Iberostar Daiquiri

I will preface this review by saying that I have been to Cuba before and had an idea of what to expect and generally, I'm pretty easy to please.

Before booking I did read the resort reviews but there was such a mixed bag, I wasn't sure what to believe. I took the chance, booked and was willing to make the best of whatever. In this case, all the negative reviews were spot on.

The flight times were amazing (arrived in Cuba at 9:30 am and departed 7 days later in the evening-a full 7 days in the sun!!!!), the flights were direct and all the transfers etc. were taken care of.

The arrival into Cuba and transfer to the hotel went smoothly. The hotel lobby is beautiful, and the staff was very helpful. Hotel check–in time is 4:00 pm, so we had a bit of a wait before we got our room. We were able to change into beach attire and store the bags until our room was ready. We tried to get beach towels, but none were available. There was a cook-out/pig roast, so we went and grabbed some food. At this point I thought it was strange that we were handed sandwiches straight from the cook's hands (no plates) but went with it. Afterwards we hit up the buffet to check out the spread. The buffet left a lot to be desired, but we figured it was the lunch buffet and dinner would have more selection-we were wrong. Over the course of the week, we would see things that we will never unsee.

We were lucky and were able to get into our room before the 4:00 check-in. The room itself was ok, the linen was clean, the bathroom wasn't terrible. There was no toilet paper holder, and the shower was missing a partition to keep the water from splashing out-the bathroom floor was a mess after each shower. We were only given two towels and a floor mat. The view from the balcony more than made up for the sub-par room. I would highly recommend asking for more towels and more toilet paper from the start.

The hotel has 3 a la carte restaurants: Cuban, Italian and Mexican. We were able to book two a la carte restaurants the following day. We were able to book the Mexican and Cuban restaurants, the meals were mediocre at best. All the reviews are correct-it's the same food that is being served in the buffet. We did pay extra for a special Valentine meal, and it was really good. We were served lobster, steak and a decent bottle of red wine.

During my week stay, I primarily survived off of cheese sandwiches and mojitos.

The buffet was terrible. It was primarily the same food every day for lunch and dinner. Occasionally new items were added. There was no pasta station until day 6 of our trip. There were no labels, so you didn't really know what you were eating. Spoons and serving tongs were hard to come by. I saw a lot of face/phone touching while food was being prepared that turned me off (I was grossed out after a cook touched their face then used their fingers to pick up salt to season my eggs). Also, the salt dish by the French fry station had no spoon, so everyone was digging their fingers in to sprinkle salt on their fries. Surprisingly, the fruit selection was limited to papaya, pineapple and occasionally bananas.

There was a burger/ham sandwich/fry restaurant by the pool. The ham sandwiches and fries were ok, but the burgers looked like spam, so I avoided them.



The beach was spectacular. The resort had a long dock with a couple of palapa huts on it. The dock stretched out fairly far into the water and at the end, there was a staircase to climb into the water. I highly recommend jumping in! There are little burrs in the sand dunes that hurt to step on, so I recommend wearing footwear until you are about 20 feet from the vegetation. If you like strolling along the beach, you can definitely walk a couple of km each way. If you walk towards the marina, there is a lovely swimming spot where the shoreline dips down quickly. If you walk towards the “big” hotels you can walk for quite a distance, we managed to walk over 8 km one day (not recommended for anyone with mobility issues as there were a couple of stretches of rocks that we had to navigate through).

The hotel does have Wi-Fi, you get 1 hour for each day you spend there. So, a 7-day stay will get you 7 hours. Getting onto the wifi is not user friendly and one must exercise a high degree of patience.

The bars were generally really great. I'm not a big drinker but thoroughly enjoyed the Spanish coffees, coco locos and the mojitos. On occasion, there was no mint, so mojitos were not always available. The red wine was terrible. In the morning, cappuccinos and café col leche were a nice treat.

Excursions:

If you are looking to do a boat excursion, the resort lifeguards are your hook-up. The glass bottom boat cruise was priced at $50 and sounded amazing (lobster, drinks, snorkeling). Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate for the day we booked, so we missed out. We heard good things from other guests though!

The hop-on-hop-off bus is ok if you want to get off the resort for a few hours and do some sightseeing while working on your tan. We ended up taking the bus to the CENTRO COMERCIAL (LA GAVIOTA) market. The market wasn't worth the $5 bus fare. The market was overpriced (resort stores were same prices) and unless you are into the typical travel souvenir stuff, it's a waste of time.

During our beach walks we were able to find two cute lobster restaurants. We didn't eat at either place but heard great things about the food. I think it was $25 for a plate of lobster, shrimp and vegetables.

Interestingly, other travelers that we met on the bus or at the airport had very similar experiences at their resorts. Food variety, food shortages and cleanliness all seem to be issues in Cayo Coco.

To culminate our trip, on the flight home, the plane experienced a fair amount of turbulence, and there was a chain reaction of vomiting; during the ordeal all I could think about was the puke scene in the movie stand by me. [Details]

We loved the beautiful landscaped grounds. The buildings were freshly painted with amazing colors and were so pretty. Smaller resort which was GREAT for walking. We both have mobility issues. Careful on the walkways and different leveled flooring. Spent every day on the beautiful beach. White soft sand. Warm aqua water. Great snorkeling. Interesting to watch this hub of kite surfers. Food and drink? What can I say? It's Cuba and there's a shortage since Covid. Great grill station. Chicken and Rice. [Details]

My first experience outside of North America and it was wonderful! The beach was relaxing and calm, then you could go party by my pool with some pool games. Bars everywhere, open snack shack, so we had endless supply of food and drinks. People were very friendly and the weather was perfect. Wish I could've stayed longer! [Details]

This was my first time at a small resort, I enjoyed being able to leave my room and walk 30 seconds to the towel shack, 1 minute to the beach, 1 minute to the buffet, the lobby, the pool and 2 minutes to the theatre. It was very windy the entire time so we were unable to enjoy the non motorized activities until the last day. We loved the staff. I went with my 18 year old daughter and her best friend. We went to the beach every morning and then enjoyed the pool area and activities in the afternoons. We participated in a few contests, the nightly lobby entertainment, the nightly theatre show and disco afterwards. We usually were the last ones up. The staff is amazing and not one person to complain about. We are very social and spent a fair amount of time getting to know the staff. Some of my favourites were Ernesto the DJ and animation team which included Maidel, Jormer, Fidel and Denia. Yosvany the pool/theatre bartender makes great drinks and Carlos the Maintenance worker/electrician is so sweet. We visited Playa Pilar twice which is a beautiful beach and did the excursion on the Glass Bottom Boat which included a swim /jump off the second level, snorkelling on a coral reef, drop off at an Island to swim and enjoy a Lobster dinner/drinks and entertainment for $40 CAD. The resort was able to accommodate both my daughter and I with gluten free options as we both have Celiac Disease. Neither one of us got sick the entire trip and twice the kitchen staff brought out Mousse directly from the kitchen to avoid cross contamination. Reception gave us a paper to give to the cook staff but it wasn't needed because we have learned over the years how to say we are allergic to gluten in Spanish and it wasn't an issue. The snack bar doesn't have any gluten free options nor the airport. The lobby is beautiful, open and so inviting and was a nice place to hang out for an espresso or iced cappuccino in the day. The entertainment in the lobby was good. We enjoyed a group dance with the models after the show our last evening. The theatre dancers/entertainers are talented, beautiful souls and I looked forward to their nightly greetings when I entered the Buffet for supper. There were many Cubans on vacation in the hotel and my daughter and her friend spent a fair amount of time enjoying their company. If you want to sit on a beach all day, you can do it here. If you want to sit by the pool, get drinks at the pool bar and enjoy music then you can do that as well. We never went hungry or thirsty. Every bartender, cook, and buffet staff were attentive and friendly. We always received water and extra toilet paper in our room. The rooms are dated I guess, but we had everything we needed, I mean it's not a new resort. Were there a few things that bothered me? maybe, but only for a moment and then I remembered why I was there. It's not the staff's fault if clients have bad hygiene habits at the buffet or butt in line. The incredible part is the amount of patience and attention they give to their clients. I never felt pressured to tip, but we always do because for the service it's well deserved and appreciated. [Details]

Under the circumstances of Covid- our experience was pleasant- even though the food was constrained due to pandemic , the specialty restaurants were also not fully operational ( only one restaurant with alternate menus) but the employees were very friendly and trying there best to service the guests. The rooms can use some updates and renovations. [Details]

This was my 4 th time to Daiquiri. The place is beautiful with wonderful sandy beaches, great snorkeling just off shore, and SUN! The food is very good, and fresh. I always find lots of options and fresh fruit!
The biggest thing that brings me back are the beautiful Cuban people who work there. They do their utmost to make your stay the best it can be. They are warm and welcoming, and if you take the time to get to know them, you appreciate them even more! [Details]

Nothing to complain about, little things that can be overlooked, way to much smoking for my liking but can be tolerated. activities are very good and the nightly show excellent. Jormer does a very good job mingling and entertaining the guests. Excellent place for kitesurf.
I will come back again for sure. [Details]

Checkin was slow and we had to change rooms the next day as we were in the noisy part of the hotel with young children
2nd room was great!
No other issues through the week [Details]

We enjoyed the simplicity and cleanliness of hotel. Our rooms were clean amd the view was beautiful. The beach was cleaned regularly. Two negatives worth mentioning 1) the no seeum bugs were a pain. I had quite the bites where husband had a couple only. 2) tthe entertainment staff lacked enthusiasm and were minimally around during day. they were not very engaging. all else was awesome [Details]

We picked Daiquiri because it is a smaller resort and my husband has mobility issues. It was good in that respect as our room was close to all amenities. Beautiful beach, but we could not use it due to extremely high winds. Great for the kite surfers, not for snorkelling. Resort is somewhat “tired”, but this is Cuba. Mostly ate fresh fruit, salads, cheese and fresh fish. There were burgers, pizza, donuts and fries but I don't come to Cuba for that kind of food. Our room was basic, but clean. No remote for tv, had to ask. Phone not working half the time and we didn't get our wake up call the day we had an early start. No phone directory. [Details]

We always enjoy the friendly staff, and the wonderful beach. [Details]

Ok, so the staff were great and I was provided a convenient room as I have some mobility issues! The first day, however, we had 2 large cockroaches separately, a non working safe, a non working phone, which meant many trips by my wife to the front desk. Also, no facecloths, bath mats, or hot water. It took some time to resolve some of these things, but all except the hot water did get fixed! The staff were great over all, the entertainment ppl and all the serving people. My wife got sick on the third last day, probably foodborne illness, and couldn't go on a trip we had booked and paid for, and was left taking it really cool the last couple of days, she continued to be sick once back home and sought treatment. The food overall was really good, the Cuban and Italian a la cartes were great, Mexican disappointing! The main issue cleanliness and convenience wise was poorly located bathrooms with no hot water, in fact a poor availability of hand wash sinks for employees. Also raw food and sauces held at room temperature, and surfaces and tables not cleaned well. Also, there could be a few small things done to make things safer for mobility impaired ppl, and some general renovations [Details]

This was my third, and best yet trip to Iberostar Daiquiri! The food is good, but the people who make and serve your food are wonderful! Everyone is friendly, happy, and are always smiling.
The entertainment staff do all that they can to make sure that everyone is having a good time, and work so hard to provide games, exercise classes and dance classes as well as many other things. The nightly entertainment in the theater is amazing! The dancers are phenomenal and their dancing and tricks are incredible. The general manager makes himself very visible and is open to comments. The sun, beach and sea are beautiful. Love the Hobby Cats! It also has a gym with a personal trainer to help you get the most from your workout. I love this resort! [Details]

Older, needs a bit of updating but a nice place in general, would revisit. [Details]

Would highly recommend this resort ! Beach is visibly kept cleaner than other resorts around when you walk, good food, smaller resort so less people, excellent snorkeling on site and close by. Fridge refilled with water & beer every other day but you could get the big water bottle filled at one of the beverage place and staff were very helpful filling it for you. Additional beer or beverage always available at one of the bars ! Always at least one place open for food. When the beach bar is close the pool bar or main building bar is open a steps further. My patio door closed and had a lock.
2 pesos/day for the safe.
My bed sheets were always very clean. This area is very windy so perfect breeze. Saw only 1 fly and 1 mosquito.
WIFI is slow & not too reliable but cost only 1 CUC per hour by buying a card with codes and only works in lobby and at the Cayo Coco airport :) [Details]

The beach at this resort was AMAZING! We were there for a week of relaxation and spent the majority of our time on the beach. The resort was showing its age, and we had a little excitement as our air conditioning leaked all over the floor in our room, but it's Cuba and we were on vacation so who cares. The staff fixed it and we were happy as clams. The staff were nice and accommodating. Food was very good. Very happy campers! [Details]

Checked in late on Friday, about 9:45 pm, after travelling for 12 hours. Even though buffet closed at 10 pm, could not get in and so did not eat til next morning. Very hungry and annoyed. WIFI at resort is adequate if you have your own device. The guest terminals were not functioning during the entire week. Guest services very kindly allowed to me complete my return airline check-in on their computer. Much appreciated but wanted to check my emails and more. Nothing available. Water was delivered to my room only once in seven days without asking. I had to go to guest services and carry a bottle back five times, guest services delivered water twice more after a 9 pm special request. Considering it is Cuba, food was plentiful and of decent quality. I had no trouble selecting enough appealing items. Orange juice not available. Milk always warm or hot, never cold. Effects of hurricane still evident. [Details]

The Daiquiri is an awesome place to vacation! It is a smaller resort that just makes it that much more comfortable. The staff are AMAZING! Carrillio the Buffet Chef makes incredible artwork pancakes and grills amazing lobster and many other things. Mama makes the most incredible smoothies. Lillian, Evelyn and Jasine are wonderful daytime servers in the buffet and always remember what I want. Eddy and Roly at night are great too! The maintinance staff - Raydel, Rollando and Jordan who are so courteous and helpful. Ivan, Nigel and so many others in the Entertainment staff. The gardeners who always have a smile and a "hola". The dancers and entertainers are incredible. I was there in February and again this trip and hope to go back!
For a 4 star the food is exceptionally good! [Details]

I'm a relative Cuba newbie, having visited twice before in varadero and this was my first time in the chaos. However I have traveled extensively elsewhere in the world. I'm used to the wide range of opinions on Cuban cuisine but even the two previous times I was in no danger of starving.

The daiquiri however was a hugelypleasant surprise with tons of local and generally international choices each meal. Two choices would even ! Multiple a la carte stations were manned by pleasant and efficient people cooking fish, steak, hamburgers, eggs, bacon,pan cakes , roast meat etc.

The beds were my most grateful surprise. My previous experiences had prepared for a low lying box spring dorm mattress . WhaT awaited me, in a clean well maintained ed room was a bed better than the one I had left 1800 miles to the north.

The staff, contraception to gardeners to see ice and maintenance were so friendly and willing to put up with my bad Spanish ! Truly I felt at home from the minute I stepped off the bus and ,one week later,felt like I was leaving friends. I will be back!

The only downside was a temperamental Ving door lock but the staff went out of their way each time I needed assistance. [Details]

We went to Iberostar Daiquiri for good Friday long weekend,
we did not have hot water in our room and this was not only our experience, there were so many guests with the same issue. when we took the issue to the customer service of course everybody was upset of not having hot water and very low water pressure in their room people were up set and angry. the front desk threatened us to call the POLICE on us!!!! imagine traveling to a foreign country and the hotel TELLS you "they will call police on you" just because to shout up every body.
this was a totally turn off to waste our money and time in a place they treat you like that.
Hotel itself was clean but....
the lack of hot water and low pressure water
not much/ variety of alcohol drink (!!!! we go there for drink)
Food was very bad
Beach has all sea weeds and sea plants
safety deposit box unlike other resorts was charged for $2.00 a day
Italian restaurant food was terrible
This was maybe 11th times we traveled to Cuba we never had these kind of experience. [Details]

Front desk staff were more attentive on this visit and a few issues with our room were addressed quickly. We finally, on our 4th visit, got a room with one bed rather than two, after paying for an upgrade. It was very comfortable. However we didn't get pink wrist bands until we asked for them based on a comment by a staff member. The pull-out bed was made up when we entered the room, we tried to put it away (it was blocking the balcony door) but couldn't get it all the way in. We didn't mention it and nobody ever fixed it.

The tennis courts need to be resurfaced, repainting isn't really good enough. We chose this resort because it had a tennis pro, so better courts would make the resort really stand out and attract more people.

Beach & sea is another main reason we visit and it was as good as a filled-in beach can be.

I think it's great that the management meets with guests to get feedback. The staff overall are wonderful and helpful, except for the lady in the cigar store. The shows have improved, there is a bit more variety and also live music multiple times a day. This year there was a fun beach party between our hotel and the neighbouring resort. [Details]

Amazing food, Friendly service. The people working here care for your comfort and well being. They will bend over backwards to ensure that!! The beach is beautiful! 24 hour bar is amazing. Any kind of mixed drink you want, they have!!! [Details]

I went for a week and I don't think this is a 4 star hotel. I would say it is 2 star.

Cons:
- rooms weren't great. Towels smelled of mildew, no "do not disturb sign" (which means if you want to sleep in or you are sick, housekeeping will knock on your door 3 times throughout the day and wake you up), no clock, construction constantly happening during the day outside the third floor
- not enough chairs at the pool or beach. If you don't reserve a chair by 7am, they are ALL taken. There were only about 25 chairs at the pool and they were all reserved before breakfast. Same with the beach. I saw a woman complain to management that she and her husband had nowhere to sit for days, and all management did was give them 1 chair from storage. You are still able to use the pool without a chair - but you will need to sit on the concrete or go back to your room when you're done swimming. This is my biggest complaint.
- food is bland and takes too long. There is only one buffet for the entire resort, which means you will be waiting in line for 10-15 minutes for food at every meal. Pop was not available at the fountain machine the entire trip. Sometimes the staff had bottles of pop, sometimes they didn't. So your options for drinks at the buffet were beer, wine or water.
- not much variety with drinks. I asked a bartender for a list of drinks they offered. She reluctantly gave me a book and said "we don't make evrything in the book". So there is no way to know what is and isn't available, unless you stand there asking "can you make this? Can you make this?"
- check in was very hectic. Everyone rushed the front desk, there was no order, no way to know who was being helped, or if any staff was available to help you
- staff was friendly in general, but I had 1 staff member badgering me (3 times) about selling me an adapter because he claimed my electronics wouldn't work in the hotel room. He only talked to me when he saw I had my luggage and hasn't checked into my room yet. Once I got into the room - surprise - my electronics worked with the sockets perfectly.
- no wildlife on the resort what so ever, aside from a few stray cats. [Details]

The beach had been widened, which was nice and my room was convenient to everything. Room 4129 Varadero Building. It was nice that the lobby bar was open 24 hours as I could get a coffee before the buffet opened. The line ups were time consuming in the buffet, need more variety of pre-cooked items and more chefs. [Details]

This was our 4th time here and 1st since 2010. We were concerned that the resort might have slipped since our last visit. We were pleasantly surprised and noticed improvements completed and more underway. [Details]

It was a great week. Clean hotel, good food, friendly staff. Nice sized hotel, not too big, but enough choice for dinners.
Fast service everywhere. [Details]

wonderful hotel and vacation [Details]

I recently returned from this resort in Cayo Coco. I found that the resort is run down and needs some extra attention to the bathrooms and cleanliness. There was only one bathroom that had toilet paper, soap and paper towel. The other bathrooms some times had toilet paper but no paper towel. Also when I went to customer services to advise of the washroom in the theatre they told me they would have it done. The next show I went to and everyone after that did not have anything. The bugs were bad and I found a large cockaroach in my room. I found the pool area needs major concrete work as there are holes in it where people can trip. [Details]

The resort is in a wonderful location. Staff are friendly and helpful. Food was very good. [Details]

The staff were very friendly and helpful.grounds were kept very clean,the beach was beautiful.the rooms were nice and cleaned everyday.Of course the food was cuban food,always displayed nicely, and we were always able to find something we liked.This was our first time in Cuba and it was a great experience.Would recommend this resort. [Details]