We have been to this hotel many many times and love it.The fact that it is all contained makes it handy for older tourists like ourselves not a lot of walking if you are unable to do so.Staff here are very friendly and helpful Sergio the bartender the best!!

The only negative thing I have to say about my trip was when I arrived on May 5th, they had overbooked the hotel and did not have a room for me and asked me to bunk with one of my friends. Thankfully I could do that. To make it up to my friend an I they upgraded our rooms for us and gave us two tickets for a day trip of our choice, (Havana tour or the catermaran trip). We ended up deciding on the Historical Havana trip, (it was a great trip it was just a long day).

The hotel rooms are gorgeous and big! Even the single occupancy rooms. The staff is friendly and ensures that the hotel is kept in immaculate condition.

The pool looked nice but I can't speak for what it was like as I spent all my time down at the beach. The beach was breathtaking! The walk to the beach was neglible, equivilant to 2 blocks away from the hotel. White sand with clear blue water. The activities directors were excellent at getting people involved in games, especially beach volleyball. They also had paddle boats and catermarans that you could take out for half an hour at a time.

This was my first trip outside of Canada and for all the complaints that I heard about Cuban food, I actually found it wasn't bad. People have to remember when they're eating at the buffet they have to cater to the lowest common denominator, so the food isn't going to be a spiced as they may like it. The ala cart restaurants were also very nice, with HUGE portions. I didn't finish a single meal at an ala cart!

One night my friends and I had gone into Varadero for dinner at Casa de la Chef. I highly recommend you do that! We got a 3 course lobster tail dinner for 14 pesos.

The entire point of this vacation was for me to relax, so if you're into partying, this isn't the resort for you. It is however close enough to Varadero that you can go into the clubs there. They also turned the beach bar into a club/bar at night, (which is far enough from the hotel that you can't hear the music which is great for the people with families). I also wouldn't recommend traveling with young children, they didn't have anything for small children to do.

Overall I loved the resort and would go back in a heartbeat!

As first-time all-inclusive vacationers, we booked this vacation with my parents, who were also first-timers. We chose Blau based on its excellent reviews and we were not disappointed.
The hotel was beautiful, the service was great, there was a good variety of food and the beach was spectacular.
Of course, it is Cuba, not a five star Toronto hotel so yes sometimes the toilets didn't flush properly, a couple times there was a sulphur smell in the lobby, and our phone in our room didn't work. But those minor inconveniences did nothing to mar our enjoyment overall. All four of us loved this vacation and would return to this hotel in a heartbeat.

We had a great time at blau varadero. Most people are nice and beach is gorgeous. Food is ok, as we don't have high expectation. Only the a la carte dinner at palma real is a little disappointing.

Je n'ai pas l'habitude d'écrire des commentaires mais vraiment je recommande à tous l'monde de faire l'expérience Blau, tout était parfait ! Mais ce qui m'a le plus épaté de Cuba c'est la gentillesse des gens c'est remarquable. J'ai voyagé avec ma famille et tout le monde avait la même idée en tête c'est de revenir :)

Nice clean resort with an excellent beach area. Entertainment was always excellent from bands to quartets. Would certainly recommend to friends.

Great hotel for Family vacation, great food, staff,shows, beach, pool, ocean is the best!!!!Lots of games during the day for adults and kids.This was our 3rd stay and we will be back.

All in all it was the best vacation we have ever had. The hotel was one of the cleanest/nicest I have stayed at. The rooms were very nice, not over-done but very well equipped and clean. The staff was amazingly friendly and went out of their way to make our stay better in any way they could. Although a language barrier was present, they showed effort to learn as much as they could about the english language. Speaking slower and realizing this is their second language helped greatly. I read a lot about the food being bland in Cuba and at this hotel it is the furthest thing from the truth. The buffet's and ala cartes were fantastic. I am a fussy eater and I would say if you can't find 30 or more selections you like every meal you have a problem. Along with the regular buffet items each day followed a different ethnic theme and offered a variety of specific dishes as good as any I have ever tasted. The bread and pastry selections were also the best I have had the pleasure of eating and the selection was huge and different almost every meal. The ala carte meals were also amazing and the steak was the best I have ever tasted. As for the entertainment, there was always something and usually a few things going on at once. The musicians were top shelf as were the entertainers and the entertainment provided with the ala cartes was awesome. Truly professional entertainment you normally can't get at most hotels in North America. As a side note we met with several people from other hotels in the area and their experiences were no where near as good as ours. We went in a group of 4 couples and all had a great time and agreed with what I have mentioned. I/we will return next year to the same location.

Excellent,enjoyable and relaxing 6 days spent at the Blau. We had our first night switched to the Iberostar Laguna Azul, as the Blau was supposedly double booked (Thanks for the miserable $100 per room credit Nolitours/Itravel)!
Despite the inconvenience this caused, it wasn't all negative, as The Iberostar happened to be our first choice hotel while searching for trips. In the end, I was glad that we got to experience both hotels and would certainly recommend the Blau over the Laguna Azul. My group (4 adults)were all glad that we ended up at the Blau after day 1.
The No. 1 reason being that we could'nt have ate the boring food at the Laguna Azul for a full week.
The staff at the Blau were all excellent - special shout out to Orlando,Ernesto,Yamina and Carlos. Can't wait to see you guys again next year!
Finally, I would highly recomend the Blau to anyone wanting to spend a relaxing week in Cuba with an emphasis on having great food too.I am trying to think of something about that Blau that wasn't to our pleasing but honestly I can't! thouroughly enjoyable experience. Thanks

My husband and I stayed at the Blau the week of March 19, 2012. We have been to Cuba several times and we found the Blau to be one of the cleanest we have seen. The staff was very pleasant and helpful, we didn't mind tipping because they work very hard and really try to treat everyone well. We finally got our room at 3:30 (we had arrived at the hotel around noon) we were given room 952 as we were unpacking we realized that there was this noise that sounded like a motor running so we went out onto the balcony to see if it was coming from outside, we did hear it but it was worse in the room. My husband and I went back to the balcony and we looked up and realized that the hotel ventilation system was sitting right on top of our room. We realized very quickly that this noise was not going away and that it would be almost impossible to get any rest. So we decided to go down to reception and request another room. I was rather annoyed because they were not surprised when we showed up asking to be moved to another room and I felt that they could have saved us the trouble especially because my husband is a diabetic and wasn't feeling well but we were told that we would have to speak with the manager the following morning at 10:00 am so we had to spend the night in room 952. The following day we were given room 718, although we had selected the Cameleon option which occupies the 9th and 10th floor of the hotel we were told that this was the only room available. It had a very nice view and the chamber maid was very nice and kept the room clean so it was fine. Food was typical for Cuba we always found something to eat. The beach was gorgeous which is the main reason we like going to Cuba. We never set our expectations to high and my philosophy is that you make the best of what you find and if you are looking for the comforts of home and meals like we are used to having in Canada then you shouldn't go to Cuba.

Great friendly staff and an amazing location.

It was my parents second stay at the Blau and they enjoyed it more this time than they did 2 years ago and they had recommended it to us for our trip together. We were not disappointed. The food was excellent with a lot of variety. My husband can be a fussy eater but he was able to find enough items on the buffet to keep him satisfied and we all enjoyed the ala carte dinners. The service in all of the eating areas was excellent.
The rooms were kept clean. There was a lot of entertainment and activities to keep people busy if they wanted to be. There were even some games on the beach daily. Volleyball and ring toss/ball games with prizes etc.

We had a very good time and would recommend the Blau to anyone (I already did today to several people that I saw at work). We heard stories from other people on our excursions about their hotel experiences for this same time frame and we are glad that we chose the Blau. We will be back :-)
We read many reviews about the Blau and other hotels before we booked this trip and as far as we are concerned the Blau rated highest in positive comments and we found that most of the negative comments seemed to be about things that people should expect to find in a third world country. We were pleasantly surprised to find that our first trip to Cuba wasn't below our expectations but in some ways exceeded them.

Nous avons beaucoup aimé cet hôtel.

Nous avons passé une semaine fantastique avec nos juneaux de 7 ans. Tout a été à la hauteur de nos attentes. À recommander sans hésitation.

Blau is an excellent choice at a good price. Beach lovely, staff great and atmosphere very nice.

The only problems we could see was that the insect spray was done in the very early evening rather than the early morning so that staff and guests that were at the pool or having cocktails at the bar were totally enveloped in insecticide. Secondly, one of the adjoining hotels conduct their evening entertainment outside at an obscene decibel level. Loud even at The Blau. This of course, is not the hotels fault but could be a factor for some.
Overall, this hotel deserves the rating it has been given.
We enjoyed our stay and would not hesitate to recommend this hotel.

This is our second time at this resort and we are planning to return in November. We concur with the positive reviews and have made The Blau our favourite resort. We stayed at the Blau from February 28 to March 6 and were not disappointed. There is one negative thing we noticed this time regarding the front desk. While the currency exchange rate is posted on a monitor there, on two occasions when we exchanged Canadian dollars for Pesos, the ladies intentionally did not give the change, only the pesos. When I asked for it the second time she gave it to me. This is a small amount I know, but later when my friend exchanged $25 CDN she gave him 21 CUC saying that was the current rate (16%). I returned with him later and when confronted she stated she acknowledged the rate was only 2.5% and that she had made a mistake. Prior to our last day there I complained to Customer Service about this issue and she assured me the situation would be rectified and the manager (not there at the time) would be notified. I believe the lady in Customer Service will follow up but in case it is continuing count your money before leaving the desk. Other than that we have found the Blau the best of the 5 resorts we have been to in Cuba.

Very dated, not the best service or cleanest resort I have been to. Ant infestation in our room, which although was brought up to front desk several times a day had only been addressed our last evening there. The beach was excellent, the Cuban people were extremely friendly...but they definitely lack the finishing touches as far as this resort went.

We had a great time. Good people,food and service. The beach was amazing. The elevator was a little slow but did not bothered us, we were on vacation. The entertainment at night was good ,but not enough. Overall we enjoyed every minute off it.

The hotel and the grounds are very impressive. The lobby is awesome with a huge open area 12 stories high with Ivy hanging down the entire way from the top balcony. A great place to just lounge around with lots of comfortable sofas and chairs. Glass elevators on both sides of the atrium are a bit slow but provide a breathtaking view. The indoor bar, “The Orchidea” is a real sight to see especially at night when it is all lit up. The room was quite spacious and clean with a large balcony. Although the bathroom was kept fairly clean the toiletries were not replenished on a regular basis; in fact we came dangerously close to running out of toilet paper and had to ask for soap a few times. At best the housekeeping was only so-so. The incredible pool area is beautifully landscaped and kept very clean. There are lots of loungers available and a cozy bar area. The beach is beautiful and the water is crystal clear. There are lots of loungers here also and for a few pesos you can get an attendant to brush the sand off and find you a “Palapa” shade umbrella. There is a 24 hour snack bar where we had lunch a few times. They serve grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and a variety of sandwiches. Breakfast and dinner are in the main buffet restaurant and there are always plenty of choices, be warned though that the coffee here is atrocious, but you can stop by the pool bar which opens at seven AM and pick up a delicious espresso or a cappuccino which is great. The breads and pastries are always extremely fresh and feel like they just came out of the oven.

The service at this resort is without a doubt as good or better than we have received on any vacation and that includes a Celebrity Cruise last year. From the front desk, the wait staff, the bar staff, the pool attendants, the grounds-keepers, the cooks, absolutely everyone is courteous, polite and always smiling. The biggest strength that this resort possesses is its people.

Thank you Juan Carlos, Yunier, Maite, Javier, Ernesto, Licet, Oneil and many more. Hope to see you next year.

Excellent resort. Impecable service, great food, great shows every night, spacious rooms, large pool, great beach.

This has been our 5th trip to the Blau Varadero, and it is every bit as great as our 1st experience there. The staff are extremely friendly and kind, and will go out of their way to please you. The waiters and bar staff are exceptional, and work especially hard to always be at your service. We have stayed at other Varadero hotels, but this one is the best!

It is the best resort in Varadero. The staff are truely making the efforts to make our stay even more enjoyable. We loved it! A few friends have already booked their trips to this resort based on our experiences.

Great hotel, definitely 4 , pick an oceanfront room on a high floor, ours was #850, quiet and had a marvelous view.Our week was a bit wet and therefore may account for the bugs. If you get bites easily and infection, take spray and antibiotic cream.Hotel Doctor wanted $50.00 to look at them plus prescription, I get a reaction to bites all the time so ended up going to the pharmacy at the Mall for the cream.

- Internet too expensive: 8 Pesos ($9) for one hour and a very slow connection, I couldn't even open Hotmail. For that price they should do better than that!

Our 4th visit to Cuba, and 2nd visit to Varadero. The food was much better than what we had experienced in Cuba before, better choice of food and better prepared. Still not the same as North American food, but nevertheless it was greatly improved. The hotel was clean & quiet, beaches excellent, staff friendly as usual. Our three previous visits were shortly after Christmas and before New Years, but we found out that this time (mid January) is much more enjoyable - for two reasons; the price is almost half, and there were no children (except for a few pre-school age kids)because they were all still in school and not on vacation. No having to listen to a bunch of whining kids with loud parents telling them how the world works...! What a relief. Now if they only had adults only hotels, and totally ban smoking in the hotel - would be absolutely perfect!!!

This was my 4th time in Cuba (2 times in Holquin, now 2nd in Veradero) and by far, this hotel was the best. Just like all the other hotels, the rooms can use a renovation and new matress but this is Cuba and it aint going to happen. I'm a picky eater and found the food to be very good including the buffet, pool side restaurant & grill and the a la cartes (especially the International). The hotel and grounds were very clean. A great hotel for families with lots of activities for the kids and adults including a game room and good evening shows (a must to see is the magic and circus show). Staff was great and friendly but there were a few who got upset when no tip was provided. If you are heading to Cuba, the staff there would actually prefer second hand clothes (especially for kids) as they do appreciate the tips but not many places for them to shop for clothes. Ocean, beach and weather were amazing so overall, a great experience and I would return to this hotel again.

Cant beleive the review below titled "Great with Some reservations", this idiot should have gone to a resort without kids and perhaps she did not shower as no one in my family smelled bad from the buffet exhaust!!

We traveled with a 10-month-old baby, looking for a low-key change from the household routine. Needless to say we were not able to experience all the resort has to offer (entertainment, etc.), but we had a good time.

The beach is beautiful, and we enjoyed many swims and walks on the beach.

The layout of the resort was also aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate, even with a stroller. We had to go back to our room often to change the baby or put him to bed (etc.), so we were glad it wasn't a huge property. Only the slow, unpredictable elevators held us up!

Nice that there's a grassy area to relax as well.

We never had to worry about getting a beach or deck chair, even in the shade, at any time of day.

The rooms were decent. The balcony was fantastic. We could sit outside and have drinks, reading or enjoying the beautiful view, while the baby slept inside. We felt like we were still where the action was since it faced the resort and ocean.

The drinks were good, and the food was decent. The poolside grill is good if you're patient (It's usually not ready at 12:30 like they advertise). The best was La Palma restaurant. The food and service was excellent!

I liked little touches like the welcome cocktail or how they set up a tea station in the lobby bar late afternoon. We enjoyed that. The lobby bar has excellent coffee (especially compared to the buffet coffee!).

Staff (servers, housekeeping, etc.) was mostly friendly and accommodating to us and our baby. We felt welcome with him.

A few criticisms:

-Hours: Supper isn't available anywhere until 6:30. I wouldn't care except our baby goes to bed at 7:30, so suppertime was usually a crankfest. I would've liked the option of somewhere to eat at maybe 5 or so.

-Noise from piano bar: We asked for a room away from the noise, but there isn't one. The whole place can hear the piano bar. It didn't actually bother me, though, because we had to stay in our room with the baby after 7:30, so it was a bit of entertainment! It didn't wake the baby either.

-Room amenities: The room lacked a few amenities I consider standard, like a coffee maker or a pen and paper. It may seem trivial, but we couldn't write any notes to our housekeeper or anything else. I couldn't get one from front desk either. It was a bit frustrating. (No Sudoku! The humanity!)

-Gift shop (service and products available): on a related note, the gift shop only sold an enormous 3-buck novelty pen but no regular ones. Plus, we were about two diapers short by the end, and the gift shop only sells newborn diapers. Who brings a newborn south? The woman who works there is quite abrupt as if she were irritated. The gift shop is pretty useless if you are hoping to get an emergency item, so come fully prepared.

-Unhygienic practices: The other restaurant had a cat running around and nosing around at tables, and no one did anything. We had to ask the staff to take it out. We had to dress formally, but a cat can run amok?

Also, we saw a server spill a container of straws on the floor in the buffet dining room, and he picked them up and put them back to be used later. This is particularly disconcerting when you have a small child, because you want to know things are cleaned and healthy.

-High Chairs: Many of the high chairs are broken. Find out where the good ones are and nab those whenever you go to the buffet!

-Gym: The gym was satisfactory, but the sauna, jacuzzi and jet shower were really dodgy in this dank, windowless room. Half of them were broken for the whole time, and the jacuzzi was cold. Plus the seat in the jacuzzi felt slimy like it hadn't been cleaned. Gross! Not what we pictured! I never saw anyone in there.

-Pool: Many people, including my husband, found the pool too cold. The baby found it cold too. I grew up in Canada by the ocean, so I can swim in anything. I enjoyed it, but it needs to be warmer, particularly in January.

In all, it was a beautiful spot and a good place to bring a baby. We met many other babies there. Just be WELL prepared, and maybe a little extra diligent about keeping things clean for him or her.

Nous avons bien aimé le blau, très bon service au chambre. Belle chambre avec vue sur la mer. Les restaurants à la carte étaient excellents. Le buffet très bien. Seul bémol c'est les vendeurs sur la plage, il faut faire semblant de dormir pour ne pas qu'ils viennent te voir pour te vendre tout leur trucs. Je le recommande fortement

Physically, the hotel was excellent! The staff were friendly and very accommodating. The food was excellent. However, I had three problems with the hotel. Firstly, there were many young children, and everywhere! They were underfoot, running around the buffet at meal times as you tried to balance food. Perhaps designated times for children would have avoided this. Secondly, the exhaust fans above the grill in the buffet did not work very well, and I found my clothes smelled every time I ate at the buffet inside the hotel! Thirdly, our room was on the first floor, and the doors to the rooms could be banged, and someone thought it was a game to play a tune by slamming their door, constantly. It was very annoying! Perhaps when you book a room, request it not be on the first floor. Beach was great and clean.

We loved the beach-white sand,turquoise water.Very warm even in January,swam every day.Kept very clean no seaweed-minimal garbage. Lots of loungers.Front desk very helpful and friendly.Servers were very frendly. Lots of choices at the buffets and the 2 a la cartes were very good.We brought immodium and never needed it. Overall we loved our holiday and would go back to this resort again.
Our only disappointment is because of the hotel design there is no night life after about 11 p.m. They should look at building a separate space for a disco. There are certain beach party nights and you could go to Varadero to a night club. But other than that we were very satisfied and would go back tomorrow.