Hotel Solymar Torre Principal

This all-inclusive was incredible. We were welcomed with the most delicious drinks I’ve had in Cuba, and the buffet was the same. I’ve had a lot of fresh fruit in Cuba - papaya, paw paw, mango, apple, and bananas mostly - but this was the freshest I’d had yet. The buffet was fantastic at every meal, and even given the lack of fuel and food being imported into the country, I was ALWAYS eating good, even if the country doesn’t get wheat/flour etc - the buffet still had French toast with all the fixings! Our room had a beautiful, roomy balcony overlooking the ocean and the beach. I LOVE that we had a bidet. We went to the beach every single day, and it was easily the most magnificent ocean beach I’ve swam in. They had lots of programming, the bingo was shockingly my fave - I won a bottle of rum easily (a few times!), and the foam party on our last day was a nice touch. The local performers and nightclub hosts were a viiiiibe, we were ALWAYS dancing if we went by the club - it was never awkward or boring. I dream of coming back here. Cuba has my heart 💕

This place was a dump. The beds and pillows were hard as rocks, the room was dusty with a blinking lightbulb that needed to be changed, no outlets to recharge anything. Drinks with no alcohol and and rowdy screaming friends of the management by the pool. It was sold to me by KV Travel in Manta as a very nice 3 star hotel. It was barely a step up from a hostel and there are probably better hostels for a lot less than what they charged. The furniture was falling apart and the pool and hot tub water was literally MURKY and dirty. In a word, GROSS. I refused to stay more than one night. I told our travel agent and asked for a partial refund since we were cancelling 3 days ahead of time. Of course they refused to give anything back since now in reading the reviews I see they are not honorable in their dealings. The central location is probably the only thing they have going for them but truly, stay away. We booked the Angermeyer for the last two nights on Santa Cruz which was 1000 times better than this hole.

The hotel, the room, the restaurant, the location all perfect. I enjoyed three meals in the restaurant and each was delicious. Every employee was warm and welcoming but the girl at the front desk went above and beyond for me as I almost went to the wrong dock to find my cruise. I cannot thank her enough. I would definitly stay here again. The bed was comfy, the view of the harbor from my room was absolutely divine. Any questions I would be more than happy to try to answer them