Sol Rio de Luna and Mares Resort - Guardalavaca - Cuba - Caribbean

We went to Cuba to the Sol Rio de Luna hotel in Guardalavaca in July to celebrate our honeymoon. What a nightmare! We were given a room on the Mares side which was very basic but at least it was clean. There were chips in the bathroom floor tiles & the decor was gaudy & from the 70’s.

We stayed on an all inclusive basis & the choice of food was large but luke warm at best.  On the 4th day I got severe food poisioning which resulted in two weeks of constant vomiting. A Few days after contracting this I woke up one day & could not even get out of bed. My husband then had to get the local doctor who had to administer a rather big jab into my behind & gave me some awful hydration sachets which I had to consume over the next few days, all for the pricey sum of about £60.

I wasn’t alone though, other people at the hotel were also ill. The food was always just warm & the constant flies which flew around your head whilst eating -& then also sitting on the cooked/raw foods - was offputting.

The bar & restaurant staff were friendly especially AFTER being tipped but if we didn’t tip them the following days we would be given poor service compared to other guests that were tipping. Overall they were friendly though. Our room maid was always very polite & cleaned the room to an excellent standard.

Also note that tipping in Cuban pesos is best as staff are not allowed to exchange money into Cuban currency.

The entertainment was average: we enjoyed the water ballet which was great but the other acts were not to our liking and note that the evening shows are for adults.

I would never return nor recommend this hotel.