Ocean Vista Azual, Varadero, Cuba

This week Sister Sarah and I spent our annual sisters' week at the Ocean Vista Azual, an all-inclusive in Varadero which promotes itself as a five-star resort.  It's about a half hour drive from the airport, on the resort strip.  We were part of a large group organized by Faith at Niche Travel Group in Nova Scotia.

Here was my room ...

There was a mini fridge in the room that was stocked daily with a big bottle of water, two cans of beer and a can of orange pop.

There was no clock in the room.  I know we are vacation but it's nice to know what time it is when I wake up.  I had to be in the lobby at 7am this morning to catch my bus to the airport so had to set my alarm on my cell phone.

The power outlets are 220 volts, which was fine for charging a cell phone, iPad or laptop.  But you'd want to bring a converter if you had something that really needed 110 volts.

Here was the view from my balcony, which overlooked the larger pool ...

Sister Sarah and I hung our Nova Scotia flags from our balconies

The 470 rooms are spread out in "bungalows" or larger buildings (we were in a larger building).  The bungalows are scattered throughout the property.  Though some have a view of the ocean, they are a bit of a distance from the main buildings which have the lobby, restaurants, theatre, etc.

There are two pools.  The infinity pool is off the lobby and a quieter spot.

Here is the other pool, which was larger and louder.  My balcony overlooked this pool so it was a fun spot to be.  If you like it quieter, you wouldn't like it in my building as this was where all the action was.

There's the swim-up bar

There was also a jacuzzi but it was pretty lame ... just a small round pool with no working jets.

There are lots of restaurants (buffets and à la cartes) and bars.  You can't eat and drink for 24 hours a day but pretty close.  The servers in the restaurants and bars were friendly.  I know you don't go to Cuba expecting the same quality of food we are used to but I didn't enjoy the food.  I would bring snacks from home (more protein bars, for example) next time.  No reservations were taken in the à la cartes, which I found strange.  There was a long waiting list (about 45 minutes), which was disappointing, so we ate in the large buffet for suppers.  I stopped by the Italian restaurant about 7pm last evening and asked if we could eat at 8pm and they took our "reservation".  Yay!  It was the best meal I had here so it was a nice way to end our vacation!

There were two beaches, which are shared with other properties.  Here is the larger one.

We preferred the smaller one ... it was amazing!  It was closer and the snack bar was right there.

There is lots of room to wander around.  Here are some pictures around the resort.

There is a cost if you want to connect to the Internet.  WIFI cards for an hour are one peso.  I'd brought my laptop so bought 30 cards (my intent was to share with Sister Sarah but she wasn't able to get online on her iPad) and it was $45CN.  The speed of the Internet was just okay ... it would cut in and out.

The nightly shows were okay, not great, though the circus one on Friday night and the magic show last night was really good. They started nightly at 9:45 and end at 10:30pm.  Shaydid, a cover band from Nova Scotia was with our group and they provided a couple hours of entertainment four of the nights ... they were really good.

If you need transportation, you just have to walk to the end of the driveway (about five minutes) and there are taxis and you can catch a bus to Varadero (5 pesos for the day).

Other than the food, I'd stay here again.