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Returned from Cuba's Iberostar Daiquiri situated in the Cayo Guillermo beach area on April 22nd. Two adults, two children (14 yr old and one 8 yr old). Had a wonderful, relaxing time.
I have lots of details so contact me at ejodoin2@cogeco.ca if you have any questions.
We flew Royal Air and were satisfied. Consider the 90 minute or so bus ride from Ciego Airport to Hotel as a free tour. By the way, the return bus ride took a side route through the town of Moron (we tipped the bus driver afterwards for this detour), for a glimpse of reality of Cuba. We did not take the excursion but the bus ride was interesting. Now the Hotel has a spectacular lobby area, so when we got off the bus we knew we had a gem here. And it was.
The pictures you see on the internet of the resort do not do justice to this lush, green paradise. The staff of the hotel are wonderful. There are two nice pools (one to relax by and one a sports pool). There is also a wading pool for the kids-lots of activities put on by the wonderful staff of entertainers.The activities are postedand include a wide variety from archery, shooting, bingo, ping pong, and so on. The beach was great- let me explain you can walk 30 yrds out, then you will hit a grassy bottom, then there is a sandbar about 200yrds out where it is wait deep in some places. Great to get a paddle boat or kayak and snorkel. The better snokel sites must be accessed through the paid excursions to reefs, islands, and so on. We found conch shells, starfish, sand dollars out at the sand bar - all safe with our kids. You can walk to the Melia about 200 yrd to the left, where there is a pier out into the water -likewise to the rt to the Italian resort. Our room, faced the ocean and was very good, spacious, clean.
Let me say the decor and grounds of this resort are said to be the best on this beach strip, and I would agree - very much in the Spanish style and the colors are amazing. No bugs just a few ants here and there.
Food: Breakfast was great, lunch was good and we had that at the beach hut with cold buffet and a grill for burgers, fish etc. Dinner was fair to good - not excellent. It is buffet style and you will not be too impressed (but I was satisfied but you do grow tired of buffets . There is a la carte restaurant, but I was not too impressed, but it was different.
Excursions: Well we did the kayaks and paddle boats most of the time and had a great time in the ocean at our beach. I do recommend you hop in a taxi outside the hotel and for $5 per person that includes return (I prefer a taxi over the train shuttle)the driver will take you 15 minutes down the road to Playa Pilar, a beautiful wide white sand somewhat deserted beach, this is a diversion from your trip. There is a restaruant their with drinks, beer and meals. The surf was high the last three days of our trip so we had to be refunded for the glass bottom boat trip, and other 1/2 day snorkel trips we had planned were cancelled. Neverthelss despite the rough surf, the weather was excellent.
Gift shops: there are three.
In summary the Iberostar Daiquiri is recommended for a relaxing times, its great staff, its hotel lobby areas, spectacular grounds and decor, pools, swim up bar, water activities, (you need to ask your rep about excursions that include snorkel trips, catamaran, jeep tours, etc...I would give good reviews for the food breakfast and lunch (and fair to good for dinners (buffet style). The resort is visually spectacular, the best on the beach. The staff are wonderful, the best I have seen. Do make it to Playa Pilar, a wonderful beach 15 minutes from the resort.
Thanks to Ernest for this trip report ...
May 2001
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