| Pelicano Hotel Cayo Largo | Joe and Karen | Ontario, Canada |
Pelicano Hotel Cayo Largo Cuba November 2006 Trip Report. Joe and Karen.Ontario Canada
My wife and I had the pleasure of visiting Cayo Largo and staying at the Sol Pelicano Hotel between November 20-27 2006. We had a great time as usual and would like to share our experiences and some photos and videos. We have been going to Cayo Largo for the last 15 years. Cayo Largo is still a state of mind for us rather than a destination.
Cayo Largo with its sparkling turquoise waters and unblemished white sand beaches is situated on the eastern end of the Canarreos archipelago where the weather usually remains quite warm and sunny all of the winter season, it is one of our favorite sun destinations. It is located about 63 km south of the Cuban mainland. Cayo Largo beaches posess a certain physical beauty and pristine quality that, in the last decade or so has become very popular with Canadians and Europeans. But for me and my wife Cayo Largo is much more than the sum of those parts, it is in fact a beautiful state of mind for us. This year visiting there between November 20-27 2006 we enjoyed the weather and the beaches more than ever.
Our flight with Air Transat at 6:30 a.m. on Monday, November 20 2006 was on time . It was a direct flight to Cayo Largo and took approximately three hours and 30 minutes. We had a window seat so we enjoyed some of the scenery as we crossed the Cuban mainland and had a great view of Cayo Largo with a circling approach to the runway. Our landing was a tiny bit wobbly because of the wind. Our way through customs and immigration was uneventful and we were soon on our way to the Pelicano where we were to stay the week.
Check-in at the Pelicano was quite smooth and before long we had a nice room on the western side of the hotel. We had requested a different building through our travel agent but seemingly it wasn't available to us. More about that later. We then dropped our luggage in our room, got our bathing suits on and by 12 noon we were headed for the Ranchon by the beach and our first Ron Collins.
Lunch at the Ranchon. The view from this Ranchon as we had our Ron Collins was spectacular with nothing between us and the sugary white sand beach and a sea the shade of aquamarine that I thought had existed only in Crayola boxes. It’s as if we had been just plunked into a travel brochure or a Corona commercial. Is this a dream I asked my wife. She pinched my arm and I knew it wasn't.That said, I would say the food at the Ranchon on the first day was mediocre with little variety but by the rest of the week it improved tremendously and there was a very good variety of salads with an equally good variety of chicken, pork, beef and fish which you could accompany with brown rice, white rice, french fries or on one occasion some potato wedges. They had paella there too almost every day. The beef was as I like it "rare". If you didn't like the meat rare the chef would put it on the grill for you for a few moments and voilà you had beef well done. A nice idea. The staff at this Ranchon are outstanding and most go out of their way to make your stay a pleasant one.
La Yana a la carte restuarant. We were fortunate that evening to be able to make reservations at the La Yana a la carte. The meal was excellent and the service was very good. We both had the soup to begin with which was excellent. We had fish for our main course. We passed on the pasta course. We both had the excellent Cuban ice cream for dessert. The wine and conversation flowed nicely. Even though the a la carte restaurants are not our style, at this particular restaurant we had a very good meal and enjoyed ourselves immensely.
The Lobby Bar. We capped off our first evening with a nice brandy at The Lobby Bar "El Catey". This bar can get quite busy just before the dinner hour which starts at 7 PM. It is also quite busy after 9 PM for after dinner drinks and of course the entertainment show next door. The service at the bar is quite good for the amount of staff that is on duty. You can get some international drinks (we had two brands of Scotch whiskey over the week. Mostly though it is Rum-based drinks, Cuban domestic liqueurs, brandies or beer. They also serve coffee European-style. In the morning there is pastries for a before breakfast snack. This bar is open 24 hours a day. Unfortunately though this year I think that the hotel management has decided to cut back on staff as much as possible. It leaves a small amount of staff to do a large amount of work and double duty. At this bar the staff managed to do this admirably and do so with a smile. On a few occasions it looked like there were more managers than staff LOL. We usually don't wait for the evening entertainment show as we are early to bed early to rise people. It's been a long day with the early morning flight etc. etc. so off to bed.
Our Room. Tuesday we wake up bright and early in our sky blue room,we throw of the covers and make our way over to open the balcony doors and in floods that morning Caribbean sunshine (that we so badly need after a dismal September October in Toronto) onto our white tile floor room. The room is decorated simply but tastefully, white ceiling with blue walls, the furniture is light-colored pine . The furniture consists of two single beds, two night tables, blanket box, one chest of drawers. We have also a nice little fridge for our bottled water (of which we receive a 1.5 l bottle) every day and of course there is a television set with about nine or 10 channels available on it. There are several small pastel paintings of Caribbean scenes on the wall. The room is bright and pleasant. There is a good-sized bathroom with a shower stall and toilet. The washbasin vanity is separate which is very handy. On the wall by the washbasin vanity there is a hairdryer with a 110 volt plug. There is also a 220 volt plug next to it. These plugs are just great for charging your camera battery, to boil a small tea kettle for tea or maybe a coffeemaker (that you bring with you, these are not supplied) etc. etc.. There is a small closet opposite the vanity with room for two suitcases and maybe 20 hangers for your clothes. Also in the closet is a safe to keep your valuables. The safe is part of your all-inclusive.The safe is opened with the room key.There is also a small set of shelves in the closet. The room and room facilities are quite large enough for two people. We brought our own coffeemaker and enjoyed our coffee on the balcony early every morning.
Buffet Restaurant. Now on to breakfast which we have at the International Buffet Restaurant "Entre Mares" every day. Breakfast here is quite simple. You can choose from having an omelet made there right on the spot at the grill. Also at the grill you can have fried eggs done any style. This particular week this chef at the grill was amazingly good and fast and the cooking was done with a smile. Also there is the buffet style breakfast if that is your choice with a good variety of breads, fruit, toast, small pancakes, cold meats, sausages and bacon and scrambled eggs. There is several varieties of sausage meat. One in particular I liked was the black pudding. Now I'll just be a little picky and say that the first two mornings they had the same problems as they have had over the last two years with cold scrambled eggs sausage etc. etc.. These warming tables need fixing. But I can say by the third day things were a little better. Still this was one of those minor annoyances that will not make or break our day. No use getting flustered for we must reserve our strength for the walk on the beach and later lunch at the Ranchon. Life is tough.
The Beaches. After breakfast we packed our camera gear and headed for Playa Sirena and Playa Paraiso. We were fortunate enough to get seats on the nine o'clock shuttle. This year the charge is 2 CUC's per-person return. Arriving at the beach is always an eye-popping experience. This beach or beaches are just marvelous, white sand and turquoise water as far as you can see!. As we like to walk we won't spend the day here but make our way back by way of Playa Paraiso and Punta Mal Tiempo beach to the Pelicano. This is a 2 hour walk and is deadly on the hamstrings. After this walk (and a few Ron Collins) I wobbled for a couple of days LOL. It's the first time since 1992 that I've ever been able to walk back the whole beach without stepping up off the beach onto the rocks which usually occurs at several points. It was just marvelous. On other occasions during the week we had the great pleasure of walking the beach past Lindamar and Coral and Isla del Sur beaches to the Barcelo. This beach is perfect all the way from Sol Pelicano to the radio tower east of Barcelo. Barcelo now has one of the best beaches on the island (at least this week). The management must have prayed a lot over the last two years LOL. The beach in front of the Pelicano was very good also. The beach in front of the Sol Club was a little narrower than the Pelicano but still pretty good.
The Pizzeria. We got back just in time for lunch. We had a very nice cool glass of rum on the rocks at The lobby bar. Today we decided to have pizza at the new pizza bar that is located right next to the lobby bar. It was wonderful thin-crusted pizza with lots of cheese. We had just cheese, tomato sauce and mushrooms on ours. Very good indeed. They have quite a good menu and choices for your pizza. A great addition for the lunchtime. This establishment is open from about 12:30 PM to 3 PM. This is definitely a good addition at the Pelicano. More choice for lunch. The service here is fast and efficient and done with a smile.
The Zun-Zun bar and snack bar. For lunch on another day we visited the Zun-Zun bar and snack bar that is close by the pool. You have about five choices here from hamburgers to cheeseburgers to grilled cheese and Ham sandwiches etc.. My favorite is the medallions of pork with some peppers on a toasted bun with some fries on the side. Excellent. A nice cold beer with that goes down a treat. They also serve rum based cocktails of any kind and I did see a couple of international drinks, nothing to speak of. As like the rest of the resort the staff here are very good. This bar also serves as the pool bar.
Our evening meal for every night except our first night was The International Buffet Restaurant. There was always some variety for everyone. There is the grill where you pick your own piece of chicken or pork or sometimes shrimp and they are grilled on the spot. Then there is usually a roasted loin of pork, maybe a turkey or maybe leg of lamb that the chef carves for you. This week they had lamb, turkey, a very good beef roast, fish. On one occasion I think it was Wednesday night they had lovely big pieces of fresh lobster in butter sauce you could accompany that with a very nice big slice of roast beef for surf and turf. There is also a pasta station in another part of the dining room and of course there was soup of a different kind every night. I always enjoy the soup to begin my meal. And then to finish all of these courses off there is always some great Cuban ice cream. The service in this restaurant is excellent and we were never wanting for water or wine service at our table.
The Buildings and water services. These certainly are showing their age in spots but the rooms are generally neat and clean. This week in our own room there was no hot water for the whole week. Cold showers at my age are something I don't need and are actually detrimental. LOL. Some guests in other rooms had varying degrees of water temperature.We did survive but I think it was unprofessional of the hotel not to have sent around a note of apology. By the end of the week no note was forthcoming so I assumed they didn't care much.. I think management and public relations need a bit of a shake at the top levels here. Even though the Pelicano is always our choice for a hotel in Cayo Largo I do truly believe that it is not a 3 1/2 star (as in the brochures) but just only a 3 star. For a picky person who is coming to Cayo Largo for the first time the Sol Club would be a better choice. At least there they had hot water.
The grounds. The vegetation is getting better and better at the Pelicano after being devastated by hurricane Michelle. It is getting quite lush now (for what is really a desert island) and the gardening staff are doing an amazingly good job with very little tools to work with. Having been in the gardening business myself I truly take my hat off to the garden staff. Also they are friendly, warm and caring individuals and on many occasions had a small bouquet of flowers for my wife and I to take back to the room. A wonderful gesture by the gardening staff.
The pools. As always they were immaculately clean and well kept. The water seemed cool going in, but I guess that is the idea. When you are in the pool it is refreshing. There was no shortage whatsoever of lounges around the pool at any time during the week. Actually there was lounges to spare all week. Lots of shade under the palapas. There is also a wonderful children's pool next to the Kids Club. I liked going in there because it was warm and shallow and was mostly deserted and quiet on this week. A nice place for an afternoon nap after a good lunch.
Our flight back. Our flight back to Toronto via Camaguey was on time (actually it arrived in Toronto early). From Cayo Largo to Camaguey is about 40 minutes .We did not have to de-plane there and it took only about 45 minutes to 1-hour to load the Camaguey passengers and we were on our way quickly. They served beef sandwiches for our meal. The flight was uneventful. I did get some good photographs on our takeoff from Cayo Largo.
General Observations. The Pelicano is showing its age. We still will go there in the future but are hoping that with a new manager they will fix the water problems. Also they really do need to check and upgrade their food warming trays. There is no use in having good food if it is not hot. People just leave it on their plate. A big waste. Changing your room seems a big problem for the front desk. We asked for a certain room block in advance from our travel agent but seemingly they don't look at anything that's written by your travel agent. I wish I knew how I could ask for a certain room block (any room in the block). Seemingly you cant do that from here as far as the front desk is concerned LOL. All of that being said we will in all probabilities be heading back for the Pelicano as soon as we can save some more money. There are some photographs and videos of the beaches that we took during our stay and they can be found at the link below.
Paliser