Hotel Gran Caribe Club Kawama 4 * (Varadero, Cuba): holiday pictures and reviews

Narrow strip of the resort zone of Varadero, where the Cubans are allowed only on passes, is entirely occupied by hotels. But it was not always so. In one thousand nine hundred and thirtieth year, for example, there was a village near the beginning of the cape. And on the sand spit there was a hacienda. She was surrounded by the master's outbuildings and a wonderful garden. Hacienda and the village of Varadero shared a short distance - a couple of minutes of walking. What was then? Hacienda was bought by the hotel chain Gran Carib and built a new hotel on the basis of the historic building. And it's called now Gran Caribe Club Kawama. Until two thousand and ten, his sign was decorated with three stars. Now added one more. The hotel is constantly being modernized, updated. It stands on the first line and has its own sandy beach. And what about the hotel tourists say? We learn about this from this article. Reviews of travelers helped us to make a complete and detailed description of the hotel.

Where is the hotel located and how can I get there?

From Havana airport, where most of the foreign tourists land, Varadero needs to travel more than two hours. But this city has its own air harbor, which, by the way, has an international status. Varadero Airport is just twenty-five kilometers from Gran Caribe Club Kawama 4 *. The former hacienda is now within walking distance from the village in which the local people live. Usually tourists (independent, in a tour package which does not include transfer) get from Havana by bus to Varadero. There they are transplanted to double-decked cars, which run through the resort area. But the guests of the "Grand Caribbean Club of Kawam" do not need to spend cookies on this last mode of transport. In five minutes you will reach the hotel. Since this is the very beginning of the cape (or, if you like, the sand spit), there are a lot of entertainment places, shops and nightclubs around.

Territory and buildings

The historical building of the manor manor, executed in a peculiar colonial style, safely survived to the present day. And there is a reception and several rooms of a higher category. In addition to the master's house there are also extensions and later bungalows. In general, the Gran Caribe Club Kawama consists of forty-four two-story buildings. All bungalows are painted in different colors of saturated shades, which immediately creates an elevated atmosphere of the holiday in the tropics. The hotel has a very spacious area. It is stretched along the sea. And this fact makes it unimportant what kind of bungalows you will be populated - from anywhere to the beach go for about a minute. Of course, if you are not a fan of walking, it is better to ask the bungalow closer to the reception and restaurant. But it should be borne in mind that the bar with animation is also there, so in the evenings there can be noisy. In the central part of the hotel beach there are a lot of people. And the territory of the hotel is such that it's a sin not to walk there. Juicy tropical greens, flowers, paths. True, warn the reviews, mosquitoes hide under the leaves. Bring the money from mosquitoes!

Where people settle. Room Categories

Gran Caribe Club Kawama is a fairly large hotel. There are three hundred and sixty-five rooms in forty-four bungalows and a hacienda building. Rooms for guests are divided into two categories. The most common and cheap is the "standard". The rooms of this category are designed for comfortable accommodation of two guests with the possibility of populating the third. The bedroom area is small - seventeen square meters. The bathroom adjoins to it. Windows of all standards face the garden. These rooms do not have a balcony or terrace. The more expensive category is "Superior Room". These rooms are also designed for two, maximum three guests. However, the size of the bedroom is much larger - twenty-five square meters. In addition, all rooms in this category have either balconies or terraces. Some of the superiors have a view of the pools. But only forty-nine rooms face the ocean frontward. The hotel has several rooms for guests with disabilities.

What's in the rooms?

The standard of the Gran Caribe Club Kawama has a mini-fridge in which only drinking water is placed. The heat will reliably leave the air conditioner outside the window. The room has a TV with cable channels. There are no Russians, report reviews, but you can find out the truth about what is happening in the world. The bedroom has a safe for valuables. For Cuba, this is an unheard-of luxury, but the rooms have cold and hot water around the clock. The standard room costs sixty-nine euros per night (for two and with the "all inclusive" service). And now let's see if it is worth overpaying 15 Є per day for the superior room. Reviews mention that in the rooms of this category there are always terraces or balconies. Some of the superior rooms have a frontal view of the sea. Refrigerators in such rooms are filled with no- and low-alcohol drinks, so these are mini-bars. And in the superior rooms are coffee machines, with which you can prepare yourself a hot drink. Clean in all rooms every day.

Food

Hotel Gran Caribe Club Kawama has fully implemented the concept of "all inclusive". Gastronomic facilities of the hotel consist of three a la carte restaurants (with Creole, Italian and international cuisine), two eateries, three bars and cafes, in which the chefs specialize in grilling dishes. And this is not counting the main place for feeding, where meals are served in the buffet mode. In the "Kawama" bar, discos are held every evening. Tables in each of the a-la-carte restaurants should be booked in advance, but dinner is free for hotel guests. Bars are also at the pools, and on the beach, and in the lobby. There they pour alcohol of both Cuban and imported production, but not of premium class.

What do food reviews say?

In the hotel Gran Caribe Club Kawama 4 * (Cuba, Varadero) are fed very well. The reviews noted that, unlike in Thailand and Egypt, the dishes in the main restaurant are served as usual for the European stomach. Products, despite the total poverty of local residents, the hotel is getting good, fresh and quality. At each meal there are several types of meat and fish. Fruits and vegetables are also many. The reviews claim that the bar in the hotel lobby (stylish, with soft comfortable furniture) has a more extensive wine card than the rest. Parents say that on tables it was always possible to choose dishes suitable for baby food. From restaurants a la carte, vacationers recommend visiting Creole and Italian. Excellent barbecue and fish on the grill are cooked in the grill-cafe. There are no thematic evenings in the main restaurant. But there are no queues. Waiters work quickly: they bring new dishes, clean tables.

Beach and swimming pools

All the reviews agree that the coast at the hotel is the best in all of Varadero. Gran Caribe Club Kawama has a stretch along the ocean territory. Therefore, almost all bungalows go to the beach a minute or two. Sand on the beach is snow-white. Every morning he is combed by a tractor with a furrow. Number of sunbeds is sufficient. Umbrellas are covered with palm leaves, which emphasizes the atmosphere of the Caribbean holiday. The only drawback is the bar. He is alone for the whole beach, and if you want to sunbathe away from most people, you'll have to go for drinks on a hot sand. But there are four swimming pools in the hotel. For children there are designated zones. Fresh water in swimming pools is cleaned in a modern way, and it does not carry chlorine from it. The terraces around these tanks are also filled with sunbeds, by the way, of better quality, with a grid, and not with solid cross structures. Beach towels are provided at this hotel.

Services

Gran Caribe Club Kawama 4 * is responsible for arranging business meetings and holding meetings. For this, the hotel has two conference rooms. The hotel has a currency exchange office, a post office, a laundry, a dry cleaning service, a beauty salon, a sauna, and a massage room. Two rooms are fully adapted for comfortable accommodation of persons with disabilities. For those who want to work out for sports, there is a gym, tennis court, darts, volleyball and basketball courts. You can rent bicycles, but this service is already paid. But at the sea at your service all kinds of non-motorized water entertainment: masks, fins, snorkelling tubes, catamarans, kayaks, surfboards. The hotel has a diving school. But scuba diving lessons are already paid. But absolutely "for so" you will learn to dance salsa and tango. Animation for adults works both in the afternoon and in the evening. Every day there are parties in the disco club. Weifai in the hotel is paid, from the Cuban operator.

What are the conditions for children in the hotel?

A child between the ages of four and twelve can be enrolled in a mini club. This is a separate wooden structure, where there are playrooms and where qualified teachers are constantly engaged with children. High chairs for feeding babies - this is the norm for hotels with four stars. There is a hotel Gran Caribe Hotel Club Kawama and an outdoor playground with soft cover. There is no special animation for small guests. But tourists say that the program of evening shows for adults often includes performances of magicians, so that the children like it. The contingent of tourists at the hotel is mainly Canadians and tourists from Western Europe. Animation, respectively, is conducted in Spanish and English. But children easily overcome the language barrier, and parents say that their children attended the mini-club with pleasure, where they played with peers from other countries.

Excursions: where you can go from the hotel

The Gran Caribe Club Kawama 4 * (Varadero) has a tour desk. But in order to go to Havana, it is not necessary to apply to his services. In Varadero (on street 36) there is a station with which at exactly eight in the morning a bus leaves for the capital of Cuba. And the journey costs only ten cookies, not one hundred. Tourists recommend visiting the Roma House and a cigar factory in Varadero. This can also be done without overpaying the guide. But to visit the magnificent island of Cayo Largo or ride a jeep through the jungle is possible only as part of the excursion group. Reviews mention that as the hotel "Gran Carib Club Kawama" is the first at the entrance to the spit, then the tourist bus goes there immediately, so that guests can take advantageous places in the cabin. From souvenirs are recommended to bring home rum, cigars and unparalleled coffee.

Hotel Gran Caribe Club Kawama: reviews

Many tourists appreciated that the hotel is located in a historic building. Live on a real Cuban hacienda is an extra exotic. For comparison, you can take a bus on the spit and see other hotels. There's no hint of Cuba either. And in "Kawam" reigns a completely different atmosphere, light, reckless, intoxicating. Lizards of different sizes and colors creep along the garden. Very close, it is worth to go five minutes, and you can plunge into the world of Cuba "as it is." Varadero has its own charm. By the way, the prices there are lower than in duty-free, at least on alcohol, coffee and cigarettes. The staff at the Gran Caribe Club Kawama Resort is friendly and very studious. Clean the rooms well. They are fed qualitatively, variously. Of the positive reviews repeatedly mention the beach. Pure sea and white fine sand. Also, tourists liked the huge territory stretching along the ocean. Reviews note that if you do not like the room or its location, you can ask at the reception to change the housing. Maybe, not on this day, but on the next, you will be given another bungalow.