We have just return from this hotel and we had good time.The weather was over 30 celcius,the food was just good but don't go to cuba for eating i went 8 times in varadero and is the same everywhere.The room in section bungalow is perfect. If you go ask for myslevis at grill bars she 's the best waitress never see. Also make the catamaran tour is marvelous.

After reading all the reviews on here, I got worried for my vacation to Club Amigo with my 7 friends. Now that I've been, I've decided to write a review because for what we paid, our trip was WORTH EVERY PENNY.

In reading this review, keep in mind that:
I had never been to a resort before Club Amigo, except for in Florida.
Myself and the people I was travelling with are 20 or 21.
We stayed for 8 days/7 nights in peak spring-break season.
We each paid $600 CAD plus $150 in tax for double occupancy all-inclusive rooms, with direct charter flights included.

The Hotel and Resort:
Club Amigo is a very big resort with a very long hotel building. It used to be called Gran Hotel, and since it's changed ownership it seems, in addition to the huge portion that is being used, a truly large part of the hotel has been completely blocked off. There is a plaque in the garden that shows Fidel's signature when the hotel opened a long, long time ago. After seeing this, I started to understand that the scuff marks and dents on some of the wall corners are simply from the building being well used over numerous decades. If you see the rest of Cuba (the "real" Cuba), you will appreciate that the hotel buildings may not be in peak shape, but their upkeep is considerably and remarkably better in comparison to other local buildings that were likely built at the same time.

Rooms:
My boyfriend and I were assigned a room on the first floor, on the far end of the hotel. My other 6 friends were assigned rooms on the 2nd floor. All the rooms were fairly similar with two beds, sliding double doors (without balcony), a tv, a clean bathroom with detachable shower head, old school hair dryer, a few paintings and some other pieces of furniture. In comparison to my friends' rooms, our room looked somewhat more dirty or run down, but we couldn't put a finger on what it was. We had a view of the field infront of the hotel and the highway, with a small view of the ocean. After going to the beach and walking the grounds on the first day, my pen that I had left on the dresser was covered in small ants. Feeling a bit uncomfortable after seeing a few more around the room, and hearing no complaints from our friends about their rooms, we requested to change our room to something higher or closer to the main desk. The front desk staff didnt quite understand what we were asking at first, but the next morning (once people had checked out) we were given a room about half the distance away and on the third floor. With a beautiful view of the hotel and the beach, a better working hair dryer, cleaner tiles and a few extra furniture pieces, we had absolutely no complaints and the problem was solved.

Food:
There are two buffet rooms (one in the main building, one in a separate building on the grounds). The food offered always included lots of bread, some form or forms of meat, some form of potatoes, rice, various warm and cold pasta, pizza-esque breads, salad veggies and desert. Some of it wasnt that great, some of it was amazing (like the fresh squeezed orange juice and the omelets). They have long hours, but the food tends to get pretty cold by the end. It gets a bit repetitive if youre a picky eater because sometimes the variety isnt all that tasty. I highly reccomend you bring ketchup! Overall, we didn't starve and we could each find something we liked at each meal.

As far as I'm concerned, Club Amigo's 3/3.5 stars are well earned :
- Awesome Beach, with a great supply of palm-huts and many lawn chairs.
-Water sport rentals (kayaks, paddleboats), rent-a-car rentals, moped rentals on the resort.
-Many on-resort shops (4 souvenir, 1 snack/necessities, 1 cigar/smoke shops)
-Beautiful well-kept gardens and fountains with lots of places to wander
-Two pools (although one was being cleaned for 3 days during our stay)
-Many bars open all day long with available snack menu, 1 24hr bar, including a bar on the beach
- Decent buffet
- EXCELLENT italian a-la-carte restaurant and cuban grill (although reservations were full on the days we were able to eat at the gril)
- Excursions were easy to plan with a staff member from AirTransat/Nolitours that had easy-access binders with all the excursion info and the times he would be available for bookings and to answer questions.

A few extra tips :
Be careful where you step in the sand. Sometimes there are burrs, glass or bottle caps in the sand because the locally-operated tractor that rakes the sand for debris isn't that great.

If you go to the beach at night, keep moving. There are some form of midges or something that will bite you unless you dance about or go in the water. You'll notice many people will have lots of bites all over their legs after the beach party night.
Also, watch where you step at night on the beach. There are crabs that call that beach their home and come out at night.

Many mornings I woke up with a few bites on me. My friends and i suspect the mattresses may be housing bed bugs, but its hard to tell since you can't really see them. Bring anti-itch and long pajama bottoms if you're worried. The rooms A/C is usually pretty cold at night, so you may want to wear them anyways!

Bring gifts for your maids. The resorts in cuba yield the highest pay for the locals because of all the tips. However, the workers are also forced to claim their tips and are taxed on them. The best way to pay your maid is with gifts such as toiletries, school supplies and clothes, for themselves or their children. Most often the maids are really nice, will leave you little notes and make beautiful swans and hearts with your towels (none of which they are expected to).

Other than that, if you're going, DON'T WORRY!! You'll have a blast! There's lots of energetic people with lots of loud, happy cuban music. It's a lot of fun if thats what you want out of your vacation. If you're going to stress over everything or you want a completely bump-free vacation, you may want to go somewhere else. I noticed a lot of people getting very frustrated, but those inconveniences can be avoided if you're patient - Cubans live a different way of life and value family, friends and fun before all else!

I travelled to Club Amigo from Feb 18-25th. My first impressions of the hotel: it was huge, the webpages on many of the travel sites are out of date.
There are actually:
- 2 large pool areas (both have pool bars and lounge chairs)
- 2 large buffets (one in the main hotel entrance and the other one is by the second pool area)
- 3 al la cartes (Cuban, The Grille and Italian)
- 1 Disco (as well, Club Mambo- which is actually right at the end of the hotel- 5 min walk)
- A sit down bar called Club Ritmo (this is the best place to get fancy drinks- aka mojitos, they also serve grilled ham & cheese at night)
- A beach bar, a bar that opens when the nightly entertainment happens and a 24 hour bar (and the 2 pool bars)
- Money exchange- you can exchange your money at the special desk for it or at the front desk (beware- they have much higher rates)

The facility and beach area is probably one of the largest in Varadero. The room themselves were very similar to the 5 star rooms that I had stayed at recently in Cayo Coco. In general the rooms were fairly big and clean. They could have used a new paint job and the windows need cleaning, but overall, they were fine for sleeping in. Out of everyone in our group, only one persons room has air conditioning that didn't work.

The Food:
I am a fairly picky eater (I don't eat red meat or seafood and I am allergic to milk), however I always was able to find something to eat. There are a wide range of veggies each night and salads (which we did not have at the 5 star). The staff at the resort will try and sell you cigars and lobster at the buffet. If you are looking for cheap cigars, they do offer quite a bargain.

A la Carte's:
The Grille- no matter the size of your group, you sit at a large table with other people. Since we had a large group this was fine for us, but if you are looking for a romantic dinner, maybe avoid this restaurant. Also, you did not get to choose your food, they just brought you out your meal. It is outdoors and a very nice atmosphere.
The Cuban- You can choose your food here, lots of options. It is a small indoor restaurant.
The Italian- Great restuarant but they give you way too much food. You get a huge pasta dish as well as an entree. If you don't like eating late, make sure you get an early reservation. We had a 8:30 reservation and didn't finish eating till 11:00 pm. They also have a band that will plays while you eat.

Nightly Entertainment:
The nightly entertainment was quite amazing. I only saw the Circus show (it was like watching Cirque de Solie) , Cuban night and the Aqua Show (in the pool). These people are amazing at what they do. The shows far suprassed anything I saw at the 5 star hotel.

The Disco:
The disco opens up after the night shows end. It is fairly large and has a stage. Take a CD down with some songs on it if you are planning on spending a lot of time there, as they have very limited music options.

The Beach:
The beach is amazing, the hotel was sold out however we were always able to find some chairs to sit on. The beach bar serves most drinks and offers grilled ham and cheese as well as hamburgers.

Day Trips:
Havana- If you have a large group you can rent your own bus and tour guide and go for a fraction of the price that Sunwing charges for the day trips. We did this and it was an amazing trip. It is a full day. It takes just over two hours to get their and back, but the buses are very comfortable and have air conditioning. We saw the main sites and stopped to have lunch at a fancy cuban restaurant with live music.

Catamaran- This trip was quite enjoyable too but has some downfalls. You go on a catamaran (which is suppose to hold approx. 60 plus people). You swim with dolphins, snorkle and then go to a private beach for lunch.
The dolphins are kept in a large concrete block which is kinda sad... You get to swim with them for about 10 mins and a lady will take your picture (which you can buy for 10 pesos- the pictures turned out quite good). Beware, if you do not buy your picture or tell them you don't want it, they will continue to call your hotel room during your stay to ask you if you want it. Our catamaran only had enough snorkle equipment for half the group so you had to take turns (30 mins a group). I brought my own equipment so we could stay in the whole time - highly suggested. The coral reef was fairly dead and we did not get to see very much, however it was still interesting. Finally the beach you are taken to is gorgous. The only downfall is the smell of sewage, which I am sure is just running right into the swimming area. Cost- approx. $75 each

Jeep Trip- I had friends who did this trip. It includes driving a jeep, a boat, horseback riding and cave snorkling. You must be able to drive stick shift to drive the jeeps. The trip is very rushed and the group did not get to do everything because of the lack of time. Cost- approx. $80 each

Baracuda Scuba-driving Trip- I also had friends who did this trip. They did a one hour lesson in the pool, which only taught them half the basics. When they did the trip they were taken to a beach that had broken glass everywhere (and you had to leave your shoes on the boat). They got to scuba dive for approx. 1.5 hours and had underwater photos taken. Price- Approx. $75 each...

If you are interested in snorkling, I suggest trying the trip that is offered on the beach by the people who rent out the paddle boats and kayaks. This trip is a 2 hour snorkling trip and only costs $15 pesos... They also let you feed the fish so you get to see them up close (unlike the catamaran trip).

Things that make Club Amigo a 3.5 star:
- Lack of towels: they did not have clean towels for the first 3 days we were there. I ended buying one at the store on the 3rd day.
- Drinks: besides the Club Ritmo bar, most drinks are fairly basic (Pina Coladas are the only daquiri you can get at the other bars). The beach bar also ran out of beer on a couple of the days (in the evening).
- Ham & Cheese- for some reason this seemed to be the only food you could get outside of buffet time. They love ham and cheese, and will make it into many forms of food (ham & cheese spring rolls, ham and cheese pancakes, pizza of the day- everyday). Even on the day trips and at the airport, all they had was ham and cheese.

Overall, the trip was quite enjoyable. A lot of the complaints people have about resorts are found at both 3 star resorts and 5 star. The Cubans do the best with what they have to work with. Don't forget to take lots of gift, especially clothing, they are very grateful for these items.

Stayed here Feb 11-25, 2008.

Service:
The great negative!!!! Hotel is misnamed! No amigos here, certainly not the staff who were at best indifferent, surly and even rude. Didn't realize before booking but this hotel is operated by Cuban Government (Cubanacan) and staff only get small percentage of tips, therefore no incentive. Service is deplorable, not at all like we have received in other Varedero hotels or other Cuban locations. Tipping does not improve service - you might get a thank you and occasionally a smile but 10 minutes later it is forgotten. In two weeks spent $150 Canadian in tips at same lobby bar, beach bar and buffet for very little results. Can count on one hand the number of friendly staff who did their jobs well (all had previously worked at non-govt run hotels!) and weren't trying to scam you for deals on cigars, rum or an invitation to their home (where you pay the bill for dinner, liquor, and a party for their family and neighbours). Staff also likes to play little up-yours games (making you wait for service while chatting with each other, refusing to put out napkins or spoons at buffet, telling you no more red wine when there are four bottles on bar display - just too lazy to open a new bottle!)

Beach:
Best stretch of beach in Varedero! Long and wide, great walking with plenty of chairs and palapas. No snorkeling.

Property:
Huge beatifully-kept property! Not for the physically challenged. A 10 minute stroll from main hotel building to beach.

Rooms:
Bungalow section great! Clean, good condition, always lots of towels and hot water, great air conditionning. Maid very inventive with towel animal creations.

Food:
Hey, it's Cuba! Two buffets(one in hotel, one near quiet pool). Hotel buffet always cold, no toaster for two weeks; pool buffet (Amelia Restorante) always had hot food, toaster, pasta chef and grill chef(either pork, beef, chicken, turkey, hamburgers); also much quieter since few knew it was there. Only down side is no air conditionning but we paid money for the heat, right? Buffet always reasonable, at times very good.
Four à la carte restaurant: Italian(fair), Cuban(excellent), BBQ(good) and Spanish(poor). Highly recommend the Cuban!

Drinks:
No mint therefore no Mojitos! Red wine always chilled(YUK!). Rum may have been watered(six in a row without a buzz?)

Overall rating: definitely a 3 star; give it a 5 out of 10(could well have been a 7 if service was improved).

Diane & Bernie, Moncton NB Canada