Sol Pelícano ****

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-27
Resort is exactly what it says... 3.5 star... but I would actually rate it as a 3.

Booked an ocean view which we did not get. What we did get was a "semi-partial" view. We were not at all impressed. Sunquest rep did nothing to help this problem nor did the hotel mgmt. Do not request an ocean view if going to this resort as most, if not all, of the rooms are really not near the water.

Room was clean and comfortable. Noted a somewhat stale smell everytime we entered the room. Air conditioning did not work the first day. We did not see bugs of any kind in the room. The maids did a great with cleaning and were friendly. Bed was actually comfortable for this star rating resort. And, we did have to wait 3 hours to get our room after arriving at the hotel! None of the rooms were ready for the guests.

Food. Really a matter of preference. My husband and I really couldn't find much to suit our palate. Thank God we packed Pringles!

Staff: Great. Except for the guys at the desk who really didn't do anything upon trying to get us an ocean view like we paid for. I really enjoyed the Cuban people and their kindness/friendliness. The young entertainers are absolutely awesome. With what they have to work with, the are truly talented.

A La Carte: What does that mean?????????? There are two. We were told they were very good... but first of all we arived on a Thursday and told we had to wait until Sunday to make a reservation.... Then, when we went on Sunday, we were told they had no availability! Go figure. Some people ate at the A La Carte twice.... Not sure how they managed that! I really think this resort caters to the Italian tourists. The majority of the guests and this resort were straight from Italy. Not that I have anything against Italians, I'm married to one! But the tourists from Italy seemed to get preferred treatment. Just my humble opinion.

BEACH! Can't beat it. I would go back to Cayo Largo just for the beach. I would stay at Sol Pelicano again for the beach. Overall, for the price, if you are looking for beach and water and not too concerned with the resort... GO FOR IT! I could not get over the beach... the one at the resort and the two others that you can take a free excursion to.... Totally awesome.

POOL: This was nice too! We spent a lot of time by the pool when not at the beach! Always managed to find a chair and enjoy the sun.

Not much grass around the resort,... very dry and rough appearing. But I think this is because of the water situation on this small island. Apparently, they have to desalt ocean water for use.... not really sure, but I did note there's not much greenery around.

Overall, you get what you pay for. We made the best of it and did have a good time. We met some very wonderful people and this in itself made the trip worthwhile. We got this trip for $822 taxes in -- I would definitely not pay more than this amount for it. In fact, if I were to return, I would expect to pay even less.....

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-27
Hi, my family and myself returned from Sol Pelicano. We were there April 7-14/05. I must say we had a great time. I was a bit unsure if I booked the right place for my children (ages 6, 8, 11), being our first trip and all, and I was very pleased with this resort. They had a blast and where sad to leave.

We arrived at the airport at Cayo Largo, it is a bit small and warm, but we didn't expect anything luxurious. The light was out in the toilet, but one of the employees was very helpful in that situation. We had to wait a bit while our passports got cleared and everything, but that's okay, I had longer waits at my doctor's office. There was a Sunquest rep at the airport and they gave us our papers and room numbers. One of the airport employees helped us with our bags and was very friendly, he even gave us some gum. We gave him a tip and he was very happy. It's nice that the airport is only 5 minutes away from the resort.

When we arrived at the resort, we waited in line for our card (to open the room and safe). Some of the rooms weren't ready, ours was. Even if our room wasn't ready, it wouldn't have made a big deal because I had packed our swimsuits and a pair of shorts with flipflops in one of our handbags, in case this situation did come up, and we would have changed in the lobby bathrooms.

We had two rooms because of the kids, but one triple room would have been enough. We had asked for 2nd or 3rd floor rooms, but got 1st floor. That actually worked out better because the kids didn't have to go up and down stairs. There was a hammock on our balcony, but we never used it. The rooms were neat and clean. There were a few ants crawling around and a few little flies, but that was not a big deal. There was a tv, a small fridge which the room lady (Cristina) would add a 1.5 litre bottle of water daily, and a safe that swiped with room card. Cristina was very nice and we would always leave her something, either a tip or perfume, hand cream, or something for her daughter. I wouldn't say that the room was luxurious, but we weren't expecting that (we had seen some of the pictures.), but they did have alot of detail in the rooms. And like I said before they were clean and kept well. We were hardly ever in the rooms anyway, just when we showered and slept.

The pool was nice and we were in it alot. It's a good thing we had goggles, the salt water in the pool was a killer on our eyes. Especially because we weren't used to it. But it certainly didn't stop us from going in.

The kids' pool was great. It was only about 2.5 feet deep, but perfect for the kids. They had a slide structure that the kids went down on and just by the pool was the Mini Kids' Hut. There were games that the kids were able to play, a tv, a mini toilet and some pool and sand accesories. Right next to that there is a sandy playground, with swings and teetor tauter. The kids animators were great and would have the kids get together for a little party, practice dances for the evening, or just to play with them. During our stay, the kids' animators were Solange, Juan Ernesto, Renier and Umberto.

The beach was really nice. The waves were a bit wild, but we had fun just jumping them. We took the shuttle train to one of the other beaches. We went to Playa Paraiso, but walked about 20 minutes down to Playa Sirena, which was just beautiful. There weren't any waves there. The kids played and we took a catamaran ride. You could see the baracuda fish swimming by. We went to Playa Sirena again before we left the resort and this time we walked till the beach sort of ended by the marina. It was so beautiful, The water was clear and the kids were able to see the little fish swim by and they also saw starfish and sand dollars. It was incredible. There was a restaurant and a hut selling a few things there. I bought a couple of souveniers.

The food was good, I can't complain. The kids ate everything and didn't get sick. There was variety at the buffet and our waiters, Lazaro and Erick were great. I was a bit tired of the buffet by the third day, but switched to some of the La Carte Restuaurants, which were good. The only thing I didn't like is that we had to line up at 8:00am to reserve a spot and then we would get late reservations (9:00 -9:15), which was a bit late for the kids. I did mention this to some of the waiters that we had made friends with and they were able to get us in at an earlier time. The grill by the beach (El Rancho) was good. I enjoyed eating there at lunch and dinner. I liked their fish, but also ate everything else too. The guys there were great. Julianne, Noel and I can't remember the guy behind the grill, they were all awesome. La Yana was more of a fancier restaurant. Eddie was able to get us in. The food was good there too. We didn't get a chance to have dinner by the pool bar, but we did have lunch there. We had everything from their hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken and pork sandwiches and delicious french fries. Yoel would normally serve us and Ricardo and Jose would get our drinks behind the bar.

There were activities to do there during the day. My husband and oldest daughter would play water volleyball, and I would do the water aerobics (when I felt like it). There was bike riding, tennis and archery, which we all did. There was bocce and beach volleyball. There was dancing lessons, all you need is one person to get up and everyone else will follow. The animation staff won't force you, but it's fun to do if you want. If there is some kind of music you would like played in the afternoon, Avery Michael is the one. Felix was by the club hut and would give you games and clean towels.

The shows at night were great. I think they have some very wonderful dancers. They did some great theme nights. We missed 2 1/2 shows because the kids couldn't stay up. (The shows started at 10:00) There is also a Mini Disco for the kids to do at 9:00 and they dance some great songs. (I still have the tunes in my head).

I found that the staff at Sol Pelicano are very nice, this I cannot complain. I always greeted them with a smile and a Hola, and they would warm up to you. My heart went to these people who work 20 days and go home for 10. I can't imagine how they must feel leaving their family like that every month. Some would share their stories and it was quite a learning experience. I had no problem leaving them some of the kids belongings, snacks, toys, and all of our toiletries. Plus I had brought things down for whoever I made friends with, including the maintnance and gardeners. The only person I found to not be friendly was Deanna by the club hut. I don't know why, I thought it was just me but others said she was just like that. (Maybe she wanted something upfront like a tip or gift).

Sol Pelicano was a nice place to vacation. Like everyone says, wherever you go, go with an open mind and don't expect to much. These are people who work hard, long hours, if they seem grumpy sometimes, we would to working their long shifts and having to put up with some people who think that the staff are slaves. I treated these people the same as I would want to be treated. We are human. The only reason I say this is because we happen to be their when some people visited from Italy, and their attitudes are totally different from us Canadians. I need not say more.
If you choose this place, go and have a nice time...oh by the way, we did have 2 power outages while we were there. No big deal. One was in the morning for about 1 hour. The other was in the afternoon for about maybe 2 hours, I'm not sure because I was at the pool. The only problem this caused is there is no water at the time. Like I said not a real big deal.
This is a lovely, relaxing place to go to,and worry free if you go with young ones.

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-26
Just got back from Cuba (April 23, 2005). Four of us travelled together - in our forties, no kids accompanying us. Had a bit of trouble with check-in. The staff spoke very little English and we had no idea of the process. Didn't get the King size beds we requested and our room smelled funny at first. After we realized that last-minute booking meant last minute selections, we cooled off (didn't hurt that we went to the beach and had a couple of drinks).

The staff was great. As it was our first time, we overtipped, but got great service for it. Sometimes there was a long line up at the bar but our waiters would come over to us in the line and get the drinks for us. Others would save tables for you and at the buffet, they would get your drinks for you.

Food was just fine, nothing special but nothing bad either. We had expected bland food so we were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't. Sometimes the breakfast foods were cold. I was told AFTER I left that you could ask the chef to throw the bacon and stuff in a pan to warm up with your eggs. Let's face it though, nobody goes to these places for the food.

The beach...now that was awesome!! Soft sand, aquamarine water, warm as a bath...didn't care for the salty water but after awhile you get used to the taste (with a few pina coladas to cover it up!).

The entertainment at the Pelicano was great as well, with a couple of nights being interactive. We found it hard to get used to the fact that English wasn't the first language there......as a matter of fact, most times it was the third or forth. During the entertainment the emcee would speak first in Spanish, then Italian, French and then English. We didn't really mind though as we were the foreigners there.

Activities - there was volleyball, dancercise, aquafit, etc being offered but we didn't care much for it......only those already looking fit seemed to be the ones doing the activities...we just came to vegetate. If you go to Cayo Largo, you have to go on the Katamaran Cruise. It cost 69 Cuban pesos each. It was very enjoyable, snorkelling on the coral reef, throwing bread to the fishes and watching them jump out of the water to get it, visiting Iguana Island, and Lovers Beach, finished with a lobster or chicken lunch. We also rented scooters for a couple of hours and really enjoyed that.
We did see nude people on the beach and quite a few topless at the pool, but only for short periods. At one time we went to Serena Beach and there was a naked couple doing something that should have been kept private...that was uncomfortable for us (I don't think it was for them though!).

The Canadian dollar was only worth 70 cents there so that ticked us off. They didn't want our loonies or toonies on Cayo Largo as they couldn't be exchanged there for pesos. We tipped in pesos but we also brought along small presents which seemed to go over really well-it seemed some staff preferred the presents over the monetary tips.

All in all the experience was very enjoyable If you are looking for a quiet relaxing place to go without the commercialism, Pelicano, Cayo Largo's the place for you. No venders, except for a couple of souvenir tables at night. We would definitely go back. For now we are preparing to take Spanish lessons.

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-25
I can't even begin to explain the disappointment that my husband and I felt when we arrived at this resort.

Our first thought when we arrived was to turn around and take a flight home ASAP! It was not at all what we had expected after reading all of the wonderful reviews.

To start with, the grass was dead, the trees were dead, the flowers were dead, the paint was falling off the buildings, there was just nothing at all appealing to look at around the resort itself.

The first room we had was very small and just fit the 2 tiny single beds, the air conditioning did not work and it was stifling hot. It wasn't until many visits to the office to complain that we got upgraded to a bigger room with air conditioning and a king size bed, I must say that the Sunquest representative was very helpful and understanding.

There was not much at this resort to keep you amused, the animation team was not overly friendly, there were no activities throughout the day and the night entertainment was lacking.

The lunch/dinner experience was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen, the food itself was the worst I have ever had and they served the exact same thing every single day for lunch and dinner. To make matters worse, there were long line ups and the rudest people I have ever seen. People were literally pushing you out of the way and you had to fight for your food.

If you do decide to go to this resort be prepared to spend all of your time on the beach, it is the only place that you can actually relax and enjoy the scenery. The beaches on Cayo Largo are the most beautiful I have ever experienced, the sand is powder soft and the water is many shades of gorgeous blue, there is also a shuttle that you can take to two other nearby beaches that are definitely worth seeing.

All in all, I would not give this resort more than a 2 star, it should not by any standard be considered a 3.5 or 4 star and if that is what you are expecting, I suggest that you not go there, you will be disappointed!!!!!!!

If on the other hand you are going strictly for the beach and don't care about bad accomodations and food, then go for it, the beach will not disappoint.

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-22
Sol Melia should be ashamed to run this facility and rate this place more than a two star. Sunquest was absolutely no better in selling something that does not exist.

The 'resort' must be considered no more than a bed and a beach.

The availability of activities is questionable as requesting things like mask and snorkel or sailing fall on deaf ears or debate and argue just to use these. The watersports in general are severely restricted. You can swim on a beautiful beach or in the pool......... that is the extent of the watersports. The food is edible and palatable but do not expect hot food as you are lucky to receive warm at best. Everywhere on this facility you will encounter waits and line ups. Our room stunk like a sewer and was filled with ants and bugs. Three days later we received an apology and a room change. The staff here, while polite and kind, work within the confines of the resort owners' limitations.

Admittedly, this island has the most beautiful beaches you will ever see.

The hotel staff are wonderful and kind. The facility is a dump in comparison to other island hotels that rate 3 or more stars. The excuse given is that relative to the other resorts on Cayo Largo this is a nice resort. However, this facility is in a global market and should be rated as such.

Before booking Sol Pelicano or Sol Cayo Largo, have recourse with your travel agent because should this fall short of your expectations, not much will happen at the facility its self............. buyer beware!