Brisas Guardalavaca

The staff really go above and beyond to make sure you're enjoying your holiday, and our experience was fantastic. We had lobster several times and all our meals were great. The hotel is a bit dated and could use updates, though we don't spend much time inside. The beaches are beautiful, and staff are always cleaning up rubbish left by disrespectful guests. Thanks for all your hard work.

The location is amazing, right near the beach with easy access to the sea, and the staff were great. We only stayed one night. The rooms are quite old, and we found ants in ours, but changing rooms was no trouble. The bathroom also had no running water twice a day. Birds eating from the self-service buffet in the dining room was disgusting.

We've been to Cuba many times and love the beaches, the people, and the prices, but our two weeks at Brisas Guadalavaca in Holguin were the worst Cuban vacation we've had. The resort itself is clean and beautiful, but badly neglected: pool tiles were missing, the water filtration system only worked sometimes, and we saw two mice, one in the Italian restaurant and one in our room. The same buffet was served for all 14 days, every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food was especially bad even by Cuba standards: watered-down pasta sauce, no cheese, no eggs, and no meat except canned Spam. We did find delicious food at the bar across from the market down the road, where you can also buy bottled water. Water at the resort tasted like mildew, and bottled water was only available sometimes. The 24-hour grill/bar was especially alarming: I personally witnessed a worker scoop grease from the trap under the grill, with flies all around it, into low ketchup bottles, shake them, wipe them off, and put them back on the tables. I was sick for the first three days, then ate cucumber sandwiches for the rest of the trip when cucumbers were available. One evening, a huge swarm of baby flies covered the buffet tables, chairs, and everything else. It seemed like there might have been a lot of maggots somewhere in the kitchen. Stray dogs and cats on the resort were friendly but very sick and hungry. Two dogs caught and tore apart a kitten in front of everyone, and it took resort staff hours to clean up the bloody mess. The beach isn't private, so locals also come and leave beer cans and rubbish. Music on site was always painfully loud and distorted with feedback. I like loud music, but this was beyond that, and you had to yell to be heard by the person beside you. Most of the employees came across as rude and miserable, with no energy, making us feel like an inconvenience. Oscar at the Havana club was wonderful, as was our cleaning lady Muriella. The resort has a lot of potential, and it's beautiful, but we were told it's now government owned and has gone downhill. The previous owners took the daiquiri/piña colada machine and ice cream machine when they left, so don't expect those extras. It might once have been a 4-star place, but now it's no more than 2.5 stars, if that. Don't be swayed by the pictures and reviews. We were incredibly disappointed with our first trip to Holguin and will never return.

We were transferred to this hotel because our plane was late and stayed for 24 hours. We didn't like it at all.