Arenas Blancas Varadero

I went to Veradero, Cuba for the first time with my family. It was great for the young ones the guys there are HOT I love Cuban Men! They people there were awesome, great service, food was ok, But the Fruit was great that all I ate there. For the ladies bring your own hair dryer, especially if u have curly hair like I have. What else bring extra money for the "discos" there one called havana great club for the 18- mid 20's. Also take the trip to Havana its great I loved it there and Buy BUY BUY some things from Cuba in the markets trust me if you don't u will regreat it. But yeah it was great for all ages. Be ready to tip for graditude, u tip here why not there? its not that bad $1 is good. And for the guys all the ladies that work there is a MUST to wear mini skirts and I mean mini. Ok well have fun. I know you will!

My husband and I just returned from our 3rd visit to Arenas Blancas and we cant wait to return again! We are in our early 50s and have travelled widely in the Caribbean, Central America and Europe, so we have lots of resorts and experiences to compare Arenas Blancas with:Some of our criteria for a good beach resort are: relaxed atmosphere, comfort, cleanliness, amenities, friendliness of staff, safety, food and food hygiene, plus a great beach where you can walk for miles, and of course, value for money! Arenas Blancas meets every criteria listed plus some! And there are not enough adjectives to describe the wonderful people who work there. Theyre all so incredibly welcoming, sociable and so genuine. After three visits weve got to know many of them and theyve become like close family.FoodFrom some of the reviews weve read and from some questions weve received from people wanting info on Arenas Blancas (following our review last year) food may have been an issue in the past, however, not any more! If you dont like the food at Arenas Blancas, you wont like the food anywhere else in Cuba. (Remember, Cuba is a country under embargo, so you will not get the type of food you would get on, e.g. a cruise ship, because it simply isnt available).The food at Arenas Blancas is extremely well presented and fresh, with a very high level of hygiene in preparation and handling. There are so many food choices, that everyone, no matter how picky, will find something good to eat. If you would like details of the types of food available, e-mail me and I will be happy to give you a list. Along with the Buffet there are also three a la carte restaurants. They are all good, however, our favourite a la carte was the International restaurant, Sol y Arenas youll get a great filet mignon there! Special NightsThere are a number of specialty nights, e.g. a Cuban night and a Caribbean night, when the foods are typically Cuban, Caribbean etc. and the restaurants are decorated accordingly. Also, Friday nights are romantic dles - muy romantico! And always, theres the music! A great trio play Spanish salsa type music in the buffet restaurant and another trio play classical music in Sol y Arenas. One thing I really enjoyed seeing was the waiters/waitresses or buffet staff breaking into an impromptu dance along with the band and some of the guests, and this happened often! PoolThe pool is huge and fabulous. The pool loungers have been replaced with very colourful and really comfortable loungers. There is never a problem finding one, even in the shade.Handicap Accessibility There are ramps in the lobby; pool area and beachside bar and the lobby washrooms are handicap accessible. There are also specially equipped rooms available for handicapped people. We met a family whose son was in a wheelchair and they had nothing but praise for this resort. We also noticed a couple of elderly people on walkers. Returning GuestsThe expression that the best advertisement is a satisfied customer is clearly seen at Arenas Blancas. There are so many people who return regularly, some for the 3rd-4th or more time. A high recommendation for this resort! They have some really special touches for repeat guests. First, you receive a different colour wristband and when I asked why, I was told, all guests at Arenas Blancas are VIPs but returning guests are extra special VIPs. There is a special dinner each Wednesday night for repeat guests. There were around 30 people at the dinner we were at, and this dinner is held every week, with, I imagine, similar numbers. The General Manager, Sales Manager and Public Relations Manager all come to this dinner to mingle with the guests. Seated at our table were people from Canada, Germany, England and Italy. Ages ranged from low 20s to 70s. The company and food were fabulous. A lobster/shrimp/ fish platter or filet mignon. The food and presentation would be hard to beat in any good restaurant anywhere. The following day, there was a tree planting ceremony in the Garden of Friendship, where returning guests hav however you get to plant the tree and shovel in some soil great photo opportunity!). Your family name and date is placed on a plaque beside the tree. We checked out the coconut tree we planted last year and its really growing! We plan to keep coming back to Arenas Blancas and hopefully have our own little forest of trees one day! Another nice touch was the bottle of rum, which was delivered to our room.One complaint!As I said at the beginning of this review, Arenas Blancas just keeps getting better and better! I complained in my review last year that the coffee wasnt good, well this problem was addressed and this year it was excellentbetter than Tim Hortons!! My only complaint this year is that we were only able to go for one week instead of two! We will definitely be there for two weeks next year!If anyone has any questions about Arenas Blancas, I will be happy to answer them. My e-mail is attached.

Hi there, after reading some of these reviews before I left for Varadero I was a bit sceptical that is until my fiance and I got there. My fiance and I are in our mid twenties and we felt that this resort was more than suitable for people of all ages and including families. As soon as we arrived and checked in we went to the room that we were assigned and could not believe how clean and nice the rooms were (with marble floors). Although, we did not like the fact that our room was facing the gardens. Since it did not seem like the hotel was sold-out, I went back downstairs and asked it we could change to a pool and ocean view room and the staff said " No problem". We ended up getting an upgrade room for no extra charge which faced the hotel grounds, pool , beach bar and most importantly the entire Varadero Beach!!. Everyone there including the other visitors were so unbelievably friendly and helpful, even in the middle of the night when we would go downstairs for some munchies to the pool-side 24-hour restaurant. I learned only one thing from reading reviews on websites - the worse they sound the more exaggerated they are. Some people complain and trash resorts for apparent reason ana are way tooo picky. My fiance and I have been to Grand Cayman, Cosumel, Cancun, Jaimaica plus more and thought that this was the nicest hotel and beach out of all the places we've been to. I definately recommend it. :)- Maria

Avoid this hotel if you can. The food is absolutley horrible. The staff were not very friendly....unless you tip...they expect it even though gratuities were included with our package.The beach was awesome - 4 stars. The food was really bad- 1 star.the rooms were average. pretty spacious 3.5 starsThe 24 snack bar was really bad. 2 stars. the hot dogs and burgers sat there for hours and then was served to you warm.Overall, we were not that impressed with this resort however, the beach and weather were great. We made the best of our vacation but we will NEVER return to this resort.

My boyfriend and I stayed at Arenas Blancas the week of Dec15-22 and we loved every minute of it!! The resort is fabolous, the beach is beautiful. Although, the rumors are true, the food isn't very good, there are somethings offered there that are extremely tasty. I would definately recommend Arenas Blancas to everyone, it's a wonderful place for a romantic getaway!

I had the best time in Cuba! I loved the beach and the pool was alright, but the beach is the place to go. The weather was awesome and there was never nothing to do. Except the sports guys on the beach are a little full of themselves they put on a good act. The staff for the most part was very good and the maids were so sweet (depending on what you give them). The food was about average, I didn't seem to have many problems, though I think other people did. But try going into town and going to the night clubs there, because I found the disco in the hotel was horrible... You have to get out. The people are so incredibly friendly even though some can't speak english well.. they try at least. I had a great time and I would defenatly come to this resort again.

The hotel was absolutly beautiful, the entertainment crew was not that outgoing, and the food was horrible except for one restaurant that was detached from the hotel.

Well, the place is clean and well staffed but the food isn't the greatest. Also, the majority of people seem to be older then 40, with few young people, which may be either good or bad depending on what you're looking for. The pool is great and so is the beach and the variety of watercraft you can use. Alot of the people I talked to said the food gave them "bathroom problems" and I experianced it my self.

We are in our mid 20's and we just recently came back from a wks holiday at The Arenas Blancas hotel. I have nothing bad to say about this hotel except that the food was not the greatest, but do you expect, its cuba! The hotel staff were extremley friendly, they go out of their way to get to know you. The nightly shows were amazing, the hotel pool exceptional, and the beach breathless. I honestly can say that I really enjoyed my stay at this hotel, just keep in mind that the food isnt the greatest!

Everybody knows how beautiful the weather, the beach and the sun are in Cuba so I won't insist.

What I want to say it that if you go to this particul hotel, be ready for some things. Most of the waiters are quite arrogant, they wait for the tip and after you give it to them, the next day they pretend they don't know you...especially if the tip was less than 2$!!

The front desk staff is funny, they don't speak English very well, and all they want from the client is to ask nothing during the stay...otherwise they become nervous.

The food is very good for dinner, but the lunch is awful, so I always waited for dinnner to eat.

I loved Cuba, but the hotel staff attitude was far from acceptable.