We booked with Transat Holidays and our flight out of Montreal on Jan. 12th was delayed 1.5 hours. We arrived in Holguin at 9:10 pm, breezed through formalities at the airport and were in the bus in no time. We were lucky the first stop was our resort the Sol Rio. Check-in was quick and we went up to our room 3053 on the Mares side. Right away we could see that the a/c wasn’t moving air as it should have. We left it on at max, didn’t empty our luggage and headed out to get a look at the resort (even though we had been there before) and to have a drink. When we came back two hours later the room wasn’t any cooler. Everything was sorted out the next morning when we changed to room 3022 where the a/c worked very well and we had a wonderful view of the pool, beach and ocean.

Our maid did a great job and we had bottled water in our fridge every day. The resort is well kept, the restaurants, lobby, common areas, grounds all in good shape. The pools on both sides are not very big and unfortunately on the Mares side things got quite loud and full later in the afternoon when we would have liked to spend some time there. One day we decided to go over to the Luna pool since it was supposed to be quieter. It was but there were hardly any loungers. Some people were sitting on straight chairs because of a lack of loungers. So we spent a lot of time on the beach. The two first days, we had two plastic loungers under a tree. There were plenty of those, the fabric loungers were very coveted. The third day, since I was awake at 7 am anyway, I made my way down and joined in the towel game as I couldn’t take another day on a hard plastic lounger, my back was killing me and I wanted a palapa. So from then on, we had fabric loungers and a palapa. We had three red flag days (our first in 7 trips) but we enjoyed the beach anyway.

We loved the food at the buffet. There was so much choice, I couldn’t imagine someone finding fault. Alas, I did overhear a couple of people criticizing the food. For dinner, there were numerous choices of meats, fish, seafood cooked to order. There were salads, veggies, pasta, I can’t name everything but we loved it. That’s where we had breakfast (loved the coffee) and dinner (except for the Italian à la carte which was very good). We had lunch at the beach restaurant, I think I ate calamari four days in a row, yum. The only thing I would have liked that they didn’t have were slush machines that made actual slush. They didn’t seem to work properly and made a watered down version of slush. So I only had a few pina coladas. But the cervezas went down well during the day. In the evening we mostly had cubatas, dark rum on ice and more than a few cafe espanol. We found the staff gave very good service. No complaints there. We managed to give away all the gifts we had brought. The hardest was finding someone who needed the tarps. We asked around and although I’m certain I was describing them correctly in Spanish and English, it took us a while but we finally found a young man who understood and could use them to repair his roof. He was so happy he had tears in his eyes and I was just glad to help.

We didn’t go on any excursions as this was a vacation to rest and relax. We went to the beach party on Thursday night where we ate and enjoyed the entertainment. The weather was lovely all week except for some windy bits and a little rain late one evening. The resort has been restored following the damage by Ike and looks great. The main difference are the missing trees which were destroyed but the gardeners are always working hard at making the grounds beautiful.

We left for the airport at 5:15 pm, we were the last picked up. The airport was practically empty when we got there and we were first in line for check-in. Time flew by, our flight left on time and we had a smooth flight home.

It was a wonderful vacation, one we had been looking forward to for a long time and that we savoured fully.

The flight out of Toronto at 6:25 a.m. was on time and we were on the ground at Holguin Cuba at 10:15 a.m..The flight was uneventful and the cabin service was very good and we were served a sandwich ( EggMcMuffin from Wendy's I think) for breakfast. We enjoyed the flight.

Cuban customs. Took a while to get through customs and immigration and pick up our baggage. Cuban customs pulled us aside and searched our bags. I had to smile a bit as the first question the young customs agent asked me was "where's the cooker". I didn't know really what he was talking about. After searching all my luggage they came up with our 3 c.tea kettle. By now there was four or five customs agents milling around looking in to the kettle through the spout trying to figure out where "the cooker" was. They summoned their head agent and he just put his hands to his head and then up in the air and turned around and left. The embarrassed young customs agents quickly closed my suitcase and told me "sorry sir for the delay, take your kettle with you LOL.".

Bus ride to hotel. My fellow passengers were waiting for me on the bus. I felt sheepish for the delay but there was still a few stragglers left to get on the bus so thankfully I wasn't the last. There was a lot of confusion about the seating but that was sorted out fairly quickly and we were on our way. Now I was feeling much better. The coach ride to the hotel was just marvelous with all that Cuban scenery laid out in front of me as I ended up with a marvelous front-row seat. This is the nicest part of getting in to Cuba during daylight hours when you can enjoy a one hour and 15 minute free coach ride through the most beautiful country you have ever seen.

Hotel check-in and reception. Ahh, here alas, a tiny fly in the ointment. Seemingly our room won't be ready for an hour. Not to worry as we stash our luggage and head for a looksee of the beach as this is our first time at this hotel. Beautiful beach and beach restaurant. We return to reception two hours later and no room yet. Another hour they say. OK now I am just getting a little aggravated about this hotel as I have been up since 2 a.m. and I'm a bit out of sorts. We head of again and come back two hours later. No hotel room! I told them that I thought this was unacceptable as the previous guests that we were replacing had left that morning at 7 a.m.. Then they changed tack and started looking for another room for us in a different section which they found. We got into our room an hour later (five hours after arriving). The room overlooked the renovations and the doors would not lock properly so we went to reception and the young man told us that they were just sorting out all of the paperwork about the rooms and that if I would come back by 9 p.m. he would try to help me. By 9 p.m. we were settled in a most beautiful room looking west over the Bahia De Naranjo and Cristobal Colon Park. We were very happy to have a room facing west overlooking such beautiful forest and countryside. It's so nice to sit on your balcony in the mid afternoon and bask in the sun overlooking such a beautiful place and with a cool Mojito in one hand and a good book in your other hand. Heaven!! In addition to getting the room we wanted, the next day hotel public relations sent us a very nice bottle of Cuban rum for any inconvenience that we had been through. A nice touch. We appreciated the gesture and basked in the sun on our balcony and drank to their good health. Air Transat also sent us a very nice bottle of rum and a package of Cuban coffee (the coffee we are trying out this morning for breakfast ).

The room. A nice spacious room with a king-size bed and spartan furnishings. There was a television set and CD player. There were quite a few television stations and the CD player worked quite well. The CD player also had a tape deck. The room had quite a nice size closet with lots of hangers. In the closet there were a set of drawers, an ironing board, an iron,an electronic safe that was easy to use. The bathroom had a full bathtub and shower and quite a nice vanity and sink. The bathroom also had a bidet and toilet side by side. The bathroom was nicely tiled and very clean. There were lots of space for your luggage and there was lots of drawer space. The room had a beautiful balcony facing west where the afternoon sun streamed through large sliding glass doors. We were very happy with the room.

The grounds and facilities. Absolutely stunning especially the grounds on the Luna side. We spent our first day walking all through the hotel complex. Such marvelous landscaping and tropical flowers everywhere. We thought for the kind of money that we had paid to come to this property that we had lucked out in a big way. We made our way through the fitness center which is shared by both hotels (Luna and Mares). Just beautiful with lots of exercising equipment and hot tub and sauna and massage and hairdresser. Here at the fitness center there is also medical service at certain times during the day. There is an activity Center on the beach where you can make reservations for water sports etc.. Also on the beach is a Mini club, a massage table and a dive center. In front of the Luna reception and lobby there are scooters and bicycles for rent and also four-wheel-drive vehicles. At the Mares lobby area there is a car-rental agency. There are shops at both the Mares and Luna lobby areas. There is also a money exchange next to the buffet at the Luna lobby area. There are lots of other facilities too numerous to mention at this hotel complex.

Restaurants. We found lots to choose from here. Unfortunately there was only one of the two buffet restaurants open during the week we were there and the buffet was quite crowded on most occasions. But I would say with the other buffet restaurant "Colon" at the Mares coming back online soon there will be no lineups like there were when we were there. We found the food at the buffet to be quite good and it was our restaurant of choice on most occasions. However we did eat at two of the a la carte restaurants during our stay. We certainly liked the Cuban restaurant. It was on the beach and we really enjoyed the atmosphere there. You have to wear DEET in the evening hours because of mosquitoes . The other a la carte that we went to was the "romantic" restaurant on the beach. There we had a very nice filet mignon and some good wine and enjoyed good service and a great atmosphere right on the beach. It was indeed romantic and we enjoyed it. During our week the Mexican restaurant was open for breakfast and we liked that location very much. We usually had a before lunch snack at that same restaurant as well. The staff there are excellent. On another occasion we had pizza at the Italian restaurant on the Luna side and it was pretty good pizza also. Really during the week we had no problem with choice of food and drink. On a couple of occasions at the buffet we had some really excellent chicken Cordon Bleu and another hit with us both was the turkey breast stuffed with spinach and cheese. Excellent. Air Transat puts on a great beach party for its clients on one evening during the week. It happened to be Tuesday evening on the week we were there and the party was a wonderful success. Lots of food, drink, great service and a fashion show and some entertainment right on a beautiful beach. We never wanted for any type of food during the week we were at this hotel.

The beach. Playa Esmeralda. The beach was quite beautiful. Approximately 1.3 to 1.5 km long. Nice powdery white sand. Lots of shade and lounges were to be had all week. Good washroom facilities on the beach. I would say there would never be any problem getting sun lounges and a shady spot. Two lunch snack restaurants and bars (one at the Luna end and one at the Mares end). All your needs will be well looked after during lunch at the beach. Also there is a great activity at the end of the day when Cuban professional skydivers take tourists up in the helicopter and a tourist and a Cuban professional jump in tandem from a height of 10,000 ft? .. It is quite thrilling to watch and just looking at the faces of the tourist participants as they float down to earth safely in the hands of professional skydivers, is an experience in itself. Very exciting for us to watch.

Bars and entertainment. The nightly entertainment I cannot comment on as we didn't attend, but I know they did have entertainment every night at the theater starting at around 9:30 p.m.. I'm sure the entertainment staff do their best as always. The bars we did frequent on occasion. Actually probably many occasions. We enjoyed the lobby bar 1492 in the Mares section on quite a few occasions. The service there was excellent and the bar was open 24 hours. We mostly had a routine all week. We had a drink at most bars. We certainly enjoyed the bar at the Luna lobby. Here after our buffet dinner we would have a brandy Alexander and listen to some great piano music before heading back to our room. The pool bar was a nice place during the day. We had several drinks during our week stay at the bar attached to the Mexican restaurant. A great place to have a drink at noon and people watch. We also had some drinks at the bar attached to the Italian restaurant by the Luna pool. All in all the bars were a very good experience with good quick friendly service and nobody really put their hand out for a tip. They appreciated a tip when they got one but were never demanding or slow if you didn't. Good staff all the way around.

General Area. This hotel is situated in a most beautiful area. We did quite a lot of walking through the park next door and we did some hiking for quite a few kilometers around the hotel's general area. Walking the area is something I would recommend to anyone. The flora and fauna are just beautiful. We may spend two weeks here on our next visit so that we can explore the whole area on foot.

Our Alarm Clock. One morning we awoke to the sound of a crowing rooster. We thought maybe we had slept in! I got out of bed and went out on the balcony but it was only 4:50 a.m. and pitch black. I thought this rooster's body clock is out of sync. I also thought it was a bit too early in the morning for him to be looking for some action. I guess Cuban roosters are 24-hour action junkies LOL. As I looked out from the balcony I seen the bright trails of two falling stars.I made a a wish. I then called Karen and as we both stood there on the balcony in pitch black you could see a billion stars twinkling up there and the Milky Way was unbelievably bright. I hadn't seen this kind of clarity in the sky since Cayo Largo in 1992. It was like we were looking at the bright lights of a huge celestial city in the sky. It took our breath away and we just thought that we were both the luckiest people in the world to be there at that moment. We will take this image and hold it in our hearts and minds forever.

Hotel check out. I was very surprised that with approximately 90 people checking out that the hotel management had not arranged for an early breakfast for its clients. Actually they had some coffee and some rolls laid out at the Carabella snack bar (Mexican restaurant). There was no cutlery or plates etc. etc.. Bad planning. A very poor effort by the hotel. If you are expected when you check-in to wait four hours for your room then I think when you check out early they should have some perks in place for an early breakfast on your departure. Opening the buffet or Carabella snack bar 15 minutes early would have made a good impression on the hotel clientele and given them more reasons to come back. Small things like this count a lot. To be called a four-star hotel the management will have to follow through on all of these small extras that make a holiday a great holiday instead of a good holiday. It wouldn't be a lot of effort for management to have done this but would have had huge good faith and loyalty from their clients if they had.

Would we go back to this hotel?. Absolutely. This was wonderful value for money. Actually Karen and I have already talked about plans to go back to this hotel for Christmas 2008. That is a long ways in the future but we haven't been away for Christmas ever and this seems like a really nice laid-back hotel with good service where we would be comfortable spending Christmas Holidays. There is very little pretense at this hotel, just good solid quality service from almost everyone involved. The area is also very beautiful.

The bus to the airport. The bus was on time and eventually after a lot of head counting we made our way to Holguin Airport. The ride to the airport was again through the same beautiful landscape. Traffic was a little heavier on our way in. We were the first bus to the airport so check-in was kind of a breeze as we were first in line. No problems with our luggage being checked in (I was able to get the "cooker" back on board without incident) and also we got window seats which was a great plus. I actually liked Holguin Airport. The upstairs lounge is quite comfortable and there is lots of window so that the whole atmosphere is bright and airy. We had a sandwich and a couple of drinks and before you knew it we were boarding on time for our flight back to Toronto. It was quite clear on takeoff and we had a great view of the countryside around Holguin as we flew north and gained altitude. I think I did see Villa Covarrubias ( I would love to go there soon) as we flew over Cuba's northern coast heading out into the Atlantic and then over the Carolinas and over the Alleghenies into Toronto. It was a great trip. If anyone is interested here is a link to some photos of the trip. http://canuck.webcentre.ca/ . As I'm writing this I'm thinking about my next trip to Cuba, hopefully sooner than later LOL.

Joe and Karen.(Paliser)

Sol Rio de Luna y Mares
January 7 - 14, 2007
Shine (aka Pauline)

January 2007
My husband and I decided upon this resort at the last minute (we booked Thursday, left Sunday), because I am a travel agent, we got an amazing deal, under $550+taxes and the luxury of upgrading to Club Class for a pittance of the price. All in all, for the price we paid, it was a great opportunity to visit this resort (an area we'd never been to previously) but most importantly to do a site inspection on the sister resort, Paradisus Rio de Oro, which we LOVED. As it is my job to sell Destination Weddings, I viewed both hotels through my "work eyes" and in my honest opinion, I would not recommend this resort for a wedding but would definitely recommend it for a cheap last minute getaway.

With that being said, both my husband and I are seasoned travelers, specifically to resorts throughout Cuba, from 2.5* up to 5* so hopefully you will view this as a previous poster mentioned, an honest and neutral review. It is a 3 star hotel, not a 4 as advertised. It is dated and needs a good scrub down, the outside of the buildings showed its age with mold and rust spots streaming down the sides and the floor tiles reminded us of a school hallway. The washrooms in the public areas (lobby/ beach bar etc.) were not very clean either.

There was a delay at Pearson due to the conveyor for luggage being broken and so our flight didn't leave on time and we were delayed for an extra 2 hours which got us to the resort at 2am. There was only one individual on reception so it was a slow process, luckily the 24 hour lobby bar was open and we could have a few beverages to wait … but it was my first disappointment as they had no mint for mojitos (during the week I had about 4 in total due to lack of mint). Because of the delay, many on our flight did not receive their luggage for 2 days!

Room: 3.5*
I had written the resort prior to our arrival with a room request and we were very surprised when we walked into our room, it was a SUITE but with a single bed? We then realized that it was only the one room, connecting was another room with a king bed and a separate balcony. Beautiful. And the view? It had to be the best view in the whole resort, it was magnificent as we had two balconies, this in itself was the HIGHLIGHT of our week and this resort.

Because of the location, it was very noisy until after 2am because of the beach disco below. The air conditioning worked fine although we didn't use it much, we just opened our two balcony doors and let the breeze try to kill the consistent smell of mildew/mold. The throw pillows were the worse, they smelled very bad so I always put them in the closet because I think the whole room was smelling because of them and there were always teeny ants everywhere, in the bathroom (sink, tub, floor), dressers (on top and in the drawers).

There was a Jacuzzi in one of the bathrooms which didn't work, we called maintenance up the next day and in broken English he told us that it hadn't worked in a long time :-), the sink in the bar area as well wasn't working, but the lovely maintenance man said the same thing.

The maid service was the least effective that I've seen in all our stays in Cuban resorts. They made the bed and swept the floor but not very efficiently. We noticed a dead cockroach in the main room on our first day and it was still there 6 days later. The towels were not changed everyday, the sinks were not cleaned everyday, in fact one day, we left the wrapper from the little soap on the counter and it didn't get thrown out (not that we couldn't have done it, we just wanted to "test" to see).

Food: 2.5*
The buffet food was standard, if not repetitive. There was an omelet station in the morning and the server was very happy, always longs lineups though and we couldn't figure out why he didn't use TWO pans as he had the capability of doing so? Typically the one toaster that takes forever, but they had a "griller" and we would toast our bread that way, it was great ! The only had freshly squeezed orange juice on the last 3 days of our stay and we always had to look around and ask for juice glasses. The fruit selection was minimal and when they ran out, it wasn't replaced. The evening fare was simple, the pasta station was wonderful and this is what we had most nights, although the beef stew was very tasty, nothing else appealed to our taste. We usually sat outside on the terrace, but more often than not, we had to find our own utensils/water glasses (as tables did not get re-set), and then find a server so that we could get our coffee and wine at dinner, I found this kind of strange as well.

We went to the Italian alacarte one evening, and this was the BEST Italian we've ever had, it was AMAZING food, we couldn't talk about it enough (just don't have the egg drop soup, trust me). We also went to the Mexican alacarte but weren't impressed, the chairs were VERY hard, wobbly and uncomfortable and the meal was cold. On Tuesday nights, Transat is supposed to have a beach party/dinner but they had switched to the theatre due to unstable weather. All I can say is, don't bother, it is a standard buffet with a poor selection and when they ran out (rice, beans and butter in our case), it wasn't replaced and I saw many leaving and then going to the buffet.

Beach: 5 *
The beach is very nice and the sand was beautiful, soft like flour but not white, more a soft light beige. It was only a green flag our first day and still the water was wavy. The following day was yellow and watersports were minimal, the rest of the week was red flag and we were disappointed in ourselves for not going on the catamaran on one of the first days and not having the opportunity to go snorkeling. There were a lot of people there, but you could always find a chair anytime, although the nice blue mesh ones were usually taken first. Beautiful wide stretch of beach with lots of palapas and trees for natural shade.. We had rain for half of our stay, so we didn't get much sunbathing in anyways but had a blast jumping the waves when we could get in the water.

Staff: 2.5*
This is another area where I had issues with this resort. They never seemed happy? There were a few that stood out to us though, the omelet man, the bartenders at the Luna pool and lobby bar, and one lady from the lobby bar on the Mares side, but that's it? The lobby bar at the Mares was consistently busy and most times only one server, I saw so many people waiting long periods of time just to be acknowledged, then someone filled me in, GO to the pool bar (Mares) it was NEVER busy !!

Entertainments: 2.5*
The animation staff were fairly non-existent during the day. We never noticed any special activities happening, no archery/shooting/dance lessons etc. The evening shows were disappointments, very colourful but not in sync. And when we walked by the Kids Club a few times and there were none in attendance.

I realize in hindsight I know many may view this review as negative, but I was just trying to be as honest as possible and state some of the issues that we had, and that I would want to know when deciding upon a resort for my long awaited vacation. If you have any further questions or would like to see some of our many pictures, please email me at: shine@thetravelnetwork.com