Iberostar Varadero    April 4 - 11, 2006    Bill and Janet

Travel arrangements:
We booked through mytraveltickets.ca in early September. Transat Holidays was the tour provider. I had three choices in ticket delivery: regular post, priority post and airport pick up. I called the contact number for mytraveltickets and they checked all my information and reassured me that all information was correct and in the computer system in the unlikely event that there was a problem with airport delivery of tickets. After that I received my booking details by mail and a month and a half before my trip I received an updated flight schedule by mail. There was no problem with airport pick up of tickets and the agent was there 3 hours prior to departure time. Our tour rep. in Varadero was very good as well.

Flight:
We flew with West Jet. Our departure was delayed by 45 min and we were not informed of this until the time it was supposed to go. That would be my only complaint as the flight was comfortable with leather seats, leg space and seat back tv's. We had a boxed meal, 2 beverages and a snack. It was a four hour flight down and 3 hours and 55 min back. The crew was friendly. The drinks and meals were carried down the aisle and served and not served from the cart as on our CanJet flight last year. I say this as the cart would block the single aisle on the 737 making it hard to get through the aisle. We arrived around 1:30 and seemed to be one of the few planes arriving. I waited for the luggage and my husband changed some money at the exchange. The worker miscounted his CUC's but made no fuss when my husband asked her to recheck it! We breezed through security and the airport and were at our resort within a half hour of leaving the airport.

Arrival:
There were 10 of us and we were met with cool drinks and shown to the Reception desk. They had envelopes for us and check in was very quick. Our room was not ready and it was suggested that we leave our luggage near the front door with the porter and go to the Buffet for something to eat and then check back.

As for the resort:
There have been so many positive and in depth reviews written about this resort and there is really nothing that I can add . I had booked a Junior Suite and emailed IV 2 weeks before leaving to request a room in building #17, ocean view, second or third floors but we were placed in building 20 on the second floor (we opted for a ground floor room as it was ready sooner). There is no ocean view from this building as there is some heavy vegetation along the beach here. I was a bit disappointed at first but the room was very nice and kept spotless by our maid. We were seldom in it. This building is about a 2 minute walk to the buffet and directly across from the spa/gym. Between our building and the spa is a small rectangular pool if you opted for a quiet place to swim or relax. We were a very short distance from the beach which we accessed by a short board walk. Along this was the one and only beach bathroom (One and unisex). This was the busiest part of the beach as from here you could take out the hobie cats, pedal boats, etc. It was also very close to the beach bar and area where animation would do their morning activities. There was music here but it was not played too loudly. This area is where we "lived " most of the week. The water was calm most days ( 7 green flag days) and only the last day did we have any good sized surf. The drop off is fairly gradual and then returns to sandy bars. The water was warm and the bottom sandy and so no real need for water shoes. Our second day there we walked to Playa Varadero 1920. We thought we were walking to the outcropping of rocks at Plaza Las Americas but the building we were seeing was PV 1920! It took approx half an hour to walk here along the tide line. This took us past Sandals, Club Amigo, Iberostar Tainos, Beaches, Blau Varadero, Arenas Doradas, Brisas del Caribe. On the other side of IV is Paradesius and I would say it has the widest beach but the one at IV is a close second and the sand is fine and white. So if you like long walks along the beach this is definitely a place to go! There are lots of palapas and while we were there they built about a half dozen more at our end of the beach. There are loads of mesh covered loungers but if you want a palapa in the front row you definitely need to have the towel out there by 8 AM. There is a beach attendant to drag the loungers and to find you a spot if needed. Drinks are served on the beach. The beach in front of building 17 seemed much quieter for those who like more privacy. We saw no jellyfish the entire week and did not notice any sand fleas. On the topic of itchy, biting things we only noticed a couple of mosquitoes one evening when it was very humid. We did not have to apply mosquito spray.

Food:
The food at the main Buffet was plentiful with lots of variety. The main buffet is very large and well staffed and your water glass and wine glass are never empty. Coffee is served with Breakfast and frequently topped up. If you want coffee at lunch or dinner the staff will bring you a cup on request or you can go over to the coffee machine and get what you want. They even filled my travel mug so I could enjoy my coffee at the beach and the airport. We had grilled lobster on Wednesday evening and lobster tails one other evening along with crab and scampi served various ways. For Lunch there were lobster tails on a couple of occasions. This buffet catered more to Canadian tastes than did the one at Melia LA. There is a second buffet which serves continental Breakfast for late risers and lunch but their lunch buffet is much more limited. We booked 2 ala cartes. The Japanese alacarte was fun and the food was good but I am not that experienced with Japanese restaurants. The Mediterranean restaurant had excellent service and the food was pretty good but I would not go back. The appetizers and desserts were served buffet style and were mainly things that you could get at the Main Buffet. We did not book the Cuban restaurant but another couple we met dined there and had a very good meal. If I were to return to the IV I would probably skip the ala cartes! The main buffet is so big that if you want to have a special meal or a quiet private meal you can find tables in areas that will provide that.

Service:
What can I say? Whatever IV is doing here, they are doing it right. The staff seems happy to be working there and is always busy but approachable. They are completely customer orientated and are always friendly, helpful, and smiling. They anticipate your needs as best they can and they make the place! Our maid service was excellent and we always had interesting towel sculptures, etc to come back to. As for tipping, the staff certainly appreciates tips but there is no pressure to tip and no lack of service or smiles if you don't tip. The resort was fully booked when we were there. Another couple did not get the ocean view with king sized bed room in building 17 that they had requested both through their agent and by email and had to wait 3 days to be moved but in the end they got the room they wanted. Being fully booked did not translate into long line ups at the bars or Buffet. The Cafe (lobby) bar is very busy from suppertime on but we never waited long for a drink. They also served peanuts or popcorn if you wanted them with your drinks. Friday was a customer appreciation day. We received fresh banana daiquiris in the lobby and in the restaurant we were given evaluation forms to fill out. (evaluation of the entire resort).

Weather:
We had beautiful sunny weather with temperatures around 30 degrees the entire week. The fifth day of our stay threatened rain and thunderstorms for a couple of hours in the afternoon but that passed and the sunshine returned.

Activities:
Animation staff are active throughout the day. I don't know how they keep so fun loving and engaging day after day with the hours they work and then participate in the nightly shows with enthusiasm. We went to the shows every night. On the most part they were very good and always entertaining. My favorite was the Tropicana show. The pools and pool bar seemed very busy. We never used this area since we prefer the beach. One day while returning from the beach late in the afternoon we watched an acrobatic show put on by some young athletes from Mantanzas. They did their balance acts and flips above the concrete pool deck which was kind of scary to watch. That was followed by another show of water ballet put on by another group from Mantanzas. I do not know if this type of entertainment was held on a regular basis.

Excursions:
This year we went on no planned excursions! We had a wonderful, relaxing week and we only left the resort to walk and toured Varadero one day. We took the Double Decker bus into Varadero. Last year we got a seat on the top but this year both levels were packed. It is about a 10 min walk from the resort to catch the bus. We saw a bus coming from the other direction and heading toward the end of the Peninsula and so we ran over to the stop on the other side of the highways. That was a wise move as by the time the bus went out to the end of the run and picked up people from Barcelo Marina Place, Sandals Princessa and Trypp they were packing us on like sardines and it was very hot! When we got to our bus stop the people that were waiting with us earlier opted not to crowd on. We got off at the Big Market by Sunbeach and wandered around. We did not buy anything. We then walked back to Quatros Palmas. On the way we stopped into Josone Park and had some very good Pina Coladas by the little lake. There are a couple of restaurants in this park and if we had not booked our ala carte for that evening we would have eaten here. The park is a nice break from the resort and the heat of downtown. I have since read in my tourist guide that there is a 2 CUC admission for this park but there was no one collecting money when we went in.

Additional Information:
Our only complaint is not a major one. The mojitoes we had at the nightly entertainment were not that good! We didn't try the ones at the other bars and there were certainly many other very good drinks! The in room safe was free and you keyed in your own security number. The hairdryer in the bathroom is not that forceful. I have short hair and seldom used it but I can't imagine drying long hair with it. There are face cloths provided. The bar fridge is restocked every 2 days with 1 can Cristal, 1 can Bucanero, 4 cans soda, 1 bottle tonic, 1 bottle mineral water, and one large bottle drinking water. There is a small shop with chips, candy, etc. There is another shop with T-shirts, cover ups, souveniers, etc. There is a third shop with rums, cigars, coffee, honey, etc, and there is also a jeweler's store. I bought a t-shirt for my grandson here and then found it in a shop in the departure area of the airport for 3 CUC cheaper. The coffee I bought at the resort was about .40 CUC cheaper at the airport and the rum was slightly cheaper as well. Like anywhere in Canada you pay for convenience! Money exchange at the resort when we were there was 15 CUC for $20.00 Canadian

Value for Money:
I would have to say that this resort is excellent.