TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Excellent one week stay at the Blau Varadero. After reading countless 4 and 5 star reviews on this hotel we decided to book it for our week long vacation and we had no regrets. Location: This hotel is n...ot close to the strip, expect to pay abot $20 US to get to town. Rooms: Clean, Comfy Beds, Large Washroom, Mini Fridge working and stocked daily. Amazing ocean view from room 1024 (recommend this room). Air Con COLD!!! Water HOT!! Entertainment: Excellent animacion team who really do a great job day & night. Live music in the day at the pool and evenings in the lobby bar. Really well done IMO this hotel is not boring. Food: For Cuba it is really well done, the beach bar does a great lunch & as well as pool grill, buffets are typical but plenitful (TIP go early for best choices). The International Restaurant was FANTASTIC! Overall great choices and we never without. Pool: Large, Clean and Loungers were available (amazing since the the hotel was fully booked during our stay). Ocean: AMAZING ..beautiful stretch of beach!!!!! We purchased Select package, the room with ocean view was included, there is an alternate bar with premium liquor that can be used in the night time and a sit down breakfast by the pool. Overall we did not really take advantage of it however the room view was worth it. Overall: Great experience, the staff were amazing and they know service. I cannot give a full 5 star, it is a 5 star for Cuba but not what you would get in terms of food in another country (i.e Jamaica, DR).

We spent two weeks from April 24 to May 8 at The Blau. This was our 10th stay. We had a beautiful room on the 8th floor. Thank you Rosio. We arrived late at night and discovered as we were checking in that... one of our suitcases had been left on the bus. We had reception contact the office and I had labelled resort and dates on our luggage tag so after the bus dropped the rest of the passengers off it came back and brought it to reception. Special thanks to bus driver and reception staff. We enjoyed our stay very much . The staff here are amazing. From the great service in the buffet from Elevio, Yesmilla. To the best cappuccinos in the coffee shop from Ernesto. Our new favorite place, was the extended section off the Lobby bar, to enjoy morning cappuccinos and evening drinks. The girls in the am always new our order and would usually find us in our spot when they opened at 10. Unfortunately I didn’t get their names but one morning one of the dear ladies had no voice. In the evening the staff were just as good and we loved having Kimmia deliver our Rum Punches and Pina Coladas. She was such a dear. We enjoyed going to the returning guest cocktails hour at the chill out bar and loved seeing Adelys again . She has been at the Blau for as long as I can remember and we’ve been coming since 2007. We loved the buffet for breakfast, my husband’s favorite was the fresh made omelettes and mine the fresh doughnuts. Lunch we loved the grilled burgers by the pool. Supper I enjoyed the fish, chicken, pasta station. We were there for two weeks but only went to each a la carte once and the food was fantastic. Desserts of course were plentiful but ice cream and their cookies and chocolate balls were our favourites. We had the best weather. I think it rained through the night the second night we were there and then was sunny and 30 degrees in the day with one day hitting 36. I should mention our sweet maid. I think her name was Jennie but I could be wrong. She did excellent job cleaning our room each day and leaving us, water, juice. We brought gifts down for the maids , staff and our friends we’ve made over the years of visiting Cuba. We tipped with $1 USD and $5 Cdn. Only been home a couple of weeks but can’t wait to go back. Until next time.

This is our 7th hotel in Cuba searching for our forever home. We found it at the Blau until an incident happened on the way to and at the airport. An incident so serious that we'll probably never be back. ...I'm just wondering if this happened to anyone else as it's so bizarre I must get to the bottom of it. But first let's talk about our trip. We usually switch rooms (and more often hotels) based on first impressions because there's no time to waste. We got the select package which I feel is a must here. Our relationship with the Blau started off a little rocky but it was all fixed up in good time. There were 3 of us and the select purple room didn't have the two double beds we ordered, a rickety pull out bed, poor bathroom access, too cramped, a little tired looking and the AC broke down a couple of hours after arrival but it had a great view (12th floor). We went the next morning to see what could be done and were told to return at 2pm. We were told the AC doesn't break down and we must've not closed the patio door properly. But that wasn't the case as the maid had put a floor towel to absorb the leaking water. So we looked into switching to a suite but the front desk came up with a solution of a room type we were not aware of. It wasn't select but it was far larger, better layout, better decor, 3 beautiful double beds and an even better view on the 5th floor (rm 530). It looked like a presidential suite on the center spline from which we could deliver benediction to the pool crowd below. Sunwing doesn't seem to offer this room type (and there are also other hidden gems you need to work to uncover here). Next, we didn't like the quality of the drinks especially the pina coladas which tasted like leftover foam from the pool party. But then we found our stride with the sun sets, mai tais, miami vices, and blaus, daiquiris, alexanders at the chill out bar which is top notch (except we didn't really feel welcome there). So that problem was solved. Like the drinks, you also had to dig for the good food as I would not recommend the buffets especially at lunch. Snack bars are usually all the same but we often ate at the beach bar. Our first pescados with tomatoes were heaven but only on our first night (because of the chef). Also ask for the BBQ chicken hidden under the table. The pork burgers are good (even the raw ones at the pool BBQ (no stomach problems)). The real star was the select breakfast a la carte omelets with proscuitto. Best omelets I've ever had but it took an hour to get them so be there when it opens at 8. A huge surprise was the night life at the beach bar after 11 pm into the wee hours. The hotel was fully booked but now I understand why it didn't seem packed during the day. I like walking but it was really too hot during the day so I left at 3am for the cove in the rocks near Sirenis. I would avoid future night walks as I was swarmed by tiny night mosquitoes for about 3 hours. Not a big deal but the sand flea bites came up much later. Now back to the incident. I had been to the foam party and decided to keep the party going while waiting for the bus to the airport so I ran down to get a couple of rounds for my companions. Apparently someone who knew our names (which only the hotel knew) was taking notes of this fun time and notified the airport authorities. We were not obnoxious or drunk, just having a good time. I think Cuba is taking its authoritarianism a little too far by spying on and reporting tourists. I hope the Blau wasn't involved. But it gets much worse. After we're told by a supervisor that we weren't allowed to order drinks at the airport, the check in lady shook us down for some pocket money because our bags were over weight. We had emptied our carry on luggage into our checked bags to save on the ridiculous Sunwing surcharge for carry on bags (something I've never seen on any other airline). Now, people brings gifts for Cuba, but since my carry on was now empty, the bus driver who has only two jobs, did not load my bag into the bus. The other two bags went in but this executive in baganomics decided there was no need to load an empty bag. I learned an important lesson here, do not trust those trained to do a job are capable of doing that job. My attitude towards Cuba has been greatly eroded based on the incident and am wondering if others have had the same experiences.

This is our first time in Cuba and we choose the Blau because we want an Adults only resort. We didn’t expect much as people said that food in Cuba is not good. But surprisingly, we liked it. It’s not Mich...elins level, but definitely not bad. Food tastes good, all natural flavors which we like. The rooms are clean and the housekeeping comes in daily to refresh the rooms and stock the mini fridge. We have an ocean view which is so beautiful. Go spend the extra dollars to book this kind of room and you won’t regret it. The best part and what we love the most is the beach. Crystal clear water and oh so lovely! We are actually in the plane now flying home to Canada and already planning our next trip to Cuba, specifically staying at the Blau again. Last but not the least, the staff are all nice and accommodating. Dianys and Daikel at the Main Restaurant are our favorites. Thank you everyone at the Blau Varadero for a very memorable experience. We are for sure returning in the nearest future.

This is our 2nd visit to the Blau & we really like it. The rooms are very spacious, cleaners do a great job keeping the mini fridge stocked & rooms spotless! We loved that 3 wait staff remembered us fro...m the previous year & greeted us so warmly with hugs! Plus we have a new man on our list lol! Animation team have lots of activities if you don’t want to just lie around the pool or on the beach. Food was decent, we never went hungry, best omelettes. Evelio is one of our favourites & it was great to see him again. Our other fav & new fav in pictures. The staff are a big part of why we return as they above all make the holiday. Really liked the return guest evening at the select chill out bar, but a great way to reward return guest is maybe an upgrade, we met two ladies there who were on their first visit & got upgraded! All in all another great stay & we will be back again!