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Blau Colonial Cayo Coco —  [more info]
Location: Beachfront - 12 km from the airport of Jardines del Rey
All-inclusive - 342 rooms
Description from resort website: Opened in 1993 and partially renovated in 2003, it is situated in front of a marvelous sand beach and 12 km from the airport of Jardines del Rey. The Hotel consists of 342 double rooms, all with bathroom, hairdryer, TV-SAT, individual air-conditioning, safe deposit box (free of charge), 220 V, telephone, fridge with bottle water and towel for swimming pool. 2 buffet restaurants and 4 à la carte restaurants 7 bars including Swim-up bar, Pool bar.
 ~ Reviews posted on this page — 40
 ~ Reader's Vacation Photos ~ 1, 2, 3
 ~ Cuba Resorts Review Index
 ~ Cuba Travel Forum
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Anne ~ London |
August 2009
Arrival: March Breack 2009
My husband, 2 year old son and I spent March Break at the Blau. The weather was perfect the week we went, but they had just had a terrible storm the week earlier. Take your chances with Cuba. The food was what we expected. The beach and rooms were good. Our big problem was the students. This hotel is the main hotspot for the S-trip organization in Cayo Coco. Student (high school) "organized" March Break trip. There were a ton of them. They would sleep all day, emerging from their rooms around 4pm and coming back to their rooms at 4am. They were typical under-age students. VERY drunk, not supervised and not made to be respectful of people sleeping. The hotel staff would do nothing about them. We never complained, but many did. We never slept well b/c of all the door banging and yelling in the middle of the night. You also could never get to a bar because it was 6 students deep. I would stay at the Blau again, but never during March Break!
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Jay and Becky ~ Nova Scotia |
April 2009
Arrival
Late night , 1 guy on reception, he tried to be efficient but with clients not staying in line , it made it difficult for him.
Rooms
We were in a standard room, it was very spacious ,clean and well maintained. Mini fridge re-stocked daily, swinging doors between wash area and toilet bathtub area, but vision privacy was there just no sound privacy. We knew there would not be facecloths, but very nice soft towels. Balcony had comfy chairs and a small table. Some areas could be noisy though as rooms were right beside Disco and others were in building with reception and with late night arrivals and early departures I expect noise would be an issue.
Restaurants and Bars
We had 3 guaranteed A la Carte's one at each of the 3 restaurants, they were all nice with a couple choices for entre's not necessarily to the theme of the restaurant though,ex:Italian-one choice was steak. The buffett was good also, lots of choices. Coldest beer was in lobby bar and you could get glass glasses there not the small plastic cups!
Beach/Pools/Grounds
Well maintained, lots of chairs and palapas available. We had several days were it was quite windy and overcast, staff still there to assist with chairs.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
Did the Pilar plus jet boat tour, it was the highlight for everyone on the tour. Loved it!
Other Comments
This property has a great atmosphere and wonderful architechture, very nice feel for the guests. Train ride was just OK if young kids it is good. Horse and carriage ride I heard similar comments but did not actually do myself. The International Spa is lovely and very modern, great prices for the services.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Nabil |
February 2009
My 4-year old son and I were at Blau Colonial from Feb 10 to 17, 2009. The reasons I chose this resort over others in the Caribbean are mostly to accommodate my son’s needs, plus I prefer to be in Cuba than say Dominican Republic or Mexico (safety, culture, music, friendly people, no peddlers' nuisance).
I speak fluent Spanish and so I had the opportunity to talk to staff and have conversations beyond the ‘hola’ and ‘buenos dias’.
We were there in Feb 2006 the first time, and I remembered some of the good things about the resort, such as supervised daycare, availability of babysitting, great beach, and generally good food and service.
However, this time I felt disappointed, and this is not a reaction to one detail but my conclusion when I think of the shortcomings of the place. Here are real examples of what was wrong with the resort:
Supervised daycare: was moved from the big thatched room beside the pool (under renovation) to a smaller room, which did not have much in terms of toys and things to do. The sandy playground at the back of the room had very little shade, so a parent would have to ensure the child is not spending all the time in the sun, one way or another. Staff did not totally stick to the printed schedule.
Hot Water: no hot water for 2 days. The staff did not know when the repair can be made to the hot water broken equipment. The courtesy rooms offered at the main building, where the lobby is, were all taken when I actually went to give my son a shower. The staff did not know when one will be available.
Food and Food Queues: the overall food quality went down since 2006, and this was confirmed by some of the Buffet staff. There were line ups taking more than 10 minutes to get some food items such as pasta, seafood, and waiting for orange juice and milk in the morning, while my son is sitting alone and waiting for me. At one time he panicked and started crying and was walking around looking for me. The grill by the beach had a line up with 30 to 40 minute waiting. I got tired of all that waiting. Other than the morning watered-down orange juice there was no juice of any kind anywhere or any other time. I was surprised to find Cubans think it is OK to give pop to a 4-year old. There was one type of white wine and one red, both are not better than “cooking wine”.
Mini-Club: kids show started at 8:30 pm. This is too late for most kids coming from outside Cuba, and my son would be getting ready to sleep by then. The music was very loud to the point he was scared of the noise (heavy base). Once I cajoled him to watch and plugged his ears with rolled tissue to reduce the sound level.
Adult Show: poor and not interesting. I have been to at least few other resorts where shows and night programs are much more interesting and engaging.
Snack: kids eat snacks at different times that those when the Buffet is open. What was available at the 24-café did not come close to a fair choice for such a resort (this is a 5 star resort after all). Sometime only ham and cheese sandwiches were available, and on one occasion I had to wait 15 minutes for it.
Room and Bed: the room was fine. The twin beds were not comfortable at all. They caved in and I am only 160 lbs. I have slept on much better beds at almost any other place including B&Bs, motels, hotels, other resorts. I would say the beds needed to be replaced, period.
In conclusion, would I go there again, the answer is NO. Would I recommend this resort to others, even qualified recommendation, the answer is NO.
Is this place suitable for some tourists? Perhaps, if they mainly care about the beach and the proximity to the airport and the relatively short flight time from major Canadian cities, and the general architecture of the resort, and not food, activities within the resort, bed comfort, kids' program, and showers.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
James ~ Port Colborne, Ontario |
February 2009
Arrival:
Conquest with Air Canada was great, lots of room on the plane and the trip to the resort was very fast. 20 min.
Rooms:
The room was very nice and clean. It was very quiet around the area and not very many people were out and about. Most of the 1 week we were at the resort did we see more then 10 people walking around. The one thing we did miss was the water. We had no hot water to shower with six of the seven days we were there. Many other people we talked to had the same problem. When they moved they still had no water. We had enough cold water to wash with from the sink, but that was it. We have traveled some and are not very hard to please, but it was bad.
Restaurants and Bars:
The one Buffet was clean but not much of a choice of food. Breakfast was cold and the coffee was not the best. No one offered coffee at the table for three days, we had to get own. The bars were not opened until they were ready. Some days at 10:30, other days at 11:30am but they closed around 4:30pm. Only one 24hr. bar at the far end of the resort.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
We spent one afternoon at the beach. The water was 72F but it was very windy. The rest of the week the wind was 40km and the water was to rough to swim in. The one pool was very cold and not many people used it. The beach towels you had to pay 15 Pesos each. The grounds were not keep up well. They did not seem to think that was very important to us.
Other Comments:
We will not be going back to CUBA
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Michelle ~ Strathroy |
February 2009
We left from Toronto Air Canada on Jan 16th returning to Jan 23rd. The flight though we had to change planes was very nice. We found the seats very roomy compared to West Jet (my husband is 6'2). Each person had their own tv making the flight feel very quick.
We stayed at the Blau Colonial in Cuba, check in went very quickly, our rooms were also ready early which was very nice. The rooms were large and clean other then our room had a leak in the bathroom. Once we told the front desk they came to fix that day, however by the time they left the one leak was fixed and we had two others. We found this kind of funny and really didn't worry about it as they were not bad. Having said that the rooms were clean, there were several of us after a couple of days, we were all dealing with bites on our legs from the beds. They were extremely itchy and none of us seem to know what they were. Some of the kids had bites on their faces etc. The other couple that went with us had to go to the front desk to ensure their room was cleaned as it was missed 2 days in a row.
The staff were very friendly and not pushy at all. We rented a car and went into Moron which was fun. We travelled around the main streets and then went into more of where the people lived. At no time did we feel uncomfortable, we actually would have people on a bike ask us where we were from, once we said Canada they would say follow me and take us to where we were looking for. Never asking for money etc, though we would pay them. We also rented scooters which was a lot of fun as well.
As this was our first trip to Cuba we did not know that mosquitoes can be bad around 6:00pm. There were several of us sitting outside in the bar area when the staff brought out what looked like a large fan. All of a sudden without any warning they shot a fog into the air of what seemed like 100 bottles of bug killer. People went running as they were either eating or drinking. If I had a small child there I can say I would have lost it on the hotel.
I have also called ITravel2000 as we were not told (actually told the opposite) that the large pool was closed so no swim up bar. The pool is not heated and it was cold, not even kids were in it. They are working on a large part of the hotel so the gym was also closed. It was nice just disappointing that this stuff was not as it was sold to us. We will see what ITravel2000 has to say.
The beach was nice and big, and fairly clean. The grounds themselves were also very clean.
The drinks were not great. Each bar tender made the drinks there own way. Only the bar in the hotel had a blender so if you ordered a mixed drink with ice i.e. pina colda outside of that bar you got a watered down drink. As I don't drink beer I found this disappointing.
Having said all that we will defiantly be going back to Cuba, however I can't say I would be rushing back to the Blau Colonial Hotel. I also will be very careful booking through ITravel2000.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Ken ~ Canada
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January 2009
Hi Debbie , we would like to tell people traveling to Caya Coco Cuba & staying at the Blau Colonial Hotel some inside info We just arrived back on Jan 03 /09 after 1 wk at the Blau .The flight was good there & back Air Canada very small seats .
First the room we got the first nite was 2 double beds & really hard to slep on . They let us switch to a nicer room with a queen bed the next day only 2 complaints are the shower & ac only worked at full volume.As for the food , the buffet was ok at nite & lunch menu but the mornings not much selection & the same every day ( no jams or peanut butter). Some of the el a cart rest. we thought where ok food.Darcy & I are not picky eaters at all. The hotel advertised 2 pools , one adult & one family , the adult pool ( the nicer pool) was closed also some of the hotel was also. Conquest / itravel2000 told me that the whole hotel was open , not the case , we where pissed off no swim up bar. The beach was excellent and the ocean was clear & warm temp.The hotel could use a tractor to remove the morning mess left from the ocean ( Trypp hotel did this each moring ).
We liked are hotel style very Spanish also lots of lush tropical flowers surrounding the area I would like to say Blua colonial has the very worst coffee we have tasted .,stay with the cappuccinos .As for the hotel guest we would say 80% french Canadian ,10% English and the rest a mix of Canadians .One thing we both found that the French are very demanding & loud people ( poor Cubans) .I visited the NL Krystal 2004 and think that the food is better prepared ,and more selection In concuslion we would rate this hotel a 3.5 star , not a 5star hotel.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Clark & Trixie ~ Belleville Ontario |
November 2008
We arrived home at 3:30 this morning from our 5th trip and another great week at the Blau Colonial in Cayo Coco. My wife's sister and her husband joined us again this time. We were treated like long lost friends, with hugs and kisses (where appropriate) from everyone.
A cold front moved in on Monday which meant the winds and waves picked up for the week. It wasn't much different than last November according to the review I posted here on Debbie's. Of course everyone had a blast in the waves and if it was windy on the beach, there was always lots of chairs at the pool, where it was sunny and calm.
There were only about 200 people at the resort so it wasn't very busy. I'm guessing it's the state of the global economy thanks to big oil.
There is lots of painting and general maintenance taking place at the resort. It also looks like the west side will open in 2009 after extensive renovations during the past few years. A beautiful new beach bar, restaurant and aquatics centre has also opened at the west end of the beach property at the Blau.
Hurricane Ike did considerable damage to Cuba and the resorts in Cayo Coco weren't spared. Workers were putting a new thatched roof on the beach restaurant next door at the Tryp and new cabanas were being built on the beach at the NH Crystal.
I'm not sure if we'll get back to Cuba in March like we normally do, as Trixie is packing her medical bag and heading to Uganda to help out at an orphanage for three weeks in February. That trip will put a major dent in the wallet and like the rest of you, the markets are trashing our investments and cash flow too. However, imagine working in Cuba. I was speaking with one of the foremen supervising the crew of painters. He was being paid 20 pesos a week. It was the first time he had seen the ocean and he was extremely up beat and happy to be working!
Safe travels and don't wait until you're too old to stroll the beach hand in hand or play in the waves.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Clark & Trixie ~ Belleville, ON |
July 2008
I wrote a review immediately upon returning from our fourth trip to the Blau, 15 – 22 March, but my computer glitched when I went to send it and it disappeared into cyber space. So here I am on a rainy afternoon in July planning our fifth trip to the Blau for November and reading the reviews on Debbie's has prompted me to send my review.
Everyone on our flight was staying at the Blau and we were on the last of the five buses to arrive at the resort. Although there was complaining from some of the guests about the line up, the majority took it in stride, grabbed a drink and made friends in line as we moved along rather nicely. The week prior was March break and of the 700 plus students registered on the Cayo Coco hotel strip, 140 stayed at the Blau. It wouldn’t have mattered if there was no line up when we checked in because the resort staff was swept off their feet trying to clean up the carnage left behind by Canada’s future university grads and subsequently the rooms weren’t ready yet. Jose’ Luise, one of the management staff, thought our room was ready and took us there personally once we’d finished checking in. When we opened the door, there was broken glass everywhere and a trail of blood from the room into the washroom area were the towels had obviously been used for first aid treatment. Jose’ was upset and embarrassed but so was I at the thought of my fellow countrymen obviously too drunk to care. I spoke with a Metropolitan London Police Officer (Bobby) the next day who had spent the first of his two weeks at the resort during the March break. He related a week reminiscent of soccer hooliganism. It commenced when the first bus arrived from the airport and one of the male student was trying to retrieve his luggage but was so intoxicated, he wiped out, hit his head on the curb and had to be medivaced to the hospital in Moron.
Note to self…never go on holidays during March break!
So…room not ready…change into bathing suit in lobby washroom, grab a drink and hit the beach! Yes, we’re on vacation.
As usual our week was fantastic. We were treated like royalty by the many friends we’ve made on our previous trips. I have never seen the ocean anywhere without a wave but that is exactly how it looked at 8:30 a.m. the following morning. The weather all week was unbelievable, the best ever. Although we ate at the specialty restaurnts most nights, we did eat at the buffet two nights and I was very impressed by the layout and the selection which was the best I’ve seen yet.
They’ve upgraded the furniture at the outdoor patio and we enjoyed a special coffee there each evening after dinner, chatting with other guests.
We went to Moron one day to visit a friend’s apartment and toured the city with him, his wife and daughter as well as our taxi driver. We also went to his brother in law’s parent’s farm and had lunch at a popular spot in the countryside.
By the reviews I’ve seen, there are obviously people who have different opinions and/or have hit the resort on an off week. Or maybe I just have a different outlook on life. I’ve spent time in the Middle East, Somalia, and Yugoslavia and have seen the slums of Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. I work fourteen hour days with a 425 km round trip commute. Although I wouldn’t want to have to walk a mile in a Cuban’s shoes; I appreciate that they walk a mile every day for me and my door is always open for them when they are allowed to travel like free human beings do. Maybe we’ll see you at the Blau in November!
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Gary ~ Dartmouth, NS |
May 2008
I just returned from 2 weeks at the Blau Colonial in Cayo Coco, Cuba.
I'm not sure if I would recommend this resort.
ACCOMODATIONS:-
My first room, 2005, is accurately described as a dump. There were too many things wrong to list here. I don't understand why they would put anyone in such a room.
I was moved to another room, 1163, and it was mostly perfect, except for the large red stain on the bedspread. I had to ask them to replace it. They don't replace the soaps or clean the glasses or counter top. But they do replace the towels every day. The toilet paper is like newspaper and there is no privacy in the bathroom. Just a half swinging door separates it from the sleeping area.
GROUNDS:-
The grounds very well kept. Free from litter and dead leaves. Lots of flowers and well trimmed.
TIPS:-
Important----- CUBAN BANKS DO NOT ACCEPT FOREIGN COINS. So don't take Loonies and Twoonies for tips. You can't even change them at the resort's bank. You can trade foreign paper currency, so take your fives's and ten's to exchange or I could just charge Pesos to my credit card.
Also, it is good to take soaps, nail polish, lip stick, sun glasses, hats, pens, razors, crayons, colouring books,etc. to use as tips. These things are not easily available in Cuba.
FOOD:-
I went to each on the A La Carte restaurants once. They don't serve coffee there but they do at the buffet. Strange. Some items on the menu were not available, especially desserts. The food was a little better than the buffet, but the steak was like leather.
The buffet was acceptable. Lots of food and lots of variety but the quality was hit and miss. The beef would be too tough to chew one night and great the next. No peanut butter or jam. The bread was excellent. Red wine excellent. Fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast.
SIDE TRIPS:-
I went on the Spectacular Sugar Express. A tour of Moron and Ciego De Avilla. Well worth the 75 Pesos. An 8 hour tour that takes in an Alligator form, sugar factory, cigar factory, museum and lunch. I had free time in each city and I was not hassled as I walked around.
BEACH:-
Great!!! Lots of sand and lounge chairs
SWIMMING POOL:-
Very large, excellent but I thought it was a little too warm.
All the workers at the resort seemed genuinely friendly. Perhaps I expected too much from a place that rates itself as 5 star, but it need paint and more attention to detail.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Deborah & Greg ~ Sudbury, ON, Canada |
April 2008
This will be our second review with Debbie's website, which we refer to for acurate info for planning trips.
We stayed at the Blau Colonial in February/08. We flew with Air Canada and I would highly recommend this airline, lots of leg room, great snacks en route. We arrived on February 23 at approx. 9 pm, we also upgraded to VIP which is the greatest. We had a separate check in apart from 40 other guests, with a private rep from the hotel and also this included drinking a bottle of champagne during the check in time.
We loved the accomodations, beach and we absolutely loved the staff (say Hi to Junior, Maria and Piano Bar staff for us). The food was totally unacceptable at times, the first two days were fine but then they ran out of staples such as bread, tomatoes, bacon, eggs and vegetables. The salad bar consisted of shredded white cabbage, chick peas and green peas with mayo as your salad dressing.
In all fairness, drinks, staff, beach & weather were great and a 10 out of 10. My boyfriend was given a full bottle of Amaretto (Disco Brand) and many bottles of wine to take back to our room (which was great).
We met many people from other countries, some had stayed at the Blau previously and said that the food has been great in the past. Some repeat visitors had complained to the public relations staff about this problem.
All said and done, we did have a great time and would probably go back if food would improve. Three girlfriends of mine went in March of 2008 and had a great time but also said the food selection was extremely minimal.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Helen |
March 2008
I would not recommend this resort.
Went went with a group for New Years Dec 29-Jan 3rd
No hot water-Some times of the day there was no water at all
No tiolet paper in public restrooms
Gotta wonder how the staff was washing their hands before preparing our food------
Looks like no renovations have been done
Staff was very slow and not friendly at all
What happened to the great caribbean hospitality?
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Christian |
February 2008
My wife and I just returned from one week at the Blau Colonial at Cayo Coco. This was the first time since they have re open; we had been during the time when the Colonial was owned by previous investors.
This time was disappointing from the point of view of the service, everyone appears to lack management to direct them to perform their responsibilities, during the week in our room bedding was not change once, in the room table top, counter toilet and everything else was not or poorly clean resulting for my wife to wipe everything before using the amenities in the room.
The buffet often did not have bread for breakfast and many of the food trays were simply not replenish making the buffet looking rather abysmal.
Worker at the at the pool (So call life guard are lacking stamina or are simply lazy, even their look is of poor taste need more supervision so they will look ready to help or at least not be half of sleep).
Again for another time vacationing at Blau Colonial it will be unlikely due to poor service development.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Rosemary ~ Georgetown, Ontario |
February 2008
We have just resturned from a week at the Blau. Flew Skyservice. Very cramped on plane, but friendly staff and a reasonably short flight. No spare seats and many people on the plane were staying at the Blau. No problems at airport and a short ride to the hotel. We decided to go with the VIP package which we would highly recommend. As many people were arriving at the same time, there were long line ups at reception, but plenty of staff and line moved quickly. The VIP line up was not much quicker, but we did get a complimentary drink and nice leather chairs to sit in. (Not obvious where VIP check in is so ask as soon as you get there). We had a very nice spacious room with a good sized balcony facing the ocean. Could only just see the ocean as a lot of vegation between resort and beach as a wind breaker - which worked amazingly effectively. If you are sharing a room with someone else be prepared for a very open concept bathroom. There were no doors on the bathroom, except for saloon type doors separating the shower and toilet from the vanity area. Also beware of the shower head.
Ours sprayed everywhere and we ended up flooding the bathroom the first time we used it. The room was very clean and the air conditioner worked very well. It was extremely humid and we found nothing dried completely and clothes always felt a little damp. The beach was wonderful. Narrow especially when tide in, but you could walk for miles in either direction.
Water warm and clear and we swam every day in the ocean, and no sign of jelly fish. There was seaweed on the beach but this was cleared, slowly, most days. No lack of shade or chaise lounges and no need to rush down to the beach before day break to secure a chair. The weather was wonderful.
Windy most days on the beach but with the humidity it was very welcome. We only sat around the pool once as we found it too hot, but again there is shade if you need it. The pool is great for young families, but quite noisy and music always playing. Again no lack of chaise lounges at any time of the day. We found the staff very friendly and helpful and everyone spoke enough English that communication no problem. As this is an island there were no hassles on beach from vendors, although some staff will try and give you a hard luck story to try to persuade you to part with a little extra money. The resort was pretty full whle we were there and as such the buffet dining room was definitely not large enough. Quite often not enough plates, ready food or tables, but you learnt to grab a plate and sit at a table before lining up for food. The food in the buffet was very predictable, always the same choice for breakfast and lunch, and you will never go hungry, although we did find most meats overcooked and lacking in flavour.
But we never once suffered with an upset stomach. We had dinner in the Cuban restaurant (twice), italian restaurant and fish restaurant (3 times).
Italian was a bit of a disappointment but Cuban and fish were good.
Overall we felt we had a good deal for the money. The grounds of the hotel were very well kept and we loved hearing the birds singing away first thing in the morning. The bar near the beach was great for a BBQ lunch with a choice of fish (whole), chicken, hamburgers or hotdogs with a choice of salad, potatoes or rice. And all bartenders very generous with the rum, whatever you are drinking.
It was a very relaxing holiday. Not much night life but there were shows put on nightly. Our only real complaint was lack of information as to where everything was and what was available and a very, very slow internet. There are trips available but if you are looking for an exciting adventure filled holiday, then the Blau is not for you. If you want sun, sand, sea and relaxation, the Blau is for you.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Stacey ~ Calgary, Alberta |
January 2008
I would reccommend the Blau Colonial to all my friends and actually I have already. Enough though some reviews were bad about the resort, my friend and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and are planning another trip back there soon!!
We had the VIP package which was totally worth it, with the day spa extra and the unlimited dining it was most enjoyable.
Our room was very clean and kept clean thoroughout our stay. We enjoyed our ocean view from our room. Found the staff very helpful and very hospitably.
I would encourage anyone planning a trip to Cuba who isn't interested in partying everynight to visit the Blau.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Jonni |
January 2008
This was our second visit to this resort and this is my second review, the first one being March 2006.
We went back to the Blau because we had such a great time on the first trip and made some really good friends with several of the staff.
Rooms
Our room was in one of the blocks with an ocean view and as usual it was clean, tidy and served it's purpose. There was some minor chips to the bath and the sealant around the bath could do with replacing, but nothing that spoiled our holiday.
The location of the room meant that we didn't get any sun on the balcony in the afternoon which was disappointing.
A number of people, particularly those staying in the blcok where reception is located, were complaining of having no hot water in our first week. This never effected us and we always had loads of hot water and good pressure.
Restaurants
The food was generally pretty good, there have been some improvements in the buffet since our previous visit. There was a carvery most nights with really good roast meats. Some nights it was just one type other nights it was a selection of different meats, lamb, beef. pork, chicken. The cooked veg selection was also better.
Yes, sometimes there was a shortage of plates and some people got really wound up about it. Just ask the staff and fresh plates will be brought out, it may take 5 or ten minutes before they appear but so what. Chill out, relax and stop stressing, that's what this place is all about and remember you are on Cuban time!!!!
Just one disappointing note for those who have been before. The seafood restaurant is no longer located alongside the lagoon, it is now at the rear of the buffet building. Unfortunately, the atmosphere is not so good and Liber's bar is no more !!!! ;-(. He now works in the lobby bar.
Bars
As I have already said Liber's bar is no more and he is now lcoated in the lobby bar. I personally don't think this bar is the greatest idea any one ever had. Too many of the staff use it through the day and this can mean waiting to get served. Although, it is management policy that they DO NOT use this bar, they ignore that rule.
It wasn't 24 hour when we there, only La Placita was open 24 hours. This is the small outside bar located adjacent to the buffet building.
The piano bar was quite good some nights and other nights it was completely dead.
Beach
The beach was great as usual. The majority of days it was windy but the breeze stops you from over heating and can create some great waves which are fun for messing around in. Note - this is not a great beach for young children, there can be a bit of an undertow in the water and the waves can get quite rough.
There were jelly fish but we never got stung by them and they weren't really an issue for us.
Pool
We didn't really spend anytime around the pool. It was being repainted while we were there and one half was closed for one week and the other half closed the week after.
The animation staff are great but for me I don't want Butlins style entertainment. I make my own entertainment and loud music and games are not what I was there for. General
In the 2nd week of our stay there were less than 150 people at the hotel and in the 3rd week this dropped to just over 100.
The service in the buffet wasn't always as good as it could be and several people did get quite angry and annoyed by slow service, lack of plates, waiting for things to be cooked. Also, the food in some of the restaurants was not up to par on some of the nights we went.
As the hotel was so quiet a lot of the main staff took their 2 week holiday during this time, meaning that a lot of the staff were students and trainees. As we had been before we were able to see past this sort of thing but for those coming for the first time it didn't give the best impression.
We will definitely go again but I don't think we would go at the same time of year. The weather wasn't so predictable, we did have rain and it was overcast on a few days although the coolest day was still 27 in the shade.
The other half of the complex was undergoing major works and it looks likely that this half will reopen in 2008. I suspect that when it does they will close the other half for renovation. I just hope it doesn't take as long, 7 years !!!!
Anyone going to Cuba needs to bear in mind that in world terms this is a Third World country and they have an attitude to life that is a mixture of Carribean and Spanish, very laid back and everything tomorrow !! ;-)
Just go there to relax and unwind and don't expect European or North American - rush rush rush and you will love it.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Sarah ~ Ottawa |
January 2008
Arrival -
Cayo Coco arrival went very well, transfer buses to take passengers to various resorts were available on-time and hassle-free. We travelled with Sunwing, flying from Ottawa to Cayo Coco direct
Rooms -
We were in building 18, the last building at the end of the resort beside the Tryp resort, we had a nice room, great ocean-front view, nice balcony.
Our mini-fridge had a large bottle of water put in it daily by the cleaning staff, but it was not stocked daily with pop or beer, but once we requested it we got sodas and beer.
Bathroom is a large configuration of bidet, toilet, shower/tub, with separate door to the sink/vanity.
Restaurants -
We really enjoyed the A-La-Carte restaurants, particularly the Italian (Fontenella.) Breakfast in the Buffet was absolutely great everyday we were there. Totally predictable, no surprises, but good food and consistantly great serving staff.
The 24hr snacks - were only pannini grilled ham/cheese sandwiches.
Bars -
24 hr lobby bar, no bar directly on the beach, but pretty darn close there is a little restaurant bar, had good drinks.
The only bar that had a blender for frozen drinks was the lobby bar, all bartenders were good. We had a great Blue Coco drink many many times...
Beach and Pools -
Beach was fantastic for the first five days of the trip (Dec 27/07 - Jan 1) we particularly enjoyed sunning in the AM, swimming in the waves in the AM, the sandy bottom is gorgeous, no rocks or weeds to contend with.
There were jellyfish on the cooler-overcast days and generally later in the day. No problems with them though. They freaked us out, but didn't cause any real damper on our trip!
Cooler and overcast (Jan2&3)
Pool is nice, shallow-end for kids, deeper end mostly adults.
Animation staff congrigate around the pool-tables adjacent the pool, not too much animation though!
Grounds -
The grounds are beautiful, gardners take care of the mature vegetation, lovely palms surround and fantastic tropical flowers. Beautiful little gardens in nooks and crannys of the resort.
Activities -
We paid to go Para-sailing and snorkeling. Beautiful.
Not a lot of activities that are posted are actually held by the animation team. We found it much better to go to them ask for a volleyball and go play some beach-volleyball ourselves instead of waiting for them to start something.
Tours -
Parasailing right from the Blau beach, takes you up over the ocean and then circles around the island, very high up, but fantastic view.
Snorkeling off glass bottom boat tour, 2 hour boat-ride to a coral reef, snorkeling gear provided. A good introduction for us, saw lots of coral, fish etc.
Conclusion -
We really enjoyed our stay, had lots of sun, sand and surf. Heard others complain about this and that, but really we had a very good experience. We have travelled to more developed areas and had much better food selection, but hey we were certainly satisfied whenever we walked away from a table.
Our room was nice, the view amazing, the memories we have are very positive.
Really travellers, Just keep a smile on your face and the world smiles back :)
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Catherine et Hugues ~ Québec |
November 2007
We were at the Blau Colonial Cayo Coco from dec. 10 to the 17 2006. Booked via our travel agent for a super saver room: one week for 815$ each, all taxes included. I used to think that the tour operator or the air carrier did not matter much… that they were just accessory to get you there. After flying with Sunwing, we got spoiled and I now realise that when it’s done well, it does matter. From now on, if the price difference is not that big, I would pay a bit more to fly Sunwing… their service was just outstanding! We were offered a warm face cloth to refresh ourselves, drinks were easily offered, food was a warm plate (2 choices, cannot remember what were the options, but both turned out good)… we were even given a complementary glass of champagne to start off our holyday (not on the way back to ease the pain of leaving however ;) ). There was also a bit more leg room, free headphones and a movie with choice of language … worth mentioning as that option was not available on a more recent fly with Cubana (there were no headphones available on the way back and on the way there, the movie was available only in Spanish or English… not much fun for the French speaking kids). Landing in Cayo Coco is a blessing, small airport, one plane at the time, not much waiting around and a very short bus ride to the hotel.
The Blau Colonial was the first to be built on Cayo Coco in 1993, 13 years is quite old in the tropics… so there are sign of used. On the other hand, the vegetation is at full maturity. This complex is advertised as offering 458 rooms. Now I don’t know if that’s including all of the rooms or if it is just the ones available at this time. If you go exploring a bit, you will notice that basically half of the resort is fenced off for renovations. That does not affect at all the other side of the resort… the biggest inconvenient (if you want to call it that) is that there is no swim-up bar (it would be in the closed section) and the Cuban à la carte is relocated in the grill… If you look in the Caribesol / Holasun brochure, you will see a picture of the pool made to look like a stream by some of the rooms… don’t expect that … it’s now a work in progress! Our room was in the furthest building (#18) which suited us just fine. Very spacious, in the bathroom there is a divider so that one could be taking a bath / shower or using the toilet while the other was using the sink. Another nice touch was the mirrored door of the closet in the bathroom that could be turned to give you a back view of yourself when getting ready. Our room had to ¾ beds (a bit bigger than a twin but a bit smaller than a double). Having a Supersaver deal, we could not be switched to a room with a double bed. That room had not been renovated (some were in this section) so our bathtub was a bit chipped and the air conditioning was a bit noisy. Other than that, we could not have told. We had completed privacy, never heard the neighbours. The balcony was large enough and wrapped around the corner. We also had a nice ocean view.
The layout of the resort is its biggest assets in our eyes, it felt cosy and personal. It has the feeling of a small village with curvy streets, buildings with wooden staircases and balconies, different decorative touches on each building… very Spanish style.
The weather was very surprising. Upon our arrival there was a lot of wind… strong enough to slam doors! That translated in tremendous waves! We had a blast with that for the first tree days. There were no jelly fish to speak of this year (last year you could not count them as soon as you stepped in the water because they were too numerous). So we made the best of it and took that opportunity to open up all the windows in our room, go visit a national park right on Cayo Coco and took a cab to visit Moron… Opening up all the windows was a big mistake! Doing so, we allowed very small bugs to join us and I was eaten alive! Apparently, it is a small spider that we did not even see… but I can tell you they sure bit and are not repulsed by DEET (I was wearing the Watkins cream). These spiders are also at home in the parks as well as by the beach.
The food at this resort was more than adequate. Beef, pork, chicken, fish, pasta… always something to choose from. For those of you that are not big fish eater, be aware that the fish at the grill might be served with its head and tail still there. Doesn’t change the taste really but does come as a surprise. There were bananas flambées every night as well as fresh doughnuts made on the spot right outside in a stand by the buffet. Let’s just say this is not the hotel where we lost weight! We really enjoyed both the Cuban and the Italian à la carte… we skipped on the Sea food one as it is by the water and I was itching enough as it was!
Scuba diving is provided by the Tryp resort next door…so they have you walk there by the beach… nice once you gear is already there… a bit tedious the first and last time. Due to the windy conditions the visibility was not the best. As for the equipment and dives instructor, it was decent. You always have to trust yourself first (I did see them offer beer during one surface interval, and one of the dive master bragged about going far beyond sporting limits…) but if you are responsible enough for yourself, they will provide you with a nice diving experience although not out of the ordinary.
There is not much snorkelling… Yes, if you go out, you will find living creatures but there are no reef to speak of in a swimming distance.
There are many excursions offered by the tour operators (jeep safari, 69 CUC; Moron spectacular, 75 CUC; Moron colourful, 65 CUC; Havana by plane, 195 CUC; Trinidad, 70 CUC; swim with the dolphins in Cienfuegos, 169 CUC; catamaran full day, 72 CUC; deep sea fishing, 250 CUC; jungle boat tour, 39 CUC) and others offered by Cubanacan (Ciego spectacular, 75 CUC; ½ day in Moron, 30 CUC; other catamaran + Pilar beach, 49 CUC; Baga nature Park, 25 CUC). We choosed to hire a cab to visit Moron on our own terms and did not regret it for one centavo (cost for the cab was 75 CUC split 3 ways + we offered him his lunch). We had the chance to go by a Dutch style village, 2 lakes, one crocodile farm, one sugar mill turned museum and the Moron train station that is spectacular… a trip back in time. We also ate in a restaurant in town that was really nice. The visit of the Baga nature park was also very interesting… and cheap! We ended up with a guide just for the two of us, saw a reconstruction of a farmer’s house, some traditional dancing, natives rituals, crocodiles, lizards, some kind of Cuban beaver, sea turtles (we got to feed them), and more! This tour not being advertised, the visit was very private. We also rented scooters for an afternoon and explored a bit of the surroundings. We went by a cave and ended up on the Flamenco beach which was a nice spot to just relax and enjoy a beer before we returned (20 CUC for 3 hours).
We were too tired to make it to the shows but were told we did not miss much. We also have no idea what the disco is like… besides being roomy! We would return to this resort.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Clark & Trixie ~ Belleville Ontario |
November 2007
We returned yesterday, Nov 23, from our third trip to the Blau Colonial in Cayo Coco Cuba. We're a married couple in our mid fifties who have had the opportunity over the years to travel in Canada, Europe, the Mediterranean, Hawaii, Dominican, Mexico and Cuba. Of all the places we've stayed on a "sun & sand" holiday, the Blau is the best experience we've had when all things are taken into consideration.
A number of the people we met on the flight from Toronto were staying at the Tryp, which is next door (down the beach). We met them again during daily walks on the beach and discussed the two resorts. We gave them a guided tour of the Blau and they were very impressed with the rooms, overall facilities and shops. It seemed unanimous that if they were to return to Cayo Coco, they would definitely stay at the Blau. However, I got the impression that if you are more inclined to "party harty" the Tryp would be more to your liking.
The winds were a little relentless this trip and the guys were having trouble staying ahead of the seaweed being washed ashore but sometimes mother nature can be difficult...she is a woman you know!
We're already planning our seventh trip to Cuba in Feb or March 2008 and the Blau is where we'll be.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Denise ~ Brantford. Ontario |
November 2007
Its been over a year since i was at this resort, (July 2006) but i feel i must put in my piece. I travelled there alone because i had just gone through a separation and divorce and needed some time alone, and this hotel was not charging a single supplement. It was scary travelling alone for the first time, but we were welcomed at the airport by the rep, and safely delivered to our hotels. There seemed to be a problem with my reservation (it was last minute) but i was sucessfully booked in - i actually refused help to my room, and regretted it, because i was on the 2nd floor and had to carry my bags up those stairs. Plus, the resort is like a little village and it was after 10pm, so it was a bit difficult to get my bearings and find my way around.
Rooms -
My room was great! It was nicely decorated, big and roomy, and I had hot running water, a coffee maker and a fridge - tho some real drinks would have been nice. However, i was only seconds from the pool and the bar there and drinking there was so much more fun than hiding away in my room. Only problem i had with my room was that the airconditioning only worked when my door key was placed in the slot, so it was really warm after a day at the beach, and took a half-hour or so to cool down.
Restaurants -
I didnt have a problem with the food,tastewise, except that by the 4th day i had serious diarreah that stayed with me for 2 weeks! I spoke to someone one the plane going home who said she had been fine the first week, but had gotten sick the 2nd week, so i'm assuming we both picked something up that week. I think the A/C in the buffet must have broken down, because the windows were all opened up..i wonder if it was because of that. That said, it wasnt 5 star food by a long way, but adequate..i especially enjoyed the Cuban restaurant.
Bars -
The pool bar was so fun. The bartender was 'on loan' from the seafood restaurant (which wasnt open when i was there)I think his name was Libre..anyway, he was so much fun, and i met lots of people there to hang out with.
Beach and Pools -
the Beach is FABULOUS! I have read reports of high winds, shoals of fish and the like. I saw none of that. I never went in the pool once...i spent all my time at the beach. It was clean, the bar was close and there was never a problem finding a chair. I had read on these reviews to take a travel mug fr your drinks on the beach - that was the best advice! The bartenders had no problem filling them up for me!
Grounds -
The resort was lovely..not to big....quiet....if you want a fun-filled holiday, or someone to babysit your kids while you chill, dont go here. There are plenty of day trips, but there is nothing to do within walking distance outside the resort, except to visit other resorts!
Activities -
didnt get involved with too many, except for a couple nights at the disco
Conclusion -
I would definitely go here again, as long as someone could guarantee that i wont come back with a raging stomach bug. It was the only downside of my trip. The staff are friendly; they keep the place clean and tidy...its not too big and overwhelming, and if you're single, there are lots of other single people there because of the supplement waiver so theres always someone to make friends with.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco |
Michael ~ Canada |
August 2007
We stayed for two weeks in late July-early August 2007 (a couple with two teens in two rooms). We were booking very late and took what we could, and then, surfing for reviews, I became aware of the negative things earlier guests had said about this hotel, so I was rather apprehensive.
After a two week stay, and comparing the experience of two other Caribbean trips to five star resorts (one Mexico, one Dom Republic), I am pretty mystified. Not a single one of the complaints of earlier reviewers came to pass, except for the so-so food. I found the place to have much more charm than any others I have seen (including the Blau’s neighbours like the tacky Tryp). Instead of that omnipresent, cookie-cutter big lobby and long pool at right angles to the sea flanked by buildings, the Blau has a homier, village feel to it. It’s a bit dilapidated in parts, and about one third has closed “for renovation” for apparently 6 years, but the hotel appears to be much more solidly built than the usual resort, and certainly possesses more taste than most. We had zero problems with hot water; the electricity went out once or twice for brief periods, but that was it. 110 and 220 volts in the room worked fine. And yes, we had a working coffee maker. The room itself was easily the largest I’ve stayed in (about 30 feet by 15 total), either in a resort or in city hotels in N. America or Europe, so that we never found ourselves cramped or tripping over our luggage. It also had a ceiling 18 feet high, sloping to 12. The balcony was large and curved around the side of the building, so that one could always find shade. They were also on the side of the building away from the pool, so one could avoid the music/animation better. Beds were fairly hard and pillows small in the Spanish mode.
Food: it’s true that the food is not super. Nor was it in the Dominican Republic, and apparently Cuba in general is not noted for the cuisine. At the same time, I always found it possible to eat something decent and nourishing. The fish is generally very good; salads and fresh fruit fill it out. They do pork pretty well also. I didn’t notice a single line in two weeks, but this was low season. The specialty restaurants, such as El Dorado (fish), Fontenelle (Italian) and Caribenyo (Cuban), are not much better than the buffet. The Caribenyo was the best of a mediocre lot. Again, like all resorts these days, prepare yourself for endless renditions of “Guantanamera” from circulating minstrels who then try to sell you their CD.
Pool, Beach, Grounds: A few flakes of paint were missing in the pool in places. Hardly a vacation spoiler. Deck chairs were plentiful and shade not difficult to find. The main problem with the pool was one common to all resorts – the idiotic animation which is always going on from 9 to 5 or so at far too high a volume. If you just want a quiet swim and tan, head for the beach. The latter is quite simply great, unless it’s very windy. It appears from reviews that it often is during winter. We had two days of wind and the surf kicked up a bit, but it was still possible to swim. When it is calm you get the white sand and big shallow azure sea you see in ads. Beach chairs were not as good as the pool ones, but again, we rarely had problems getting shade and something to lie on. We spent a lot of time in the water. On some days schools of minnows would come in close which one had to wade through to get out to open water, but this was no big deal and is hardly something the hotel can deal with. Finally the grounds were very nice, with a mature look to them; lots of flowers and plant variety. One word of serious warning: watch out for coconuts! They don’t cut them as they do in most resorts, and my wife and I were nearly clobbered when half a dozen came down on the edge of a pathway.
Wildlife: No, not the disco… Bugs and creepy-crawlies. We noticed no sand flies at the beach and were never bitten there. Mosquitoes lie in wait for you outside the hotel grounds and can really show up in a crowd, so take some bug spray when you go, but very few are around at the Blau. This is because the Cubans spray like crazy. What they spray is anyone’s guess, but morning and evening (just as you are sitting down with your after-dinner drink) a tractor comes around and gasses you. Get ready to flee to the lobby or your room when it appears. Luckily it dissipates quite quickly, and I guess the alternative is malaria and yellow fever, but I sometimes felt like a soldier at Ypres in World War I. The real wild life on the grounds are the land crabs. You are likely to meet up with one or two while strolling at night and/or going for a late night dip. On the path to the beach activities centre there are a large number of tunnels, where if you pass by as the sun sets you can see them all poking their heads out and revving up their engines for the night. This can’t be unique to the Blau, however. I found them kind of cute, but others might not. There are also ground spiders, probably of the tarantula family, but they tend to stay well out of sight. Also of course the geckoes, including a truly beautiful blue and yellow model with a red throat sack.
Staff. Yes, they do take tips, and they appreciate them. Try not tipping in a North American restaurant or bar and see what service you get when you come back! And yet I saw lots of people not tipping, and still getting decent service. They appreciate gifts like clothes just as much. Overall, our room maid and one of the waitresses were a bit sourpuss, but everyone else went from fine to very friendly. We had a few minor requests about the room on arrival, and they were dealt with promptly and efficiently. I figured a half-dozen to a dozen pesos a day spread around the room, the bar and the restaurant was money well spent - and it was always money well earned also.
Excursions: we did horse-riding, the visit to Half Moon Island, and the Jeep Safari. My daughter also went para-gliding – short, expensive but apparently thrilling. Horse-riding is only 10 pesos an hour, you can gallop if you want, and there is a short seaside portion. It was OK, tending towards great if you like horses as much as my wife. The main Half Moon Island attraction was snorkeling off a desert island where they also feed you a good seafood lunch; it also includes a half day at the nearby beach, Playa Pinar, which was the nicest beach I’ve seen in the Americas, Europe or Africa. The snorkeling was fine, but not up to say, Yucatan levels. Jeep Safari was basically a convoy of open top Suzuki Jimmys, mostly driven by ourselves and other tourists. We crossed the causeway to the mainland, to Moron (65T people), to a large lake, to a mountain bird sanctuary, to a farm (excellent suckling pig lunch), and to a crocodile farm (where you really do see them close up, rather than just some nose 200 feet away in a lagoon). Without any of this being spectacular or earth-shattering, it was still our most interesting day, tooling along the Cuban countryside and just taking in the scenery. We arrived back very hot but very happy with our day.
Entertainment: I wanted more salsa and less of the rap/disco stuff; the floor shows were not fabulously great, but we did see some pretty high quality dancing from a troupe which was there for a week. We weren’t there for the night life however, so I can’t really say much about it. My impression is that it is not a swingers’ resort, so if that’s your objective you should try elsewhere.
Fellow guests: Mostly Canadians (Ontario and Quebec) and Brits (Welsh and northerners) when we were there. Not much mingling except for the Chav-Yobo contingent from each country. Other groups were Cubans on shorter stays, and also South Americans fleeing their horrendously cold winters. I would have liked to see a few more Europeans – French, Italians, etc. to even things out and provide a bit more style and flair than Mississaugans and Mancunians usually do.
Summing up: overall, in glitz and sparkle, it’s true that this is not a five star hotel like others we have stayed in. I just enjoyed it a lot more.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | M & M ~ Canada |
April 2007
Stayed at the Blau Colonial from March 4th to 11th 2007,
Paid for a super saver room and got what we paid for, tried to get them to bring a coffee maker to our room but they said they could not because we did not have a plug for one?
Hotel is in need of a serious makeover, there were several issues that should be looked into.
We had no hot water or waterpressure for the first 3 days we were there, after complaining to the front desk of being tired of taking a cold trickle of a shower, we returned to our room and had hot pressure that could blow you right out of the tub? Go figure where that came from?
Buffet was limited and often long line ups and cool food, never had anything really hot all week.
Barbeque at the pool restaurant for lunch, was extremely slow and not always available, if ordering from the menu there the portion were extremely small that my husband ended up ordering three different meals and he is not a big eater!
Staff not overly friendly, got down right nasty at us, when we seated ourselves at the seafood restaurant one night, not a pleasant dinner....
Beach was nice, but we had hurricane type wind almost all week and could only enjoy the beach 2 days of the whole week, pool was nice and sheltered from the wind, but we are beach people and therefore somewhat disappointed. We also had 2 1/2 days of pouring rain, which is unfortunate but out of our control.
All in all definitly not a 4 star but rather a 2 star at best, we will not be returning to the resort.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Gene ~ Canada |
April 2007
Flights where great.The resort I think was a two star instead of four star. We had no hot water from the time we got there till we went home . The buffet very slow . You where always standing in line . The food was usually cold and wasn't all that good.The swim up bar is not even used any more .That hole section is closed.We found it very windy ther all the time. Beach was great.Really not much to do. The massages where great and in expensive .
Likely will not return.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Alexandre |
April 2007
Traveled to Blau Colonial with my husband and 7 year old daughter last week in March 2007.
In sum, it is a pretty looking hotel - Colonial style buildings. As for the room - don't plan to take a shower for the week because honestly there is no water pressure at all and the water is cold..
There is a mini club - but no activities planned so not sure why it is there.
The most annoying thing about the hotel is the way the BUFFET IS SET UP. No matter what time we went there was a very long line up in order to get food. Everyone had to wait in this line up in order to reach the tray food and the 2 tiny grill areas. Even if you did not want something from the grill area you still had to wait in the line-up in order to reach the tray food - so no seconds - unless you wanted to wait again. The reason for line-up was that they only began to grill food when you asked for it which in theory is nice but did nothing to help the line up move faster. Not fun waiting and watching for someone else's food to be grilled....
If you tip at the Buffet the waiters will remember you and you will get INSTANCE service. If you didn't tip you were practically invisible and would have to try very hard to make eye contact with any waiter for a drink or coffee.
CAYO COCO is windy pretty much all the time - so always red or yellow flag. So if you do not like waves and wind you will not like the beach.
So I would rate this hotel a 2 star only and not a 4.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Cheryl & Stephen ~ Nova Scotia, Canada |
March 2007
My husband and I spent Feb, 10-17, 2007 at this resort and were happy with our choice. The resort is a smaller, older one but has lots of character and great staff.
We booked through Air Canada Vacations (via Selloffvacations.com). A few screwups at the airports but the plane trips were fine, we were actually fed hot meals both ways and had entertainment (movies/tv/music) as well.
The Blau Colonial is definitely a smaller resort, but we like that. Our room was a Supersaver room and we were in room 1805. It was the last building of rooms on the resort which meant it was a short walk to the restaurants, but it was also the closest to the ocean. The room was not one of the renovated ones, and it was a bit tired. Could have used some new curtains, and a new tub but overall it was fine. There were no screens for the doors/windows, so it was hard to keep bugs out in the evenings. Not a huge problem, but it would have been nice to sleep with the window cracked open to hear the surf of the ocean. Our building was also quite close to the Tryp Resort and we could hear their entertainment/animation team as they were very loud.
We're in our thirties but like to spend our vacations at smaller resorts with what people say are sub-standard mini (kid) clubs! Having no children ourselves, we prefer to avoid resorts where many kids are left to run rampant while their parents drink their faces off. The Blau did not have many children while we were there, and from all I can see, it is not a great resort for children. But a great resort if you don't want to be bugged by kids.
Food was fine, great fresh bread each day, the buffet was repetitive, but we were always able to find something to fill the belly. We went to all of the a la carte restaurants and enjoyed the Cuban and the Seafood very much. The little bar by the courtyard serves the "ham and cheese" sandwiches mentioned in many reviews--and they are great (and available 24 hours/day)! Yarey's and the buffet always had great ice cream available for dessert (I think I ate more than my share!).
One thing that we noticed was missing was information in the room about what was offered at the resort (i.e. watersports, restaurant hours etc.). There is a hotel briefing session twice a week, but by the time it rolled around, we'd figured most stuff out on our own. Tito in the Public Relations office was always helpful. We did have a problem with our shower one night and within 5 minutes of calling, there was someone by to fix it.
The hotel website mentions that they have 110 plugs in the bathrooms, but I suspect that must be in the renovated rooms only. You'll need an adaptor if you want to charge anything like camera batteries.
Change your money at the airport if you can, as the rate is better. Also, it is a good place to buy your alcohol as it is cheaper than on the resort. Not as much variety in the cigar shops though.
Beach was nice, never had problems finding a beach chair or a spot with shade. A couple days while we were there, the wind was strong and so we eventually moved to the pool. It made for great surf though! The pool was quite shallow but had lots of loungers. One end is for activities like water polo, and the other is nice and quiet.
We paid 30 pesos on our last day for a late checkout and were more than happy to be able to stay in our rooms until it was time to leave for the airport (4pm).
Staff was very friendly, Daily was our favourite waitress at the Yarey Grill (by the pool) who always had a smile and great service for us. Many of the buffet chefs were also very friendly.
We'd recomend this resort to anyone, but if you are looking for the same type of food or entertainment that you get in North America, go to Florida. Cuba is not the place for you!
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Georgia ~ Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada |
March 2007
We stayed at this hotel one week, February 23 - March 3rd, 2007.
Overall, it was a good vacation, the hotel is ok and people are very nice.
A few details though:
The hotel:
The style is colonial and is one of the most beautiful hotels I've ever seen in Cuba (this is the 3rd time we go to Cuba). It really one of those hotels with interior patios full of lush vegetation. There is a nice "plazza" next to the buffet, which is always full of people sipping a good daiquiri or a beer. People like to stay here before or after dinner. During the day it's too hot, so the best time to enjoy your drink is starting with 5 pm. Apart from the style there is nothing good about the hotel itself, it is very old and you can see that people didn't do a good job when painting the walls or putting on a mirror. You can see patches all over the place, furniture is old, tiles on the floor are broken, air conditioning units are also very old and not working in our room. The pool floor is cracked and you can see patches of the sub-floor. We stayed at the ground floor and the last two days we spend with lizards in our room. In front of our terrace there were holes in the ground made by some kind of animal and people came every other morning to spray pesticide.
The room:
We were very close to the beach and this was very practical, since we had to carry our baby. When we checked in, we requested a quiet room, far from the entertaining area. We had 2 double beds, but it was not enough for 3 adults and a baby to sleep in. So we requested a crib, which they brought promptly.
The crib was ok, just very old and not safe for an 11 month baby. The matress was too high and we couldn't adjust it, so we couldn't let the baby in unattented. What we found very inconvenient for us was that we couldn't leave the baby crawl anywhere. The floors were ok in terms of cleaness, but if you saw the rags they used to wipe the floors with, you would have said No way I leave the baby crawl here...
If you go with children:
Take jarred baby food with you, especially fruits and vegetables. Based on our previous experiences in Cuba (once in Cayo Largo, once in Santa Lucia, Camaguey), we thought that surely we would find something to give the baby.
So I didn't pack any baby food. For our dissappointment, the food was bad at this hotel, and very seldom we found something to give the baby. So we fed him toast with butter, platains, and whatever we could find that was cooked enough. The vegetables were cooked canadian style if I may say so, I mean, just blanched and we couldn't feed the baby that. The meat was hard because they use frozen meat which they cook without thawing. Take a bottle warmer if you can because you have to wait a lot for the water to warm. And it's not a pleasant thing to stay by the tap 15 minutes in the middle of the night.
Because we were at the ground floor we could wash any clothes because we didn't have something to hang them to.
The kids pool is nice, lots of room for them to play.
There is also a mini-club, but they don't accept babies unless there are no other children to be taken care of. Or they will accept if they'll stay in the stroller. Again, in the mini-club building, tiles on the floor, baby couldn't crawl.
If you want something cooked for the baby, you can talk to somebody from the kitchen and they will gladly accomodate your request. I requested some veggie puree and sometimes I would get carrots with potatoes and chicken, sometimes whatever they made the soup of. It was good taking into account that food that was available in the common serving area was so bad for the baby to eat. I also requested some fruit, which I've put in the fridge in our room.
Pack a peeling knife, a fork to cut and mash the fresh fruit, plastic spoons, a big bottle, plastic plates just for the baby. Aside of bottles, cups and whatever you use for the baby.
A la carte restaurants were...food was bad and service was very expeditive.
Once we had the impression that everything was prepared in advance and within 1/2 hour we ate, drank and left. This was La Dorada restaurant, which is a seafood restaurant, and I like fish, but I didn't like their food.
Another restaurant is where the bar is, by the pool. Restaurant is improper said, because all they do is to arrange the tables a little bit, they bring you food, but other than that....All I can say is that the servers are very nice and willing to serve you better, but they're far from the "canadian standard" where they come and ask you how is the food or if you want anything else.
It was nice to take a walk in the evening, lots of vegetation, lots of flowers...
There are some shops that sell cigars of course, and others that sell t-shirts and what not, but the selection is very poor and overpriced. We wanted to buy one of those kids pools, but they were very expensive (27, 30 Pesos).
The beach is very nice, lots of shade, the water is warm. First two days was windy and we couldn't swim, but after that was very nice. Couldn't get out of the water.
Oh, one thing we found to be very useful was paper towels. We took two rolls with us and was not enough, we used it everywhere. And take those wet wipes, as many as you can, very practical if you have to wipe the high-chairs in the buffet area.
This hotel is ranked with 4 stars, but it's far from being 4 stars. Maybe 4 cuban stars, but in canadian standards I would say a 2 stars. Overall, it was ok, but this vacation made us realize that next time we go we have to choose a 5 stars hotel just to be on the safe side. Although this is not a rule, because the hotel we've been to in Cayo Largo was 3 stars and was very nice and clean and food was just perfect.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Beverly |
February 2007
My husband and I just returned from one week (Jan 28th to February 4th) at Blau Colonial in Cayo Coco. I read tons of reviews before leaving but figured I would go with an open mind since I paid very little for the trip by booking only 3 days before leaving.
All in all it was a very good week, the resort was much nicer than I anticipated it to be. The staff was unbelievably friendly and helpful regardless if we tipped or didn't. I booked a Supersaver room which turned out to be great, large and clean and very quiet. My only complaint about the room was the location which was above the little shops directly across from the lobby and overlooked some trees leading to the lagoon. The resort was kept very clean, always staff working. There was some fresh painting being done to different sections of the resort while we were there as well.
The food, well, it's food. I'm a picky eater and I don't like seafood of any kind ,and didn't go hungry but was definately tired of eggs, hamburgers and pasta at the end of the week. There was plenty of selection at the buffet, it just wasn't the type of food I like but I run into that pretty much everywhere we go.
I did notice that the pool was in desperate need of a paint job, it had definately seen better days but it still was nice to swim in.
The best part was definately the beach which was what you really go for anyway. White sand, turquoise water. Only one complaint, I got eaten alive by sand fleas, no exageration, I probably ended up with more than 30 bites on just my feet but other people at the airport who had stayed at different resorts had the same complaint.
The only big complaint I had with the hotel was regarding the ping pong and pool table, which may not seem important to alot of people but my husband and I aren't really into the shows that they put on at night so when we travel to these resorts we usually spend an hour or two playing pool or ping pong and having a few drinks to relax and have some laughs. The pool table and ping pong table equipment gets locked up around 6 pm and the overhead lights shut off so they can't be used in the evening. It was a disappointment for us but may not matter at all for most people.
All in all the resort exceeded my expectations, it's fairly compact with lush vegetation, fantastic staff, beautiful beach, nice rooms, great staff and decent food. What more can you ask for????
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Jennifer ~ Canada |
February 2007
We were at the Blau in January for one week returning on the 20th and we had an amazing time! There were 10 of us that went.
The food was amazing. The buffet was better than I expected. I really enjoyed the buffet as did my friends! We did all three a la cartes and I enjoyed the Italian the best although the Cuban was really amazing and my friends all said they liked it the best. The fish restaurant was amazing too.
At lunch sometime we ate at the pool side grill where you can get lots of different foods and then went to the buffet! It is amazing the most any one of us gained was 7 pounds on our trip! It was great!
The resort is so beautiful. Wow. I was so taken by the beauty. We were in room 1437(?). It was beautiful. The maid service was great. I told the maid one day after a hot day on the beach (and dance lessons , that we had a blast doing, even getting the hubbies involved in!!) to not to bother doing the floor, BUT she wouldn’t hear of it and still cleaned the room and did an amazing job. We just relaxed on the balcony til she left. My husband and I just sat on the balcony and enjoyed our beer from our fridge watching the passer by’s .
Our hubbies did the deep sea fishing and enjoyed it. We all did the media luna which is snorkeling off the beach of a little island off the coast of cayo coco. It was neat. The food was great. Lobster and shrimp I had. Yummmmmmmmmm. The little island was so neat. A BIG bunny running around our feet, a hawk taking meat from the staff, sticking their arm up in the air holding out a piece of meat. Then it ate it in a nearby tree. BIG hermit crabs on the path. Don’t pick them up they pinch very hard.
We did the colourful Cuba tour. I really enjoyed this, although a friend said the town of moron made her very uncomfortable. There were quite a few beggars. They tried everything. I enjoyed it myself. Gave me an eye opener how life here is so different from my own. I thought it was amazing. We took a train ride, saw how slaves were treated, ate sugar cane on our ride, had an amazing lunch on a little farm, did a CRAZY SPEED BOAT RIDE. Oh, this was sooooo fun. Our guide was a riot! Made us think we were driving into the mangrove, but would swerve at the last second. He told us , going through the mangrove that there was snakes, then when not looking through a plastic snake at us…He was great and so much fun. Jumped off the boat into the mangrove to bring back termites to show us from the massive termite mounds.
Really reading the reviews, people just sometimes are negative and can’t be happy with anything. REALLY, this resort was amazing and beautiful and great fun! I could say some negatives but could say that about anything and everything even from home…. REALLY, the positives out weighed the little negatives.
This resort and excursions were amazing.
Please feel free to email for more info. jennjreed@yahoo.ca
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Debbie |
January 2007
Family Holiday to the Blau Colonial
Hi, My family and I took a holiday at The Blau Colonial in Cayo Coco, Cuba on the 29th November 2006 for two weeks. We flew with Thomas Cook airlines and booked the holiday on the internet which I found to be a really smooth, quick,and easy armchair booking and would recommend to anyone!
The flight over to Cayo Coco was a good one and the staff were pleasant and helpful, however we had to pay for our drinks and snacks on board which I'm not used to doing. There were five of us travelling my husband, son, daughter and boyfriend not forgetting myself and so a mixed age group from 13 yrs, 21, 25, 41 and 42. We arrived at the airport and went through customs and they pulled us all on one side and took us in to a private room, trying to ask us lots of questions (English not to good) and made us feel like terrible criminals but realise they are just doing there job! They then continued to open all the suitcases and empty all the contents out, not what you want after a 9+ hour flight! Two hours later we finally get on the run down bus and make our way to our Hotel. The journey was a short one which is quite a relief after a long flight and the booking in at the reception was quick and easy although their English wasn't to brilliant.
They allocated our rooms in the main building two floors up above the reception area. The bedroom was ok although really needed a refurb but it was clean and fairly spacious with two double beds in the room, french doors opening up over the square in front and a very large balcony to the side overlooking the square and the shops to the side but this balcony was a shared balcony with a double room with people we did not no. We were very annoyed that our daughters room was not the double room that shared our balcony. To my mind with booking as a party of five people and requested a family room for three people and a double room for two people they would have put us together. My daughter and boyfriend were given their room down the hall about 10 rooms away. We went and had a word with reception which was hard going with the lack of English however eventually got our point across and they offered us a new room the following day so we could all be together. I then asked when the couple were vacating from the double room that shares the balcony with our room and they told me Sunday so i suggested that my daughter and boyfriend moved to that room on the Sunday as it was only 4 days away and that's what we did which was ideal and made the holiday that bit better.
We found it very windy throughout our stay at the resort which resulted in our deep-sea fishing being cancelled. Some days you couldn't go on the beach because the sand blows in your eyes and the sea was that rough throughout the whole of our stay apart from 3 days. There was sea weed on he beaches every day and lots of it and because of the wind the water sports were shut apart from those 3 days mentioned earlier and we were allowed a pedlo and Kayak and further down the beach they had parasailing which was a lovely experience with fantastic views of the Blau Colonial and neighbouring hotels and you have to pay for this but it's well worth it.
We spent a fair amount of time by the pool because of the weather and enjoyed our selves with the entertainment staff and played volley ball, \yarey's bar right on hand which serves a lunchtime menu of Pizza's, burgers, chicken and chips and a buffet salad bar which was just about satisfactory. The buffet restaurant was very good and we enjoyed almost all of our meals in there. On a few occasions some of the dish's looked like the left over's from the previous evenings dinner and I am fairly convinced it was but avoided anything that looked funny as did the rest of my family. The Italian restaurant served lovely food and we enjoyed both meals in there and it was voted to be our favourite unanimously. The fish restaurant was very good but the menu not really very exiting so we ordered lobsters for everyone and they were fantastic and very cheap (We had to order them at reception and pay separate) however the extra cost was well worth it!
The swimming pool was large and very nice and had 4 sections to it with one end being quiet and the other end can be very noisy and make sure you get there early to be able to get a sun lounger. The paint in the pool had come off in places which made it look a little shabby but overall not bad.
We booked a few trips and the first one we went on was the speedboat trip which we all very much enjoyed. You get to snorkel amidst the mangroves and see all the different fish which is great and drive your own mini speedboat in single file at a fair speed following one of the instructors through the mangroves. Good day out. Our next trip was the 1 day havana trip which was also well worth a look. Our day started with pickup by the hotel reception and coach driven to the airport and boarded a small plane which flew us to Cuba. The flight was fantastic with brilliant views of Cuba but the weather was not good, no sunshine just clouds and lots of rain which spoiled it a bit as we were all very cold but nobody on the trip had a jacket and the air con was on all the time in the coach that picked us up from the airport in Havana and took us on our tour. A very interesting tour but not for teenagers! My 13 year old son was very bored with it all! We got to speak to the locals and it upset me when they discussed how they have to live but was glad I went on this trip. Our deep-sea fishing trip was cancelled and the weather did not get good enough to rebook which was disappointing but we did book the catamaran trip which would have been brilliant if the weather had of been better. The views were spectacular and we visited a boat wreck which now belongs to the crabs who are very protective over it. We unfortunately had cloud for the whole day which ruined it and again very windy and quite cold so if you book this trip and it looks dull on the day you go be sure to take a jacket. Dinner is served on board with drinks all included. Our dinner was Lobster tails, Chicken, rice and vegetables which was really nice. Recommend highly!
All in all we had a good time with a few downfalls to the place that we found which were mainly: Hotel in need of a refurbishment all round, lack of good entertainment we were all bored after 10 days and ready to go home. Most of the staff very nice, polite and friendly but a few in need of training for manners and lack of English! The 24 hour snack bar is awful and the menu boring and if you order to your room unless you tip well you are in for a long wait. We waited for over an hour the one time. The restocking of the mini bar was rubbish unless you ordered it every morning and even then was not guaranteed to get your can of Cuban beer and 2 cans of coke or maybe a sprite if your lucky. Management definitely need to look at this aspect. My husband used the bank on two occasions and on both times they short changed us but luckily the husband is very switched on where money is concerned and had already worked out what was due to us down to the pence and luckily he picked them up on this however the banker argued with my Husband before he rectified the mistakes he had made on both occasions and finally apologised saying he thought he had given us twenties not tens. If my husband had not realised we would of been nearly £300.00 out of profit so please be aware before changing your money. The water in the shower was nearly always cold and no water pressure. If you want a decent size bath make sure you get back to your room early before other people so you may be lucky enough to get some hot water but bare in mind it takes 1 hour and 10 minutes to pour a bath some. The toiletries they supply ie: shampoo, conditioner, shower cap and shower gel do not get replaced at all. The maids swept our balcony twice in the two weeks we were there and I asked the one maid if she would do it for us and she said yes but never did it so I ended up doing it myself by borrowing there broom and they never once offered!
I would definitely rate this hotel 3 stars not 4, they need to make some changes before they reach the 4 stars and it could be a fantastic place at the right time of year. If your looking for a quiet retreat with not much to do but lay in the sun all day and your room for just putting your head down and some decent food then this is the place for you but definitely not for the young at heart that want to party 24/7 or people looking for a bit of luxury and sophistication! Not for children either in my opinion.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | S & R, J & S ~ Aurora, Ontario |
January 2007
Hi Debbie:
We just returned from Cayo Coco, (Jan. 12 to 19, 2007) and had a wonderful time at Blau Colonial. This was our 6th trip to Cuba and this resort is one of the best. We have been to Holguin, Varadaro, Cayo Largo, Cayo Guillermo and others at Cayo Coco.
The swimming is top. Shallow but deep enough. Great for small kids if you take them. The pool was great, lots of different areas to swim and even when they are playing volleyball or water polo, there is still lots of room to swim in other areas.
The food was great. Visiting Cuba, everyone should remember that you are in Cuba. We found their food to be as good as any other resort, and better then some. There is a huge variety of hot and cold for every meal. Entertainment during lunch and dinner was top notch. For anyone visiting Blau Colonial, I hope you get to hear Ismail on the piano. Ask him to play "My Way" and tell him Rick says hello!!
The Italian, Cuban and Seafood al a carte restaurants were also very good, especially the Cuban with 6 courses.
The rooms are clean, we had Supersaver and a beautiful view of the ocean. If you are going, ask for block 1500 or 1600. They are central and the views are great. The maid service was good and they are very appreciative of gifts.
Overall, a memorable trip to Cuba. We would go back tomorrow if we could.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Ken ~ Canada |
January 2007
We stayed December 24 through 31.
We booked 2 Supersaver rooms with Sell Off Vacations who were very helpful and price matched with the best internet price. The package was with Air Canada Vacations and I would recommend ACV just for the better flights than Air Transat who we've used before and the connections from less serviced cities (i.e. the Maritimes). When we arrived to check in the rep in Moncton booked all of our seats for all of the legs of our trip so we had no troubles along the way.
Our rooms we in the main building which was fine except for the fact we were directly in front of the disco which was noisy a few nights. We asked to be moved too late (should have done it when we first arrived) since the hotel filled up by Boxing day.
The beach was great, it was quite a Christmas day sunning and swimming on the beach in 30+ degree weather while Santa delivered some small gifts to the younger ones on the beach. If you like to walk the beach it is quite long from the Blau to the Melia at the far end, we only made it to the Krystal about 1/2 way. The water was warm and shallow. The winds moved in though by the 4th day and we spent the rest of the time by the pool.
The food was ok in the buffet and the a la carte were all quite good, Italian, seafood and Caribbean. The grill by the pool was good for lunch, you could sit down for pizza, burgers or sandwiches or take out from the BBQ.
Service was fine from the staff all seemed to speak fairly good english and some french. If you needed anything all you had to do was ask politely and we were treated well. We heard some people complaining buy I think alot of it has to do with them demanding things and talking down to the staff.
The drinks were fine, mostly rum and local brands with some imports (kalua, tequila cheaper scotch or rye, Spanish wine) but in the piano bar (inside the Italian rest) you could get premium brands (Courvoisier?) for a slight charge. Liber at the upstairs bar over the seafood restaurant was the kids favourite, joking with everyone, making special drinks for the kids.
There is a 24 hour bar with coffee and limited snack service (sandwiches done in a panini grill) in the courtyard which was handy to our room.
The pool was nice and large with 4 sections. We spent our time on the windy days near the quiet area. Just make sure you arrive early to get a chair on those windy days.
The grounds are quite nice with the Spanish style buildings and court yards with cobble stone paths. We saw some of the closed area behind the buffet and this could be a really great resort when/if this ever was reopened.
We took a walk through the Tryp next door, nice but very crowded, I'd say it probably a 1/2 star higher in rating based on the bigger newer facilities but we like the smaller resorts.
We had a few issues with hot water towards the end of the trip but there was work going on in our block and on the street with respect to the piping and some others we talked to said there was work in their area on a pump so I think this may have been beyond the control of the staff. Things do break down and I'm thinking parts are hard to come by in Cuba.
We took one excursion the Colourful Cuba...it was quite an eye-opener for our girls (12, 15) The boat ride and Crocodile farm were fun, the sugarcane tour so so, the lunch on the ranch was good too. the trip to Moron really showed what Cubans live with. You can tell the city is on the up swing with people building and renovating their houses but there is poverty and some kids begging but just be firm and say no and there is no problems. There isn't really any shopping in Moron, it's better on the resorts and at the duty free if you have time. there was a small area of changing craft vendors daily and a few permanent shops on the resort.
The only real issue we had with was on the day we left, Air Canada's bus came and left without the Toronto people (13 of us) so we took a taxi to the airport and informed the ACV rep. He got on the phone right away and straightened things out and gave us a cash refund of the cab fare on the spot...very good service when he found out there was a problem.
Our flight back left early and arrived even earlier (50 minutes). ACV even had hot meals, better than the cold bagel sandwich and mini chocolate bar I've had on Air Transat, plus leg room was good.
I would recommend this hotel to anyone who isn't super picky or wants to party 24/7, it was clean, of a fairly good standard and the staff were helpful. The only thing is Cayo Coco is isolated so there isn't alot to see off the resort unlike the Riviera Maya or DR where we've been before.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Donna ~ Canada |
December 2006
Arrived back from Blau Colonial, Cayo Coco ~~ what a fabulous time we had! (Went with the GF I usually go south with) We met so many fun, wonderful people from: Vancouver, Edmonton, all over Southern Ontario, Montreal and England. Most visitors at the Blau Colonial are Canadian or British.
We went Parasailing/Gliding... you go up with a 'pilot' who (when you reach a certain height) releases you from the boat line. Soaring 1200 feet ~~ how amazing! Such quiet and calm! The views were unbelievable!! You get to see your hotel complex as well as the surrounding ocean, land... just breathtaking! If you decide to go, make sure to do it the day you see them in the air, as they didn’t go up after the one day (too windy we think) It’s 40 CCP (Cuban Convertible Pesos)
We went into the 'Disco' only one night, for a Quiz party.. funny! They held a beach party at the Beach bar one night and it was a riot! We danced til all hours, and the others kept going long after!
The weather was perfect... very slightly cloudy a few early mornings, then bright sunshine each day. The previous week to our arrival was rainy and cool, so we lucked out!
We also did the Catamaran day tour (lobster/shrimp lunch on board) we snorkeled twice... hopefully the pics will come out, but I need to get one of those Digital Camera Covers that go underwater, as the disposables aren't that great.
I highly recommend the Blau Colonial, some people ate burgers that were slightly pink and didn't feel well for a bit after. We both didn't eat beef, so were totally fine! Food was decent, sometimes great, other times a bit bland.
Staff were terrific, Animation was fun after the 3rd day. They realized we wanted to play a lot of Water Volleyball, and others wanted the dance/aerobics, etc so they got into it. Watch out for Igor and his Drinking Volleyball game! As for bartenders, be sure to visit Lieber up the spiral staircase from the Seafood restaurant. We didn’t try the seafood resto, so can’t comment. Also, visit Joel in the Piano Bar next to the Italian Restaurant ~~ try the Red Snapper, it’s great! Joel makes a wonderful Apple Martini! In the Cuban restaurant, the Pumpkin Soup w/ a shot of rum is wonderful, and we really enjoyed the appetizer of Fish (deep-fried but not greasy at all) Shrimp main was okay, a little over-cooked. The Buffet has nightly Grill Specials: Fish, chicken, roast of pork, roast turkey, etc, which are really nice. Not so keen on the pasta station, but the younger children seemed to like it. There is a 24 hour snack & drink bar now located beside the pool for burgers, sandwiches, etc.
Ours was the 'best' beach we saw... white sand, no seaweed or rocks... you can walk out very far and the water isn't too deep. You can swim or stand. During our stay it was pretty windy, so less ocean swimming but lots of wave frolicking!! The pool consists of 4 areas, quieter to more music and action. Surrounded by palm trees, it’s a gorgeous spot to spend time.
The so called beach at Tryp Cayo Coco was pretty much invisible... they have the wooded hut type sun covers, and besides those on the sand, there was NO beach,(on 2 different days the waves washed right up under the chairs!!) except at one end and that was so small... the people were packed in like sardines. Same at the pool area ~ while our place had plenty of room and sun-loungers, at the Tryp, they were jammed side by side.
My only beef is that we paid $40 Cdn as a towel deposit and received back 30 CCP, which didn’t add up. So, be sure to pay with Cuban as your deposit so you don’t lose out.
Hint: Bring yourselves a thermal, lidded cup for drinks (from juice to booze) You will save yourself trips to the bar, keep your drink cool, won't spill or get sand in it, and will also save the garbage resulting from those tiny disposable cups they supply (this goes for EVERY All Inclusive Resort)
I got a VERY slight jelly fish sting, so here's some advice.... bring Benedril (antihistamine) as well as some Cortisone cream. We also brought mosquito repellant, but thankfully didn't need it, though it's a good idea for any trip, especially at dusk. Also pack some Aleve or Tylenol, as well as the ever-so-popular Imodium… we didn’t use any of the latter, but it’s good to have with you!
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Michel ~ Canada |
December 2006
We just returned from a last minute trip to Blau Colonial and wanted to share our experience. I travelled with my wife and our 18 month old child.
For anyone considering coming here, I would recommend that you search elsewhere. If you've already booked, don't worry because you'll still have a good time but in my opinion there are other better options available.
We booked it through TMR holidays in Canada and they rate it as a 4.5 star. We paid a bit extra because it was rated pretty high and we wanted a nicer place. Even by 'loose' Caribbean standards this is way too high - we've been other Cuban / Dominican resorts and it doesn't compare favorably (we visited Trip Cayo Coco (4) on this trip, went to Melia Cayo Guillermo (4.5) last winter, and visited Gran Ventana (4.5) in Puerta Plata, DR and Coral Canoa (I think) (4) in La Romana, DR among others in the past).
Some aspects were very nice; the beach was beautiful, the room was very nice, the resort is very charming and original (not just a big 'block' of rooms), interlocking stones pathways everywhere, nice landscapping, very friendly staff (didn't expect to be tipped everytime they did something for you and were very appreciative when you did). Very quiet, not hard to get beach chair or chair by pool (more on this later)
Many aspects were not: It looks like 10 years ago, this was probably a very nice resort but now it's been neglected and parts are not in good shape. A large section of the resort is permanently closed (chain link fence around it and brick wall closes off the road) (The official story is that this area is being renovated but it's been closed since 2003 and speaking to the staff, it does not appear that there is any money to actually do these renovations so they will probably never be done). This includes the 'salt water pool', the swim-up bar and some of the restaurants and we were were told were the nicer rooms. There is also several blocks of rooms between the pool and the beach that were not used - we were told that this was simply because it was very quiet but I noticed that several rooms had a 'official seal letter' closing the door so I wonder if there is more to those rooms being closed. The resort is not good if you are in a wheelchair or have a baby stroller (steps / curbs all over the place, some ramps were at difficult to access areas, some ramps were very, very steep, etc. For anyone travelling with young children and needing a crib, you need to bring your own. They do have some and I was told I didn't need to bring one but it was not suitable for use (the railing was maybe 1 foot above the mattress so any child that can stand could easily fall out). We asked several other parents and no one else was using the provided cribs either. Like many other resorts, on the last day, the checkout is early but you only leave the resort later. We were told that this was no problem because they provided a 'hospitality suite' where we could get changed and shower, etc. Turns out that they had ONE room for all guests to use (2 buses for us) so needless to say, a lot of people didn't get to shower and/or change in the room. One major issue for some guests is that this resort is pretty much dead; there are very few guests here so if you are looking for a place to party, go elsewhere. If you go with kids and they want to play with other kids, go elsewhere. If you just want a very quiet place to sit by the pool or by the beach, this isn't actually too bad. My biggest complaint was probably the lack and condition of the public bathrooms - when I eat at these buffets, I often have to go to the bathroom and it's not always convenient to return to the room. Here, there were very few public bathrooms (only 1 male and 1 female bathroom by the pool so there was often a lineup and it was often not particularly clean.
Beach:
The beach is actually very nice; very wide, super soft sand, water is very clear. Waves vary, when we first got there it was very calm and suitable for children but we had some storms for a few days and after that it was quite wavy - fun for adults but probably not suitable for kids under 10 without a lot of supervision. I didn't look into it but there appears to be only very limited watersport availabilty - there are catamarans that you can go with the person, other than that, I did not see any sailboards, kayaks, pedal boats, etc. I didn't try them but I was told that the snorking masks were very poor so you pretty much needed to have brought your own. As for snorklening, we didn't do any (did not get nice weather) but I was told by others that it was actually pretty good just going past far out from the beach.
Pool:
Some of the resort profiles from travel companies will incorrectly say that there are 2 pools - this is true except that one is in the 'permanently' closed section so you only have access to one. There is no swim-up bar (also in the closed section), The pool is actually quite large and was nice. It has a shallow portion (maybe 1 or 2 feet deep) and a deeper portion. The only small drawback is that it didn't have a 'reef entrance' which slowly goes deeper, it's either really shallow (kids section) or deep.
Food:
Although some people always complain about food at these resorts, we actually always think it's fine. This was pretty typical with a pasta station and 'grilling' station and some 'pre-cooked' food however even here, it wasn't as nice as other resorts we've been too; the selection was actually quite limited even for these buffets. However the biggest problem with it was that other than the food you have them cook for you (e.g. omelettes, pasta, stir-fry, etc), the 'pre-cooked' food was pretty much always cold - cold scrambled eggs, cold bacon, cold lasagna, cold meat, etc). The 'a-la-carte' restaurants where also not up to the standard of other resorts that we've been to.
Room:
The room was very large and nice. However there were some problems: First, the AC was not hooked up to the thermostat so whether you set it to 15 to 30, if it was on, it was blowing cold. Too cold, we liked having it on (with the fan set to low) but that meant that at night the room was usually 17C (we have a travel clock with a thermostat on it). Because of this, we'd turn it on for a while, get up and turn it off, ... The problem was that if you didn't have it on, the room would get damp and muggy. There was also water issues. Every night around 3am, we'd lose ALL water to the room - no toilet, no sink, etc, usually by morning we'd get the cold water back but not the hot, not sure why but it usually wouldn't be until we got back from breakfast (around 10:30ish that) we'd have hot water - this isn't there was no hot water left (we've experienced this at other resorts (usually before diner when all guests are taking showers), here, you'd turn the tap and you'd get air sound in the pipes.
Baby:
We travelled with our 18 month old child so I had emailed the resort beforehand to verify that there were cribs available and was assured that there were so we were quite disapointed when the crib we were offered was not suitable at all and did not use it. There was also a kids club there which is advertised as 2-12 but we left our son with the attendant, Yojinda on several occasions and he loved and she was great.
Entertainment / shows:
The shows were ok but (the performers are all very talented) but overall, they were not as impressive as some that we've seen at other resorts. Part of the problem was that there wasn't an outdoor stage and the shows were done in the discotheque.
Overall, while it wasn't a bad experience and some parts where nice, I just fell that for the money there are much better options available. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this resort.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Jana & Brent ~ Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
October 2006
Photos
We wanted to share our awesome vacation experience with those that are thinking of traveling to Cayo Coco and booking the Blau Colonial Hotel. For the interest of the reader this was a surprise vacation for my husband who turned 40 while we were at Cayo Coco and he did not know that we were going on a vacation until the night before, once he figured out all the clues.
However the reason I chose this specific spot is that we just needed to unplug from the hustle and bustle of life and I was not looking for a place to party hard but rather a relaxing and romantic paradise to discover, and we really did do that here!
If you love endless white beaches, relaxing by warm sparkling clean ocean, tanning under the hot sun, chatting with friendly people/staff, and doing much of nothing Cayo Coco is your place. One big hint though make sure you attend the hotel briefing or your stay may not be as pleasant since there are expectations of the guests i.e. you need to put down 30 Convertible Pesos in order to get fresh beach towels every day which you need to pick up on your way to the beach, one clean towel per person per day. You can convert money at the airport or right at the hotel the exchange rate is within couple of cents more at the hotel but that way you don't have to stand in the huge line up when you arrive at the airport.
Much has been written about the buffet style restaurant and though my husband was glad we brought Imodium, you'd be wise to also bring it, there was something good to eat for every sitting. For breakfast we enjoyed freshly made papaya and guava milk shakes made right in front of us, fresh cappuccino that the staff would get from the bar-we tipped them for their extra efforts, fresh omelets designed by us - the omelet lady is so nice so get to know her, freshly scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, pastries that the English seem to liked, and the list goes on. Lunch is a little more hit and miss but we never left hungry or disappointed and my husband is a big eater.
Also for lunch try Yarey's fresh grill. Dinners were not only fun with local musicians showing off their talents right at our table - how romantic, but were also tasty with variety of fresh grilled meats or seafood- try the grilled squid with vinegar - yum, George made us fresh pasta of our choice right in front of us, there was a choice of salads though they were not green salads rather things like coleslaw, potato salads, etc. and various deserts such as cakes and puddings. Your body will have to adjust to the hot weather, drinks and the food so come prepared. The hotel also offers 3 various restaurants: Cuban, Italian & seafood, to which you get one visit per stay but if you don't wish to go to one you can exchange your coupon for another so for example if you're a seafood lover you can go to the seafood restaurant twice. Our favorite was the seafood restaurant though we recommend that you try out the Cuban food, when in Rome do like the Romans do! Our favorite experiences at these restaurants were the local musicians playing at our table, we purchased a CD of their music which is playing in the background as I write this review.
As for excursions there is a great selection to choose from:
- Spectacular Sugar Express ~ $75 CUC
- Jeep Safari ~ $69 CUC
- Boat adventure ~ $41
- Colorful Cuba ~ $65
- Catamaran, half or full day ~ $42 or 72
- Havana (over night trip) ~ $195
- Horseback riding ~ $10 at the hotel
- Trinidad ~ $70
- Deep Sea Fishing ~ $250/price per boat
- Swim with the dolphins (overnight) ~ $169
- Half Moon Island ~ $49
At the local hotel beach you can experience what we called the flying boat ride @ $30 CUC for 10-15 min. ride or parasailing at $40 CUC. And hopefully you'll get to see the coconut man who rides along the beach selling drinks our of freshly cut coconuts yelling "Coooconut" it's very entertaining! J We did the full day on the Catamaran and would highly recommend it! We ended up seeing a dolphin and a reef shark along with many beautiful fish and corals.
And I must mention that the catamaran staff is very friendly and they made us a great lunch with lobster, shrimp rice with seafood sauce on it, it was delicious. After we snorkeled at couple of places we docked for couple of hours at Pilar Beach to relax, this place was stunning virgin territory but we did see a couple of black jelly fish in the ocean which our chef picked up by hand to show us, he left the experience unharmed.
Our hotel room was beautiful with a balcony, ocean view though it was mostly blocked by coconut trees, what a beautiful problem to have. The room was cleaned daily with fresh towels but you have to call everyday to get your fridge restocked if you want it restocked, it's not a problem though but if you don't go to the orientation you'll miss this detail. We did encounter some small ants in the bathroom but it's a tropical country and there is no way of getting rid of them so just get used to it. But do bring mosquito repellant though mosquitoes are sprayed for they'll still find you if you're sitting outside, we did not encounter any inside. Another thing to bring is a thermos for drinking as you're given small plastic cups only and it means going for often trips to the local watering hole (that's what we called the outdoor bar), this way you can nicely enjoy the beach without too many trips. Also you must not forget sun screen (one per person, minimum) and apply it often, the sun is incredibly powerful and some people really looked painful. Plus parents' one thing to know is that lot of British woman are topless at the beach and many times it's not a pretty sight, something to be aware of anyway.
One additional hint when the bus for your departure comes to pick you up at your hotel make sure you're there on time, they don't wait, we left without 10 people. As for purchasing souvenirs, the Duty Free shop at the airport is your best deal and they have a good selection of stuff if you don't like that shop there are others to chose from and are definitely a lot cheaper than what you'll find at the hotel stores.
Most of all enjoy this natural paradise and have fun relaxing which is what this place is best for if you want to party more Varedero is apparently better place for that.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | S ~ Ottawa Canada |
October 2006
I just got back from a "last minute" booking for a week at the Blau Colonial. I had been to Holguin Cuba before, but never Cayo Coco. All I wanted was a quiet, one-week get away, and I was not disappointed. The resort is smaller than most, which suited me just fine. There was lots to do, and also - more importantly to me - lots of places to go when you wanted quiet. I must admit, the last place I wanted to be around 3:00 in the afternoon was around the pool, when they started the annoying "volleyball in the pool" or "dance lessons" or "Spanish lessons" - the facilitators screaming at the top of their lungs in 3 languages (Spanish, English, French) lambasting us for not jumping up to participate in their games. But during the day, it was quiet at the pool for the most part. Be careful that the French Canadians don't insist on the dj putting the Celine Dion CD in the player, over and over. That woman can catterwaul and it grows old quickly.
Then, I am sorry to say ... there's the children. For Heaven's Sake people, if YOU brought it, YOU take care of it! The rest of us don't want to listen to a child repeating over and over and over again "Mummy/Daddy, watch me." I don't blame the children - they are merely craving attention. But I do blame their parents who appear to merely ignore them and let the rest of us listen to their little angles demanding attention.
The food at the resort was fine - nothing special, but then again you DON'T go to Cuba for the food. There were three a la carte restaurants. Most people seemed to enjoy the seafood restaurant, but I did not - the smell of the river was a little off-putting when you are trying to dine. And I did get sick from the snapper, of which I only ate half because it seemed "off". But the Caribbean restaurant (near the poolside bar) was excellent. The buffet was also fine - there was always something there anyone could eat, whether it be chicken, pork, fish, beef or merely grab one of their small baguettes, split it down the middle and pile it up with cold cuts and cheese - excellent snack. You may miss salads (I only saw fresh tomatoes a few times), but remember - it is Cuba, a small island and very poor. Overall, the food was just fine. The fresh fruits were wonderful and plentiful.
The staff were kind and friendly. They did not have their hands out for tips all the time. When you did tip them, you always were rewarded with a huge smile and even better service than before. Nothing to complain about there.
In short, by all means go there and enjoy. But if you are going for the food or to be spoiled in luxury, take a hint and stay home in your cold and wet country and eat your own food. If you want sunshine and smiles, this is a good spot.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Paul & Lisa ~ UK Surrey |
September 2006
We booked this holiday the day before we left (last minute getaway) not knowing anything about the resort apart from what was written in the brochure. I got home and thought I would just read a few reviews on the place…..
I was gutted! Most people slated the food etc and complained about stomach problems etc. It also dawned upon me that it was Hurricane season and also the Rainy season! I woke up the next morning wanting to cancel the holiday on the day of departure!!! Having learnt about all of the issues and also realizing my Hepatitis A injection had expired I looked in the TC Brochure and found out that no money could be refunded on day of departure – Oh well, I prepared myself for the worst!
Flight ok (Thomas Cook Airlines) and had short delay at Gatwick. Flight time was about nine hours so just bearable!
Had to pay for all alcoholic drinks though on flight even with main meal. Could not knock the service though or quality but would still rather fly Virgin!
The transfer time to the hotel is only about 15 mins which was great, Check in at the hotel was reasonably ok.
The room was nice, clean and well equipped (air con, sat TV etc) but the mini bar basically consisted of a can of beer, two cans of coke and a bottle of water. The mini bar is free but you have to contact the service guy in order to get this re stocked – the maids will not do this…..
The sea and weather was amazing! We have been to the Maldives and Barbados before but have never been in such warm sea. No sign of a hurricane either!. We had a bit of rain but this soon cleared up. Staff were great too, we basically left tips at the end of our stay – you do not need to tip waiters etc at every moment. Most of the restaurants were air conditioned except the a la carte Cuban and seafood restaurant (outside) which at times became too hot with no protection from the mosquitos! Tip – have a drink in the seafood restaurant bar upstairs and watch the tropical lightning in the distance – quite amazing! The Italian restaurant is a bit of a waste of time but you can drink bottles of Spanish red wine in there as opposed to the Cuban wine in the buffet. Food in the Italian restaurant was a bit repetitive – pretty simple and not really Italian. We had our best meals in the Cuban and Seaford restaurant – same veg etc but just a little bit different to the buffet.
The Buffet was ok, you could eat freshly grilled food or freshly cooked pasta etc. I am sure some dishes were recycled and there were a few bizarre combinations but all in all not too bad but just be a little bit wary of what you eat. If you can’t see steam coming from the buffet hot dishes then it might be best to avoid. I generally stuck to hot food. I have had stomach problems before from salads, ice creams peeled fruit etc. There seemed to be reasonable amount of choice with the buffet though. The bread was nice too.
The booze at the various bars spotted around the resort was fine. Beer was ok but not sure what some of the cocktails were made of though! There seemed to be a slightly better quality of drink in the Italian Bar and seafood bar where I had a great bloody mary!
Unless you are drinking in one of the restaurants or restaurant bars (where you get glasses) you will drink out of a small plastic cup. This is ok if you are propping the bar up for the afternoon but not ok if you are on the beach or sitting further away. Take small flask with you – saves you keep going to the bar and also keeps the beer cool on the beach. You could however, if the right person was serving you grab a whole bottle of wine and take it away! You cannot buy the flasks at the resort so Definitely take one with you! I was hoping someone would leave me one but no such luck……
We met a Canadian guy who has been to Cuba loads of times and stayed in most of the hotels. He said that the food in the Blau Colonal was the best out of the bunch but he also said you should not come to Cuba for the food!!!. Tip – take Imodium with you, especially if you don’t want to get caught out on the flight back!
Excursions – we only went on one, this was the Cuban beach party at another resort/beach. You basically get taught how to Salsa and get plied with loads of beer – it’s quite a laugh, especially with Cook Danny “the skinny”!
All in all we had a good time, and we met some great people. The staff worked hard and the hotel seems like its continually trying to improve. If you are after sun, sea and booze then you can’t go wrong. If you go on holiday and expect a good culinary experience then Cuba generally is not really for you. A few of the people we met had stomach problems some of which may have been the food but I think a lot of blame can be put on a mixture of what is experienced there; all day sun, all day drink and all day food! Sun stroke I feel was quite a contributing factor ……
The Hotel seem to think they are now five star rated – which for Cuba they probably are but not for us Europeans….I would
Say they were more 3 star plus.
Summary – Just be a bit carefull/picky with what you eat. Everything else was fine.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Mike and Nicola ~ England |
September 2006
Went to Blau Collonial July 2006 for two weeks with wife and two teenage boys. Hotel was beautiful, very nice rooms, lovelly setting, clean everywhere in the resort. Although you may read that part of the complex is closed this has no effect whatsoever on thr rest of the hotel. the staff were all very friendly and helpful. There were not many guest there and at times we had the beach to ourselves - a beautiful white sand beach and warm sea. The only downside for us was the lack of sailing boats (there were 2 hoby cts that you could not take out on your own and one Laser which for the first week did not have a sail! - we are keen sailors so this was disappointing). There are no villages to walk to and excursions are expensive (four adults to Havanah for one day trip cost £500 approx). If you want to relax, read a book and eat reasonable food you could not want for a better place. The hotels down the beach were unattractive in comparrison but had more going on. We decided that the bad reviews we had read on this site had put people off going, unfairly - Blau is not a building site whatsoever and is a beautiful colonal style hotel complex.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Raluca ~ Canada |
August 2006
Arrival/Check-in
Upon our arrival, at about 9:00 pm, we were left alone trying in the dark to find out where the reception area was
Reception area was dark; nobody was there to greet us (welcome cocktail/music/dance). On our last day we've seen a welcome committee for a different group of tourists. When we asked why we didn't have the same privilege, the tour guide told us that the singers/dancers were busy at the time we arrived and that we were supposed to find them in the restaurant - anyway, they weren't in the restaurant, and as we've seen on one of the nights, at that hour they were already out of the resort
very, very poor illumination
no bell boy to help us with the luggage - we had an infant with us, therefore a stroller too
tour guide asking for tips for the driver
Room
we changed the room - the first one they gave us had no view at all - it was on the first floor ( street level ), the only thing we could see was the street, some bushes and lots of horse shit (sorry!)
the mini-fridge wasn't "stocked once daily" (as presented) unless you tipped the guy in charge
Resort
The brochure presents "2 buffet restaurants and 4 a la carte restaurants". One third of the resort was closed for restoration, so just 1 buffet and 3 a la carte were open - we were supposed to be informed about the "renovation" part. Anyway, no work was in progress
very, very poor illumination
Their brochure presents "shopping on-site"...we were not able to use credit cards (major credit cards), although they were listed on the shop's door. In the Cuban tobacco shop we were sent to bring cash. The seller had a nasty attitude and sent us to the exchange office/mini-bank to withdraw some cash. We didn't go, but seen someone else trying to do so, and his credit card wasn't accepted - not even at the "mini-bank"
"fitness facilities"...haven't seen something like that
the Internet didn't work for 5 out of 7 days, so we couldn't use the Internet credit we bought on our first day
we couldn't have some of the cocktails listed on their menu - due to broken mixer ....at all of the bars?! The drinks were really small, and they’d fill that already small cup halfway with ice.
the entertainment was almost non-existent.
the kids' club had no activities
the night club was very dark
Restaurant
no air conditioning
the food was atrocious! It was very difficult to create a recognizable meal with the choices at the buffet - sprouts & French fries for breakfast and sometimes the previous night's leftover beef & carrots. Sometimes they were just moving the trays around
I had diarrhea for the last few days, and I'm sure it was because of the food
glasses not clean enough
the staff in the buffet restaurant expected to be tipped so unless you tipped them for your first drink, did not expect a refill.
the pool bar served lunches and there was salads and desserts left out for you to help yourself. There were birds standing in the food as they pinch it. Nothing was done to prevent this.
Overall the holiday was a very expensive waste of money. We lost one week of our time and paid for nothing. We feel like our money was stolen.
We wish we could have taken the first plane to go home, but couldn't so we felt like "prisoners in no man's land" for a whole week. The last day of our trip was the best day, because we were going home!!!
Two good things to mention:
- the beach/ocean
- the airplane services were excellent - thanks to Skyservice!
The tour operator was Signature Vacations.
Do not recommend to anyone !
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Julie ~ Scotland |
July 2006
We booked this trip in January from the Thomas Cook website after studying all the available hotels in Cayo Coco. We picked this one as it seemed to tick all our boxes - 4*, Kids Club etc etc. By no means was it the cheapest so we expected a high standard.
Can't fault the hotel on appearance as it is very quaint and pretty (except for the derelict section which unfortunately is the part featured in all the brochures!!).
The food is atrocious! It was very difficult to create a recognisable meal with the choices at the buffet - sprouts & French fries for breakfast and sometimes the previous night's leftover beef & carrots. Our 10 year old barely ate all fortnight as there was hardly anything there that would appeal to a child - he lived on burgers and spaghetti.
The staff in the buffet restaurant expect to be tipped so unless you tip them for your first drink, do not expect a refill.
The entertainment is beyond a joke. You get the same old salsa trash every night by the same 6 teenage dancers. They come into the restaurants to interrupt your dinner to remind each and every one of you that the show begins at 9.30pm in the Disco - whatever you do don't go. I've seen better shows at my son's primary school.
The Piano Bar is nice and cool and was a haven from the humidity but even that became boring as the grand piano has been kitted out with an electrical device to play the same tune over and over and over..... Yoel the barman was great though!
The Italian Restaurant was unlike any Italian I've ever had before. The traditional pasta dishes were worse than the budget frozen ready meals in a low end supermarket. The remaining dishes were all served with frozen veg and Smash (instant mash potato)!!! The head waitress was the grumpiest and most rude person we encountered the entire holiday.
The pool bar served lunches and there was salads and desserts left out for you to help yourself. You'd be insane to do so as there is flock of birds who hang about this area and at every opportunity swoop in to stand in the food as they pinch it. Nothing is done to prevent this and I wouldn't be surprised if this was the source of the illness everyone had whilst we were there.
Without exception, everyone from Britain we spoke to on both the Manchester & Gatwick flights had lost several days of their holiday to illness. This ranged from nausea, fever, the squits!! And vomiting and left you bed-ridden. When the rep was approached to ask why so many of us were ill - his response was "What do you expect, your in Cuba!" Nice one Fran Garcia!
There was no Kids Club there of the kind you would expect in European resorts. The Mini Club was run by one teenager and aimed at toddlers. Our 10 year old was bored out of his mind once the novelty of the pool had worn off. DON'T GO HERE WITH KIDS IT JUST ISN'T SUITABLE.
The trips organised through your rep are run by the Cuban travel agent Cubacan. The "Colourful Cuba" trip was perhaps one of the worst experiences of our holiday. The first part was fine but then you get taken to Moron (the nearest town) for a sightseeing tour in a horse drawn carriage. Sounds lovely but is the beginning of your exploitation! At every opportunity, you are hounded by beggars. They are relentless and it is very unpleasant. The Cuban travel reps do nothing to warn you of this and nothing to protect you from it. Don't waste your money it is so depressing as the deprivation is beyond expectations.
Another trip we paid for was the speedboats in Cayo Guillermo. The bus did not turn up for us so we were rebooked for another day - the trip was then cancelled but we were not told by any rep and only after standing outside in the blistering midday sun for over an hour did someone come to tell us. The tour operators had known about it since the morning but did not bother to let us know.
Overall the holiday was a very expensive waste of money. Go to Europe and save yourself the 8.5 hour plane journey and jet lag!!
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Danny and Vikki ~ UK |
July 2006
I read the reviews of this resort before choosing to stay here and cannot believe that 95% of the people who gave good reports actually stayed at the same place as me.
On the first night we went to the buffet restaurant and found that most seats and tablecloths were filthy and looked like they had not been cleaned this year.
The rooms were of a good standard but my wife and I didn’t go to Cuba to stay in our room.
The nightclub was dark and dingy and contained the pool table which was short of balls and would have needed to be aluminous anyway, had a three foot pool cue, no triangle and no chalk. Whilst waiting for my turn to play I could not sit at the sofa as they were damp and smelly.
The snack bar had an extensive choice, however you could only have the cheese and ham sandwiches that everyone raves about. (If cheese and ham sandwiches are what make your holiday get a life). Even these became a rarity on day 3 as the resort ran out of bread.
The Yarey bar, now that’s a sight to behold, very unhygienic.
Pool was in a state of disrepair and not fit for use.
The themed restaurant was closed, that may have been a blessing.
Half of the resort was closed for restoration. No work was in progress and I believe it has been closed for economic reasons and will fall down shortly and could become a place of Cuban historic interest.
This was to be a 2 week holiday but I formed an escape committee on day four after been served Pork that must have been hung like a pheasant for a month before cooking.
All in all not a place I would recommend for anyone to stay unless you looking to pay 5 star prices for a 1 star holiday.
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| Blau Colonial Cayo Coco | Mirela ~ Montreal |
June 2006
Our family (my husband, two daughters age 5 and 8 and myself) just spent a week at Blau Colonial, June 3-10 2006. We were quite disappointed. I understand it’s not peak season for the resort, but we have already been to Cuba, to a 4 star resort, this time of year (Iberostar – Cayo Guillermo, last year) and had a wonderful time, can’t even compare it to Blau, as if it were not at all the same category.
First of all, let me get al the positive things out of the way. The beach is beautiful, clean, and wide, water clear and surprisingly deep close to the shore. On the other hand, the beach towels, chaises and cabanas are literally falling apart. All that’s left of the cabanas (the beach and the poolside as well) is the construction. There are no palm branches on top, so they’re pretty useless when it comes to shade (or protecting you in case of rain).
The room and the bathroom were very nice (we had booked a standard room), very spacious, clean, comfortable and in working order. However, the promised bathrobes, slippers, ironing table were not there (no big deal, who wants to iron on vacation anyway) and all “the fully stocked mini bar” really is three cans in your mini fridge, and if you wanted them replaced you had to call a certain phone number between 10:00 and 13:00 (when you normally wouldn’t be in the room).
The food was OK, not as many choices as we have seen elsewhere, but what was there was decent. A la carte restaurants were nice too. Piano bar was not open.
The drinks were really small, and they’d fill that already small cup halfway with ice. I had asked for a margarita, a daiquiri, a mai tai, and was told every time “We don’t make those” WTF?!
The kids’ club literally had no activities; it may have as well not been there. Zero, zip, nada.
The entertainment, especially during the day, was almost non-existent. Those few animators that were there completely lacked enthusiasm, you could see them hang out near pool bar, play table tennis, take a dip in the pool, watch TV, sometimes even drink or smoke on poolside chaises, as if they were on vacation. They didn’t even have uniforms, they wore swim trunks.
When I read one day there was going to be a beach party11:00-2:00, I was glad. At Iberostar, they would do that, bring music, organize games and dancing, set out a mini buffet and bar, used to be fun. Not at Blau, their beach party was at 11 at night. Obviously, the families were not as important guests as young partying bunch.
Upon our arrival, at about 22:30, we were pretty much left alone trying in the dark to find out where the reception area was, nobody was there to greet us (at Iberostar they’d greet us with a welcome cocktail, non alcoholic, very refreshing for a tired traveler). Reception area was dark; gentleman there was not very helpful. We had requested a room on a superior level when we booked, but they gave us one on street level (and yes, it’s a street, we had cars and buses pass in front of our door at all times of day and night, couldn’t let the kids leave the room on their own, there was traffic, not to mention the noise) and refused to give us different room at that time. As well, we were not given beach towel voucher, or the key to the safe, I quote “Come back tomorrow, if I did that for everyone tonight, I’d have to be here till 1!”
Generally, the information we’d find useful was really hard to get and was never volunteered. We constantly had to ask questions, and way too often the answer was “I don’t know”, “Go ask there” or “It’s written over there”. And then:
- The operating hours for a lot of services mean nothing
- The doors must be very thin, we’d often be awaken by guests returning to their rooms under influence
- The advertised “15 min from the airport” is really a lot more when your bus goes to two different hotels first
- We wanted to take a kayak and were asked for two pesos “deposit”
- Service got a lot worse when soccer championship started, you could stay at the bar for a long time before somebody would come to serve you, they’d be watching TV.
I’m sure young people enjoy that kind of atmosphere, most of them were drinking all day, walking around with half gallon mini kegs, and seemed quite happy. Overall, we would never return to Blau nor would we ever recommend it to anyone. For the same price you can get so much better service elsewhere.
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Last updated: August 13, 2009
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