Punta Blanca

We were introduced to Motel Punta Blanca in January this year and came away very impressed. The place sits between Varadero beach and Canal Paso Malo, at the end of the peninsula, where the beach feels wonderfully quiet, almost like a private gem. It's a large property with spacious, well-kept rooms, some with terraces, a nice dining room and bar, and lovely grounds right on the beach. This isn't all-inclusive, so you get a good breakfast as your meal. For travelers watching their budget, that makes it a great value, especially if you'd rather spend your time and money enjoying Varadero. I highly recommend this hidden treasure and hope to return.

This review was posted by mistake. Please disregard it.

The beach is beautiful.

We came for the sea, sun and good vibes, and those made the trip worth what we paid. The beach and ocean were beautiful and within walking distance, and the windows had excellent views. We mostly just used the room to sleep. Breakfast had plenty of variety, including meat, sausages, cheeses like Dor Blue, fruit, vegetables, juices, yogurt, coffee and fish. The tastiest things went quickly, so you had to get there early, but we were never hungry. There were also free coconuts around to snack on. The room, though, was a mess. We were in building 28, room 7, one of 30 buildings that make up Villa Punto Blanca and belong to Club Karey. We couldn't tell which buildings were Karey and which were Punto Blanca, since guests were assigned rooms based on availability regardless of which package they'd booked. Karey guests just had different colored all-inclusive wristbands. Our room had air conditioning and a TV, but no fridge. We checked in after 10 PM and it hadn't been cleaned. We were told everything would be "mañana," and that was it. The place was dirty and crawling with tiny ants, and later a cockroach came out at night. We trapped it in a glass to show reception. After cleaning up the food and crumbs, spraying with raptor spray and having the floors washed a few times, we stopped seeing cockroaches and hormigos. Then a lizard showed up, probably helping with the insects. Housekeeping was poor even though we regularly tipped the cleaner with candy. We had to ask repeatedly for soap, shampoo and toilet paper, and the sheets had been used by previous guests. Towels arrived two days in, then weren't changed or washed again because of laundry problems. Hot water worked on seven of our 11 days, and sometimes we had to let a lot run before it got warm enough. Only two toilet lamps and one bathroom lamp worked. At check-in we were assured things would be taken care of, but the room stayed poorly cleaned.