Our opinion: 4 stars. This resort was quieter than other resorts we've stayed at, with the area not commercialized at all, which is exactly what we look for. There were a lot of university students during our first week at this resort, however our room was in building 12 and the partying did not bother us. We would certainly return to Brisas Santa Lucia. We also met several other people who liked this resort so much that this was their second vacation there.

Staff: We found the staff to be very friendly and helpful during our 2 weeks.

Room: very clean. The mattress was thinner than we're used to but we didn't have any problem sleeping.

Food: good, with lots of variety. The roasted pig, which was done over a spit by the snack bar, was very good. We also had some of the best lamb we've ever tasted. We were also served beef, veal, chicken, turkey, ham and of course fish. The omelets every morning were excellent (done by Leonardo). Although we aren't big dessert people, most evenings we had their ice cream which was also great. Dan enjoyed the Spanish coffee from the coffee bar as well. He also thoroughly enjoyed the pasta bar.

Beach: fabulous beach, lots of lounge chairs and shade. The seaweed was raked up every morning. This seaweed is not the slimy stuff we're used to...it's more like coarse grass. Once it's washed up on the beach it's like shredded paper. We went snorkeling off the beach pretty much every day - straight out from the water sport rental building, past the orange buoy. Look for the rocks and coral where there's lots of different fish to see. Our last day we must have been the first ones out there. We forgot to bring bread or bananas so the fish were nibbling on our fingers - how cool!

Internet: we didn't use it but didn't hear any negative comments.

Washrooms: the public washrooms were kept clean and had toiled paper. The lobby washrooms had the paper in holders outside of the stalls so I just had to remember to grab some before going into the stall.

Excursions: Blue to Green tour with Olga from the neighbouring resort. Olga and a driver picked us up at 8:00 am in a jeep. We then headed inland where we stopped at a factory which was never used. It was built in the early 1900's and has a legend attached - ask about it. We then stopped at a violin factory, village where we tasted the juice from sugar cane, tobacco farm, family operation where they make flat bread, highest point in Camaguey province, citrus grove, crocodile farm where we had a wonderful lunch, another village for shopping and then back to the resort by 5:00 pm.

Another day Pepe picked us up with his horse and carriage. He brought us to where the reef is close to land where a guide brought us snorkeling over the reef. We then went to his house for a lobster lunch. It was excellent! Finally a tour of Santa Lucia and back to our resort. Well worth the $15 pesos each. Look for Pepe between Brisas Santa Lucia and Gran Club Santa Lucia on the beach with his horse and buggy around 10:00 am.

Finally we did the Playa Bonita catamaran excursion. We saw and handled the starfish, went snorkeling for an hour at the reef and then went to Sanibel Island for lunch. The beach is really beautiful. During our free time we went snorkeling again off the beach. We found different fish again and also followed a reef squid for several minutes. The reef is so amazing. Words just can’t describe it.

Iguanas: We had been advised there were iguanas in the resort, so one morning we went looking for them, with no luck. A couple days later we took a “short-cut” back to our room and, wouldn’t you know it, the iguanas were behind our building where it appears they “lived”. We saw them almost everyday after that.

Tour Company /Airline: Sunwing
Resort: Brisas Santa Lucia, All inclusive type
Airport: Camaguey, Cuba
Date: Feb 22- Mar 8, 2007

Overall Opinion: Poor tour company/airline; One star resort.

Minuses: Frequently the hot and cold water was turned off for at least part of the day. When the water was on, the hot always took 5 minutes of continuous running to heat up. Horribly stained pillows with pillowcases not long enough to hide the stains unless you folded the pillow in two before putting it in the pillowcase. Lumpy mattresses with springs barely covered by thin fabric. Everything was broken. Poor unimaginative, over-cooked food in limited quantities, no juice, no salad dressings, only instant coffee in the main restaurant from a machine, mixes for the alcoholic drinks limited to a few types of pop, and watered-down powdered drinks. Alcohol limited to the major types. Poor practices in the restaurant (staff handling raw chicken then serving food).

Indifferent Staff:
Many but not all waiters and staff were indifferent to the needs of the guests - often, depending on where you sat, you would have to go search them out to get a glass of water or wine. And that's not because they were busy. Many would just be standing around and talking. Piles of raked but uncollected seaweed lined the beach despite the smelly diesel tractor and wagon that drove up and down the beach but couldn't keep up with the piles.

Sick:
We met many people who got food poisoning (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever) in our second week. At one of the While-you-wait grills, I saw a cook handling raw chicken with his bare hands, and then wiping them dry with a paper napkin before serving the cooked food. My friend and I both experienced food poisoning during our vacation at this resort and despite treatment, over a month later he remains ill. His doctor said the symptoms may last for months.

Pluses: Very shallow gradually deepening sea that warmed up quickly to bathwater temperature in the hot sun, fine white coral sand beach, attractive mature landscaping, sweet fresh fruit, decent red and white wine.

The whole story:
We bought our 2 week vacation from Sunwing, and had spent months planning a driving trip around the area in the south west where we'd hope the water would be calmer and warmer than it was in the north and that included renting a car, and driving around exploring the area's sights and snorkelling while staying at casas particulares, which are much like Bed and Breakfasts. On previous trips, getting out into the countryside, picking up the ever present hitchhikers, and meeting the real Cuban people had been highlights of our trips. We made maps and photocopied the tour books sections on the areas we wanted to go to.

Sunwing:
When we got to the airport in Toronto, the Sunwing staff told us and about 20 others that our hotel was overbooked and that we could go to a different hotel of equal value. A different resort might not be too bad, except that it was 380 kilometers away, on the north east coast, not the south west coast (Cienfuegos) where we had planned to go! Our entire driving trip would be impossible, the snorkelling destinations not reachable. We were furious but our only other option was to get a refund. Not too convenient when you've booked off 2 weeks from work, and are standing in an airport 100 miles from home. The agent said the hotel was a four star, equivalent to the one we'd booked. Very depressed, and angry we boarded the plane for the other hotel. There were many other angry people too. Some had planned to meet friends from previous trips to the area that we were no longer going to. Some had medical supplies to deliver to impoverished hospitals, again, nowhere near where we would be. Cuba is a big island, 750 miles long by 140 miles wide - it wasn't like we could just drive there and many of the roads are in terrible condition, there are very few gas stations, some of which have no gas, or only have leaded gas that's not useable in the modern rental cars. You have to plan your route before you leave home, and make sure you've got enough gas to get where you're going by discussing your route with the car rental agent. One family I met on the plane said when they arrived at the Sunwing counter they were given only 4 boarding passes. Their 15 year old teenage son's friend was told he was flying standby and might not get to go! In the end he did make it. We arrive at the airport in Camaguey and then take an hour and a half comfortable bus ride to our hotel, Brisas Santa Lucia near the town of Santa Lucia. The hotel is beautiful. There's beautiful marble everywhere, the landscaping and vegetation is lush and mature. The lobby and environs are beautiful with artwork, statues etc.

The Beach: Fine white coral sand but a lot of seaweed washes up that needs constant raking but never seems to get all raked up but you can easily step over it to get to the water. Sufficient beach chairs and thatched shade structures called palapas (in Mexico). The water is very shallow, a long way out so the water heats up quickly. I took many pictures of fish in front of the resort and on the catamaran and coral garden boat trips. The water was very clear and even if stirred up would settle quickly. Email me at lesauvage@gmail.com if you'd like to see my pictures, especially a secondary male stoplight parrotfish or search for stoplight parrotfish Brisas on picasaweb. The secondary males begin life as females but change into males if there aren't enough males around. We would recommend both the full day catamaran snorkelling trip and the half day coral garden snorkeling trip but only if you could stay at a different resort. Camera is a Canon A520 and Canon underwater housing.

The Room: When we get to our room we discover the mattress is old and extremely lumpy with the springs sticking almost all the way through - very uncomfortable and our fridge didn't work. So we complained to the Sunwing rep who said she'd have it taken care of. She was sweet but nothing was ever fixed. When we discovered all the other deficiencies, we were really angry. Our phone didn't work, our satellite TV (about 3 English channels) was off the air for the first week and then periodically off and on during the second week. The power went out several times; there was frequently no hot water, or cold water turned off separately at different times. Some days the water was turned off altogether until sometime later in the evening. One day I had to use the waste basket to flush the toilet. The maid ignored that our soap ran out. There was no shampoo. The following day I asked for soap. She said she'd bring it. It never came. We were out of soap for three days until I finally asked for some in the hallway, which she finally provided. One day she left our wet bathmat and towels on the floor, unreplaced. The beach towel shack was almost always out of towels. We could hear the guests above us in the two story building and in the hallways. There seemed to be no trap in the bathroom floor drain which was so loud whenever our neighbours ran the water that we had to cover it and close the bathroom door at night. Our room (2500 block) was near a staff parking lot containing several fantastic old classic cars and we were awakened every morning at 6 am with loud conversations and truck engines.

The food: Some of the food was OK, a few things were quite good, like the fresh fish off the grill, but mostly the food was poor quality. The spaghetti tasted canned though it wasn't. We know there are lots of shortages in Cuba, but this resort served substandard food, relative to all the other resorts we've stayed at in Cuba. The fresh vegetables for salad were limited mostly to cabbage, cucumbers and green tomatoes. There were peas that seemed to be frozen but were always hard and dry as if they didn't cook them, and canned mushrooms, onions and garlic you could add to your omelette with the stone-like peas. They had labelled a sugary Koolaid type of drink "Juice". The milk was reconstituted powdered whole milk - you could still see some of the powder floating on the top. There were two types of plain cake they would sometimes make fancier by adding coloured icing. The flans / custard were more like pudding. The cooked vegetables were either boiled to death or too hard to cut, eg. potatoes, and literally the peas were too hard to cut! Very limited seafood other than fish, was of poor quality. The roast turkey was fairly good. There was only one type of flavourless jam called melocoton which is peach. Cookies were always shortbread style - pretty good and made with butter. There was never any chocolate. While you wait grills would make an omellete or fried eggs for you but the ingredients were limited. While you wait Pasta Bar suffered the same lack of ingredients. The pasta sauce tasted and looked like Campbell's tomato soup. They had raspberry and coconut yoghurt but only until it ran out about halfway through the breakfast hours. You had to get there early. There was fluffy white french style bread. Once only I saw half a loaf of whole wheat and once I saw whole wheat rolls. There was no salad dressing except for one day out of the 14 - that was the day the managers were visiting. They did have unmanageably large slippery bottles of oil and separate bottles of vinegar though these were allowed to run out in the beach restaurant. The staff either didn't care that the supplies ran out, or they were told not to refill. I suspect some of both. Empty food trays would often not be refilled even though the buffet was still open.

Coffee: In the buffet restaurant where all meals are served, the coffee was instant and came from a push button machine - undrinkable. This, in a country that grows superb coffee. The snack bar had an espresso bar where you could line up for excellent coffee and then carefully walk it over to the buffet restaurant. There was never any cream, though that is the case all over Cuba.

The fruit: The grapefruit were uniformly excellent, sweet and juicy, but the resort rationed the fruit most of the time, by making you wait in line for a server to cut it up for you. They also had sweet juicy oranges though they were tough as nails inside because they were juice oranges. The pineapple was sweet about half the time. Miniature bananas were always sweet. They also had guava which was interesting though full of seeds, and papaya which seemed ok.

Food Service: Many staff seemed indifferent to our presence in the dining room and would ignore us unless we walked over to them to ask for water or wine. I saw one man trying to figure out how to use the instant coffee machine with 2 staff 8 feet away doing nothing. He gave up without them coming to help him. Some staff were very friendly and provided excellent service at the tables removing our empty plates and refilling our water and wine.

Massage: Frank at the massage booth near the pool gave me an excellent one hour massage for 20 pesos (25 CDN)

Internet: 6 pesos (about 7 CDN per hour) but there was only one unbearably slow, old PC which you had to line up to use.

Washrooms: in the lobby and restaurants had no toilet seats and sometimes no paper.

Overcharged: We paid almost 1700 CDN each for 2 weeks, but we met people who had booked one week for $600. Considering that you only fly once there and back, 2 weeks should be less than $1200.

Hello My name is Rosanna. I have visited Cuba, Brisas, Santa Lucia twice so far. My mom, Adua Colonna workes with a tour guide called Voyages Arc en Ciel, Montreal Canada.They tour all over the world,and one of which include Cuba, Brisas, Santa Lucia. My mom, Adua has been to Brisas with a groupe of Italian elders for the past five years now. Every time they come they have a blast. The food is great, the people are friendly and heart felt, the shows are amazing, the rooms are great and the service is fantastic.

My mom, Adua asked me to send you this on her behalf because she can not use a computer nor write English. She wants me to let you know that on behalf of all the groupes that visit Brisas, Santa Lucia, thank you for your warm hospitality, and generousity. They are planning a new trip there again next year. My mom is well know for Santa Lucia Brisas queen of every year, every year.

We travelled on Sunwing from Montreal on Tuesday March 13 2007 returning on March 20th.

I booked this trip in late February and wish I had read the reviews first. I'll begin by saying that I have been to Cuba many times since 1983, that I am not overly picky, I am aware of the inevitable shortages and problems that can occur and that usually, the weather and the people of Cuba can more than make up for the shortfalls. Not this time!

Brisas Santa Lucia is rated as a 3.5 to 4 star hotel by many major tour operators. Unfortunately, the standards are much closer to a 2 star, unable to cope with 400 + rooms.

Restaurants
One buffet and two "a la carte" restaurants that are exactly the same,so don't bother making a reservation. The food goes from OK to unpalatable...and while I understand about shortages, this is about basic food preparation. Everything is either overcooked, greasy and congealed, or bland and disgusting, with the exception of the night's they have a pig roast...if you're willing to line up for 45 minutes to get served of course. In the beach a la carte restaurant, which opens at 6:30 p.m. the fish plates are prepared as early as 5:00 P.M, cooked, waiting to be served....you can observe this as you walk by..The only thing worth ordering is the pizza. I may not have had Cordon Bleu cuisine in Cuba, but I certainly ate well in the past. There is no excuse for the food in this resort.

Bars
I note that in some places, the ads claim 7 bars. Are you kidding? There are exactly 4 bars....and only 3 are open during the day, which is a little tough when the hotel is full believe me. After 5:00 p.m. there are only 2 bars - the snack bar and the lobby....Again, notwithstanding shortages etc..., absolutely no effort is made to produce a list of available drinks. Nothing I asked for was "available" - no Pina Coladas, no Margaritas, and lastly, no Mojitos, Cuba's National drink. I spent the week drinking Rum Collins and gave up asking for anything else. There is absolutely no reason for this. The bar is well stocked....it's like going to a restaurant, looking at a bunch of ingredients and asking for a dish based on what you see....! Ridiculous. Conversely, as I walked through the neighbouring Gran Club Santa Lucia, they certainly do much better with a vast array of tropical drinks for your pleasure!

ROOMS
While our room was clean, a horrible smell persisted all week that we attributed to the central air conditioning. The beds are lumpy, the pillows are barely there but the sheets are clean. Our neighbours found cockroaches in their room, and were visited in the early morning hours by what they thought were squirrels on their balcony. It was actually 3 huge rats, which can be very frightening. It explains the reason for a huge colony of cats that roam the resort.

BEACH
The Beach and the Waters are beautiful...no complaints there. There are many beach chairs, all in good condition. The beach towels are a little frayed however and not always in great supply.

OVERALL
The staff are friendly and helpful as always. It rained for two days, overcast for 2 and sunny for 3. It is is also very windy, and I suspect that this is natural for this area. My husband had a great time diving, I got sick and had to see the Doctor...she was very nice but for some reason they like to give tourists injections, even for the flu. Go figure! We were very anxious to get home...and that's never happened before.

I booked this trip in late February and wish I had read the reviews first. I'll begin by saying that I have been to Cuba many times since 1983, that I am not overly picky, I am aware of the inevitable shortages and problems that can occur and that usually, the weather and the people of Cuba can more than make up for the shortfalls. NOT THIS TIME.

Brisas Santa Lucia is rated as a 3.5 to 4 star hotel by many major tour operators. Unfortunately, the standards are much closer to a 2 star, unable to cope with 400 + rooms.

Restaurants
One buffet and two "a la carte" restaurants that are exactly the same,so don't bother making a reservation. The food goes from OK to unpalatable...and while I understand about shortages, this is about basic food preparation. Everything is either overcooked, greasy and congealed, or bland and disgusting, with the exception of the night's they have a pig roast...if you're willing to line up for 45 minutes to get served of course. In the beach a la carte restaurant, which opens at 6:30 p.m. the fish plates are prepared as early as 5:00 P.M, cooked, waiting to be served....you can observe this as you walk by..The only thing worth ordering is the pizza. I may not have had Cordon Bleu cuisine in Cuba, but I certainly ate well in the past. There is no excuse for the food in this resort.

Bars
I note that in some places, the ads claim 7 bars. Are you kidding? There are exactly 4 bars....and only 3 are open during the day, which is a little tough when the hotel is full believe me. After 5:00 p.m. there are only 2 bars - the snack bar and the lobby....Again, notwithstanding shortages etc..., absolutely no effort is made to produce a list of available drinks. Nothing I asked for was "available" - no Pina Coladas, no Margaritas, and lastly, no Mojitos, Cuba's National drink. I spent the week drinking Rum Collins and gave up asking for anything else. There is absolutely no reason for this. The bar is well stocked....it's like going to a restaurant, looking at a bunch of ingredients and asking for a dish based on what you see....! Ridiculous. Conversely, as I walked through the neighbouring Gran Club Santa Lucia, they certainly do much better with a vast array of tropical drinks for your pleasure!

ROOMS
While our room was clean, a horrible smell persisted all week that we attributed to the central air conditioning. The beds are lumpy, the pillows are barely there but the sheets are clean. Our neighbours found cockroaches in their room, and were visited in the early morning hours by what they thought were squirrels on their balcony. It was actually 3 huge rats, which can be very frightening. It explains the reason for a huge colony of cats that roam the resort.

BEACH
The Beach and the Waters are beautiful...no complaints there. There are many beach chairs, all in good condition. The beach towels are a little frayed however and not always in great supply.

OVERALL
The staff are friendly and helpful as always. It rained for two days, overcast for 2 and sunny for 3. It is is also very windy, and I suspect that this is natural for this area. My husband had a great time diving, I got sick and had to see the Doctor...she was very nice but for some reason they like to give tourists injections, even for the flu. Go figure! We were very anxious to get home...and that's never happened before.

Hotel Name: Brisas Santa Lucia (Camaguey Airport)
Travel Dates: February 24 – March 3, 2007-03-19
Tour Operator: Nolitours, booked online via itravel.2000 less than two weeks prior
Flight time: Just over 3 hours, Air Transat
Bus from airport to resort: 1.5 hours, comfortable air-conditioned bus, beer for sale
Parties travelling: 4 adults 30-38 years, 2 adults 59-60 years

Overall: 2 ‘Star’ Rating. Despite the beautiful beach and great snorkelling, this resort is not recommended for those who have good food, good beverages, comfortable beds, or nightlife high on their vacation wish list.

Brisas Santa Lucia has a number of two-story villas, each with 2-4 rooms. The villas start at least 50 feet back from the beach and are spread through the grounds back towards a road (with very little traffic). The buildings are pink and peach and most of the rooms, with the exception of the ones closest to the pool, are garden view. There aren’t any oceanfront rooms and it wouldn’t be worth paying for an upgrade to an ocean view room, as the villas are a ways from the beach.

Beach
The beach is absolutely beautiful, with bright white sand and clear, turquoise water. It’s wide and long, so there’s lots of room for strolling. The water is warm and shallow forever. The beach chairs are standard, hard plastic, some with cracks. There are lots of thatched roof umbrellas, palm trees and sea grass, especially in the really shallow areas by the shore. A diesel-fuelled tractor trolls the beach each day, with two men and a little weiner dog behind it raking the washed up sea grass into little piles and then scooping it up.

Beach Towels
They did not have enough beach towels for everyone, even early in the morning. They weren’t able to wash the towels every day due to lack of water and/or lack of water pressure.

Rooms
The rooms are les than basic. The two ‘double’ beds are what we would consider two slightly larger than twin beds. The mattresses are thin and likely quite old. The pillows are stained and thin. There was a sheet and a thin blanket; the bedspread was the top sheet folded funky by the maid. There was a small closet and 3 drawers for clothes. We paid 29CUC/40CAD for the safe (no deposit back), where we kept our camera, passports, $, etc. There was also a small fridge, table and chair in the room. The patio was small, with only one dirty chair and a small table. We unplugged the phone as it kept ringing throughout the night (some sort of technical problem prompting everyone’s phones to do so).

Showers
We had little pressure, lukewarm water, cold water, hot water, no water and a couple of nice, hot good-pressure showers. It really fluctuated.

Food
Overall, the food was horrible and repetitive. With a few exceptions, they had the same options at the buffet for lunch and dinner. There was a pasta bar every night, with spaghetti noodles, tomato sauce, canned mushrooms, diced peas & carrots and sometimes broccoli. No beef, but lots of pork and tough, chewy chicken (turkey once or twice, also tough). Fish grilled in pieces or whole as in with the head still. They had a pig roast twice. The salad bar consisted of shredded cabbage, shredded beets or radishes, a bottle of vinegar and a bottle of oil. There was lots of white cheese, melted from the heat and hard on the edges, as well as, slices of toasted bread with a squirt of mustard (??).

Raw fish was left out in piles not on ice for hours; raw chicken was carted around in plastic containers not on ice. The smell in the dining room and around the bar areas was pretty disgusting at times. Breakfast was the best meal, as they made omelettes and fried eggs. They also had fresh pineapple, guava, papaya and bananas, but the ‘juice’ is made with a powder and water– orange or papaya. The coffee was fantastic, with whipped steam milk. They had a coffee bar where you could get cappuccinos, lattes, Spanish coffee, etc. With only one a la carte reservation per stay, we were only able to try the Italian restaurant. It was better than the buffet as far as food, wine and service. The snack bar served fried cheese & bologna sandwiches, hot dogs & hamburgers (sometimes) and frozen French fries fried in very old, stinky grease with an awful taste.

Beverages
Ugh - disappointing. No blenders = no slushie drinks, no juice = powdered ‘koolaid-like’ drinks with strong rhum and little ice, watered down foamy, warm keg beer in small plastic cups. Bottled water hard was hard to get and if you go to the bar for a bottle of water, they will rinse out an old pop bottle with tap water and then fill it with purified water. Water sold in the gift shop had lids that weren’t sealed and with quantities at varying levels (??).

Snorkelling
There was some great snorkelling by the buoy to the right of the beach. There are lots of fish and even more came when we fed them bananas. You can go for an arranged tour on a large Catamaran if you book it in advance by lining up at the guest services desk ahead of time and paying around 29CUC/42CAD). While they won’t mention this when you book the tour, they may or may not take you. It depends on whether they have enough other people (they told us they needed at least 10) and cancelled on us at the last minute.

You can also go to the guys in the Watersports hut and book a smaller, 6-8 person hobie cat. You may get a bit wetter, but the view and experience is amazing. It’s about 4km to the reef each way. The reef itself is amazing, with huge fan and brain coral in purples and yellow and all sorts of fish: angel, parrot, trumpet, sergeant majors, snappers, crawfish, skates, etc. It costs 15CUC (about 19CAD) per person and takes about 2.5 hours.

The reef was amazingly alive and the fish abundant. Sadly, several people were finding, or buying, live conch shells and starfish to take home. One man was even bragging about leaving the ‘sucker’ (a live conch) alive on his balcony for two days and then tossing it in a bush. How very disrespectful of our beautiful, unique ocean. People are so ignorant and should be ashamed at such disregard. They should also know that they can be fined $400 by immigration if they are caught bringing these items, dead or alive, back to Canada. Leave the marine life for the coral reef to thrive or for the locals to eat.

Other Watersports
The Watersports centre is in a blue building to the far right on the beach. They have fins, masks and snorkels that they tell you to sign back in within one hour. They also have a few ocean kayaks, paddle boats and hobie cats. We saw a banana boat ride one day and a jetski one other day, but they may have been from another resort.

Bikes & Mopeds
The bikes looked fairly new and the rental fees were reasonable. The mopeds were brand new. You sign a waiver advising you they are not liable for you or the moped should you have a mishap. Helmets are mandatory. If you turn right from the resort, go down a paved road for about 1km and then a dirt road for about 8km, you’ll end up at Cocoa Beach. You have to drive very slow on the gravel road, as it has a lot of potholes and is quite sandy. It was around 19CAD for 3 hours, or more if you rent the mopeds for the day.

Cocoa beach is a beautiful, scenic beach. There’s a small pub and that’s about it. There is a village with a few ‘houses’ on the peninsula. We snorkelled there, but didn’t see many fish. The water is in layers of turquoise and blue. It’s breathtaking.

Entertainment/Nightlife
The disco was closed. The piano bar opened at 11pm. As far as we know, we weren’t near any towns or villages with any bars, clubs, etc. The entertainment staff performed every night, but nothing very interesting. A few of their acts were highly promotional, with tour videos and contests to win ‘50% off’ a tour. They brought people up on stage to ‘act sexy’ and repeated where people were from over and over (Canada, Canada, Canada). They did one show with cool Cuban outfits, dancers and a contortionist (human pretzel).

Staff
The employees were friendly and tried hard. They paid more attention if you tipped them – the omelette-making guy, the waiters, waitresses, bartenders, maids. Even little tips, or gifts (we brought chocolate bars) helped with the service. The staff rotated a lot, so we only saw a few of the same staff at breakfast and occasionally at dinner. The bartenders weren’t helpful – at all – with drink suggestions and they did not have any drink lists posted.

Wheelchair Accessible
With many rooms on the ground floor, wide entrances to the restaurants and cement walkways throughout, this resort appeared to be wheelchair accessible. We noticed a man in a ‘water’ wheelchair in the ocean, but we’re not sure if the chair was provided by the resort or if he brought it (it looked pretty large to travel with if he did).

Currency
You can’t buy Cuban pesos anywhere but Cuba. Tourists buy CUC, which are 24/1 for the pesos used by the locals. Bring your Canadian $ and exchange it there – at the airport or the hotel. You need to get your money exchanged right away, as there is a 10CUC/14CAD deposit per towel and a 25CUC/37CAD fee (not deposit) for the safe lock. There’s a 10% penalty for using US cash. No US credit cards are accepted.

We booked our vacation with Sell Off Vacations online 2 weeks before our trip, I thought we had got a good deal, until I spoke to people at the resort. I then realized that we had paid over $220/ ticket more than most people, a large amount considering I went with my wife and 2 kids. I could have saved over $800 if I had booked the week before. Never the less, we went on vacation to enjoy ourselves. The night we arrived, we got in just after midnight, after the 1 hour drive from the airport. The service at the hotel was okay, they checked us in as fast as they could, we got a really nice room that lead into the kids room, which we were happy about. Unfortunately our happiness ended there.

The Hotel
This is supposed to be a 4 star resort, I’ll rate it a 2 star, I have seen motels with better food and service. Apart from the pool and the main hangout area, there’s actually nothing to this hotel. I found myself and other guests been approached on a regular basis, by the staff, asking for handouts such as toothpaste, shirts, shorts, sneakers, sunglasses etc. Someone even asked my wife for my daughters $200 mp3 player.

On the 2nd day our suitcases were broken into, the locks were totally trashed, our camera, charger, cd’s, some clothing and shoes were taken, we made a complaint but nothing was done about it. 3 other guests had the same thing happen to them that same day, and more throughout the week. On our 3rd day, 63 people in the hotel, myself included fell violently ill, food poisoning of some sort some people thought it was the water, others the food. A few doctors were called in to help treat the affected people, others just took their chances. Once word got around that all this was going on, everyone just sort of wanted their vacation to be over.

I was not at all impressed with the entertainment, every night it seemed to be the same boring stuff over and over. For 4 days they played the same CD repeatedly from 2pm til 7pm everyday. Eventually someone complained bitterly about their performance, only then did we see an instant improvement in the entertainment.

My boyfriend and I just returned from Brisas Santa Lucia. We booked our tour with Nolitours two weeks before and received a great deal...although after talking to people we found out that booking three weeks before had been cheaper. We were a little worried after reading the results but were quite surprised and happy.

Weather
The weather our entire week was perfect. Not a single drop of rain and the temperature stayed between 30-35 degrees.

Food
The food was the only complaint that we had all week. It wasn't bad, just repetitive. There is a good breakfast buffet with omelettes. Dinner always seemed to be the same as lunch, just reused. Every night there was a make your own pasta bar that was then cooked in front of you. The snack bar is always open and has fries, burgers, hot dogs, and pizza... we never went hungry. There are 2 a-la-carte restaurants, the Italian one is the exact same food as the buffet, but the international one was awesome! We spread them out over the week to break up the buffet. If you are a picky eater, this is not the place for you.

Excursions
We did a few excursions... Snorkelling in the coral reef was amazing and well worth the money. We booked it directly through the guy that took us out, not the tours, and got it half price. Make sure to bring an underwater camera because the fish are amazing. We also rode the horses... they go through the village a little and then back along the beach. Great experience! We went to a local’s house for lobster dinner, it was a little sketchy at first and we were nervous but they were so friendly and the lobster was so fresh, they had caught it for us that morning. The last day we went to town early on the Camaguay tour and it was a great experience as you get to see the way people live in Cuba. Everyone that went was so glad to have gone.

Beach
The beach was indescribable. Absolutely breath taking. There were weeds that washed up in the morning but were cleaned away right away. It is not really weedy when you are swimming, just some short weeds in certain places. We did not find it a problem at all. You can walk the beach forever and it never runs out of gorgeous sand.

Drinks
The drinks are 24/7 and there are multiple bars. The swim up bar is the best, you can just sit in the water and drink. A good idea is to bring a mug so that you do not have to keep going up to the bar, the bartenders have no problem filling them up. A bad thing is that this bar does not have mixed drinks, like slushie ones. There were still pina coladas and daiquiris, etc... they just weren't icy. We went to the resort next door for a day, and they had the slushie drinks... that is mostly what we drink so had we have known, it could have been a deal breaker.

Staff
The staff are awesome! They go out of there way to help you. All speak pretty good English and appreciate anything you give them. Hats, like ball caps, are a huge hit. Any old hats or t-shirts that have anything to do with Canada... Canadian Tire, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Blue Jays... they love.

I vacationed at the resort on the week of February 17th with my wife and adult daughters.

Food and Drink
I've been to Cuba twice previously and considering the shortages in Cuba, the menu was fine. My daughter is the pickiest eater in the world and she got along okay. The fruit juices were watery and sugared. I like to have a coffee with my meals, but it was only available at breakfast. However there is a coffee bar near the main restaurant where European style coffee is available at all times. For those who are dieting and eat cereal in the morning, the only fare available was pre-sweetened, so don't expect to keep your weight down by eating corn flakes! Most fancy drinks were not available so we stuck to beer, wine and simple rum mixes.

Facilities
The beach was groomed daily and the drop off was extremely gradual. Some water plants, but nothing unpleasant to walk over. The gymnasium had a lot of non-functioning equipment, so one could not engage in a full exercise regimen. There was also a shortage of balcony chairs, we had one per unit which means we had to move a wooden padded indoor chair outside for cards. The grounds were well kept and the employees worked hard to maintain the resort.

Trips and Activities
Horseback riding was very reasonably priced and my family enjoyed riding by the ocean. Times are very flexible. There were paddle boats available, but I really couldn't see where one would go, as its just an ocean shoreline. They have an activity schedule posted at the beach entrance for those interested in participating. We took two trips, including the day excursion on a catamaran to Playa Bonita which included snorkelling at the reef. The colours and variety of fish were stunning and the beach lunch included a huge portion of lobster, which if bought in Canada would justify most of the excursion cost. Playa Bonita was a beautiful fine sand beach, superior to the resort shoreline. My daughters also took the Colonial Camaguey tour, and as newcomers to Cuba they found it very educational.

June 23rd to June 30th 2006

My friend and I visited Brisas Santa Lucia last month, for a week. We booked through Tripcentral.ca and we paid 689$ each for everything.

Overview:

Planning the trip: Our agent (Maria) at tripcentral was very professionnal and very helpful. She booked eveything and made sure that I had all of the appropriate information before we left. She even reminded me about the electric converter. By the way, it is very useful since everything is 220 volts. The only off-side was that our tickets said that the flight was at 7h30 whereas, the website confirmed that it was always at 8h30.

Flight: Check-in was very quick and we had a baggage checker that looked the other on our extra 10 pounds of luggage J. The flight was late, a little long and very uncomfortable. There isn’t much leg room on the plane with Canjet Airlines. We had a continental breakfast which was really good and the flight attendants were helpful when you needed them.

At Camaguey Airport: The airport is air conditionned which feels good considering the heat and the waiting period. The transportation to the hotel was waiting for us after we passed through customs. The ride was about one and a half to two hours long but very comfortable. It was worth waiting for the second bus because you can stretch out your legs.

At the hotel: Once you arrive, you are welcomed with music and kind, friendly employees. You must line up to get your room number and key. You can take the safe for 29 CUP and they give you back 15 CUP on the return of the key.

There are bellhops to take your bags and I suggest you take advantage of the service because they explain the resort as they pass by. Make sure have some change to tip him for his services because they are very helpful.

Room: Our room was far in the back, 2121. I was a little dissapointed because I wanted to be close to the beach and the pool but I guess everyone can’t be close to the main attractions. The room was spacious and clean. We had a little problem with little bugs during the first couple of nights, in the bathroom, but I had brought Raid bug spray with me and i’m glad we did... I didn’t see anymore bugs for the entire week.

We thought that all of the channels were spanish execpt CNN but we were proven wrong on our last night. The satellite was just broken and this is why we didn’t have all of the normal channels in our room. We practiced our spanish listenning abilities.

The cleaning lady was very sweet and she always made special setups with our towels and fresh flowers. It is recommended to leave little gifts everyday due to the changes in shifts.

And for all of the sceptics, the air conditionner worked at all times.

Food: The food is ok but I expected something different. One week is more than enough time to get fed up and wanna go to the snack bar every once in a while.

Restaurant: The employees went to certain tables several times before they came to ours. We then found out that we were sitting right at the limit of both sections. It’s like if we weren’t there pretty much... Once we changed places and I approached one of the waitresses, we were served quickly every other time. Breakfast was my most favorite meal.

Snack Bar: fries and sandwhiches...that’s all... sometimes they have hot dogs but you have to be very lucky.

A la carte: This supper was what we would usually eat in Montreal. I think we enjoyed it more because we were missing regular food.

Pool: The pool was nice and warm. It w as always clean and it had a swim up bar.

Beach: the beach is very warm. If you don’t like warm water then this is not the best beach to go to. There is alot of seaweeds in the water. That is the only downfall. Beware of the towners that beg on the beach. Some of them are very friendly but there were two women who really didn’t appreciate the clothing and toileteries that we gave them. They didn’t even tell us thank you.

Activities: There was some nightly entertainement every night. There was suppose to be kids time from 8h30 till 9 but it only lasted one night. There were gifts at the end of every contest.

We went snorkeling one day for 55 CUP at Playa Bonita Beach. That price included snorkeling, lunch and a couple of hours at the beach. It was a learning experience and one that i would never wanna experience again. We both got sick from snorkeling because the equipement was defective. We ended up drinking alot of sea water and got sick. The lunch was pretty much oil with food and not food made with oil. The beach was fun.

Entertainement: There is a disco room on the resort and the piano bar but the adjacent hotels also has very interesting and hype parties. They are not too far to walk at night. Different story in the daytime.

Health factors: Timothy got sick because he drank their juice which seems to be made with their water. He had a blazzing fever on his entire body and he had a migrane. This lasted two days until we went to the next hotel’s pharmacia (ours was closed) for “Tylenol”. Do not drink their water. We suggest that you buy water or get it fulled up by the restaurant or the snack bar.

NOT ALL THAT!!! Don't bother going to this place.

My family and I went to this place on June22-July06 2 weeks, 2 adults and 2 kids, at the time of the booking the website where we bought the package said this place was a 4 star hotel with double beds and mini fridge with stuff inside, also offered free train rides during the week to go into the city.

I emailed the hotel weeks in advance to get a room with a good view and away from all the noise too. I am sure you can guess where the email went to, recycle bin.... treated as junk mail probably...

On the day of our departure from Toronto with Cuban airlines, plane left on time, food on the plane was bad ham and cheese sandwich basically, when we arrived things went well at the airport there got on the bus and took us 90mins to arrive to our hotel, at the hotel when we checked in, I asked about my email that I sent in regards to the room , the guy at the reception looked at me as if I asked him a million dollar question, and told me he was not aware of such thing, I was not surprised and knew that was coming.When we got the room keys we went with the bell boy to our room it was pretty far from the lobby, the room was in a dark area and was facing to the side of another building, when we went inside the room right away I can see there was 3 big problems already and things were going to start on the wrong foot, first problem was the beds 2 beds that were a bit bigger than single beds just a bt bigger no joke, than the bathroom door had no handle on it just a hole you can see through , and last there was no mini fridge, I went right away to see the reception guy to complain and he told me that tomorrow afternoon he would give us a better room, in which he did but the 2 beds still remained the same size and no fridge, he told me in this hotel there is no double beds and he told me that most rooms do not have a fridge, he also suggested that we can get another bed so we can have 3 beds instead of 2 , so we got 3 beds instead of 2....

BAR-They ran out of beer the first 2 days we were there in which people and I flipped the script cannot believe a 4 star hotel can run out of beer, NO LOCAL DRINKS AVAILABLE they just did not have mojitos, pina colada, daiquiri or this thing called disco caribe sort of Irish bailey's all this forget it, when we asked how come this was their favorite expression and we heard this all through the trip almost everyday no joke this is what they kept telling us "WELCOME TO CUBA" when you would ask them a question or complain about something.. Some how they were not fast at all to serve you even if you were the only one asking for a drink, throughout the resort there was 4 bars around but not all had the same thing some had beer or some did not have rum and when the local Cubans came to the hotel for the weekend let me tell you at the bar it seemed to me like we were second in line to get the drinks many times a was a the bar waiting to ask for a drink and some Cuban would come along cut in of me and ask for a drink he would get served even if for example there was 6 people at the bar 2 English first 4 Cubans after all the Cubans we get served first, this got me mad as hell many many times.
RATE 4/10

FOOD- Let's not talk about the food, the food was very very repetitive everyday the same food, rice, pasta, dried up desert only breakfast was good a few choices.
RATE 5/10

SERVICE- What service like I said before bar and buffet you always had to kind of get their attention or else forget it, long faces at buffet never smile, very very slow to get you knife and fork, always stuff missing on the table like glass or fork or napkin.
RATE 4/10

POOL - Look like it could use a paint job besides this it was OK.
RATE 8/10

BEACH- Lots and lots of seaweed on the beach and ocean, lots of rocks inside the water, small coral reef close by, cut myself with all the rocks inside the ocean, water is very shallow. Not that great of a beach. Must bring those water shoes or else you too will get cut on your feet.
RATE 6/10

ANIMATION- They have a variety show and fashion show not bad pick people to go on stage and do stuff to make you laugh.
6/10

ROOM SERVICE- A1 Hats off to those hard working ladies, they did an excellent job at cleaning the rooms very good service from them.
RATE 10/10

ACTIVITIES-Horse back riding, jet ski, corel reef and local disco not much to do here

Things I did not like was the animators from time to time try and come up to you to talk during the day but what they want is to have a drink from you because they cannot get drinks for themselves so they will be your friend to get a drink from you.
People on the beach all want to sell you cigars or invite you to have a dinner with shrimp and or lobster for 15$convert pesos its not worth it no more than 10$ People always want to know how long you are staying for or when are you leaving, everybody will tell you a sob story so you can feel sorry for them, everybody wants to be your friend , you know why??? give them money or gifts all want to use you for something. Mosquitoes hundreds no joke bring off. You will get eaten alive....
WELCOME TO CUBA

The train was not working for 3 months broken down but they still promote it as part of the package, WELCOME TO CUBA.

This is not a 4star hotel at all in my book, more like a 2 star , WELCOME TO CUBA.

We had a great family vacation at Brisas Santa Lucia (May 8-12), with our 3 kids aged 16, 18, and 19, starting with a fascinating bus ride from the airport to the hotel. It is a comfortable, air conditioned bus and you get a good look at the everyday Cuban rural lifestyle. You will realize that the average Canadian lifestyle in comparison is like royalty. And you will appreciate that what they offer us tourists is the best of the best of what they have. Food was plentiful, good variety, and the seafood was outstanding. Breakfast omelets were fabulous – no illness-related problems with food or water. We liked the buffet so much that we cancelled our a-la-carte reservations. Not everything seemed appealing, but if you can’t find enough that you like to make up a plate you must live very, very well at home.

The people who worked at the resort were very friendly and appreciative of any gifts of clothing, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, pesos, school supplies, toys, etc. They aren’t permitted to exchange Canadian or American money so don’t leave them any! Bar service can be a little slow at peak times like during a show, but hey – you’re on vacation! And it gets very crowded up there. The Spanish coffee / espresso bar was superior.

There were plenty of lounge chairs both at the pool and the beach. Don’t miss a snorkel adventure out to the local coral reef – it’s beautiful and very safe. The water is shallow and warm – beach is clean and patrolled with lots of palm-covered cabanas for shade. Our room was very clean and quiet – décor was a little tired, but we heard that some of the villas had been renovated. But we basically only slept there. The occasional ant or cockroach is tough to avoid in a tropical climate and the staff will deal with anything that comes along. Don’t leave flowers or toothpaste, etc. on the bathroom counter as that seems to attract them.

Kids were in a room for 3 – it was spacious, same décor as ours. Hot water for showers was plentiful – air conditioning worked well. Bring your own facecloths! And make sure you have enough sunscreen – you can’t buy it there. Nightlife – shows were pretty good, a bit loud, the beach night was the best…kids liked the disco but went to the one at the resort next door because it was a little busier. The village of Santa Lucia is very small, only 3 or 4 resorts there, so it’s not crowded at all—the downside is there’s not much shopping but the resort prices are reasonable and there are different craftspeople selling souvenirs every day, by the pool. Duty free at the airport is cheaper than resort. If you want to see the real Cuba, you’ll see it here!

My husband and I (London, Ontario) vacationed at Brisas Santa Lucia from May 11-18, 2006. We booked through an online discount vacation site and got a pretty good deal ($824/per person incl. tax). Some websites rated this hotel as a 4*...more like a 3 - 3.5!

Overview:
Flight: Departed from Toronto Pearson; flight delayed by 20 minutes....but barely noticed. Flew with Cubana Air. I was a little leary after hearing so many bad reviews about Cubana Air, but we really had no problems. The snack was good, slept thru the movie and we arrived in Camaguey shortly after 8 pm. Going through customs was very easy - the Customs official thanked me for coming back to visit again! (this was our second trip to Cuba in less than a year).

Transportation to the hotel was uneventful. The 90 minute bus ride was not a highlight, however. We arrived at the hotel quite late, maybe after 11 p.m. This basically cuts a full day off of your vacation. Next time, I will definately choose a vacation package that had an earlier arrival time and later departure time.

Check-in: Quick! We were given our room assignments at the airport, so all you had to do was show the slip to the front desk and you'd get your key. Definately allow the bell-hops to take your bags. They know where they're going and in the dark, the hotel is not easy to navigate.

Rooms: Prior to arriving, I emailed the resort to request one king-sized bed and a room up-grade if possible. We were given a king-room - Room 1113. Far enough away from the loudness, but close enough to the Coffee Bar!!! We were a little to close to the road for my liking, but we felt safe. There is no visible security on the grounds, but we never heard of any problems. I was very concerned about cockroaches and bugs...as soon as we enter our room we scared off the lizard on the wall...but, I didn't see any roaches....not then anyways! The room smelled very musty, was dirty (there were dead mosquitoes smeared on the walls, dirt on the floor and ants in the bathroom.) My husband attempted to "freshen" up the room by trying to clean off the bugs - well he ended up rubbing off about 3 layers of blue paint! We turned on the a/c , left our room and had a few drinks, hoping the a/c would clear up the smell. Oh, right after a thorough inspection by my husband, I had to stuff toilet paper in the space left by our sliding doors. I didn't want any other "friends"! It wasn't until the very last night that I saw a huge cockroach!!! But, it's to be expected I suppose. We did sleep with the bathroom light on - to try and reduce our nightly visitors! Also, beware of the very large spiders!!

On the positive note, our maid was very nice! We left gifts every other day and she always made something great out of the towels and left fresh flowers for us!!

Food: omelettes great! pasta bar great! everything else....not too great! But we knew this coming into the resort! We didn't starve and ended up enjoying ourselves in spite of the bland food! Coffee bar - incredible coffee!!

Pool: clean, lots of beach chairs and a great swim up bar!

Activities: the nightly entertainment was pretty good, the daily activities weren't too organized. Played ping-pong everyday - lots of table tennis "sharks" out there!! It was very fun though. We brought our own equipment and left it there when we checked out. They really need things like that, so if you can bring stuff to leave. We took to excursions: Catameran to Playa Bonita and the Crocodile Farm. Playa Bonita: fantastic!!! great lobster dinner, beautiful beach and the snorkelling was great!
The Crocodile Farm was interesting....we stopped at a school, violin factory and the croc farm. Both were worth the $$$.

Beach: the seaweed in NOT that bad! the sand was beautiful, the swimming great - one negative: you had to walk really far out for it to get deep. and the water was quite warm, not to refreshing.

Bus ride:
90 mins was ok, got to see some of the countryside and it is good to see, especially if you intend to stay on the resort the whole 7 days.

Check in/Rooms/Towels:
Ok .. bit of a wait ... I headed off to get food at the snack bar while Chris waited in line. Get your towel - the 10 pesos are worth having a clean beach towel each day .. plus when you get your 10 pesos back - just put it towards your 25 departure fee at the airport. If you get room 1116 - change it immediately - the air conditioner does not work well. We tried to change rooms for 2 days .. but it was the maid who did all the arrangement for us on day 3 .. not the front desk staff. We lost power for about 5 seconds one day - no biggie. We did not get a safe ... we felt really secure on the resort.

The rooms are ok/clean - not a 4 star as at NH Krystal Resort (formerly the El-Senador). There was no fridge; therefore, no 1.5 litre water bottle stocked everyday (in the fridge) (as I had at El-Senador (Cuba) and at Luperon (DR)).

Service/Entertainment
The buffet staff were a bit slow when you compare a North American waitress/waiters and how much they do ... they are super friendly. The omelettes are worth the wait. The a la carte staff was ok. We went to both - and they were good - but they ran out of tiramisu - funny we booked 4 days in advance. Book your a la carte early if you want to go, I know of other couples who were too late to get to the Cuban restaurant. The dessert cakes were interesting - not very moist.. but the ice cream was great!

The Italian restaurant outside the buffet is good - that is where we at 3 suppers ....
The blond bartender at the swim up bar was super nice .... all the bartenders worked hard!
The animations was great - they were a lot of fun - we enjoyed the shows.
Snack bar was good - but definitely lacking in fruit and veggies ...
We took the train ride offered by the resort. Then we took out a scooters that afternoon and went beyond the train ride route. It was fun - we ended up taking a scooter out again another for 24 hours and went to Coco beach for a meal and a swim ... a good time ... we stayed out that evening to see the sun set (the sunset on the resort is not over the water) ... we went as far as we could in the local area (3 local towns), we gave out gifts, hung out on some deserted beaches and got some cool shells ....

We went snorkeling one afternoon - they sell it as 1/2 hour out, 1/2 hour back and 1 hour in the water (btw - go directly thru them and save yourself 5 pesos). I don't think it was that long - but it was nice, the coral and fish were beautiful. I brought some bread and bananas but the fish were not at attacked to the food as in Cayo Coco. The water sports guys (the same guys that take you out snorkeling) - well I must say, the whole things seemed a bit shady. If you want to take the sail boat out (the staff actually take you out) sign up early - we tried to book but had to wait 4 days. It is nice - just as well do it as it is included). This boat is also the boat you go snorkeling on .. not too sure about the whole availably thing ... we tried to get snorkels one afternoon (just to practice - there is not much to see just off the resort) and the guy said there was only 7 snorkel set for the whole resort .. but they are the same snorkel sets they take you out snorkeling with - so who really knows!!

Definitely, bring in-water shoes - there is lots of seaweed and coral off the beach ... but the beach is really nice ... (Cayo Coco was nicer). There were a few locals looking for freebees on the beach, be it clothes, food or money .. but they were not too bad. You can bring them food from the snack bar. We brought the snorkeling guys beer and pop.

Disco:
The disco seemed good on Friday night. But was less popular during the days following. I think a lot of people may have gone off resort to a local disco. (Some of the animation staff suggested a disco 400 m down the road - we did not go). Please bring the DJ some burnt CD (a lot of his skipped) and there was a lot of techno music and salsa music (so do the dance lessons - we did one - good but short)!

Misc:
Chris had a huge number of bites on his body ... like 30 per leg ... I had about 3 bites. We do not know what bit him? We did not find the mosquitoes bad at all ... but bring some after bite.

Bring your own travel mugs, their glasses are ridiculous small.
The rum and cigars are cheaper at the duty free in the airport than on the resort or in town. They do take MC and Visa (at the airport) but they add 11% - so cash is best. We bought some bracelets and necklaces from the vendors on the resort - you can barter with them!

Go see the iguanas outside building 11 - they are usually lying in the sun all day. The female if somewhat friendly ... not the male.

Flight back - nightmare.
We were on the 9:30 pm departure for Montreal #174. The plane got behind throughout the day and then we could not leave Camaguey b/c Trudeau airport does not allow fights to land between 1:30 am and 6 am. Our flight was due to land at 1:30 am in Trudeau so we spend over 9 hours in the airport and the first few hours the airport/airline staff did not tell us anything .... some parents complained and a few hours later they opened the VIP lounge for the kids, they did re-open the duty free for us to buy snacks. After some complaining they gave us the food from the plane at 2-3 am ... but then we finally got on the plane, breakfast was a bag of chips, cookies and a dry bun without butter .... the flight attendants were basically throwing the food at us ... it was ridiculous (Cabaña Air).

My Family and I just returned from a week at the Brisas Santa Lucia from April 22 - April 29, 2006. Our group consisted of myself age 41, my daughters age 16 and 14 and a friend of theirs age 17, my nephew age 19 and my mother age 65. Our stay at the Brisas surpassed our expectations and I was the hero for finding it and booking it through Sell Off Vacations. After being spoiled in Cayo Coco last year with my boyfriend, I was very reluctant that I would be able to repeat the vacation. Though Cayo Coco was paradise, and I highly recommend for couples wanting to spend a tranquil, romantic vacation to go to the NH Krystal Resort (formerly the El-Senador). BUT, if your intent is to have fun and participate in great entertainment, Brisas is what you want! Here are some comments about the facilities.

Bus Ride
The ride from the airport is about 90 minutes. Take time to relax, have a beer or two and take a look at why we are so luck in Canada. Though it is sad to see what the Cuban people do without, they are happy and take the time to smile and wave as you pass by. The roads are not well maintained, but the bus drivers know the roads, so it's not too bad.

Check-in
No sweat! Within 20 minutes we were in our rooms. They are very efficient and accommodating at the front desk. Reception is open air with tons of oversized wicker furniture and bamboo. There was a $25 pesos deposit for a safety deposit box key, with a refundable $15 pesos when you return the key.

Rooms
We were given 3 rooms, lower level in Villa #2. We had 2 adjoining rooms for the teens and another room beside it for mom and grandma. The rooms, though not very modern, were clean and comfortable. There were sliding doors to a balcony. Our patio doors didn't close tight at the bottom, but we just stuffed a small towel in the crack to keep the mosquitoes out. Not once did we run out of hot water. The accommodations were very acceptable - and I am considered very picky.

Service/Entertainment
The service was beyond our expectations! Front desk staff, maid service, gardeners, vendors, waiters - everyone smiles and wants to make you happy. The entertainment staff are to be commended. They are professional, funny and talented. They involve the audience in all that they do - from their children's shows, their dance competitions and comedy shows. Their fashion show was amazing. Cuba has the most beautiful people I have ever seen in my life. Roy and Cisco - you are the best!! We hope to laugh with you again soon! If anyone heads there tell Roy Mama says hi - the one that gave him the Nike cap.

There is a complimentary train ride into a nearby village. If you go on it, bring some candies and treats for the children. The smile on their faces will warm your heart.

Food
There were a la carte restaurants, but we stayed with the buffet, beach restaurant or 24hr snack bar. You didn't have to wait in line to add your name to a list and be disappointed when you found out it was full. Like all resorts, the food gets repetitive, but they do try to have a variety. The food was fine, tasty and not once did I find a hair or fly in my food. Great pasta bar too!

If you get sick of the food, you can take a walk down the beach, past the peer. You will see a nice restaurant with big windows. A large pizza is just under 4 pesos and worth every cent! We ordered 3 large pizzas, beer, 3 big bottles of water and it cost 20 pesos. It was delicious and a change from the buffet. There were also lots of shops there too.

We stayed at Brisas Santa Lucia during March Break 2006. My husband and 3 children ages 15, 12 and 7 spent a glorious week at Brisas Santa Lucia. The beach was gorgeous. My daughter sunbathed every day on the beach while I spent time on the lounge chair under a palm tree and my husband and 2 boys spent their days on the deck by the pool. My boys met lots of friends and had great games of pool volleyball every day. Our room was great - very clean, water pressure was great, lots of clean towels every day. The weather was fantastic. My kids, husband and I loved the food. It was great and something for everyone. We especially liked the pasta bar and the carvery each evening (roast pork, roast ham, roast turkey). The Italian a la carte restaurant was also excellent. We went snorkelling and loved it. We also took the trip to Camaguay City and really enjoyed the tour operator as well as seeing a glimpse of Cuba beyond the resort.

The staff was excellent especially the woman who led the children's programs.

This was the 1st trip we took as a family out of the country in November 2005.

What a disappointment!!! From the moment we arrived it was a surprise after another...We had a late flight (arrived @ 10:30pm) the hotel was 90 minutes from the airport on a road that had so many bumps my daughter kept waking up. Check in time was fairly reasonable, we arrive at our rooms to find ants on the floor, yellow water in the bathroom, and very uncomfortable beds and pillows that were stained. We had requested a fridge (for baby food) which they delivered the next day. The Housekeeper was wonderful, cleaned our room in the morning, left extra towels

The food was awful!!! The chicken did not look like chicken. All the food had some sort of sauce that I could not recognize. Eating was a challenge! We spent the week eating omelets for breakfast and hamburgers/hot dogs for lunch. A little note...make sure you tip the waiters, I noticed that if we had not tipped the day before it was harder to get good service (for drinks, coffee, highchair).

The Beach however was beautiful, clean blue water. The staff was out every morning with a tractor to clean the seaweed and they did an o.k job. There were plenty of beach/lounge chairs to go around and plenty of shade if that's what you wanted. The pool was good, had a swim up bar. The water was warm.

The resort claimed they had a playground for children. It consisted of a slide and a climbing house. My very active daughter was not really satisfied. The children's pool was adjacent to the adults pool, which was good.

We explored the grounds of the resort which did have tennis courts, a so called gym (more like rusting old pieces of metal), and a disco (we did not go, didn't feel comfortable leaving our daughter with a stranger). and two a la carte restaurants (one Cuban on the beach and one American indoors)

Our #1 complaint...THE MOSQUITOES!!!! On the 1st night I was eaten alive!!! From our room +/- 4 minute walk from the restaurant I was bitten 7 times. We met a couple who eat at the speciality restaurant (on the beach) the gentleman was bitten 19 times from his elbow to his wrist!!!

IMPORTANT TO NOW ABOUT BRISAS HOTEL
-This is a 3.5 star resort some books advertise it as a 4 but it is a 3.5
-The hotel was build in 1993
-Currentcy is in Peso's it's about 1.30 on the dollar
-BRING YOUR OWN TOWELS..They charge 10 pesos which is about 12 dollars canadian
-BRING YOUR OWN TRAVEL MUGS the cups they give are small
-The safe costs 15 deposit plus 9 peso's for a total of 29.00 peso's
-THERE ARE NO TENNIS BALLS SOLD ANYWHERE. Bring your own.. I looked nothing in all of Santa lucia
-Rooms this is a big resort hold's alot of people we first got a room very far from anything it was like we where going to a different resort. So if you have medical problem's wheelchair, etc it's important to ask your agent for a room closer to the main buildings.These are lower numbered buildings (2-20) exception is building 1 it is close but right next to the disco and if you are a light sleeper this will keep you up.
-The water is fine and you will not get sick from it, but bring a water bottle.
-At brisas there is only one pool which has a swim up bar.

Food
-+++ coffee,salt,sugar, fruit, omelettes
-most of your meal's will be at the buffet, the food is good and one will find something. The service is not the best. The food also gets repetative.
-The a la cart resturants are very good. Food has good flavour and service is excellent
-there is a 24 hr food burger, fries ,etc nice touch for an evening snack if you ate early.

Maintance & Rooms
Your cleaning lady +++
The do an excellent job,very nice, do crazy animals with your towels
Maintance the work all day and do there best. There are a number of thing's no working and the hole place could use a paint job. IT seem's to take a long time to get things repaired.

People
Mainly are from Quebec it's funny to over hear them talking about the english from toronto. I am billigual and there are a # of comments made.. Example most will say they are from Quebec and not Canada. There are also a number of italian's and of course some from Toronto. The mix make for some fun parties.

Excerssion's
DO NOT GO ON THE TRIP TO CAMAWAY it's 45.00 peso's each.. You will be bord stiff and have a very very long bus ride. I repeat do not listen to Elyse the tour operator when she suggests it..We complianed about it and she gave us dirty looks for the rest of the day..It is by far the worst excerssion I have ever been on.
Other's told us that the snorkeling was very good the fish are fantastic and it a most do
We where also told the fishing was good as well..it costs 209 peso's but that's for 4 people
Horse back riding is always available and is only 5 peso's well worth it.

Bar's Nightlife
There is a disco at the brisa's but it's dead most night's..Down the beach there is another hotel club call the jungle.
Then there is the cultural center..
and the rambo

Children
Brisas is a family resort workers will take care of the children and do a fantastic job.

Entertainment
The staff try hard but it lack's in this area. Remeber ther is a number of other hotels and they all have shows going on..

Calling /Email
No collect call's to Canada you need to buy a calling card there 5 pesos 10 pesos and 20 pesos..
10 pesos will give you about 5 mins
-there is one computer and it will cost 8 pesos for one hour..

Banking
-there is a bank at the airport
-there is a bank at the resort
-on average cuban's make between 100.00 to 300.00 dollars a month is what I was told

Sovanier's
-There is no pest local's constantly trying to sale you something..
-Brisas allows 5 both to come in and sale you stuff. The trick is to pick out what you want and then go back at night and you will get the item much cheaper.
-The shops by the front desk are over priced with everything.. Take a bicycle and go shopping at the local shops it much cheaper.

Cigar's
-Cuba is the land of cigar's but don't buy them a the shop in the hotel they are way over priced.. go to a local shop.. We got 25 cigars for 3.10 pesos. I thought they can't be good.. I tried it and I was wrong they where great amazing..

Music
You will hear plenty it is mainly in 3/4 time.. I talked with one of the local musicain and was able to get a lesson on cuban guitar playing.. Alot of fun.. You will hear both live and cuban rhythum over the boom boxes..

Just came back from Brisas, Santa Lucia after spending March break with my husband, daughter and son. What a beautiful place. The people are very friendly, the food was great. I would definitely go back. The weather was outstanding. We met really nice people from different areas and had an all out good time. The staff at the hotel are very friendly and always willing to help you out. I loved the interaction with the animation team, they are really good dancers. I sure wish I could move like that. Any how, I would definitely recommend the Brisas.

We stayed at Brisas Santa Lucia Feb 19-26th (over reading week). The weather, the resort, the excursions, the beach, the staff, and the other guests were all GREAT! There was a really nice mix of young and old, with kids and without. We met other people on the plane and had fun with them all week!

Money: We were confused before leaving, so i want to share with anyone who might not know... don't convert anything before you leave, just change over CDN to cuban Converted Pesos at the airport or hotel (it was the same exchange rate at both when we went). One CUC is about 1.3 CDN. There are plenty of great excursions to do, so bring money with you. There don't seem to be ANY instant tellers at any of the hotels so if you don't have cash you'll have to pay by credit. The problem with visa is they charge you an extra 11% on everything just to use a credit card.

Rooms: The maid for our room was really nice and friendly, and our room was always really clean. I never noticed ANY bugs in the room, and really there seem to be more bugs in canada than in cuba. The water pressure in the shower was really good. The beds weren't really comfortable, but weren't horrible either - we never had any trouble sleeping. We left something each morning for the maid and she always seemed really grateful. It seems that the maids don't get to eat at the hotel for free, so we offered to bring her food from the buffet (it doesn't cost you anything) and she really appreciated it. We had the air conditioner off most days in our room b/c i find it just too cold, but whenever we used it it