Hotel Ancon

ancon beach hotel

by hanspeter_W. about near trinidad

Located in Ancón beach, a place of unique beauty. Its proximity to the mountain massif of the Escambray Sierra allows you to enjoy the combination of sea and mountains. The hotel Ancon is ideal for people who want to visit the historic town and area of Trinidad, while staying at a comfortable All Inclusive Hotel right on the beach. There is a regular shuttle bus service between the hotel and the town of Trinidad, which is only a 15 minute drive. There is an International Diving Center at only 10 minutes walking from the hotel. nice beach, good food

Not a five star

by TOFFY about Hotel Ancon

This was the first place we stayed in Cuba, (1998)and we paid very little so I was not about to complain. We were placed in the old part of the hotel that was more like a barracks. We discovered however, that for $10.00 more we could be moved to the new Spanish section. This is a must, if staying in this hotel.
The beach here is excellent, and some of the entertainment was some the best we have seen in Cuba, probably because of the proximity to Trinidad. But the food, in 1998 anyway, was horrid. For first experiences in Cuba, this area is particularly good - excellent beach, fantastic trips into rain forest, and Trinidad which is a jewel of history, although these days a little overrun with tourists. The music, the cars, the flora, the fauna, the Spanish architecture, the beautiful people.....it's all there.

Hotel on the Ancon peninsula

by aramat about Hotel Costasur

A budget Horizontes hotel with a nice little beach, pool, beach bar, night entertainment, restarants, small shop. Mostly Canadian and Spanish tourists. The hotel itself is nothing special, but the location is perfect , the water of the Caribbean sea is so smooth and the restaurant at the end of he beach offers excellent pizza (I know it's not Cuban food, but I don't like meat and rice so much, so after a while it was a very welcome change).

Casa Particulare

by stefaerie about Hostal de Elsa Hernandez Monteagudo

This Casa is actually in Playa "La Boca", about 3-4 km from Trinidad and about 8-10 km from Playa Ancon.
Perfect for a quiet getaway. Our host was very friendly and accommodating, arranging hikes, bikes and horseback riding for us, among other things.
THE FOOD IS OUTSTANDING!!!
Some Spanish is necessary.

Loved it there, at Ancon!!! :)))

by TripAdvisor Member klimka

My boyfriend and I stayed at Ancon from Dec 21-27 and we absolutely loved it. We went with Sunwing vacations. Their representative at the hotel, Maria-Julie, was very pleasant and always willing to help. We were not happy with one of our tours and she took care about it as soon as she heard from us. Staff at Ancon is very friendly. We never had any problems with any kind of service.

Animacion team was amazing. They work really hard to put up shows at night (X-mas show was spectacular!!!) and also have all kind of activities during the day like spanish lessons, lessons about Cuba, dance lessons, volleyball, soccer.There was always something to do and we never stopped to think about what to do next. We actually did not have enough time to do all the activities and go on all the tours available.

I beleve that the food was all right. Much better then in "higher" hotel in Varadero. There always was choice and I haven't heard any complaints about food from anyone. On Christmas Eve, there was a great special dinner in a beautifuly decorated cafeteria and every guest was offered champagne. In addition to cafeteria there were two restaurants: Cuban and Italian for which we had to make reservations in the morning of the day that we wanted to go there. To our surpise, Cuban restaurant was much better and more professional then Italian and even though it is said that you can only go to each restaurant once, that is not really true. No one checks anything.....just come and make reservations in the morning and enjoy it every night if you wish.

There is a snack bar that is open 24/7 and I've read some bad reviews about food in snack bar before we went to Cuba. Contrary to those, I found food to be very eatable (pasta with ham and cheese was really good) and i also heard that a lot of people liked pizza there ( I haven't tried it).

The weather was perfect and we got pretty tanned.
Our room was on the 7th floor, pretty nice and clean.
I had no complaints about the hotel whatsoever.

Officials in the airport were behaving wierd when we arrived. There was a lot of checking and re-checking procedures but I believe that the only reason for that was the fact that neither of us had Canadian passports and they wanted to make sure everything was Ok.
I Loved Ancon! I wish we could stay for two weeks there. We got to know the entire animacion team really close and that contributed to the entertainment during our vacation

Ancon was terrific

by TripAdvisor Member martish7

WE have just returned from our first visit to Cuba. WE had a wonderful time. The Hotel was great ,rooms were small but adequate, and extremely clean . Linen and towels changed every day and floors washed , was really amazed with the service , all the employees were so helpful even if their English was sparse.Food was excellent and very plentiful. Fell in love with the fresh squeezed Orange Juice and fresh picked bananas every morning. The entertainment staff(Animations) were terriffic. and managed to put on a fresh show every evening as well as greeting at the restaurant door and morning excercises. The Liquer drinks were plentiful and the bartenders were very heavy handed with the booze . Tipping.... we found that almost anything you gave was happily received .
The Ladies really appreciated Black panty hose and the fancier the patterns on them the better , any cosmetics... lipstick , nailvarnish , any hair ornaments... I ended leaving half my clothes and they were greatly appreciated. There were a number of trip availably , some to nearby towns and one to the Mountains..... this was named thr Rambo trip and they were not kidding .. we started off in a five ton Russian troup truck converted with bench seats , no padding and the terrain was pretty rough , ruts a foot deep . the treck through the jungle was also very rough ... if you are not in really good shape I do not advise this , I am 67 and have a lot of arthritis in my ankles and knees and hip and if it had not been for the excellent guide (Janet) and the help of my husband and the other travellers I would not have made it,Don't always believe all the seller of these trips tell you , most of them haven't even been on this trip. ll in all we had a lovely time and we would definately go back this hotel was great and the beach right outsie the door ....

happy to have choosen ancon

by TripAdvisor Member RELIABLE

we are happy to have spent a fabulous week at the hotel gran caribe ancon.

the hotel was very clean, full of interesting and nice people and the staff are very generous of there time.

the food at the "a la carte" restaurant, the buffet and the snack bar is good with excellent service.

the staff who runs the animation during the day, sports or dancing were great.

the ocean, sand, sun, palm tree were all at the rendez-vous, 7 wonderful days, great place.

excursion were nice too.

Had a great time at the Ancon....

by TripAdvisor Member A-non-o-mouse

I stayed here for 4 days in Feb 2005 and had a great time (granted, probably not all down to the hotel).

Agree with previous reviewer that staying in Trinidad in a casa particular is a better experience and gets you better food – but you can say that about any hotel/place in Cuba.

The food was fine at the Ancon – yes you’ll probably find something that looks odd to you, depending on which country you come from and what you’re used to, but there’s enough choice for it not to be a problem.

Granted the food could get a bit repetitive after a week or so, but hey, no big deal. The good thing about the Ancon is it’s very close to Trinidad and you can easily and cheaply get lifts there at any time of day or night.

It’s a great location on the beach. Go snorkelling on a reef or visit iguana island (amazing). If you want to relax and not have to “worry” about anything this is a good place to stay. If you are new to Cuba you could stay at the Ancon for a few days till you find your feet then move into Trinidad or wherever.

I actually quite liked the somewhat “Soviet era” feel and décor (don’t worry, it’s really not that bad!) – but then I’m not keen on nicey-nicey chintzy Caribbean style hotels (avoid the whole of Cuba if this is your cup of tea!).

The Ancon seemed to cater a little bit more for the older continental European rather than the Canadian visitor – and all the better for it – no offence to Canadians or young people or people with kids (I’m in my early 30s).

Had a great time at the Ancon

by TripAdvisor Member YerSister

This was a slightly larger hotel than we are used to staying at in Cuba and for that reason alone I am not sure we would go back. But except for some criticsm of the food, I really have no complaints of the hotel or the service. The rooms are clean and comfortable with great extra touches like mini-fridge, clean towels and bottled water every day and a free safe in your room. The staff are helpful and courteous especially the Public Relations and reception personnel. The beach is beautiful, and local attractions and the city of Trinidad are interesting and easy to get to via taxi or group excursion.

Our only complaint we had was the food at the buffet was not great and the dining room seemed cramped and overcrowded. No outdoor seating is available and we found the dining room opressively warm at times. There are three al la carte restaurants which are available daily with reservations and we especially recommend the seafood restaurant although there is only one menu choice. The Cuban/International restaurant was OK but be careful of your meat choices, chicken or pork are probably the safest bets. We did not eat in the Italian restaurant so cannot comment. There is a 24 hour snack bar which serves hamburgers, sandwiches, pizza and some entrees so there is always an alternative place to eat.

The highlight of our vacation was that one of our fellow guests obtained some lobster from a private source and the staff at the snack bar quite willingly cooked and served it up for us with a lovely salad, bread and french fries!

The Animation staff are great and put on a good show every evening with dancing and singing, and sometimes other musicians. It was better than most other resorts we have stayed at.

If you are considering this hotel I can only say I would recommend it highly to others, the value for your money is good and you will likely meet some great people and have a wonderful time.

From Trinidad to Playa Ancon by bike

by Alain_Smeets

We rented some bikes again this Sunday 7 May, so we are going to explore the county side once again. But first our landlord has to try to get 8 bikes together. This goes slowly, but he has full confidence that he will manage this. Everybody want to go out riding today, but John and Karl want to go back earlier to Trinidad, because they have a dance appointment in the Casa de la Cultura. They met these ladies yesterday and closed a friendships bond with these ladies. (See my tip about the Casa de la Cultura: 'Dancing all night with the Cubans'.) We leave on what it seems to be good bikes, at least my bike seems to be good and I don't hear the others complain. Only the usual things like the saddle or a steering wheel that's to low. Riding over these hilly roads, I notice that due to the low steering wheel I can't ride very comfortable here. Nele has to be very careful because her brakes almost don't function, but Wim shall help her to slow down. As we are already some distance from Trinidad, our mission brother John starts asking directions to find his dance partner from yesterday. If you see him riding, he looks a lot like a mission brother from Africa. But we have to wait for him again, but what's new?

We drive through this small village and get to the Caribbean Sea. Now we ride next to the beach with the Sea at our right-hand side and the mountains behind Trinidad at our left-hand side. As we stop for small refreshment, a Dutchman addresses us. He sailed down from Miami and he met his wife here in Trinidad. We shall see them and another couple several times in Trinidad and the surrounding area. We drive a little further and stop on a small beach to make our feet wet and to search for some shells. As we ride again, I notice that my back wheel is shaking a bit, yes indeed he's getting flat. Luckily it's a very thick outside tire, so that I can ride further to Playa d'Ancon were we go for a swim in the refreshing water. Yeah, the water is a bit warmish and it goes slowly deeper.

It takes me several meters before the water is higher then my trunks but that's also the start of the coral reef. If I try to swim, my hands and knees are hitting the coral, and that's not so nice. This place is not suited to swim in. Nele and Wim trudge towards some high and big coral rocks and take a sit. Karl is also going to them, but due to the shallow water, he has trouble to get forward. He even gets some assistance from a couple of people in a bike-boat. A bit later Marijke and me are joining them on those rocks; I got there by pulling myself forward with my hands. I sit down on a small rock, which's just below the water surface. While Karl is splashing around, Marijke climbs towards Nele and Wim. But it's not easy because of that sharp coral. If they got from their meter high throne, Nele and Wim start walking towards some other coral rocks a little bit further and the rest goes back to the beach. Lying down to dry in the sun.

If Nele staggers towards us, we see that she has a thorn in her big toe, probably from a sea urchin. If she tries to get it out, a Cuban comes by and tells her not to do that. Because it will break into pieces. His advice is to let it in there and it shall ulcerate during the night and then it will be gone. Because John and Karl are going back earlier, we ask them to take my bike so that we can ride a bit further. This is OK, for them and they think that they will find someone who will help them. Not knowing that they start a new adventure, they leave.

The rest of us went to the restaurant that is located at this beach. The choice fells to spaghetti and pizza, this is something else than the usual chicken or pork. Now the question arises, do we ride further or do we go back to Trinidad. Wim and Nele decide to ride a bit further and the rest of us choose to ride back to Trinidad. As we are riding back, I notice that my front wheel is flat. What are the odds no that, two flat tires with two different bikes on a few hours? Also now, I can ride on because to the thick outer tube. We are taking a different route back now. It's more flat and off course we have a head wind. The landscape is more monotonous, but still nice to see. We are riding our bikes next to a sanded harbour trench, because Trinidad used to be a harbour city. We take a water pause, although our water is already warmish, it still is good for our dehydrated bodies.

As we are riding again, we hear someone shouting behind us, we see that John and Karl are riding behind us, sweaty and puffing. Where in Gods name are they coming from? They already should be back several hours ago. They got a lift from another cyclist. John sitting on the back, his long legs pulled up while they took the broken bike with them. The Cuban brought them to a person who probably could fix the bike. Well he did try it, they found 3 holes and each time that they pumped it up again with a self-made hand pump, the tire kept getting slowly flat. The problem in Cuba is that there are no spare parts or material at hand. Out of gratitude they agreed to eat this evening with that person who helped them. As they reach us, the tire is again flat and because I'm riding the biggest bike, I change with John so that he can take a more comfortable position on the bike.

John and Karl don't wait for us and they ride hard, leaving us behind. A moment later we stop at a gas station that seems to be closed. As we see a person, we ask him if he has a pump so that I can put some air in my flat tire. But they don't have one, so we continue until the next gas station. Luckily the have a supply of air (lol), so I can pump my tire very hard. As we arrive back at our Casa Grande, he's just flat again. It cost me a lot of sweat to get back, and not only from the flat tire, but also from the burning sun. After freshen up, Jean and me go for a walk in the city and we see some drunken people coming back from the Casa de la Cultura. It seems to be more of a drinking party today then a dance feast. We walk a bit further and buy us some canes of beer in a dollar shop. We install us in our trusted rocking chairs and enjoy our day while sipping our beer.