Just got back from the Iberostar Daiquiri, Cayo Guillermo. We were there for 1 week, Apr. 6-13. The resort was pretty much exactly as expected and we both loved it.

There were only about 20 of us to check in and it was late when we arrived, but it was the fastest check in ever, wow, 10 mins. maybe. The porter took our bags and showed us our room. It was newly furnished & painted, with new beds & matresses, new puffier pillows (like body pillows) I remember reading previous reviews where people complained of the terribly flat old pillows (They're still there, just in the closet as extras) The bathrooms are still to be renovated. Yes, they're showing their age, but everything worked fine.

Next morning we checked out the grounds and they are lovely. The flowering climbing vines are breath-taking and a favorite picture oppourtunity. One thing we really liked was the compact design of the resort. It is directly on the beach (we had an oceanview room, fantastic). Everything is so close at hand and easy to get around. Perfect for us lounge-lizards at the beach.

The beach, what can I say...

I thought it was perfect. It is narrow but there were plenty of chairs for everyone. You did have to play the towel game to get a palapa. I loved the shallow water and it was so warm. We fed some fishes, swam, played and loved to watch the kitesurfers. It was one of the best beaches we've been to and we would love to return to this area of Cuba. A nice long beach for taking walks and soaking in the sunshine. We had great weather everyday except one day we had a half day of rain - and did it rain. But we managed to get in our beach time in the morning from 9 til around 2 or 3 before the weather moved in.

The food was good in our opinion. It was better that last year at Barcelo Marina Palace, but not as good as I've had at Playa Costa Verde. The selection was overall very good for vegetables, but the meat selection could have been better. I love white fish, so I was content, but everyone knows beef is hard to come by in Cuba. And I didn't find very many pork dishes. Loved the cappucino and pasta station. If you have a sweet tooth you'll be satisfied with the desserts.

The staff was top notch and the service was terrific. We never felt pressure to tip and got good service regardless.
We did take some gardening tools for the groundskeepers and they seemed genuinely surprised and sincerely grateful. They made us each a gift to take home. A woven grasshopper and a dove made of palm leaves. Our chambermaid was Judith. She was excellent and left us water everyday and beautiful towel art. I thought the resort was very clean and well kept.

It will be great when the beach restaurant is completed and the resort is finished its renovations.

We never went on any excursions this time. Just wanted to chill on the beach. But we did take the Flying Boat ride. What a great view from the air...many little islands and water that is so turquoise it's like a dream. The beach down at the Sol Cayo Guillermo looks like the best area, very clear with no sea grass for a long way out.

We returned last week from a week at this beautiful resort. This is our 5th time going south and our third stay at an Iberostar resort and we were not disappointed one bit.

We arrived about 11.00 pm at night . Fast check in as our tour rep had given us papers to complete before we got to the resort so we passed these to reception and got our room key within minutes. We had emailed ahead and got rooms on the second floor next to our friends. I will make this as brief as possible.

Rooms.. Nice and clean. Good showers. Partial view of the beach from balcony. Our building was Varadero which was close to the main building and the beach. Perfect location.

Service......Fantastic. Elien and Rosa were superb in the buffett and reserved our table everyday. Great food. Ary and Alifrey in the lobby bar were great. All staff were perfect and always there to get us a drink whenever we wanted one. The best service ever.

Beach..........Beautiful beach. Lots of chairs and shade and the water is soooo warm.

Lobby............Wow. Beautiful plants and lots of places to sit and relax.

Tours........Went to Moron & Ciego De Avila on the tour. Had a great time touring the mangroves,cigar factory,sugarcane factory and the cities by horse & buggy and bici-taxi.

OK were to start....So this was my first time ever at the IB DAIQUIRI and also my first time ever down south(went with my boyfriends mom and her friend( NO BOYS lol).........I will just list everything as it comes into my head so here goes nothing...Also this will be a long detailed review...lol so be prepared...

TRIP DATE:
March 16th -23rd 2007

GETTING THERE:
We left from Toronto Airport...No hassles minus being told out flight would leave at 6am but we were told there was a no fly rule and couldn’t leave till 6:30..To be honest I was asleep before take off and don’t remember it lol.. Anyways the ride was a bit bumpy but I slept on and off the whole flight...Food wasn’t the greatest but this can be expected...airline food is never great...Through security in Cuba no problems everyone was decent changed our money over while waiting for our bags...I was a bit disappointed when I saw my luggage as it was a bit scuffed up (my own fault for wanting a lime green suitcase lol ) and even more disappointed when I opened my luggage and found my carton of smokes missing(we concluded this happened in Toronto as they are having major problems with this recently. also this was my own fault I didnt lock my luggage)Anyways...Bus ride was uneventful we had a beer on the way. Got to the hotel check in was a breeze we were told our rooms would not be ready until 1...No Problem we just went to the bar for a beer and down to the beach for a look around...

ROOMS:
Honestly I don’t understand why people in other reviews give the rooms such a bad rep...They weren’t bad at all. There were 3 of us so we had the standard 2 beds and a cot which was great...We had a/c which worked awesome and great water pressure and warm water in the shower...Also the blow-dryer wasn’t to bad...I just wore my hair curly the whole time anyways as it is so hot it would have been frizzy anyways...So when we arrived in our room we found a bottle of rum and a plate of food also 2 beers and pops...(the other 2 I traveled with were return guests hence the rum and fruit) We had no problems with water as they replaced it in our fridge almost everyday! TV worked great it had TBS which is great for watching movies when falling asleep...The room was also bug free minus one lizard which didn’t even bother us lol we just laughed it off.

FOOD:
OK so I am the worlds fussiest eater and guess what I had not one problem with the food...As long as I could tell what it was I ate it...Everything tasted good and was well prepared...One thought...If you are accustomed to eating salted butter...Salt yours here because it doesn’t come that way in Cuba. We went to both restaurants the Cuban and the Mexican...Both were excellent...But by far I loved the Mexican the food was sooo good there! Great selection for appetizers there as well! I suggest trying to get into both of those but make sure you book your slots the day you get there otherwise you wont get in or you will wait till 9pm(which happened to us at the Cuban one)Make sure you get a omelet in the morning...It is delish!!!! The cheese is way stronger then we are used to so if you mind that ask for less cheese Hector will make it anyway you like it!!!

BEACH/POOL/WEATHER:
THE BEACH IS PHENOMANAL!!! I have never ever seen anything like it in my life!!! Soft white sand...Crystal clear water...Omg I cant even explain how much I loved the beach...Just sitting out on loungers in the sun or dragging them into the water and laying there....We spent alot of time at the beach...There was 2 days where a cold front moved in and it was far to cold to go down to the beach so we went to the pool where it was extremely hot still lol...When it became to hot we just jumped in and swam over to the bar for a beer and a smoke lol...We never had any problems getting a lounger...We just went before breakfast and threw some towels down(note: bring some old towels instead of using that IB ones. that way if anyone steals them you dont have to pay to replace them!)The weather could not of been better I think the only day it rained was the day we went on an excursion in town and it didn’t even rain in town so we missed it!!!BONUS! lol...

HOTEL/GROUNDS:
This hotel is beautiful....I understand that this hotel is undergoing yet another set of renovations in may and it could last up to 4 or 5 months according to some of the staff...In my opinion its fine the way it is...The front lobby is amazing we sat there sometimes waiting for the shows to start and just looked around I loved it in there...There is also little ponds in and around the lobby with fish in them. Grab some bread to feed them if you want! The grounds at this resort are absolutely stunning! The gardeners really take pride in their work and it shows! Lots of mature Palm trees and other plants! It was funny to see how huge the rubber trees here grow when the one in my living room in a baby in comparison lol...The gardeners will also give a little gift to you if they see you...One day we received a flower each which was nice...Honestly over its just a wonderful resort..

EXCURSIONS:
We went on the full day Sugar Cane Express excursion...It was wonderful...Bus ride to the mangroves with a boat ride through them which was nice, then on the bus again to Moran which is a lovely town and a horse and buggy ride then a short walk around mingling with some locals (who didn’t bother us btw) Then we stopped and had a beer in a shop. On the bus again to the Sugar Cane Plant which is no longer in use ( If I remember correctly it was closed in 1999) We had a tour of that watched a movie and saw a reenactment of the slave treatment, then on to the steam train...(NOTE: DO NOT wear white to this excursion and bring lots of wet wipes as you get covered in soot from the train and we all looked funny getting off of it lol) We then got back on the bus and took a vote on the crocodile farm...the majority was no so we didn’t go. We then went to lunch at some open air restaurant...It was nice but we were unsure of the meat we ate...either pork or chicken lol it was good. The food was included but the beer was not I think it was 1cuc each for the beer...On to the bus again and into Ciago Di Avlia(sp) THIS CITY IS AMASING...All of the people and the buildings. Its beautiful...We were also not bothered in this city...We walked around for a bit stepped into a store for a beer and back on the bus to the resort I think we got in the resort around 5..There is alot of sitting on the bus for this trip...If you are not one to like that this trip is not for you..Take the half day Moran trip its not as long but I recommend the full day...We were also booked to go on the Catamaran full day but as the cold front blew in it became way to windy to go out onto the water...They offered it for another day but to be honest we just cancelled and went to the pool. I was a bit disappointed but that just gave me a reason to go back again lol...both trips were 75cuc...Make sure you go see your rep for the welcoming because he/she has lots of info on all of this our rep was amazing from signature!

ENTERTAINMENT/SHOWS:
Honestly besides the beach and relaxing this was the best part of the trip. WE HAD SO MUCH FUN AT THE SHOWS EACH NIGHT! We sat at the front for each show so often we got called up...lol while it was VERY embarasing it was fun!I was picked to be a judge in the MR.IB Pagent! That was fun ...Then Leo (star friend) took me up on stage and made me sing with other guests (see pictures) As I can not sing this was rather embarrassing but oh well it was in good fun and I’m sure I was 2sheets to the wind anyways lol...We only missed two shows the night we got there (after being up for over 24 hours that was expected) and the show the day of our excursion...But the shows we went to were amazing!!! They are so well done!! The dancing is amazing and everyone always has a smile on their faces! We really loved the Cuban show and the skits before the shows lol!!! They were howels! After every show the place becomes a Disco...IF you done like to dance LEAVE because they do not take NO for an answer lol....Let me tell you its a work out in itself lol...We also did the resort dance each night...and much to happys* dismay I learned the dance the first night lol HAHAlol... They have a mix between English music new to old (i.e. YMCA) to Cuban music...trust me they will teach you how to dance to it all! Every night Lizandra and Eduardo sat with us and most of the nights other entertainment staffed did as well...We loved them and are even sending them packages once the resort closes ( to Lizandra and Eduardo that is)...They are party animals and closed the place down with us each night...We didn’t end up going bowling at all only because the prospect of getting up at 8 or 9 after bowling till 4am didn’t sound good to us!

STAR FRIENDS:
NOT ENOUGH CAN BE SAID ABOUT THESE GUYS! They work all day and night into the wee hours of the morning making sure the guests are happy and always have a smile on their faces! Whether it is doing aerobics in the pool to dance lessons to bingo they are always keeping everyone happy! Once again we became quick friends with Lizandra and Eduardo who would often just come and relax with us throughout the day and talk...Leo is also another great star friend he also runs the towel place during the day! Arley is sooo friggin funny! He is the jokester of them all...All of the staff were great from the bar tenders to the maids ect...we had NO problems!

GETTING HOME:
We had to check out by 6am the Friday we left which sucked....But they opened the restaurant early for us which was good. We bought VIP tickets for the airport and this was a great buy! No line checking in and right into a nice room with a/c lazy boy loungers smoking and all you can drink and eat...We loved it! We had no problems leaving Cuba and no problems leaving Toronto airport!

THINGS TO REMEMBER:
-Cuba does not have the same voltage as us. So don’t bring you flat iron expecting it to work unless you have an adapter. Even then it overheats rather quickly I am told...

-Underwater cameras are a must. We had a lot of fun with these

-Go to Canadian tire and buy the mini bubba mugs. they were great. always kept out drinks cold ...We gave them to Boris when we left(he’s a bartender at the shows at night and by the pool during the day) he loved them and wanted to use them for carnival!

-Your in Cuba who cares you know no one...let you hair down have fun dance and relax!! Uptight people only ruin it for themselves...

HOTEL CLOSING ANNOUNCMENT...
Apparently the hotel is closing once again for the final renovations in May...According to the website this is only going to be for 2 months but some of the staff seem to think it will be longer then that...Anyways the beach restaurant and the rooms are being updated as well as some other things like the tiles in the pool bar ect....Apparently Iberostar has threatened to drop this resort of their name if they don’t come up to code soon so the push is on to do so...

Overall I loved this resort and can’t wait to go back again! For my first time down south this was an excellent choice on behave of my travel companions and I am very glad I went...I would advise anyone to go here and look forward to a week full of relaxation and fun!

We were set to leave Toronto @ 6:00 am flying Skyservice flight # 3054. To our surprise the plane was not able to actually leave until 6:30 am which meant we left our parking area at 6:00 am and sat on the tarmac until 6:30 am. Strange as our flight was to depart at 6:00 am. The flight was a little bumpy on the way, but an enjoyable one knowing we were finally on our way to the Iberostar Daiquiri!!!

We arrived around at the airport at approximately 9: 40 am. We had no problems getting through customs as we waited for our bags we changed our dollars to the CUC, than picked up our luggage. Our bus trip to the resort was uneventful.

Check in was fast and efficient. Our room was not ready until 1:00 pm which was not a problem as we went straight to the bar and had our first of many drinks.

We were lucky enough to get a ground floor ocean view room, as well as a bottle of rum and a fruit plate.

The resort is what I had remembered, beautiful, well kept, friendly and the beach outstanding. It was so good to get back there and see our friends.

The weather was hot and the winds calm when we arrived. A few days later a cold front came through and the winds picked up until the day before we left. We sat at the pool most of the time due to the strong winds.

The food was excellent alot of choices never went hungry. The beach restaurant is still under construction and I would be very surprised to see it reopen anytime soon.

The entertainment is a must see they work very hard for the nightly shows. After the shows the entertainment team makes sure you get up and dance your feet off. I have not had so much exercise in a very long time. What a blast.

We had a morning departure, and the bus picked us up at 7:10 am for the ride back to the airport. We had no problems with our luggage being over weight, as well going through customs.

We left Halifax, N.S., a half hour behind schedule, on West Jet Flgt#6676 on Friday the 16th of Feb., bound for Cayo Coco, Cuba and one week of fun and sun.

Upon arrival at the airport, Jardines del Rey (The King's Garden) any and all tardiness was excused.

Once you have passed through Customs/Immigration (usually fast and efficient) one is best to go directly to the Bank window, located on the left side wall of the Arrivals area, while the other retrieves the bags from the carrousel. You can exchange virtually any currency, but remember a surcharge of 10% is now charged on US dollars. (Thanks Georgie, I can now use Cdn $).On that Friday the exchange was $100.00 Cdn=72.94 Cuban Convertible Pesos. This amounted to 1Cuc= $1.37Cdn. I later exchanged money at the Bank next to the hotel and received 75.88Cuc for $100.00Cdn (1Cuc=$1.32Cdn) This obviously is the result of the daily fluctuation of our money.

Once you have taken care of business, exit the Arrivals area and porters will be available to carry your luggage if you so wish. The charge is 1Cuc/bag. You may decline politely if you wish. Also, you will see Tour Reps with signs. Locate yours and give your name and hotel. They will then direct you to your new, air-conditioned coach for transport to your hotel. The ride to the Iberostar is not long. Buy a beer of two from one of the vendors (2Cuc) or on the bus and RELAX.

Now for the hotel. We were aprox. 40-50 people checking in, all at the same time. Check-in was fast and efficient. The front desk people will give you a ticket to have your luggage delivered to your room and a phamplet outlining the hotel services, times and a map of the resort to find your way this first day/night. Again the suggested tip for the porter is 1Cuc/bag.

ROOMS
The room buildings are all named after Provinces of Cuba. I was in Barracoa #2349. The room was very clean, air-conditioned with toilette, biddet, tub&shower, hair dryer, 2 beds, TV&remote chair, table, balcony with a view of the ocean. It was perfect for the little time that I spent there. I found the bed a bit low compared to mine at home, but it was more comfortable.The hotel is undergoing upgrading and the exterior of Barracoa was painted while I was there. Because of the upgrading, some people experienced problems with their water--pressure/hot-cold-- I did not. Luck of the draw I guess.

FOOD
Breakfast 7-10 buffet with a wide variety, so don't try to sample it all the first day. Continental breakfast is available from 10-12 in "La Marina" snack bar behind the pool.

Lunch 1-3 in the buffet. Snacks are available at "La Marina" from 12:30-4----burgers, dogs, fries,chicken, salads ect...

Dinner 6:30-10 in the buffet

There are 2 A La Carte Restaurants--Mexican & Cuban. Reserve early upon arrival as they were very popular during my stay. My experiences were very good and I do not hesitate in recommending them.

Late snacks are available at the "El Mojito" lobby bat from 11:30-1am.

BARS
Not many, but enough.The main bar is "El Mojito" located in the lobby and the focal point in the evenings. "La Marina" is also the pool bar and great during the day. "Havana Club" is the theatre bar open during the nightly enterainment shows.

POOL
Very clean, great area for little kids (wading pool) with lots of chairs available.

BEACH
Narrow, cleaned daily, shallow even at high tide. Plenty of chairs and palapas, so no need to 'reserve' a chair like a dork at 6am.

We spent one week at the Iberostar Daiquiri in Cayo Guillermo, January 25 to February 1st 2007. This was our honeymoon trip that we had been saving up for during the past 18 months. Prior to our departure, I e-mailed the hotel (in Spanish, with the help of a friend) to request a room with a view on a higher floor and to see if we could benefit from the honeymoon advantages. A very friendly staff member from public relations responded that they would do their very best to fill our request and that certainly, we’d get the honeymoon advantages.

Arrival: Upon arrival in Cayo Coco, we were showed onto the bus that takes us to the resort and then told that they had bad news. The hotel was apparently full and so we were to go to the Sol Cayo Guillermo for one night. I’m a pretty easy-going person, but I must say that this was bothersome. First, you can’t get settled if you are there for just one night and so we lost the equivalent of one entire day with this little problem. Second, when you select a resort and do research on it, then book your trip, you expect to be going to the resort you decided on. We made the best of it, despite a ground floor room that smelled of stagnant water and humidity and no water in the mini bar (at the Sol). In fact, the mini bar was completely empty. We asked for water at the front desk, put on our swimsuits and jumped into the gorgeous turquoise ocean. The next day was spent transferring to the Daiquiri. We got our upper level room with a partial view of the ocean. Everyone who was transferred got a free bottle of rhum and the room safe was free or charge, but we never saw our honeymoon advantages. Oh well.

Staff: Excellent, helpful, energetic. We adored them. No complaints. Bring gifts for the staff (beauty products, thermal mugs, clothes, shoes, toys, pens, pencils, paper, coloring books, perfume, deodorant, toothpaste, jewelry, hair clips, batteries, nylons, etc.) and don't forget the rest of the staff, not just your maid. They tend to be forgotten and also love gifts.

Beach: Not very wide but very nice. The reserving of beach and pool chairs is annoying and obnoxious. Some resorts do not allow this and I think the Daiquiri should take example. One particular family had SIX chairs stacked side by side under a palapa with their towels on them FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK and did not even go to the beach every day. It was not fair of them to do that. When there are no chairs, you can ask the chair guy or any gardener or staff member to find you one and they always succeed. This is more a problem with the tourists than the staff. Water is an incomparable turquoise and cristal clear when the tide is out. If you walk to the end of the beach beyond the Sol, it is almost wild and the water is as nice as at Pilar beach. Do not miss seeing Pilar beach, it is a jewel. You can go there with the train that passes twice a day or just ask a taxi driver to take you an pick you up for 5 CUC. They always show up to pick you up at the time you tell them. No worries.

Pool: Lovely, but who wants to hang out by the pool when you are by the ocean? We took a couple of quick dips in it but otherwise remained on the beach.

Food: No complaints, except that the buffet gets tiresome after a few days. Best ice cream in the world. Great coffee. Orange juice to die for and the fruit! Wow. Our only complaint is that everything seems to be deep fried or very oily. Fantastic hamburgers at the pool bar at lunch time and at the end of the afternoon. Do not miss going to the little shack on the beach between the Daiquiri and Melia to make a reservation and they will serve you lobster tails with potatoes and veggies for 15 CUC. Delicious. There also seems to be a larger seafood place at the very end of the beach, beyond the Sol but we did not try it. The à la carte restaurants were ok, we mainly loved the authentic soups (bean soup at the Mexican and smoked pork soup at the cuban restaurant). The rest of the food was quite ordinary. I make better fajitas myself. Good tuna filet at the Cuban restaurant. The guacamole and salsa at the Mexican restaurant were great. The Ranchon beach restaurant (for lunch and usually the Cuban restaurant is situated there) was closed for renovations.

Grounds: Fantastic, lush, green, floral. Simply beautiful.

Money: No problems exchanging money either at the airport, front desk or the bank that is situated near the hotel. Not much to buy in Cuba, but they do have great coffee, cigars, cheap booze, t-shirts, hats and some artisan stands with interesting souvenirs. If you see something you like, buy it. The artisans rarely stay for more than one day and are then replaced by others.

Entertainment: Great shows every night. The Star Friends are amazing. They work LONG days and are never irritated or tired or even in a bad mood (or at least they don’t let it show).

Downside: Obnoxious, loud tourists. I don’t know about others, but when I travel to a foreign country, I do not want to hear loud, constant, running comments in slang all day long. They should at the very least be quieter and more considerate to others who want to just chill and perhaps try to speak in a more correct French, especially when they are adressing the locals who speak French (not many do, mostly they speak English as a second language). I just find it really impolite to address someone from the staff in slang with you know they do not master the language. Make an effort, people. By all means, have fun, chat and talk, but just tone it down a bit when others are relaxing. There is always an area where the music is full blast and there is a party going on. Go there if you want to be loud.

Weather: We had three gorgeous, sunny, warm days (31, 28, 38 degrees Celcius). Beach weather. Two cooler days (23, 24 Celcius) but the water was still warm enough to want to take a dip. No rain. We walked around the Cayo and photographed exotic birds, pink flamingos and explored the surrounding area, further from the resorts on these days. We also walked along the beach, as far as we could go. The first and last days were lost with travelling and almost an additional day was lost with the overbooking and changing hotels. Next time, I think 2 weeks would be in order.

My wife and I along with a friend spent a week at the Daiquiri Jan 19 to 26, 2007. Another couple was to come along with us but the husband broke his leg a week or two prior to our departure and therefore could not make it. This was our third January vacation in a row at the Daiquiri.

Although it has nothing to do with the resort I will give my opinion about the flight. We traveled with Sky Service on a Signature booked vacation which we booked through www.canadatravels.com. The online booking was excellent and we received our travel documents well in advance of the vacation. Contacting an actual person at Canada Travels was a breeze. The Sky Service flight was another pleasant surprise as I remember past flights with them being tight, uncomfortable affairs. This time there seemed to be much more leg room and all services were efficient and friendly. Our return flight to Canada was delayed by about 12 hours but we were sent back to the Daiquiri for the day and given a $75 travel voucher each for future use with Signature. Overall, the transportation part of the vacation was good to excellent.

And before I go further I should also point out that we do tip, not because we think we have to but because we don’t mind doing so and if it helps a person have a better day then all the better. All inclusive does not mean you must not tip but when I go to a restaurant here in Canada I believe the menu prices are all inclusive in that the food will be served to me. I still tip the person who serves me and the better the service the better the tip. So I wish people would stop complaining about those who tip. I also wish they would stop complaining about resort workers who appear to provide better service to those who tip. If one of the bosses in my office said he/she would pay me better money to do his/her work you can bet your ass I’d be doing more work for that person. It’s human nature.

Arrival – We arrived at the resort on time. When we got off the bus the busboy recognized us from prior years and promptly welcomed us and brought our luggage into the lobby and later to our rooms.

Rooms – Our room was very nice. The floor tile appeared to be brand new as did the wall tiles in the washroom. Everything worked. The a/c worked so well that I developed a cold on the 3rd or 4th day. There was a bottle of rum for us on a table as well as beer, pop, and water in the fridge. We received a new bottle of water everyday. The room was kept very clean by the cleaning staff. As in the past, the beds are not the most comfortable but we were able to sleep every night. Extra blankets and pillows were found in the closet. The water pressure was strong except for the shower and this meant that our showers took a minute or so longer than we would expect. One night, sometime after midnight we found that we had no water. Fortunately we didn’t have any stomach problems which would require use of the toilet and when we woke up the next day water had been restored. We had a great ocean view from our room on the second floor of the Holguin building.

Food – We did not book any a la cartes as we had done them all twice before and found that we preferred to select food in the buffet. The first few days the selection this year did not seem as good as in prior years but improved greatly on the last few days. They still have something for everyone and there is still pasta prepared in front of you. I never once had any stomach problems nor did I ever go to bed hungry.

Later breakfast is served in the pool bar area now that the beach bar area is under renovation. It’s exactly the same as what was done in the beach bar in prior years except that at lunch there is no fish. The buffet has the earlier breakfast and is now air conditioned.

Grounds – The grounds are still beautifully maintained. Although the beach bar (Ranchon) is under repair it is not a big glaring eyesore that draws your attention and even though work was going on it was never loud enough to ruin our days on the beach. Although the rumor is that the Ranchon will be ready by Feb 15 I feel it may take longer than that.

Bar/Service – The lobby bar is the same as always with almost all of the same staff from previous years. The nicest change at the lobby bar is they no longer have those Squishy machines that Apu uses on the Simpsons. Instead, all of the blended drinks are made using an actual blender. After 1 a.m. the lobby bar shuts down. From here you can go to the buffet where they will serve snacks and drinks until 6 or 7 a.m. It is very informal and you may not even realize it is open but it is.

If you want to drink on the beach, the servers come around quite regularly. Lloyd was very efficient returning to us every 15 to 20 minutes.

The pool bar offers drinks all day until it becomes the Cuban a la carte.

Staff/Other – On a couple of days we found that when we went down to the beach there were no lounge chairs available. This was not surprising as it was very hot the week we were there and the resort seemed to be full. I asked Lloyd if he had seen any chairs down the beach and he told me not to worry as he had already asked another staff to go get us some empty chairs from the pool. I gladly tipped this individual for performing this service for us. The next day when I found the same lack of chairs this person gladly went and got us some and again we tipped him. It was well worth it but not demanded.

All of the staff are fantastic. No need to say anymore about them.

We did not attend any of the shows or go on any of the excursions this year as we’ve seen or done almost all in the past years. We met a number of great people at this resort. Jim, Cal, Laszlo, Kathy, John, Keith, Barbara, Harley, Janet, Nico, Tharnos and their spouses as well as Elsa and Michelle or Danielle from Canada as well as Ian from England. We spent most of our days and/or nights with some or all of these people and had a great time. We didn’t even make an effort to use the internet service this year. Who wants to waste their time typing on vacation. My fingers are already getting sore typing this.

In my opinion this is a great resort. You can take it easy or you can get plenty impaired or a little from column “a” and a little from column “b” etc… Although my wife would like to see something different (i.e. different country) I believe we will all be returning to the Daiquiri in January 2008 as it is the best value we’ve found so far.

We are just back from a weeks vacation with our 2 teenagers (twins of 17 years old) and 3 more + 6 other members of the family at Iberostar Daiquiri Hotel. We had a wonderful week at this most picturesque resort (gardens and property are immaculate).

This was our second time at this resort and third time on this island .

Our room, which was located in the Pinar del Rio building, was a good size; very basic but not always clean. For some reasons, the cleaning lady wash the toilet only every 2 days , and she never set that paper strap around it to let us know that it’s been cleaned..

I would get up each morning and walk to the beach around 6:00/6:30 ..first to reserve my chairs and to relax until the breakfast time. The hotel staff was terrific. Everyone there is very friendly and truly appreciative of any small tips or gifts you may have to offer.

Beach was exactly as shown on the website - very narrow but went on for miles. Water is clear, warm and shallow for quite a ways out. Caution to all - Keep those beach towels in sight as several people had personal beach towel stolen, not the towels from the resort!

Buffet Restaurant was average...but it is Cuba after all! Large variety of foods but most things are very greasy (like to cook one egg, they will use close to ¼ cup of oil) ouch. We notice that the left overs from the day before are always used to serve a salad ( or can we call this a salad , pieces of hot dog with cheese cube and other stuff !)Remember your Pepto Bismol! Be careful, don’t eat to many cheeses and beware of the milk.

At this resort, they have something new, they do not provide anymore water bottle every, just one bottle when you arrive and, when you need more , you have to find a place like the big cafetreria , and fill it up , but those bottles are to tall to fit in this machine , so get ready to use a smaller glass to transfer the water .

In the past , when people were leaving empty glasses on the floor on the buildings , the cleaning lady’s would pick it up very soon , but this time , we saw on each floors glasses all week ( the same one’s) and a few plates of food . After 3 days , we decided to push the plates in the garbage cans , but realize that it did stay there for more days .

The weather was like 34 C and 90% humidity , for seven days , and 5 minutes of rain .

We are just back from a weeks vacation with our 2 children (2 and 5 years old) at Iberostar Daiquiri Hotel. We had a wonderful week with the kids at this most picturesque resort (gardens and property are immaculate).

Our room, which was located in the Pinar del Rio building, was a good size; very basic but always clean. If you are the type who likes to be up to see a sunrise, try to get a room in the Habana building as this is closest to the ocean and has the most beautiful view. I would get up each morning and go next door just to see this and totally relax! The hotel staff was terrific. Everyone there is very friendly and truly appreciative of any small tips or gifts you may have to offer.

Pools were well kept, cleaned daily but on the smaller side which was perfect with small children as they could be in any of the 3 pools and they were always within eyesight range. Beach was exactly as shown on the website - very narrow but went on for miles. Water is clear, warm and shallow for quite a ways out. Never any problems getting chairs at the beach but poolside chairs tended to be reserved by 7:30 am! Caution to all - Keep those beach towels in sight as several people had theirs stolen and there is a $10.00 charge for missing towels!

Buffet Restaurant was average...but it is Cuba after all! Large variety of foods but most things are very greasy. Remember your Pepto Bismol! Always something for the kids to eat as well with fresh pasta, hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries and pizzas made all day long. Breakfasts were the best - lots to chose from and pretty much the same as you get at home. The Cuban and Mexican restaurants were delicious but not as many choices for the kids to chose from. Wish we had been permitted to eat there more than once per week!

Kids club was good but not much supervision...lots of activities to keep them busy however if they are the type to wander, no one really runs after them so you may not want to leave them. Animators are excellent with the kids and always have a smile on their faces.

We spent 2 weeks in paradise for the second year in a row, what an awesome place to vacation, great food, excellent beach, staffed by the best people I have ever had the pleasure of staying with. There was a cocktail party for folks that have been to this resort more than once...........one couple had been there 7 years in a row! says something about it !

Spent March 31 to April 7 with my husband and two daughters (4 and almost 7) at the Iberostar Daiquiri. We chose it in part because of recommendations on this site, and were very glad we did.

FLIGHT: We booked with Holasun through Selloff Vacations; had no problems at all other than the flight time changing a few weeks prior to departure by 20 minutes. I was relieved as I had purposely chosen an afternoon flight so we wouldn't have to haul the kids out of bed at 3 a.m.; last year my husband and I were scheduled on a 4 p.m. flight (no kids) and found out the night before it had changed to 6 a.m.! Anyway, we flew Cubana out of Toronto and I was very pleased with it. My husband is 6'1" and I'm 5'10" and we usually end up on charters with our knees smashing into the seat in front, and our elbows up by our ears when we try and eat. This was completely different -- there was TONS of legroom. We were both able to totally stretch out. The plane seems quite new. The food was good on the way down, terrible on the way back, but whatever. We left right on time, and arrived 15 minutes early on the way down. I think we were on time on the way back too, though we left a little bit late.

AIRPORT: It was after 9 p.m. when we arrived. Customs was pretty quick, maybe 20 minutes in line. Our bags were already off the conveyor belt by the time we got through. We sat on the bus for about 45 minutes waiting to leave which was frustrating because my kids were pretty impatient by then. They're nighthawks so had no interest in napping to pass the time.

CHECK-IN: Quick, only took about 10 minutes. There were three desk clerks on duty for about 40 people. We found our room no problem with the help of Deyvis, who turned out to be the maitre d' in the buffet and found us wandering around, not lost, but not exactly knowing where we were going either. The grounds were much smaller than I had expected -- we were in the farthest building to the right of the lobby (Baracoa) and it was less than a 2-minute walk.

ROOM: Great. I had e-mailed the hotel a few weeks prior and requested a spacious top-floor room with an ocean view (picky maybe, but worth a shot!) and we got exactly that. We were in Baracoa 2351, a large room with a huge shared balcony (plus a small private one). The shared balcony is really just a terrace at the top of the staircase that leads to all the rooms, but I never encountered another person on it. It's true that the rooms are a bit old, but they were far better than I had expected. There was nothing actually wrong with it, other than a bit of mildew in the bathroom and around the A/C vent. There was no musty smell at all (and I have a super sensitive nose). The beds were definitely tired -- saggy and the box-springs were quite frayed under the bedskirt (I checked -- I was really just trying to see what people were complaining about) and the cot that my girls got was super squishy. They didn't care though. And, as everybody else says, you are barely in your room. It was fine and comfortable for sleeping, AC worked great though we usually turned it off in the middle of the night. We always had tons of hot water and great water pressure (much better than at home!). Our housekeeper, whose name I now can't remember (possibly Mailis) did a nice job each day. Once she made swans out of the towels, complete with fresh flowers; other days she made fun patterns out of the kids' PJs, which they loved.

FOOD: I love food and eat out a fair bit at home and I found the food here excellent. Really! There are always a few odd-looking things in any buffet but it's just a matter of taste — half the time stuff I thought was weird was being devoured by other people. The grilled fish at every lunch and dinner was fabulous; the pasta was great; the roast and grilled meats were great; the desserts were great and varied. As lots of other reviewers have said, it would be very hard not to find something to eat here. We took a small jar of peanut butter down because my younger daughter barely eats anything else, and we never opened it. She loved the roast chicken, pizza, fries, fresh raw veggies and fruit, pancakes and french toast and pastries at breakfast -- there is lots for kids to eat here and much of it is healthy (enough). And of course the six kinds of ice cream. Other reviewers have said there wasn't salad dressing, ketchup or maple syrup but there was when we were there. At least four kinds of bottled dressing, plus olive oil and vinegar, big bowls of ketchup (I didn't try it though) and syrup that isn't real maple, but it's as good as Aunt Jemima. Nobody in our family got sick all week and I wouldn't say we were really even taking any special precautions. Oh yes, and the hot chocolate and cafe au lait (both come out of a machine) were delicious. We only ate lunch once at the beach restaurant -- it was hamburgers, hotdogs, grilled fish and chicken. Didn't try the burgers or dogs but heard they were good. Every afternoon Paez at the pool bar would be cooking up hotdogs with bacon and onions or bacon and grilled pepper sandwiches, which smelled great — their bacon smells like maple, yum. Paez also made flambéed bananas in the buffet every night which was fun to watch (and they were good). If you don't like cooked bananas he did pineapple too, or, for kids, would just flambée a little whipped cream piped into a heart shape on the plate.

A LA CARTE RESTAURANTS: We ate at both the Cuban and Mexican and I was impressed. Not so much by the atmosphere in the Cuban (it's the beach restaurant during the day) or by the appetizers and desserts, which are buffet-style and the same as the buffet (surprise!) but by the fish I was served -- a huge filet of grouper with a garlic sauce. It was perfectly grilled, bone-free, and very flavourful. We also tried two of the Cuban soups, which were also good. The Mexican restaurant was elegant, with brightly-coloured china. They also served me a fab piece of fish, I think it was sea bream. My husband had the chicken fajitas which he really liked (although he also loves Kraft dinner and Libby's beans so is not the pickiest judge!). Same deal with the appetizers and desserts -- repeated from the buffet.

POOL: Very nice, especially for kids cause they could stand in all three of them. The kiddie pool is very shallow, about a foot deep, but my kids still liked playing in it. My older daughter loved the waterfall by the swim-up bar -- I wasn't so crazy about getting soaked every time I wanted a drink; I could have walked round the end but I indulged her and swam under the falls. The pools were coolish at first but very pleasant after a few seconds especially since the air was hot. We always found chairs, even though lots of them were reserved early. Since we were with the kids and in the water a lot, we barely sat on them anyway and usually just got one or two for the four of us. This was not exactly a relaxing, reading a book with a cool drink kind of holiday, unfortunately... One thing that disturbed me in the waterfall pool was a group of guests who were doing running jumps (and dives) into an inner tube from the pool deck. While it looked like a lot of fun, and 15 years ago (ok even 10) ago I would have joined right in, it was very dangerous. I wondered what would have happened, in terms of emergency medical care, if someone had gotten injured. Cayo Guillermo is pretty isolated and not equipped, I don't imagine, to deal with neck injuries or fractured skulls. One of them could have slipped on the deck, fallen backwards out of the tube and hit their head on the pool edge (which almost happened a couple of times) or hit the bottom -- the pool is barely 4.5 feet at its deepest. I used to be a lifeguard and have seen many freak accidents. This was a serious one waiting to happen.

BEACH: Beautiful. We partly chose this area because we knew the beaches we nice and shallow and thought the kids would love it. As it turned out they wanted to be in the pool most of the time but they did have fun jumping over the little waves, looking for shells and running on the sand. Weird thing was, we only ever saw low tide once -- they day we got there and the second day it was way out at around 5:00 p.m. I always thought tides happened at roughly the same time each day, with slight differences, kind of like the sunset. But every other day I went down at 5:00 and it was high high high. I never saw it out again, morning, noon or evening. Didn't matter, it was beautiful regardless -- turquoise water, white, soft sand. It is narrow and most of the seating is behind little dunes but it's nice and shady (or sunny, there's both) back there. Again, not really a problem finding chairs, although one day my husband had to drag some all the way from the pool. I don't really have an issue with people reserving chairs as long as they use them, but it's very frustrating to not be able to find one when there are five sitting empty for 6 hours straight right beside you! Back to the beach -- I think my photos of the stunning beaches have convinced a few people I know who previously turned up their noses at Cuba to reconsider. A couple of people I met down there said the Cayo Coco/Guillermo beachs are just as nice as the Mayan Riviera (I've never been though). This beach is also great for people who love to walk -- you can go for ages.

DRINKS: Good. I didn't drink nearly as much as I do when I don't have kids with me, so I didn't try that many. The pool bar definitely had the best banana mamas, when they had the ingredients on hand. At the pool bar, you can order a large or small drink; if you don't specify, you always get a small one (unless you bring your own insulated mug). Beer was good; wine at dinner was pretty good too. I forgot to have a mojito, which I'm now kicking myself for but I never saw one being made. My kids loved the slushes, especially when the bartenders layered two or three kinds in the same glass.

WATER SPORTS: We never participated in the animation team's activities -- the Star Friends are very low key which is nice. We did borrow pedal boats and kayaks several times. They let you go out quite ways. We went sailing on a Hobie cat twice; the first time the skipper, who was fishing off the back, caught an 8-lb. snapper. It was quite exciting. Wear lots of sunscreen if you go out on the water -- it is burning hot and once you're out there you can't just run back and get it, or re-apply on the boat, since you get splashed a lot. All the equipment seemed well maintained. You have to sign up at 9 a.m. for the equipment; most of the allotted times are taken by 9:30.

TIPPING/STAFF: We tipped a peso at most meals, daily in our room and every few rounds in the bars. It didn't make much difference; service was mostly good regardless. We usually ate breakfast and dinner late, so it was rarely busy and we were pretty much doted on! I think having the kids helped -- they had fun with the servers learning to count and say things in Spanish. When we left, we left the housekeeper some shampoo, toothpaste, makeup, and the pails, shovels and floaties we'd brought for the beach and pool, and I gave a bag of colouring books, markers, kids' shampoo and beads to one of the buffet servers who had a niece our daughter's age. Overall, the staff were wonderful and helpful.

ENTERTAINMENT: This was the one downfall. The nightly shows were fun, but the week we were there they were all audience participation, not the singing and dancing I was looking forward to. Apparently they work on a 2-week rotation, and that Tropicana-style stuff all happened the week before we got there; there's also supposed to be a really good black-light show that I was hoping to see. My kids didn't care, they thought it was all really fun, especially when anyone from Canada was on stage and they got the yell and clap.

KIDS' CLUB: We didn't use it except for 1 activity one afternoon. My kids just wanted to swim. But Yanara, who runs it, was really nice and the kids who went regularly clearly had a lot of fun with her. It's not super organized though -- Yanara plans the activities depending on who shows up and how old they are, which must be quite challenging. Sometimes if there's not enough kids she walks around trying to find others to join in. So if you sent a 4-year old girl and the only other child there was a 12-year old boy, it might not work out too well. But not Yanara's fault -- she really tries!

WEATHER: It was prob. 26° to 28° most days with no clouds and a nice breeze but not windy; maybe 30° on our last two days. It was warm at night too, enough that we could still wear shorts and tank tops. My husband and I were in Cayo Coco in Jan 2003 and it was much cooler at night -- we were all wearing sweatshirts and jeans.

This was our first trip to Cuba - Iberostar Daiquri, Cayo Guillermo. We went for one week but our next trip will definitely be for two weeks.

Arrival: We arrived at the hotel at around noon and were registered and escorted to our room very quickly.

Room: As in most all inclusive resorts, the room was basic but very clean. Our room was cleaned every day by noon and the maids always did a little something in our room. i.e.. swans made from our towels in the sink, sail boat in the bathtub and the beds were decorated in the same manner.

Food: The food was great, even if you are a picky eater there was something there for everyone. A good selection for breakfast, the eggs were cooked perfectly. The waiters were very helpful and remembered your choice of beverage.

Bar: The wine was very good, imported from Spain and my husband said the beer was good. Some of the tropical drinks though were so-so.

Grounds: The grounds were very clean, the gardening crew did a great job.

Beach: Beautiful white sand and very clean. You could walk for miles and it was great not having to dodge beach vendors.

Money: No problem with exchanging our money into Cuban Convertible Pesos and back to Canadian funds.

I travelled here with a group of 46 adults and young adults.

Arrival: Unfortunately we arrived at the resort at approximately 1:30am after a long days travel and there was only one person at the desk, so it took a while for everyone to get their rooms.

After a shaky start the following morning and for the rest of our stay the sun shone every day (lucky) which made it very hard to find things wrong with this resort, so it grew on us with each day.

The staff; were great, they really did work hard to gain both our friendship and respect, from the entertainers who put on great shows, to gardeners who kept the place very neat, to the cooks who did a wonderful job w ith the meals, to the bartenders who , well you know what they do best, make great drinks and always with smile, to the chamber maids who cleaned and tidied our rooms.

We were quite the active group, a lot of us loved beach volleyball so we took our own ball and were able to have games whenever we wanted, which ended up being a couple of times per day for a couple of hours, having the teens along made it a lot of fun.

In our group there were 16 teens who loved the entertainment along with the rest of the group, but they especially loved the dancing which would start at 10:30 after the shows were done. Basically the show stage and room would turn into a dance room until about 1am.

Beach: although I did prefer the beaches at Punta Cana, this beach was nice and was well maintained.

Food: The food was great, I do not recall anyone having any problems with the food, having teens we all took peanut butter etc in case someone did not like the food, but i do not think anyone had to use their stock, there was a Cuban and Mexican restaurant, both had good choices and good food, the main buffet always had lots of choice and the food was cooked properly, no raw chicken. The beach midday grill was also good, mainly burgers, fries, but always lots of salads, and lots of different fish treats.

Bars: All of the bartenders were great, they really wanted you to enjoy yourself, and mixed a variety of drinks that would tease your taste buds, The local beer was very good as well.

Rooms: If you have travelled to all inclusive resorts, the rooms are fairly basic, main things we look for are a good working air conditioner, a hot shower, and reasonably clean room, of which all were good, the water was not real hot for the first couple of days, but d id improve. The maids were never rushed in cleaning, but it was always done by mid afternoon and they did a good job.

Grounds: The gardening crew did a great job. and the grounds were clean and neat.

Excursions: I went with group on a large catamaran to go snorkeling, we went for the morning and it was worth the 39.00 pesos. We stopped at two coral areas for an hour each and there was a good variety of fish to see. Some other people in our group went on the half day to Moron, and really enjoyed it, just seeing how Cubans live, the plight they are in for day to day living was a real education. On really good excursion was the small motor boats to a bay, it books fast and according some of our group was a blast.

Money: Lucky for us there was a bank on our resort, so we could do exchanges every day, I do recommend using credit card for larger expenses, like excursions, as y ou get the international exchange. Take Canadian funds if from Canada, if you convert to American money they have an extra charge for conversion.

Take a taxi to Pillar Beach, it has beautiful white sand, a bit of a different Beach and some good snorkeling to the left along the cliff. It cost's 5 peso's per person and they will leave you for the amount of time you want, take a large mug full of your favourite beverage, and some water as there is only a pay as you go bar at this site. we went for 4 hours and that was just about right.

Medical; We unfortunately had to use the medical facilities as someone in our group fell, the doctor and nurse at the resort were wonderful and very attentive to the injured needs. We had to be transported to the international clinic on Cayo Coco, which with good roads would be about 20 minutes, but as the roads were in poor shape it took 45 minutes. The ambulance was a real eye opener as it was in fairl y good shape, but very poorly outfitted, Do not expect the same type of emergency services that we have here. At the international clinic, it was very clean and they again were fairly prompt in assessing the patient, the injured needed Xrays of her ribs and wrist, they were done , but without and protective shielding of other body parts. The bill for this was covered by the hotel, it did not cost us anything. We had 2 more days after this incident at the resort and the doctor and nurse were there to offer any assistance we required, again all at no cost. this was excellent service.

Airport Arrival:
We arrived in Cayo Coco mid-morning on a full aircraft. March is Cuba's busiest month (best weather and March Break) so my wife and daughter were expecting a slow transition. To the credit of Cuba airport staff, it really didn't take long to pass through customs and get our luggage. As expected, a Porter approached us to take our luggage to the correct bus. It's optional of course but for a few CUC, they are able to push ahead of the line and get your luggage on the bus faster than guests without a porter.

Money:
There is a currency exchange right beside the luggage carousel and although the line looked long, it moved quite well. If you are not traveling alone, have one person do currency exchange while the other waits for luggage. If you prefer, the Daiquiri will also exchange your Euros or Canadian bills to CUC. A third option is the bank that sits in the parking lot of the Daiquiri but it's not open on weekends. (Unused Pesos can be converted back to your curency at any time.).

Transport:
The bus ride to the Daiquiri was pleasant. A guide accompanies the guests and will give you a few highlights throughout the 40 minute drive. There isn't much to look at along the way as the natural state of the island is mostly scrub brush, sand and swamp. You won't miss much if you don't have a window seat. The guide and driver were both good. If you want, drop a few Pesos in the driver's basket as you unload.

Check-in:
Although there were 30 other guests, check-in went very well. Reception was well staffed and I was preoccupied anyway with the lobby surroundings and people. Porters will ask if you want your luggage brought to your room. Unless you have one light suitcase, I'd recommend you accept the offer. The complex is large and your room could be on a third floor (no elevators). As always, tipping is optional but at no time will any staff snub you for not tipping. It's just not their nature.

Tipping & Staff:  Let me be blunt... if you can afford this place, you can certainly afford a few extra Pesos for staff. They may love their jobs but they earn very little. Most staff work long hours (six days a week, 12 hours a day) and rarely see their families who live over an hour away. Every staff member we encountered was friendly and genuinely wanted to serve us (something that can be rare in other countries.)

The Entertainment staff (Star Friends) are absolutely amazing! We went to every evening show and enjoyed them all. They have 14 different shows that rotate nightly so even if you stay two weeks, you won't see the same thing twice. Remember though, this isn't Las Vegas and it's not that calibre of entertainment but the dancers and singers are some of the best I have seen. We always showed up an hour early to have an after-dinner drink and get good seats. (caution: guests sitting closest to stage can sometimes be a part of the show)

Resort:
Absolutely no complaints. Would I go back? Yes! Rooms were always clean (a big thank you to housekeeping)... no litter was more than 5 minutes old... no cigarette butts... excellent landscaping ...hot water... etc. If your taste is the Four Seasons or the Ritz, you may not be comfortable but for the rest of us, the Daiquiri is a great place to relax in comfort. There are three computers near the lobby that offer Internet service. 30 minutes - 3 CUC / 60 minutes - 5 CUC. MSN Messenger and Internet Explorer are available

Food:
Other than the buffet, there is a Mexican a-la-carte restaurant, the beach bar and BBQ areas to eat. We didn't get to the Mexican place but everything else was great. If you are a peanut butter fan take your own because there is none. I also didn't see relish but all other condiments are available. The buffet always had a large assortment of common foods and specialty items. The only thing that was disappointing was the line at the toaster. That was always a 5 minute wait.

At the pool bar BBQ, be sure to try the churros. Pedro sets up early afternoon for an hour or two. These are deep fried dough rings and while not a dieters meal, they sure are tasty. Another treat is the pool bar hot dogs (late afternoon). The smell of bacon wafts throughout the pool deck and is pretty much the best tasting dog (with fixings) I ever had.

Beach:
Given the 30 degree temperatures while we were there, the beach provided an area to lie in the sun without feeling cooked. The ocean breeze was perfect. Although there can be little ‘beach area' when the tide is in, the Daiquiri extended the sand areas well past the dunes so there is lots of space for lounging. Guests start claiming their chairs as early as 7am (both beach and pool) so if you want that one specific area that is perfect to you, better get your towel out early. Sadly, I have seen some people lay out their towel and walk away only to use the space for 5 minutes a day. The hotel would prefer this not occur but there isn't much they can do. We just accepted it and played along too.

Extras:
Scuba excursions are available but not plentiful. On the other hand, there are many opportunities for snorkeling. To charter a small boat to take you a mile offshore is $16pp (appx 1 hr). The Jungle Tour was excellent ($37pp). This includes your own power boat (seats 2) and a snorkeling stop . Kids will enjoy the Banana boat ride ($5) right at the Daiquiri beach and the Catamaran tour (half day or full day) is another excellent trip. For most snorkeling trips, decent gear is included if you don't want to bring your own.

Snorkeling from the beach is not exciting. It's mostly sand and, a little further out, seagrass. You really have to get wayyy offshore to see anything interesting so excursions are the way the go.

Vendors:
There are a handful of vendors who set up on the resort. Not all are there every day so if you see something you like, don’t wait to buy it. There are shops to buy film, batteries, sunscreen, t-shirts, tobacco and spirits (although Rum was cheaper at the airport). Canadians should be careful when buying wood products. These will undergo inspection at Customs for bugs and could be confiscated if any bug evidence is found.

Overall:
As mentioned above, I would certainly go back to this resort. There were plenty of families and the hotel has daily activities to help keep you entertained but if you are looking to have fun outside the resort, Cayo Guillermo may not be the place for you. Havana is 4 hours by bus and the nearest city, Moron, is over an hour away. Alternatives in this area include a Jungle Tour, sailing, horseback riding, parasailing (up the beach past the Melia) and plenty of snorkeling. Both car rental and scooter rental is available onsite if you want to create your own excursion.

We just got back from the Iberostar Daiquiri on Saturday. It was a memorable week for us. This is our third trip to Cuba but our first to Cayo Coco. The weather was fantastic 29 – 32 degrees everyday. Wow. Those strawberry daiquiris sure went down smoothly.

We arrived on Saturday, February 18 and check-in went smoothly. There were 23 of us in our group and they got us fairly close together, most of us were in the same building but three couples were in buildings next door. We were there for my daughters wedding.

The wedding was on Wednesday, February 22 and it was superb. Yunior did a fantastic job, I had been in contact with him since August, and everything went off smoothly. Sometimes I am sure that I had asked him the same questions more than once. We had the wedding on the beach there were 30 people invited and there must have been about 100 people on the beach watching. They had decorated the area with a big heart that had the ocean as a backdrop so it made for great pictures. After the wedding we went for more pictures around the resort and then to the Beach/Cuban Restaurant for the dinner/reception. We could take as long as we wanted as they had closed it off just for our group. We had a Cuban band play for us so that we could dance, and after supper they brought out a wedding cake. When the wedding couple went back to their room, were they surprised, the maids had put rose petals all over the floor, left a beautiful bouquet of flowers as well as t-shirts and a coupons for a massage. All-in-all the wedding couple had a great day. As this was one time that our children, grandchildren, friends and family were all together in one place my husband and I surprised them all by renewing our wedding vows.

Excursions:
The guys went on a deep sea fishing excursion. They were gone the whole day. The trip included an open bar, lunch, fishing and snorkeling. The snorkeling was great, they had seen lots of different fish. They had fresh lobster for lunch; the crew from the boat jumped off the boat to catch the lobster and cooked them up for lunch.

We also went on the Jeep Tour. What a day, we were gone from 8:30 in the morning and got home at about 5:00. We drove the jeeps down the 18 mile causeway, through a dusty back road to a horse ranch, where they raise racing horses. We then jumped back into our jeeps and went to Moron. Wow, driving through there is mighty scary with bicycles and carts all over the place. They don’t move for nobody. After driving through the town we went to a lagoon for a boat ride and then back to Moron to buy some souvenirs. After that we went to an alligator farm for lunch and then to feed and hold the alligators. The last part of the trip was going up to the mountains. That was spectacular as was the view. Like I say it was an outstanding day and all for $69.00 CUC.

Would have liked to have done more excursions but their just wasn’t enough time to do anymore. There were guys that would walk down the beach and take people to an island to do snorkeling. Depending on the day, it would cost between $16.00 - $20.00 CUC.

Food:
The food was good. For breakfast you could have anything from eggs, omelets, French toast, bacon, cereal, fresh fruit. It was endless. Lunch, was good to, you could either go to the Beach Restaurant or to the buffet, and you could have chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, fish. You could eat at the pool bar. The hotdogs there were soooo good. Supper at the buffet it was endless. There was pasta, chicken, fish, seafood of every kind, beef, pork, salads, fresh vegetables . There is no reason for anyone to go hungry. We didn’t try the specialty restaurants but had eaten at the Cuban restaurant for our wedding dinner and it was good, you could have fish, chicken and I think there was beef as well.

Staff:
The staff was outstanding. The bartenders and waiters were unbelievable, no matter how many people were around, they would always remember what you were drinking. All the staff from the front desk people, to the maids, and star friends were always friendly. I can’t complain about any of them. Some of the hotel staff in Canada should take some lessons from these people……

Entertainment.
We went to the shows every night, they were great and they worked hard. The band that played before the shows was great. He has his own CD but we didn’t get it, wished I had.

Souvenirs
They have people at the pool lounge selling trinkets there. They had some great stuff, these people change everyday so if you see something you really want buy it then, don’t wait cause they probably won’t be back that week.

Kids Club
There is a kids club there but as my grandsons and niece were the only three young kids there they didn’t do anything with them so I really couldn’t say what it was like. There is a playground there and we used it everyday and they had a pool that is just for little ones, another that is shallow enough for little ones at one end and then gradually gets deeper for volleyball, or basketball or other water sports.

We had a great week. Lots of sun, water and drinks and good company.

This was our 4th trip to Cuba in the past three years, and our first visit to Iberostar Daiquiri.

We stayed at Iberostar Daiquiri for a week, arriving late on the night of February 10th and departing on the evening of February 17th.

Our flight quickly cleared customs in Cayo Coco, and baggage was processed reasonably fast.

Because of an Air Canada Vacations promotion, most of the travellers from our flight (2 and half busloads) were going to the Playa Coco. Consequently, our bus contained the leftovers, and made stops at all the Cayo Coco resorts before making its way to Cayo Guillermo where we finally arrived around 1:15 in the morning. The Iberostar Daiquiri was in darkness when we got there, with the exception of a wonderful desk clerk who only wanted our vouchers in exchange for our room keys. She told us to register at our leisure the following morning. There were only four of us who got off the bus at that hotel.....so it was a quick arrival process.

We were assigned a nice room with an ocean-view on the second floor of the hotel's Guadalavaca building. We were very pleased with the room with the exception of the water. We had no hot water from Saturday until late Wednesday when it became lukewarm. It was the same in all buildings in our area of the complex. Then, on Friday, there was NO water when you turned on the hot. Soooo.....cold showers for the return home. However, at all times, we realized where we were and did not let a small thing like water temp have a negative bearing on our vacation. The stunning foliage of the property can take your mind off anything else.

The weather was typically Cuban for our first full day..... beautiful sunshine, which we took advantage of by having an early breakfast and positioned ourselves on the beach. By noon, it was too hot to remain longer, so we started to discover the resort and its features.....and its famous staff.

Unlike the attitudes we have encountered among employees at other Cuban resorts, the staff at the Iberostar Daiquiri is constantly smiling and going out of their way to make sure you have a great visit with them. That sure came in handy on our second day (Sunday) when, around one in the afternoon, the skies quickly clouded over and the rain was torrential. While the rain stopped later that day, the cloud cover remained until Thursday morning, the temperature was into single digits overnight, the wind made it impossible to be outdoors, and even the employees were freezing. They were not used to such cold foul weather. Since everything is open-air at the resort, the only time it was comfortable was in the buffet, which is enclosed. Most vacationers ended up spending those 3 and half days of lost-time in their rooms. We remained active as much as possible, but spent much more time in our room than we had wanted to.

Back to that famous staff...... WOW! Even though they were cold, they continued on with their wonderful smiles. The lobby bar was mayhem, because it was the only place that was semi-protected from the wind. That ordinarily would make it hard to get service, but at peak times, they had as many as 8 bartenders working there making sure everyone was treated quickly.

There is another group of staffers at the Iberostar who we had heard and read about, but never fully appreciated until we got there. There is a group of young people (18-30 years old) who are called Star Friends. It is their job to make your visit memorable....and they succeed. No one can deny their enthusiasm. They are dressed all day in athletic wear. We were "adopted" by a pair of them on our third day. Lizandra and Karel are a young couple who are actually from the Holguin area but, for 25 days out of every month, they work as members of the Iberostar's staff. As we sat alone having a drink in the pool bar area, they came along and sat down with us. In no time, we were sharing life stories and then came the bonus....they asked if they could join us for lunch in the hotel's buffet! That was totally new to us....employees dining with the clients. However, at this resort, the Star Friends are now permitted to have lunch in the buffet but must sit with hotel guests. It would appear to be for several reasons: public relations, feelers for hotel problems, but, we think, primarily it is an opportunity for the young people to improve their language skills which employers can tap into later in life. Regardless, it became a daily routine to have them join us and, on our departure day, they made sure to track us down frequently so they would not miss saying goodbye. Our final hugs came just moments before we began our trip back to the airport Friday evening.

Star Friends are a major part of the hotel's entertainment and, all we can say about their shows is that they are breath-taking.....like no others we have ever seen in Cuba before. Their primary talent is dancing....and it is world class. One night provided extra excitement when the spectacular stage set caught on fire while 20 dancers were lined up performing a routine from Riverdance. They brought the audience to its feet with roars of approval as they continued to dance their hearts out while staff members attacked the flames with fire extinguishers. No, it was not part of the show. It was a very scary moment....but a definite example of their determination. Following a brief break for the smoke to clear, the show resumed. Dancers later told us they were scared by the incident which started when a flaming torch came in contact with the styrofoam set.

Food.....WOW!!!! Restaurants in Canada could take a lesson from the Iberostar. Breakfast was what we expected....great eggs, omelets, tons of bacon and other meats....but it was the other meals that caught us pleasantly offguard. There is no need for us to go through the menu here, but, all we can say is that the dining is spectacular by any standards. We also dined in the Mexican specialty restaurant, and thought the food was excellent. We had chicken and beef fajitas, which were generous portions with a wonderful salsa. The appetizers were excellent as well.

We can't finish without acknowledging the front desk staff. At other hotels, there have been some attitudes evident and a certain ignorance toward the customers. Not at Iberostar Daiquiri. The front desk staff always greets you with a smile and go out of their way to help in any way they can. On our final day, we put together a gift bag of numerous items ranging from jewellery to candies to feminine hygiene products and T-shirts. We gave it to the front desk staff, who seemed genuinely surprised and pleased to be recognized.

As on other trips, we made new friends and even ran into some old ones. It's always hard to say goodbye, but on Friday evening (February 17) that's what we did. After making stops to pick up other travellers along the Cayo Coco strip, we were quickly checked in at Cayo Coco airport. Our flight for Halifax departed only a few moments late (shortly after midnight) and it was a smooth flight as we viewed the spectacular night lights of Miami and other east coast cities.

Shortly after 5AM, we stepped out into the minus 30 windchill wearing only sweatshirts and quickly remembered why an annual visit to Cuba is so special. Even more so after discovering Iberostar Daiquiri!!!