all around the resort. It is a photographer's delight. All in all, we took about 200 photographs of the grounds, pools, resort and beach. On the villas side, there are all these beautiful sidewalks that take you to the beach with beautiful palm trees everywhere.
POOLS
There are two pools. One on the villas side and one on the hotel side. They are both quite big and they both have a pool bar. The hotel pool is deeper than the villas pool and is more lively because all the daily activities are held there. It is noisier than the villas side. They are both very well kept. However, be careful. The tiles around the pools can be quite slippery.
BEACH
The beach is absolutely gorgeous! It is quite long with very fine white sand. We never had any problems finding four chairs any time of the day. The water colours (blues, greens) are absolutely breathtaking. You can walk in the water for at least 600 feet before the water level reaches your waist. There are however some sea urchins. So be careful. By nightfall, there is a lot of seaweeds on the beach but I think it is raked every night because there are none to be seen in the morning. There are also a lot of security guards all along the beach and around the resort so you can feel secure any time of the day or night.
BARS
There are maybe five bars (including two pool bars). There might be more but I wouldn't know since we are not drinkers. There is also a coffee shop which offers cappuccino, espresso and other coffees but it is not always open. I believe it opens for the evening around dinner time and is located in the hotel next to the Italian restaurant.
FOOD
There are two buffet restaurants, two specialty restaurants and one snack bar. The buffet restaurant in the hotel section is opened for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food is quite bland and very repetitive. Selection and variety is not very impressive either. On certain days, they served the same thing for lunch and dinner except for maybe changing one of the salads. The soup was always very good though. The buffet restaurant on the villas section is only opened for breakfast and dinner. The food was a little bit more tasty but again taste, variety and selection left a little to be desired. As an example, they offered paella and pizza the whole seven nights we were there. Since they only deal with Canada, Mexico and Spain to get their produce, don't expect a great variety in vegetables and fruits. As for the two specialty restaurants, one was Italian and the other seafood. We didn't go to the latter because we don't like seafood but you can also have à la carte breakfast and lunch there (light menu) which we did do on a few occasions. I would say it was pretty good. We made reservations for the Italian restaurant and we were absolutely amazed at the quality and flavour of the food compared to what we had been eating all week. The portions were very abundant and everything was of very high quality. We had filet mignon as the main course and it was incredible. We were only allowed to go once to each specialty restaurant during the week but we exchanged our seafood card to go back to the Italian restaurant a second time. The snack bar is supposed to be open 24 hours a day and serves hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, grilled cheese and tuna sandwiches. But don't count on it really being opened 24 hours a day. On two occasions, the kids went to get a snack at about one in the morning and were told that it was closed. Anyway, to sum up, we were all very disappointed with the food. My kids are two very skinny big eaters and they love to eat all the time. We were barely in the middle of our vacation and already at mealtimes, they were saying "Don't tell me we have to go eat again!" There were even a few lunches that they didn't want to eat at all and skipped them altogether. However, when we came back and informed our travel agent that we had been displeased with the food, we were told that since they do not receive merchandise on a regular basis, they sometimes have to make due with what they have and try to stretch it until they receive their next delivery. I think that is what must have happened because the night before we left, we had the best dinner at the buffet restaurant that we had all week and the selection and variety was a lot better. So if you go, you might get lucky if the food we had the last night is any indication of the quality and variety of food you can get at this resort.
ENTERTAINMENT
Absolutely wonderful. Every night they had a band called NBL which played some Latin music for about an hour. They were great! So great that we bought their CD. I didn't think my teenagers, who usually listen to alternative music, would like it but, surprisingly enough, some nights, the 16-year-old would tell us to hurry up because he didn't want to miss the show (which was sometimes on the hotel side and sometimes on the villas side). After the band, there was always some kind of show involving the audience and it was always hilarious. The thing I found most impressive is that the host of the evening was always multilingual. So every night he/she would ask where people came from and spoke in all the languages of the people vacationing there. So when explaining rules for audience participation, he/she would speak Spanish, English, French, Italian and German. Absolutely incredible and fantastic since we are French Canadian and my kids don't understand English all that much. The entertainment staff was always full of energy and they were very lively and funny.
TIPS
When meeting our Air Transat representative the afternoon we arrived, he told us that we had to tip the personnel (maids, waiters, etc.). We were very surprised about this since we were told that an all-inclusive vacation includes everything (even the tips). He suggested we tip 10% to 15%. We then asked him 15% of what? Since it is all-inclusive, we don't get a bill after each meal. He then responded that we should give them $1 to $3 depending on what and how much we ate. To me this is not an all-inclusive package. The purpose of an all-inclusive is that you can leave your wallet at home (of course I know that nobody does that). What I found surprising though is that they even had a container for you to leave some tip at the two souvenir shops. When you go to the convenience store at home or to a boutique to buy some clothes, do you tip the clerk? I don't think so.
CONCLUSION
All in all it was a wonderful vacation. If it hadn't been for the food, it would have been a perfect vacation. If you want a vacation with a great beach, breathtaking ocean, lots of sunshine, wonderful landscaping, nice and warm people and lots of activities, this is the place. I don't regret one minute of my trip because I spent these moments with the people I love most in the world and if this is what you want and food is not a primary factor in your choice of a vacation, then go for it. You won't regret it.
Monique B.
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