Cuba Trinidad December 2022

Earlier in December, we decided NOT to go to Cuba because the reviews of people in diverse parts of the country were rather negative, referring to the economy, closed places, lack of transport, while asking for tourist dollars at the same time.  We were hesitant to go, but ...

But it was cold, snowy, our joints were aching and we find this all-inclusive hotel near Trinidad, a gem according to the reviews on TripAdvisor. 

Only fools do not change their minds, right? So, we decide to leave on December 16th. We have 3 days to prepare the house, to freeze or consume all the fresh food in the fridge, to book a hotel in Ottawa. 

This flight by Sunwing is not optimal: departure at 6am, meaning getting up at 3am at the hotel! 

We stay at the Hilton Garden Inn, 4km away from the airport. And we park the car in the covered parking garage because of a fast approaching winter storm, reportedly bringing 30cm of snow. Indeed, throughout the night, it is snowing a lot. We hope our flight departure will not be delayed.  A look through the terminal window an hour before departure shows some snow cleaning movement.  We are getting optimistic that we actually will leave ....  We DO!

What a change of scenery from the air - first snow, then this ... 

At Santa Clara airport, the shuttle bringing us to the Memories of Trinidad is an 8 passenger van because there are only 3 of us going to this resort (??? did we miss something?).  The drive is long (211 km and takes 2:45h) with a third of the roads full of craters and really very rough (driving at walking speed). 

The landscapes are amazing. We drive through the Escambray mountains.  Yes, those very mountains that were the seat of the Cuban rebellion lead by Castro and Guevara. 

Upon arrival at the club, we are tired, thirsty and hungry. The flights from Ottawa to Santa Ana lasts 3h30 minutes only. On this flight, Sunwings offers tea, coffee, or water but if you want peanuts or anything else, you must pay for it - dearly. We had our own nuts, thank you very much. 

Upon arrival, and eventually claiming the beach for "health reasons", Heiner took charge of the first (Rancho Luna Drink - an inside message!): mojitos!!!

Subsequently, we explore the resort: it was small and has few facilities.  One buffet cafeteria (no outdoors seating), one snack bar and one coffee bar, and one bar hidden in a corner for rum drinks. The snack bar on the beach did not offer food.

The room was lovely, immaculate, and we have a balcony with a glimpse of the ocean. 

But the beach was just the way we imagined it. 4km long and sandy. 

Without doubts, the highlight of this vacation was meeting a German couple with whom we spent quite a bit of time for the rest of our stay. Frank and Karla were great, with Karla, an avid salsa dancer, always searching for every little bit of opportunity to practice her steps. We introduced them to the Green Flash phenomenon but had no luck catching a single one! Nevertheless, sunsets were beautiful.

We opted not to go to Trinidad this time. We had visited during the Obama years, when small businesses were thriving and a wind of optimism blew in Cuba. Things have changed, unfortunately. The country is poorer than ever, and as our friends reported, beautiful Trinidad is a shadow of itself. 

We are quite content with swimming and walking on the beach. Reading and sipping rum. That is why we came here. Unfortunately, the food is not at all what reviewers reported. Somebody claimed that he never ate such a good pizza. Really????  What we had was terrible (but the beer was fine). Anyhow, the next day, both our stomachs were not happy. Marleyne' s body started to have allergic reaction to any food presented at the buffet, and this "aversion" lasted until the end of our stay!  Imodium was, fortunately, in our luggage. 

About mid-week, we heard of a major (and a very very major one) storm that was going to hit Canada and the US beginning Friday Dec 23. We could not believe our luck: 2 storms in 7 days? Yes. 

We were lucky to be able to leave Santa Clara on Friday. Cuban airports are really not a place where you want to be stuck...the food at the snack bar was running out by the minute! We ate a cheese sandwich (must admit: quite delicious compared to the resort's food!) before flying out on Sunwings back to Ottawa. We were wondering how the landing would be as the storm was already powerful, and we were advised about some rough air upon arrival. But the pilots did a great job...Marleyne did applaud, something that she never does, usually. This time, it was worth it!

The doors of the plane cargo seemed to be frozen: it took an hour to get our luggage. During that time, we assessed the situation. For sure, there was no way with the blizzard going on outside to drive to Kingston. So, with the help of Hotwire (downloaded the app while waiting ...), we secure one night at the Hilton! Only a 3km ride away! Ah...it felt good to have arrived. And the perspective of a nice hot meal was making us happy. 

The storm raged all night and continued throughout the next day.  So, it became clear to us in the morning of December 24th that we would have to stay for another night.  Another Hotwire reservation while taking breakfast, and then doing the best of the situation, and going for a dip at the small pool and the jacuzzi.  The rest of the day was spent reading. TV was down due to storm issues (not missed). But we missed listening to good classical music  as there was none on the hotel radio. 

On getting up on December 25th, the sun was "almost" shining. According to the 511 Ontario road condition reports, we should expect to have a possible run towards Kingston. Indeed, the trip to Kingston was pleasant with only few stretches being completely wiped out by snow blowing across the fields.  But slow and careful driving pushed us through these sections.

Finally!  Home sweet home! But first the snow had to be cleared in the drive way!  Snow blower out ... and we are in!

Sitting at the dining room table, looking at our garden shed, we reflect on the week and this "unforgettable" Christmas.

We had been many times in Cuba.  Generally, and despite some short comings here and there, we came back from these places with positive experiences.  Unfortunately, this stay was less enjoyable, despite a gorgeous beach.  And despite the fact that we had consulted many reviews of this place.  Most sounded super-positive and we went back re-scanning them after our experience.  We are now wondering about their authenticity.

Here is a copy of our review that we sent to TripAdvisor and Monarc. 
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Memories Trinidad del Mar – December 16, 2022-12-27 via Sunwings

The hotel rests on a long beach which invites for long walks.  Around the hotel beach area, there are numerous lounges, which are fairly new and in good shape, with plenty of shady areas.  The beach is kept clean. The water becomes deep very fast, which allows for fine swimming close to the shore – no long ways of wading towards deeper water required.

The building must have received news coats of paint, looking pristine.  The hotel appears to be very popular with local (and rich?) Cubans: 95% of guests were from Cuba, we were about 8 Canadians, 4 Germans during our 7 day stay.

When we arrived at Memories Trinidad from the airport Santa Clara (a 2:45h drive), check-in was difficult. The staff was very slow processing our travel documents, assigning rooms (a clip-board had to be consulted repeatedly) and we were told to return to reception at 16h because the rooms were not ready – at which time they started the same check in procedure again.  Although the Sunwing description of the hotel refers to many amenities, we received no information whatsoever about the layout of the hotel, opening times, tours, excursions … nothing.  Meaning: you had to “discover” on your own what is available (and what not). 

 While waiting for the room to become available, we went to the 24h snack bar for a beer and “pizza”. The food (pizza?) was terrible, beer was fine.

Our room (block 6) faced the Caribbean sea, was very spacious and clean.  Unfortunately, there was no hot water during our 7 day stay (meaning: cold showers only), with very low water pressure (at times just a drip coming out of the shower head) and most of the lamp fixtures not working.

The buffet restaurant offered the typical Cuban food, which the Cuban hotel guests seemed to enjoy very much given the amount they heaped on their plates (and the kitchen running quickly out of food items for that reason).  However, it was disturbing to see how much of the food was left uneaten on these plates, especially given the dire food situation in Cuba.

 Although there was a lot of serving staff (no self-serve allowed due to Covid precautions), they seemed to be very inexperienced, or unable to multi-task (the cook would only prepare one omelet at a time on a large grill, with 10 people waiting in line, for example). Most of the food items were barely warm, if not cold, with some items not fully cooked. On numerous days, we were unable to attract staff to our table to get water, coffee or drinks – in short, the service was very disappointing.

Early on, we both developed stomach problems, which lingered throughout our stay.  Fortunately, we brought enough Imodium to last through the stay.

 There was supposed to be one  a-la-carte restaurant.  It remained a mystery to us.

Based on the comments by our fellow Canadian and German travelers, entertainment was a hit and miss, or “more miss than hit” to non-existent.  We played beach volley ball once – after that the person in charge of the ball was not working, hence no ball.

There is a beach bar, serving drinks.  At times they were short of supplies for some reason.  There is no food available at this beach snack-bar.

We did not use the pool.  It is a small one, and very shallow, not really for swimming.

Checking out in the morning at 5 am, we tried – and eventually managed – to get a coffee at the 24h snack bar (though no snacks).  We had to wait a while; the bartender was busy chatting and pouring numerous beers to a few young men (not guests of the hotel).

In summary, would we go back?  The answer is no!  We would give the beach/lounges 5 stars, the hotel room 4 stars (for its cleanliness and decoration), but overall only 3 stars for this hotel.