Brisas Guardalavaca Hotel
Guardalavaca, Cuba

Miss J Quigley, Lanark

Hotel was fab!

Miss J Quigley, Lanark

Mr R Williams, Tonypandy

Amazing all round family hotel.

Ms C Dean, St. Helens

The hotel staff are very friendly and the location is perfect. The food was ok but we didnt starve!

Miss C Allen, Farnborough

The rooms are slightly dated but have everything that you need and are cleaned as regularly as you would like them to be. They are also in the process of updating all the rooms. The rooms currently include a safe, iron/board, coffee maker, TV, phone and hair dryer. There are 2 pools - one quieter and the other busier, next to all the entertainment but sun beds are usually available throughout the day at both pools and on the beach. The staff are extremely friendly and happy to help across the resort and there is a lot of choice in activities throughout the day and variety in the entertainment of an evening. There are also a few restaurants which serve different foods so there is a lot of choice here.

Mr T Griffiths, Birmingham

We met some wonderful people who made the holiday for us. Unfortunately the hotel standards were very poor. The patio doors in the bedrooms were often broken and could be opened from the outside; this was a complaint from many guests who did not feel safe in the hotel. The air conditioning in most rooms did not work. The level of cleanliness in the rooms was poor - under the beds didn't look as if they had been cleaned for months and half the time the bathrooms were not cleaned and dirty cups and glasses were left.

Although people had no objections to Cubans coming in on day passes there was no oversight of this. They would come with several bags and would fill with food ordering 20 pizzas at a time from the bar pool and filling their bags to take home. This meant that other guests who were only allowed to order 4 couldn't get served causing long queues. They would drink all day and there were often fights due to too much alcohol consumption. Bar staff would continue to serve them.
The life guard at the pool also got sacked whilst we were there as bar staff were giving him alcohol. He was drunk and pushing children in floats who could not swim into the deep end and then going under water and swimming between women's legs. Again no oversight, staff appeared to do as they wanted. There was no security around the pool.

People who had been regular guests at the hotel were saying they would not come back as it had really gone down hill this year. With the exception of the stir fry in the main restaurant the food was always cold and inedible. We went to the fish restaurant where the staff were incredibly rude. One couple were so angry about their behaviour they got up and left.The food in the other restaurants was barely edible and food, particularly fish was either under or overcooked. Half the drinks on the menus eg most of the cocktails were unavailable the whole holiday as they would say they had no lemons etc, however you would see other guests with them and apparently you had to pay/tip the bar people to get them. This was unacceptable.

When you paid for the internet half the computers did not work. There were no ashtrays anywhere so guests were using the floor. My mother had a very frightening and traumatising experience in the hotel (which she is compiling a complaint about), she was treated absolutely dreadfully by the hotel and was very shaken by the experience which spoilt the holiday. We don't mind tipping but the expectation is that you tip all day long to everyone and it gets irritating.

We were staying in the villas on the far side of the resort. In the evening when it was pitch black the lights did not go on 'til gone 8pm. You could not see your hand in front of you in the dark and would have to feel your way out of the buildings and round the paths. My grandfather who is 77 yrs old had a fall in the dark trying to get to the restaurant which caused him a great deal of pain. The hotel rep was incredibly unhelpful and messed up our transfer to the airport and did not tell us; we had to keep getting another rep to go and find him when he went for lunch without informing us what was happening.

On a positive note I used the gym on a regular basis and the man in charge was fantastic. Very helpful and supportive.

Mrs E Andrew, Liverpool

I could not fault it - plenty of sun beds, lots to do on and around the hotel, lots of entertainment - would definitely rate it 4 star.

Miss D Fox, Leeds

Fantastic hotel, great entertainment and facilities, loved the attention to detail and brilliant value for money.