Sol Cayo Guillermo

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-19
Last April 3-April 17, we stayed at the Sol Cayo Guillermo.

Trip: Cayo Guillermo is an island off an island off the main island of Cuba. Flights land at Cayo Coco. We had booked initially with Air Canada Vacations to go to the Sol Cayo Largo in October last but by mid-March cancelled the flights to Cayo Largo and offered the flight to Cayo Guillermo. We were very disappointed with Air Canada Vacations because they charged more money for a hotel of fewer stars and left us without seat reservation privileges and having to fly on a stand by, which meant taking whatever was left at the time of getting the boarding passes.

Currency: At the present time, the currency for tourists is the convertible peso equivalent to $0.72 Canadian. It s better to change at the Airport bank and not at the hotels where we have seen the rate drop to $0.70 or even $0.69 Canadian.

Beach: The four hotels in the island are in a row, and the Sol Cayo Guillermo is the one at the end. The water level is shallow for quite a good distance, making it not dangerous for children. The sand is white and powdery and there are palapas and beach loungers that people seem to reserve very early in the morning by leaving towels on them!! If it is not too windy the waves are not very strong. It is possible to walk North (turn left as you leave the Hotel) to playa Pilar about 2.5 km, it is a nice secluded beach in a bay.
At about 2.5 km East, on the sea is one of the best coral reefs in the world; you can get there by catamaran and further explore it. It costs 11 convertible pesos/person/hour.

Weather: Cayo Guillermo is facing the North Atlantic and receiving North East winds, so it can be relatively cool specially in January.
Hotel: This resort is small, with well groomed gardens; there are 268 rooms in total. All of the accommodation here is in one or two-story bungalows, with no more than 2-4 units per bungalow. We had a great room on the second floor, 1210, it was quiet with good sized bathroom with abundant cold and hot water at all times. If your travel agent can put in your room request (upper floor, corner suite, ocean view, king-size bed, etc) it's best to do this at time of booking. There is a congenial, good family atmosphere in the resort. The Hotel provides a Room Safety Box, hair dryer and 1.5 liter water bottle/day.

Food: Adequate, it may be lacking in spice or variety, but there is always a good selection, great fresh fruit, fish and seafood, yogurt and cheeses. There is a pasta bar where a chef will make pasta and sauce from scratch for you, and there's always rice, vegetables, fruits, and good homemade ice cream. There are lots of dessert options and delicious fried bananas. The coffee/espresso/capuccino is very good. You can book 2 a la carte dinners/week and eat at the buffet the rest of the time, the main bar and snack bar are open 24 hours which is standard in the better hotels.

Tipping: Much appreciated, but not expected. We found the staff to be very friendly and helpful in general. We did not find that the service altered depending on whether you tip or not. Sometimes you just come from the beach and you're not carrying cash.

Shopping: The government owns and controls stores, so the content from shop to shop between tourist hotels changes little. If you want to bring back Cuban goods (rum, cigars, coffee) it's best to get all that at the large duty free stores at the airport when you leave. Prices are a bit lower than at the hotels, and the selection is greater.

Our great Sol Cayo Guillermo trip was done for under $1200 per person/week, all-inclusive (including taxes, service charges, and other fees). We would go back to the Sol Cayo Guillermo; we loved this resort and would return, we highly recommend it.

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-14
My wife and I stayed at this hotel for two weeks. Based on the numerous very good comments outlined earlier in TripAdvisor, we were also not disappointed. We were looking for a small, quiet, nice 4-star resort and we found it! This 250-place hotel, dispursed in 2-story buildings or bungalows, is not new but very well managed and in good condition. The beach is not wide (8-10 meters) but at low tide you can walk 500+ meters in the sea at knee-high level. Being on an island, it is very windy at times but great for suntan. Unfortunately, if you wanted some chairs at the beach, you had to be there very early. Staff is very friendly and day/night activities are OK. With only two restaurants other than the buffet, you get tired easy with food but is it not the case elsewhere also?

We took the "Jungle Tour" but beware, it is more a "Sea Tour" with 40 minutes riding a 40HP boat and 20 minutes diving in a cold lagoon. We also rented car and visited Moron (very poor) and a wonderful lagoon (San Jose), 50 km North of Moron. We saw wonderful palm trees and flamingos. For those afraid of driving, I must say that roads are in better conditions than in Montreal- just beware of pedestrians, cyclists and animals on the road! Take the catamaran at the beach for $11 pesos - you will see hundreds of colorful fishes you feed yourself.

We loved this small resort, just the right size. We visited other resorts at Cayo Coco, stacked with people near the pool or in restaurants. Not worthwhile! Lots of people mostly from Québec and Europe - easy to make friends with. We have been to Cuba for the 7th time and we always love the island and the wonderfull people there.

Anónimo, GB, 2005-04-12
Well, not sure where to start here. was supposed to a dream wedding for my neice, but sadly turned out to little less that this.
Started terribly at Gatwick Airport, this is a wedding me and most of my family are going to remember, but guess what??, yep the BRIDE not even on Thomas Cook's flight list!!, good start?, ok we finally got her, and the rest of party on plane, after one or 2 tears from poor girl.
Flight very cramped, but crew pleasant enough, arrived at Sol Cayo Guillermo, problem 2!!, hotel is over booked!!, 8 of our party had to stay in hotel next door, so far so good??.
Receptionist even suggests that one of the bridesmaids share with impending bride and groom, now this should be some wedding you not think?.
Ok, so wedding day finally arrives, Mykal and his team perform miracles, thanx Mykal, it went a long way to making trip happier, happy couple now married , all of us had good excellent day.
Ok, so what did i really think of this hotel, i have to say that we were little worried by some of the reviews left on this sie about this hotel, sadly some of them turn out to be well founded.
Accomadation: Excellent, maids too, thanks Maria for looking after room 213.
Food: erm, breakfsat fine, nice fresh omelettes
Lunch: rather later timing?, choice not good, and rarely hot
Dinner: little change here i am affraid, gets very repetitive if ataying 2 weeks, do look out for banana lady, great laugh!!, wicked smile too!
24 hour snacks:, well, i do not think they are using same clocks, watches as rest of us here, although tea, coffee always available.
Make sure you get dinner bookings in International, and Cuban restauraunts, good quality here, we were a little lucky and managed it more times than most, guilty conscience by hotel?, maybe.
Service: sadly, it was difficult at times to get service in main bar, unles you just happen to have a spare peso or 2!, i was under impression that tipping was done AFTER good service, not to simply get served, Yamilla, lovely girl, an exception here, thank you darling always had lovely smile too, a bonus here!!
Entertainment: Excellent, look out for waitresses serving you dinner, then racing of to lay on some great dancing!
Pool, Beach: Excellent, make sure you are up early tho to get sunbeds, seems to not enough when hotel is full!
Overall impression, this is rated as a 4* hotel, i do not know how Thomas Cook, or any other tour operator arrives at this rating, i would rate it as 3* at BEST, maybe a little less.
We all at the end of the day had a great time in Cuba, mainly because we had no choice, after all we had come to celebrate a family wedding, i loved the country as a whole, and the people, and would return one day in future, but definately NOT to this hotel, sorry but they let us down on this occassion, maybe it is not always like this, but we did not see it.
Any questions?, please do feel free to e-mail me, will reply to all recived.