The locals refer to this property as the Laguna Azul, and often omit the Iberostar from the name. Rated as a 4.5 star property, so we were expecting a large resort with many activities and good amenities. In reality, it was actually much smaller and quieter than I had expected but the staff and the atmosphere of the property really made the stay very enjoyable.
We arrived at the property just after 3pm and there was a large sign on the hotel desk saying that check in was at 4pm. Regardless, we joined the short line of people waiting to speak with the front desk staff to see if we would be able to check in a bit earlier. We had left home at 3am local time, and didn’t get any sleep at all on the plane, so we were exhausted and hungry. The line was quite short and probably consisted of 3 parties in front of ours, and there were about 4 or 5 girls behind the front desk so we figured it would be quick. Boy, were we wrong! We stood in line for over 30 minutes before we finally pushed our way to the front. The problem was that people were walking straight up to the desk without lining up and when we finally got to the front of the line, we probably witnessed at least 3 more people just showing up in front of the desk even when it was clearly our turn.
We filled in all the necessary paperwork, but were told that our room wasn’t quite ready yet, so we decided to leave our luggage at the desk while we went to find some food. After an hour or so, we made our way back to the front desk and were told they needed another 15 minutes. Although we were exhausted, we knew that we couldn’t expect the same punctuality that we were used to at home, so we sat down, had a drink and patiently waited. We were told that someone would come get us when the room was ready, but 30 minutes passed and we were still just sitting there, so we finally went up and asked again and it was still not ready. After another hour passed, we went up to ask for our room key again and they were finally able to provide us with the room key, so I guess someone forgot about coming to let us know! We finally arrived at our room close to 3 hours after arriving at the hotel. The check in process was definitely not as smooth as it should have been, and after not having slept a wink the entire night, it made for quite a painful way to start the holiday, as it was well after 6:30pm by the time we finally got settled into our room.
The next morning brought the opportunity to explore a bit more of the property, and this was when I discovered that it wasn’t actually as big as I thought it would be. The main buffet restaurant was the largest and then there was another restaurant that was open when the main buffet wasn’t. Aside from the 3 a la carte restaurants, there were also 2 other smaller snack bars and an ice cream stand, but we were surprised to find that all of these places closed by 4pm daily. There was one morning where we signed up for an early excursion which required us to grab breakfast by 6:30am. Although the main buffet didn’t open until 7am, the second largest restaurant supposedly opened by 5am for early risers. Well, it was disappointing to say the least because the entire breakfast selection consisted of some leftover fruit and bread from the day before. We didn’t expect much at that hour, but I thought that since it did advertise breakfast being served from 5am onwards, the selection would have been a big better.
We had booked a standard room and requested 2 double beds as there were 3 of us traveling together. When we arrived at the room, we were pleasantly surprised that they had placed a third bed into our room for us. The bathroom was very large and included enough counter space for all of us to lay our stuff out comfortably. There was also a tub in the room, but it looked quite worn out, much like the rest of the room. For a 4.5 star property, the room looked tired and ready for renovations.
I didn’t expect the stains on the bedsheets, and the cracked mirrors that were in our room. We also didn’t get new bedsheets the entire week we were there as the stains from the first day were still there on our last day. One more thing that I do want to point out is that we realized a brand new bottle of sunscreen went missing from our room in the middle of the week…
We didn’t actually spend much time at the beach but we did spend enough time to realize that the beach at our hotel was far superior to the beach at the resort just adjacent to ours. The sand didn’t look quite as white as I thought it would be but it was soft and the water was sparkling clear. Because we were there during the off season, we never had any trouble finding chairs at the beach, but I think this might be a bigger problem in the winter because the beach really wasn’t that big. We were also fortunate enough to catch both a stunning sunset and a beautiful sunrise on the beach.
In the entire week, the only negative things we experienced was check in, and our room. The property itself was gorgeous and the staff were beyond friendly and helpful. If I ever make it back to Cuba, I’m not sure if I’ll stay at this property again, just because I would like something to compare it to, but for a first timer I thought it was the perfect place to ease us into Cuba.
For more photos, please see my Photo Gallery of Iberostar Laguna Azul.
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