Marazul Hotel

I can only give this Cubanacan hotel one star because there's no zero option. The whole stay was a letdown. Food was the worst part. Breakfast meant stale pastries, rubbery eggs, and lukewarm coffee that tasted like dishwater. Dinner was even worse, bland slop like something from an airplane in the 1980s. The buffet was just disappointing. The place is falling apart, with phones from the 70's that don't work, peeling wallpaper, and hallway lights that flicker. It felt haunted. The pool water was greenish, so I stayed away. Staff didn't seem to care much and appeared used to everything malfunctioning. They didn't look motivated, though the bedsheets and towels were clean. The aqua sports that were supposedly included weren't available either. Save yourself the misery. This hotel isn't worth a penny or a star, and I'd avoid it unless you want a vacation to feel like punishment.

The beach is lovely and only about 200 feet from the hotel, with free reserved chairs for guests. Our room was reasonable and had an ocean view, though we had occasional power trouble with the AC. Food came with the package but was mostly repetitive. The staff were helpful, if they did seem overworked, and not knowing Spanish could make things challenging. Cuba has many difficulties for the general population, including shortages and low salaries. The hotel's currency exchange rate was much lower than outside, where you could get about three times the rate at the three official rates.

We'd never taken an all inclusive trip before and picked badly because we didn't know what to look for. After booking, we finally read the hotel reviews, and it was upsetting to find that complaints from a year earlier still seemed accurate. We only got back two days ago, and it feels like hotel management hasn't bothered to fix anything. The food was terrible, dishes weren't labeled, and the elevator door doesn't open all the way, so you have to pull it open. There wasn't enough hot water in the bathroom, and general cleanliness was poor. Even the main reception was hard to communicate with because staff had very limited English. The nearby beach wasn't very good either. Some staff members did try their best to help. We were really sorry to be stuck with this hotel.

The main issue is that this place shouldn’t be sold as all-inclusive. We’ve been to Cuba before, so we knew what to expect in general, but the food was shockingly bad. Breakfast was the only meal we could eat, mostly because they could make an omelet. There was no real lunch, and the few dry ham and cheese sandwiches at 4 pm didn’t count. We went to local cafes for dinner several times. Even basics were missing, from dining room napkins and bath towels to beach chairs. Chairs were supposedly available from 11 am to 5 pm, but it depended on whether the beach staff felt like providing them, and they didn’t seem interested in helping tourists. The staff also couldn’t be bothered to learn even basic English. More than 90% of the guests were local/Cuban, so I don’t understand why Air Canada Vacations sells packages here. I have plenty of other bad things to say, but those are the main ones.