Hotel Roc Varadero

There’s mold throughout the hotel, and dozens of cats around the entrance and dining room. Cat pee is everywhere and the smell is awful. The rooms were filthy, the food disgusting and the service terrible. Staff didn’t welcome us, offer service or even smile. I have absolutely nothing good to say. Even one star is generous.

For what we paid, the hotel was amazing. Our week all-inclusive vacation cost about 700 CAD p. P., and around 200 CAD of that went to the hotel, with the rest for airline and taxes. Keep that in mind when judging the overall service. If you want exceptional service, leave some tips for the cleaning ladies and restaurant staff. Small amounts go a long way here. We mostly had CAD, but bring USD, the no. 1 accepted currency, and plenty of 1 and 2 dollar bills. Yes, the rooms are outdated, service could be better, food choices could be wider, and the food isn’t as good as back home. You know these things before arriving and can find the information online. You can’t expect western standards in Cuba. What you do get is lovely people, beautiful beaches, sunshine and time to relax. If that’s what you’re after, this hotel is perfect. The food was acceptable, with lots to choose from and something for everyone. Soft drink options were very limited. You can get coffee on the ground floor once the breakfast buffet closes. The beach has sunbeds and umbrellas, and there are free transfers to Varadero at 9am, 11am and 1pm. The hotel is very outdated and needs upgrades, though upgrades would raise the price. Judged by western hotel standards, I’d give it at most 3 stars. Given the Cuban setting and the roughly 200 CAD the hotel gets for a full week all-inclusive, the experience was more than exceptional.

The restaurant felt like a community canteen, with many locals trampling over each other to get drunk on free beer and take the scarce food in plastic containers. All of us got food poisoning. Pure terror. Please do your research and stay away from this nightmare. It simply should not be operating. There were also serious problems in the room and around the hotel. The windows wouldn’t close fully, so there was no sound or heat insulation and rain came into the bedroom. Staff offered no solution when we told them. Most plugs didn’t work, the Wi-Fi was down much of the time, and the front desk tried to deceive us by saying it wasn’t working when we knew it was. Sand had been swept into piles in the bedroom corners. Water dripped from the bathroom lights, the air conditioning didn’t work, and there was no hot water. The shower pressure was weak. Drinks came in disposable plastic cups that were washed and given to the next customers. The coffee bar had no coffee, and the bars had no bottled water. Maids smoked while cleaning bedrooms. The hotel lost electricity for around a day, and we had to use the emergency outside stairs to get to and from the 7th floor. There was no backup plan for the outage. The themed restaurants never opened.

The beach is still huge and awesome, and the resort felt peaceful with fewer people around. We had a great time and enjoyed all the extra space. Rooms were nice and cleaned daily, and the nightly entertainment was pretty good. This was my second visit, and the first since covid. Cuba is struggling to recover, and the shortages are real. The resort had two towers with buffets, five el la cartes, a disco, a 24-hour bar and a 24-hour snack bar. One tower was closed during covid and used as a hospital. From what staff told me, it may not reopen. That tower had the bigger buffet, the disco, three restaurants and a livelier 24-hour bar, so amenities are slim pickings now. Go if you want to relax by the ocean, be close to town and the airport, and enjoy the great location.