Address - Playa Santa Lucía, Nuevitas, Camagüey, Cuba
Location - Beach
Distance to airport - 110
Reviews posted on this page - 3 review(s)
Description: On June 04th, 2010, our Hotel Caracol Hoteles C was awarded Regional Certificate for having steadily achieved all positive actions and practices to preserve our environment, as the only way to preserve and save our nature-our planet and give our clients a better product.
Club Amigo Caracol, is like a huge shell on the white sand of the beach.
Caracol is surrounded by sea-grapes, palm and coconut trees giving it a touch of tropical and captivating exoticism.
Are you the owner of this property? The link to your website could stand here. Please, contact Debbie.
My girlfriend and I just came back from the Caracol in Santa Lucia. We found the hotel rooms clean. The staff very friendly. The service to be great. The meals were a little lacking. Not much to chose from. But other than that everything went just excellent. They have an excellent massage person there! The beach is nice. There is security so no need to feel afraid. You are not bothered on the beach by beggars or persons trying to sell too many trinkets. There are no time share pitches. So overall... I'd say Cuba is WAY more fun than Mexico!
If you do decide to travel to Cuba. Do the people of Cuba a favor and bring along extra old clothes that are in good shape that you may have outgrown or decided to discard. Take along a whole spare suitcase full if you can. They especially would love used shoes, baby clothes, shampoos, lotions, medicines like tylenol or advil, makeup, essentially anything you are willing to bring is fair game for a well appreciated tip.
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Great snorkelling, fabulous sailing, lots of fun!
Club Amigo Caracol
User Rating:
eeeefarm >
5 contribution(s) Canada
Feb, 2010 | Leisure | With friend
2 people found this review helpful
eeeefarm Ontario Canada
This was my fourth visit to this resort. I travelled with friends who had accompanied me here two years ago, so we all knew what to expect. We were not disappointed!
Your Arrival
We travelled with Sunwing and arrived at the airport in the pouring rain, not an auspicious beginning to our vacation! However, after the usual 90 minute bus trip, our greeting at the hotel was cordial and it was suggested that we proceed to the buffet in order to eat before it closed. Once we had satisfied our hunger, check in went quickly and the bell boys delivered our bags to our rooms. It was still raining, so that put a bit of a damper on our first night!
Rooms
I love the rooms at Caracol. The sitting room entry is a nice touch and gives a feeling of space. My friends particularly like this feature, as it gives flexibility if one person wants to sleep and the other prefers to sit up and read a book. We had requested upstairs and received rooms across from each other on the second floor. Location was close to the beach, but unfortunately not the ocean view we had enjoyed previously. However, the rooms were clean and comfortable, and I had no complaints. There was always ample hot water and great water pressure. The A/C is controlled by remote and worked well.
Restaurants and Bars
The buffet restaurant was just fine, usual Cuban fare. Made to order omelets and eggs for breakfast and a large assortment of other items. Grapefruit has been especially nice in Cuba this year, and I wasn't disappointed at Caracol. Breads were fresh and tasty. Lunch and supper featured pasta bar and something on the grill (fresh salmon fillets one night!) There is entertainment at dinner most nights. A four member group sings Cuban songs and requests (and will offer their CD for purchase).
The a la carte is currently offered in one end of the buffet restaurant and is nothing special. However, the dine around at Mayanabo next door is still available and worth doing. They have a great buffet, although the guests are very enthusiastic when the doors open. We likened it to a "feeding frenzy"! But we enjoyed the change of scene for one evening.
The snack bar is a wonderful open air spot for lunch. Good fish and fries, and a nice place to sit and view the ocean.
The lobby bar is open early for coffee and would be a great place to sit except that people smoke and the area is not big enough to get away from it, so I would take my coffee and go elsewhere. The pool bar is fine to grab a drink and sit watching the dancers rehearse.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The beach at Santa Lucia is nice firm white sand, somewhat marred by all the sea grass that drifts in. It is cleaned every day, but there is an endless supply and it isn't long before more accumulates. If you walk west past the pier you will find a very long stretch of uninhabited beach to walk, but there is debris and it is best to wear shoes. Water shoes are advisable for swimming, as there are stones and coral in the water. I never entered the sea without my snorkel fins, so it wasn't an issue for me!
The pool was cleaned every morning. It features a swim up bar. I'm not a pool person, so didn't use it. Lots of chairs and shade available at both the beach and pool.
The grounds are well maintained and pleasant to walk through. Gardeners are on the job early before it gets too hot.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
We went for the snorkelling and sailing, and had a great week for both. The weather was off a couple of days, but we made up for it the rest of the time. Good off the beach snorkelling is available here, (swim out about 300 meters from the pink nautical shack.....there is a patch of coral and rocky areas, lots of fish!) and also you can arrange transportation to the reef at the nautical centre. There is a more formal "coral tour" that uses the large Catamaran, and you can book that excursion. We didn't bother. In addition we went to Coco Beach with a horse and carriage and swam out to the sunken ship there. This is best done with a guide, as the currents can be strong depending on the tide.
There was a show every night, but I didn't stay around for it. After a full day I was ready to relax in my room. The dancers rehearse endlessly during the day and are interesting to watch.....they are very good!
Other Comments
Internet is available and works quite well. There is only one computer but not many people were bothering to use it. Speed was decent for Cuba.....I could receive and send one email in about 3 minutes.
There is a gym which I didn't use. There are also books available....a library of sorts made from books others have left.
The Luna Mar restaurant right next door makes a nice change of pace, offering really good pizza at a great price. It had been suggested to me and we decided to try it. I highly recommend this restaurant. Four of us had lunch with drinks and desert for 24 CUC!
The staff at this resort are friendly and efficient. I had no complaints about service.
We had a great week and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We will be returning to this resort!
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Caracol is a wonderful little hotel
Club Amigo Caracol
User Rating:
eeeefarm from Ontario >
9 contribution(s) Canada
Mar, 2009
4 people found this review helpful
Tour Operator: Nolitours/ Air Transat.
General Comments:
Caracol is a small three star resort with only 150 rooms. This was my second visit.Last time I travelled with friends, this trip was made solo. I had enjoyed Caracol very much last year, but wasn't sure what to expect since the fall season of hurricanes. I was delighted to find the resort has actually improved! I had a wonderful week, and will definitely be returning next year.
Flight & Arrival: Our flight was delayed out of Pearson due to a maintenance problem. Once this was resolved, we were on our way.....perhaps an hour late. Flight was otherwise uneventful. Service in Club Class was good. On arrival I had to report for a Customs secondary inspection, due to a Not Just Tourists humanitarian aid suitcase I was transporting, but after a brief inspection and a few questions I was on my way. My third NJT suitcase, and the first time anyone has wanted to look at it. The bus ride to Santa Lucia is about 90 minutes, which passed fairly quickly. On arrival, guests were informed the buffet restaurant had been kept open for them and were directed there prior to checking in. Since I was not hungry (due to the ample food in Club Class) I waited at the front desk and checked in almost immediately.
Rooms:
I had a wonderful ocean view room in the same area as last year. The main difference was this year there were no sticky windows or balcony doors. Everything is new and worked well. The bed was a bit hard for my liking, a not unusual problem for me in Cuba. There is a sitting room as well as a bedroom. The small balcony opens off the sitting room on one side. On the other is a large window. It is best to draw the curtain when the sun hits this window, to keep things from getting too warm. In the sitting room there is a mini fridge. (not stocked). The television in the bedroom is mounted fairly high and is easy to see. The air conditioner is likewise mounted high, with a remote control. Very convenient to use. Water pressure is great, with ample hot water. Be careful, as the water truly is hot, due to the solar heaters on the roof. I love the layout of the units at Caracol. Only four rooms per unit, two up, two down. Very little noise transmission between them. Noise from outside is another matter, and the nearby disco can be an issue depending on where your room is located. I had no problems with noise except for a few late night revelers who slammed doors and talked loudly on a couple of occasions. For those who have been to Caracol before, I note that the room key is now the standard magnetic strip type, but the key to the safety box is still a physical key. They are now charging a steep (35 CUC!) returnable deposit for this key, as well as a rate of 6 CUC/week for the safety box. I expect they have had issues with people losing keys, which are likely difficult to replace. In any case, when you return your key you now have your airport tax in hand, plus a little extra for last minute expenses.
Restaurants and Bars:
The food at the buffet restaurant has improved since last year. I found the selection and quality very good and especially noticed that the desserts were very tasty. There is a pasta bar at lunch and in the evening, and the usual omelets and eggs made to order at breakfast. The fresh fruit was wonderful, particularly the grapefruit. Several evenings there was a musical quartet entertaining at supper time. There are two a la carte restaurants, International and Cuban, but in reality they occupy the same physical space and operate at different hours. This close to the beach restaurant area is no longer used as a snack bar at lunch, which is unfortunate. It has a wonderful view, but suffers from exposure to the wind. As yet there are no screens to shield you, so dinner can be a bit breezy, to say the least! I found the food at the a la carte was much improved from last year. One quibble.....no wine available unless you want to buy a bottle. The buffet has very decent wine available at lunch and dinner. The snack bar on the path to the beach operates from late morning to mid afternoon. Burgers, hot dogs, fries, the usual snack bar fare. Also serves as the beach bar. The pool bar is being renovated and a small temporary one is in use at the moment. I don't believe the swim up bar is operational at this time, but should reopen soon. The lobby bar is 24 hours and great for morning coffee no matter how early you want it, unlike some four star resorts I could name. I also got a wonderful Spanish coffee there in the evening.....last year nobody knew how to make one! For some reason, beer is not available at the lobby bar. No big deal, but a little strange. Nolitours still has the "dine around" option with Mayanabo, next door. You may go once per week to sample their buffet.
Beach:
Santa Lucia beach is protected by a coral reef about a mile offshore. The water near the beach has a lot of sea grass, which is constantly washing in, making it a full time job to clean the beach. The resorts do their best, but there is usually some debris along the beach. That said, it is a very long beach with firm sand for walking. Because the sea grass can hide shells and bits of coral, footwear is a good idea. If you are barefoot, you need to pay attention. There are a few palapas for shade, and less trees since the hurricane, but I had no problem finding a chair.For swimming, water shoes will guard against coral and the occasional sea urchin. For snorkelling, the beach is very good! There is a patch of coral and rocks about 300 meters straight out in front of Caracol, and there are lots of fish to be seen there. I notice that people have been feeding them and they are becoming habituated to this, which is unfortunate. You may see lots of fish when you feed them, but you will miss out on the rare, interesting ones. Besides, it is not good for the fish or the environment. Please don't do it.
Pool:
Shade is at a premium here. It's available, but probably not enough to go around when the area is crowded. I didn't bother swimming here as I spend my time at the beach. The pool was cleaned every morning without fail.
Internet:
Caracol has internet access this year, and although there is only one computer I found the service to be very good. It is available 24 hours, so you can always find a time to send an email, and it is economical, at only 6 CUC/hour. The speed is at least as good as my dial up at home.
Activities:
The usual selection....Spanish lessons, dancing, beach volleyball, etc. I didn't bother. Sailing is another story. I love it, and with the exception of the first couple of days when it was extremely windy and red flags were flying, I went out every day. Because the wind was high most of the week, I had some very memorable sailing.....fast, wet, fun!! Snorkelling, as I have mentioned, is also very good, and possible even on windy days, since the reef keeps the wave action to a minimum. Kite boarders also find the lack of big waves attractive. There were several enjoying the wind, which made swimming and snorkelling a bit hazardous as you had to keep a look out for them. There are decent bicycles if you want to ride to Coco Beach or around Santa Lucia......or just down the road to the other hotels. It's always interesting to check out the local crafts for sale, which vary somewhat from resort to resort. There seem to be no issues with Security as far as visiting other resorts....I had no problem walking around Brisas to meet a friend.
Evening entertainment:
There is a show every night, but I did not attend.
Tours:
There are several available. Camaguey is one destination. You can go for the whole day for 45 CUC including your lunch. You can also do the "last day" tour, which gives you a look at the city on your way to the airport and also includes lunch, priced at 29 CUC. Catamaran Playa Bonita for 55 CUC which includes snorkelling, lunch and a open bar. Also, for those who only wish to snorkel, the Coral tour is priced at 25 CUC and just takes you out to the reef. There is a lobster dinner at Coco Beach available for 25 CUC. There is deep sea fishing available as well.
Money:
A Cadeca on site for money exchange, just beside the front desk.
Grounds:
Well maintained, with gardeners busy from the early hours before it is too hot.
Staff:
Excellent staff at this resort. Friendly, helpful, and a lot of fun.
Bugs:
There weren't any! It was very windy much of the week, and a bit chilly in the evenings. That's probably the reason for the lack of insects. I did see a few ants in my washroom a couple of times. Nothing significant and not a problem.
Misc.:
There are taxis and horse & buggy taxis available to go to town or Coco Beach. Horseback riding is available as well.
Conclusion:
Caracol is a wonderful little hotel with terrific staff, decent food, excellent accommodation, and a very friendly atmosphere. What it lacks in 4 star amenities it makes up for with heart. It's definitely worth going back to....and I shall.
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