We just returned from our week-long stay (April 14-21) at Playa Pesquero where we had a good time. Here are some reflections and tips for the future travelers:
Summary:
The resort is pretty good and provides a good value for the money (we paid CAD 897+ tax per person for a week). I would give the place a very solid 4 rating or a bit above that (not yet a five star resort as they advertise themselves). The buildings and facilities are well kept and taken care of. The beach is great. The water is wonderful -- very clean and pretty warm at this time of the year. The staff is friendly. The food is OK, but do not expect something really outstanding. There is a plenty of drinks for everyone. The pool is great for those weird people who prefer pools to the beach. The entertainment and tours are good.
Pros and the routine stuff:
As I said, the strongest feature of this resort is the beach and the ocean. The beach is very clean and sandy; the water is shallow and crystal clear. The sea life in the water is very entertaining -- make sure you do some snorkeling on the nearby little reef spots. Once you start distributing banana pieces to local inhabitants, a little bright crowd gathers around you and you can observe about 10-20 different species of fish at the same time. Make sure you bring your own snorkeling set (you can borrow one from the beach rental place, but you never know who was using this equipment before you).
The swimming pool looked great, but we never used it because the beach was great. It looks like the resort has two separate communities of visitors: pool and beach. The former drink alcohol from the swim-up wet bar, probably go pee-pee right there into the pool, and spend days in chairs burning under the sun. The latter enjoy the breeze, the water, the sand, and the sun.
The rooms are plain and simple, but clean. The room service is excellent. Make sure that every day you leave on a pillow 1-2 pesos of tips and probably some little gifts for a maid to get a good service and some towel-based compositions and sculptures.
The food was OK. You have a choice of going to several buffets and about eight other different places to eat. For dinners, you can make reservations at a la carte places (four during a week-long stay). Make sure you book them as early as possible, especially if you have a large group. Be prepared to wait 1-3 hours in line in order to make a booking. We went to the vegetarian (great service and nice food), Grill (slow service and nothing to eat for vegetarians), Romantico (great service and nice food), and seafood (slow service, nice food, and no options for strict vegetarians) a la carte restaurants. There are also la Gondola (people said the service was slow but the food was good) and Asiatico (for some reason, the least favored place) a la carte places. Bring a collared shirt and pants if you plan on visiting a la carte places. Since I am a vegetarian, I can probably say that the no-meat food could have been more varied and plentiful, but I did not starve anyway. Those who eat meat and seafood will find the food choices more than adequate. Those who drink alcohol will be pleased to find their favorite drinks at the resort bars or restaurants. I highly recommend the pulpy apple juice that you order through waiters.
Cons:
1. The informational support and services at the resort has some substantial room for improvement. The little things here and there can piss you off if you are got used to living by order and schedules. The phone support is not very good. Try dialing the * key to get some services. When you depart, do not call for the luggage pick-up, but instead stop a cart around the resort or at the hotel entrance across the luggage room door. I called for the pick-up service and ended up waiting for 30 minutes with no result. They did, however, managed to disable my room keys and the phone line during this time, I guess, by assuming for some reason that I was leaving for good at 11 am to check out.
2. When you check in, they do not provide you with enough information about the resort, facilities, and programs, so take the initiative and ask about available activities and places at the front desk.
3. The traveling agency representatives are available during very limited hours and are not very helpful in providing detailed and clear answers about locations, activities, and directions. The rep guy from our firm, Nolitours, was the example of such inadequate service.
4. If you are from Canada where the appointment time is the appointment time, be prepared to add extra 15-30 minutes if you have a time arrangement for a trip, event, or departure.
5. Our 4-yr-old daughter had a diarrhea problem during the last two days, but I suspect the reason was a drink served during the Swim-with-dolphins trip outside the resort.
6. Some people in their reviews complained about bed bugs. I think there are may be some in each room as we got a couple of bites during our stay. I personally had just one during the first night, probably because later I was using a hydrating cream before going to bed.
Tips:
• Be persistent and pro-active if you need something.
• Early in the morning (6:00 – 7:00 am), in order to have some shade later during the day, go to the beach and reserve a spot under a beach umbrella by leaving a towel on a beach chair (the resort guys will help you with moving the chairs to the exact spot you point at).
• Watch after you towels. One of ours was stolen from the beach. I suspect that somebody from the wave departing on that day solved his/her own problem of a missing towel by “borrowing” ours. It is sad, but such things happen. The beach guy said that 3-5 towels go missing on a day a large group of tourists depart. We paid CUC 15 for the missing towel, and, of course, we did not follow this ugly tradition of taking somebody else’s towel in order to avoid this expense (which in my opinion, should be cancelled by the resort).
• All equipment rentals are FREE. Sign up for a pedal boat before 10 am at the beach rental place. Tell them the approximate time you plan to get it, but do not bother about exact minutes. Usually, there are always some boats available, but you cannot get them unless you made a reservation first. Once you got the boat, you can use it as long as you want (return it by 5 pm – the official closure time is 5:30 pm, but they prefer if return the equipment earlier). Catamaran rides are with an instructor. You can also rent a surfing board and a snorkeling set.
• The best snorkeling places are in the eastern part of the beach (to your right), so it may be a wise idea to go there on a pedal boat. Make sure you take some bananas to feed the fish.
• Definitely visit a crafts market at Guardalavaca. The prices are unbelievably low and the crafts are very good. In particular, wooden compositions and sculptures are fantastic. You can always negotiate the price and get all things up to 40-60% cheaper than originally asked. Bring things for barter deals because Cubans appreciate them even more than convertible pesos. Clothes, medicine, and tools are the best items. To bring fragile souvenirs back home, pack some collapsible carton boxes with you and make sure you have enough luggage space.
• If you go to the Guardalavaca crafts market, take a cab. A ride for a group up to 8 people will cost you CUC 10 each way. Make sure you agree on a price with a driver before you get into a cab. If a driver insists on more (say, CUC 15), you can pick up another cab.
• Take the Swim-with-dolphins tour. Do not pay for the swim-included package (CUC 100), just pay for a show (CUC 40). Later on, when you are there, wait until all of those who pre-paid earlier get their swim routine done and talk to the employees. For a CUC 10-20 direct payment you will get the whole swimming package (a dolphin swim, pat, kiss, and extra rides) without having to join a group of other tourists. In comparison with CUC 60 that you pay just to swim with a dolphin along with 6-7 other tourists (the rides cost extra for those who pre-paid), it looks like a much better deal.
• Take the horse-back riding tours. The guys are located outside the PP resort at the entrance of the Blau CostaVerde report, which is a 15-minute walk or a 4-min bike ride from the PP hotel. Follow the road to the left from the hotel entrance. For just CUC 8, you can enjoy a 2-3 hour tour to anywhere you want to go. Go there in the morning to make sure the guides and horses are still available (you can leave your bike there – they will lock it inside the barn while you are on a tour). My wife went there alone and said the guy who provided a tour for her said she can ride the horses every day any time for free, as long as he can just be her tour guide and can look at her (“you are so beautiful…is your husband jealous?...la la la…”).
• You can borrow bikes from the resort (free) and explore the surroundings on your own. The hills, forest, and seashore are pretty and interesting to explore. You can also rent a moped (I think it is CUC 15 for a couple of hours), but it is not recommended by travel agency reps, as every month a few tourists end up at the hospital with broken hands and legs.
• Bring some medications with you, just in case. (like some anti-diarrhea treatment and pain killers).
• On the departure day, if you leave in the evening, you should anyway check out from your room by noon. First bring your luggage to the luggage room located across the hall from the reception desk and leave your stuff there. Catch a cart around the resort or in front of the luggage room to transport your luggage. Do not phone them for a luggage pick-up. Take your valuables and documents with you in a backpack, just in case. Borrow beach towels at the luggage room if you want to. Second, return your “regular” beach towels and get your towel voucher back. If your towel is missing go directly to the front desk for a check out. Third, check out from your room and pays any extra charges that you may have (like the one for the lost towel). Fourth, enjoy your day around the resort. Fifth, come back, take a shower and change in one of change rooms across the reception desk. Six, get back your luggage and load the bus to the airport.
• At the airport everything should go smoothly, although there are lineups both during the arrivals and the departure. Make sure you have some drinking water and bathroom tissue (both when you arrive and depart), so that you do not have to pay for this at the airport.
• Bring an insulated mug for drinks at the resort. Do not forget about a sunscreen and a hat.
• Do not exchange your currency at the airport – it is a waste of time. The bank at the resort works smoothly and there are no waits or problems when changing your money. 1 peso coins work well for tipping. You can always split banknotes into coins and smaller denomination notes at the bank at no charge.
• Buy alcohol at the airport duty-free shop. It is more expensive at the report store. Buy sugars at the cigar shop in Guardalavaca next to the crafts market area. Buy crafts and souvenirs at the market in Guardalavaca.
• Use an electronic safe box in your room to lock up your valuables and documents. Make sure your balcony door is locked when you leave the room.
• Get a room key card for each member of your group and leave one card in the slot next to the entrance door during the day, so that the air conditioner can work all day and keep the room cool. Turn off the air conditioner at night, so that you do not catch a cold.
• Put a used towel beneath the entrance door to avoid some rare insect visitors during the night.
• Tipping: 1-2 pesos per day for a room maid. 1-2 pesos per table at buffet places. 1 peso per adult at restaurants. You can also leave 1 peso for a cart diver who helps you with the luggage. You can tip bartenders, but there is certainly no need to do it for every drink that you get (remember it is an all inclusive resort and you already have paid a hefty price for your vacation package). 1 peso for a tour guide if you want to. All resort employees appreciate little gifts “in kind,” in the form of things. Do not tip in foreign currency as Cubans are not allowed to possess and exchange it. The beer and soda from you fridge (replaced daily) make for nice little gifts to guards and gardeners. They appreciate it. Just make sure nobody sees you giving drinks to them because officially resort employees are not supposed to take such gifts from tourists.
• Make sure you still have a separate amount of CUC 25 for EACH person on your way back in order to pay the departure airport tax at the airport.
