Varadero Internacional

Hotel Class: 4 out of 5 stars4 Stars - 4 Reviews and 206 Opinions

Av. Las Americas, Km 1, Cuba, Caribbean

 

58%

of people enjoy staying here

3.0 our of 5 stars 210 Opinions

Excellent
 
20
Very Good
 
59
Average
 
46
Poor
 
41
Terrible
 
44

Our Members Say

  • lmsantos profile photo
  • Reviews: 1

1 out of 5 starsUser Rating

OH MY GOD!!!!!!

I'm not sure where to start. I read the reviews and gave this hotel the benefit of the doubt but we arrived there the evening of March 20 and left the morning of March 21 to a different hotel. The hotel was broken down, literally, there was broken concrete, very dirty and no hot water in our room and there was mold on the walls. The airconditioner was so loud that you couldn't keep in on. We got no sleep that night - disco blasts until 6:00 am and the doors to hotel room have a screen inside so you can hear everything. I couldn't eat any of the food in the morning and we just got the hell out of there. Wouldn't have been so upset but the pics and description on internet is very deceiving. Very disappointed but my vacation turned out amazing the 5 days after that.
Travellers beware of misleading information to this hotel. I have stayed in motels and hostels that were much better than this. Even the doorman shook my hand when we left that morning in a cab and told me that he completely agreed with our decision and the internet has false advertising about this hotel.

Unique Quality: The beach - and that's it.

  • Opinion of Price: less expensive than average
  • Written March 27, 2011

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  • danford profile photo
  • Reviews: 4

4 out of 5 starsUser Rating

try it

the hotel has changed as of winter 2008 2009

Unique Quality: best part and on the beach and the best night club opens at 11 pm

  • Opinion of Price: about average
  • Related to: Romantic Travel and Honeymoons

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  • kgodbout profile photo
  • Reviews: 1

5 out of 5 starsUser Rating

Going Back

My husband and I stayed at this hotel March 2006. It's the closest hotel to the beach in all of Varadero. The sand is 20 steps from the patio. The staff were extremely friendly, the hotel lobby is beautiful but the rooms are pretty basic. We had an ocean view room and the view was absolutely magnificent! The food was definately the only drawback in my opinion. There is a grill at the pool and the food is much better there. We ate only at the grill once we realized that it was there( were not pool people) This is more a of R$R hotel. There wasn't a whole lot of partying going on.
We found that the guests were split as far as enjoying the resort. This was our first vacation so we were just glad to be there. Some of the more seasoned travellers complained a bit but this is Cuba. Hello, if your looking for a vacation that Oprah would enjoy, go someplace else.
We are planning to go back March 2007. While we were there the staff said the hotel was closing for renovations. Does anyone know if this has been done?

Unique Quality: Great beach

  • Opinion of Price: about average
  • Related to: Family Travel

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  • teddie12 profile photo
  • Reviews: 4

1 out of 5 starsUser Rating

2 out of 5 starsHelpfulness

Beware, Do not go to this hotel, bad service!!

we arrived there at around 9:00p.m. and there was 6 couples including us, went to check into the hotel, front desk there was one guy working there only, barely spoke english took us 30 min for us to checkin because he was the only guy there.
when we checked in our room, we were hungry so we decided to go downstairs and eat at the buffet, GUESS WHAT ? THEY KICKED US OUT AND TOLD US IT WAS CLOSED, because they close at 8:45 p.m.
IMAGE HUNGRY AND TRIED FROM TRAVELING and cannot eat that night!!!
I mean all of us that checked in this hotel 6 couples could not believe that we cannot eat , because the buffet was closed.
NOBODY AT THE HOTEL made any sort of arrangments for us to eat past 9:00p.m.
I found this unbelivable and unacceptable at the same time, that this hotel does nothing to extend the hours when they know that people checkin late like this.
The lobby bar the service was based on tips if you tip him you get service if you don't well guess what, you will wait before you get served there were times we waited 10-15mins for our drinks.
The staff at the buffet let's not go there!!!
but I will, they never smiled at all , most of the time you had to ask them for forks, glass , knife and napkins, never bothered to do it without you asking them. we got the impression from them that it seemed like they were doing us a favor everytime we asked them for something that was missing on the table.Never smiled!!!
The hotel animation just plain sucked every night was boring. Have the time the elevator did not work, walked five floors, showers thats a good one, the water would instanily run burning hot on and off while you are showering, I mean no joke the water would be so hot that it would burn my back, nothing to do with suntan , this would happen every time we would take a shower.
Smiles and service were based on tips only!!! The food well, expect to lose weight if you are picky, not much of a choice for a food selection.
More than half the staff at the hotel barely or not spoke english.
Do not book at this hotel

Unique Quality: We had a good view of the beach and the ocean, very nice.That was about it for this hotel. I could say.

  • Opinion of Price: more expensive than average
Varadero Internacional Photo: International Hotel, Varadero

Varadero Internacional Photo: International Hotel, Varadero

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More about Varadero Internacional

Varadero, Hotel Internacional ..

by TripAdvisor Member Sunspotbaby

The hotel is clean, spacious rooms, beds were uncomfortable. The chambermaids were good. Bartenders great. The food at the buffet was not so great. The desserts were fine. If you like bread, it was good. Breakfast was okay, served eggs each morning along with other buffet items. The outdoor patio at the pool was great, food was okay there, burgers and fries, and wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches. The waiter there was quick and very friendly.
The Panorama restaurant was okay, with Italian food. It was better than the buffet for sure.
The Wednesday night dinner/ caberet show was excellent. Prime rib and lobster were served. We changed our money at the hotel and got 15 pesos for 20 dollars Canadian. Sometimes the hotel "ran out" of money, but the bank was just a walk away. If the hotel ran out of money, it was only for a few hours, then you could get money again at the front desk. This hotel is right on the beach, and what a beautiful beach it was!! Overall it was an okay place to stay, for the price.
The market was only about 20 minute walk from hotel. To take a horse and buggy to market ( larger market ) was 2 pesos each.
Trip to Havana was great, we did the day trip only without going to the Tropicana show at night. Lots of gorgeous older cars!!
Catamaran trip was awesome, but again the meal served at Cayo Blanca ( Island ) was not the greatest. If you take the Catamaran trip and you like Lobster, make sure you take $$$ with you on the boat to buy fresh Lobster, they pick up from local fisherman, and cook while on board! Snorkeling was also fun right off the boat. Have a great trip and if you need any further information contact me at sunspotbaby56@yahoo.com

Mixed Messages

by A TripAdvisor Member

Hotel Varadero Internacional is a lovely hotel and is like stepping back into another age. The marble foyer and porch swings over looking the beach are great features and if you happen to get a room over looking the ocean (as we did) you are in luck! The beach is beautiful and less crowded than all the other hotels. And it is an easy walk into town where you can get some decent food at El Rancho and the restaurants in Varadero Park.

BUT the front desk staff is surly and unhelpful. And whether by poor math or by purpose managed to always give us less than the appropriate amount back for exchange of our Canadian $. On top of this they do not post the exchange rate, which they deem to be about 1.25 (about a 5% surcharge on the actual exhange rate). The scooter rental also tried to charge us for fuel (it is suppose to be included) at 3X the actual cost of gasoline in Cuba ($0.90/litre).

Do not focus on taking gifts for the Cubans (this use to be big here) but they do like tips (and lots of them). Although if you do take some, candy, lipstick/make-up, shirts, and caps still seem to be popular.

We would go back again...and overall it was good. But we got a great deal and were prepared for bad food and poor service.

The Best In Varadero!!

by TripAdvisor Member DestinationCuba

We will be travelling back to this hotel for the 12th time this April. We were at this hotel before it became all inclusive (which we prefer, but the future seems to be in all inclusive). Because this is an older hotel the rooms are far more spacious than at the newer hotels, and the oceanfront room view makes this a definite 10!! The staff are friendly, and very accommodating, & if you don't like one restaurant you have others to chose from. The beach, the reason we chose this hotel is one of the best along the strip, and your room is truly steps from the beach!! The lobby resembles ones seen in the movies, it is gorgeous. Anyone chosing this hotel won't be sorry, if what you are going for is beach and service.!!

Beware as it is not a good as claimed

by A TripAdvisor Member

First the positives - Super beach as good as anywhere you can go and the Internacional has a large beach frontage that is not crowded. The rooms are larger than most motels and are adequate although not fancy. Generally most of the staff was friendly and helpful. Place was clean with exception of table clothes.

The negatives - pool is very old, square, off to the side and no gardens etc. surrounded by old shops that where not longer used. Not a very appealing area. The elevators where old and not working on several occasions. The water was turned off a couple of times due to old plumbing requiring repairs. The food was the worst part, cafeteria style and quality with the exact same selection every day. Drinks were seldom mixed correctly and were generally too strong (usually all inclusives have weak drinks).

My wife and I do not plan to go back to this motel. We heard a lot of others express the same feelings.

Best beach front of all the hotels !!!

by A TripAdvisor Member

Just returned from Varadero. I'd like to say that while the sand on the beach is the most amazing shade of white and the ocean is warm and a clear beautiful blue, the hotel is really a 3 star hotel. And if you are prepared to stay in a 3 star hotel without high expectations then this is the place for you. The price is definatly right and it is a great place to take a family vacation. We did notice that the crowd was older so if you're in your early twenties expecting to party... UH no, this isn't for you. The rooms are not too bad, if they changed the curtains and the bed linens I really wouldn't have had that initial "Oh my what have we booked ourselves into?? reaction." The rooms are clean and the staff is friendly. You must line up to get a reservation at the restaurants that are in the hotel every morning and sometimes you wait quite awhile to sit at the buffet (no reservation needed for the buffet). The drinks are great! The food is really quite good, french fries and burgers and these yummy beers called Cheladas that taste like Coronas and lime. You can venture into Varadero and have some great dinners as well. Oh yeah and you need to put a $20 deposit on each beach towel you borrow for the duration of your stay, which they return when you give back the towels. Take some salsa lessons it was fun! Good kids club with lots of crafts. Bring vitamins and medicine for the CUBANS they really appreciate it and second hand clothes.

You get what you pay for

by TripAdvisor Member cowdung

Burned out staff.Broken elevator and cappuccino machine for three days. Food that becomes tiresome after a couple days is what you could expect to see staying at the Internacional.Otherwise for the price I payed for this place,it made it economical.Your close to town and can eat elsewhere,Party elsewhere and drink somewhere else where there is bottled beer , caring baretenders, and $5.00 meals. The majority of the guests when we were ther were over forty This central hotel makes a great Homebase for seeing Varedero.If you prefere a little more pampering try a newer Hotel that can cost substantially more.

not a quiet resort

by A TripAdvisor Member

If you can purchase this hotel on sale, then okay. If you have a room facing the front of the resort, you get to smell the diesel buses and listen to the disco music until 3.00 a.m. The disco is also at the front of the hotel. At the back of the hotel is the 24 hour bar, so you can listen to the people who drank too much carry on to all hours of the night..
The most annoying part of this hotel is that the bedroom doors bang very loud when closed. The wood door slams against the wooden frame and echo's down the halls.
I woke up several times throught the night wakened by the banging of the hall doors.
If people smoked in the rooms above, beside or below you, then the smoke would filter throught the air conditioning into our room.
The food is good if you like buns, and grapefruit, and sliced oranges.
The mixed drinks are slushies and leave a lot to be desired. No banana mama's or fancy drinks. Pina Colada's are good, but when you see at least 1/4 cup of sugar go into each drink, it makes you sick.

BEWARE
We were at the cuba airport for an extra 2 hours because of the fog back in Hamilton. That gave the cuban's extra time to ransake the luggage. 3 people that I know of who went to Cuba, had the locks cut off the suitcase and goods stolen from there luggage.

Varadero is beautiful place to visit and the beach is awesome. I would recomend Varadero, just make sure you research the hotel you are staying at.

 
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 We had a good view of the beach and the ocean, very nice.That was about it for this hotel. I could say. 

4 members live in Varadero

 

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Q: Music! "I just returned from a week stay in Varadero Cuba and had an amazing time. I couldn't get enough of the great music there and as..."

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A: "I would heartily recommend watching the film " Buena Vista Social Club" and listening to the CD from the film. Then try listening to Ibrahim Ferrer and for some beautiful..."

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 Varadero Internacional

We've found that other people looking for this hotel also know it by these names:

Gran Caribe Hotel Varadero

Address: Av. Las Americas, Km 1, Cuba, Caribbean