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.