I stayed at this resort for the second half of a Havana/Varadero split vacation. The resort is run-down—there is no other way to say it, it's a dump. It's dirty, worn out, the staff are lacklustre and it needs an overhaul in management, staff training, customer service and standards of cleanliness. We checked in early (due to an early transfer) and our room was not ready—which is totally acceptable. However, what is not acceptable is to refuse to give us a towel to use the pool or beach for the four hour wait for our room. Only after mentioning it was poor customer service did the front desk lady call the towel hut and very rudely complain about me to the man giving out the towels and roll her eyes and shoot me dirty looks. Great first impression. That said, the towel dude was a sweetie and Iberostar should be ashamed of themselves for NEVER having clean beach/pool towels available to guests. We used the same towels for 4 days as did every other guest who was turned away repeatedly. I'm pretty sure the initial towel we got was dirty as well—it smelled musty and like a dirty towel. Disgusting. The rooms were run-down and bordering dirty. I found a silverfish in my bed on the second night, the sheets were never cleaned and felt sandy and there was a god awful plastic sheet over the mattress which basically made it impossible not to sweat to death even in the AC. On the last day I got the nerve up to move it and, of course, there were signs of bed bugs. Blood stains and trails. I was freaked out the rest of the stay. The shower was old and rusted and had to be used as a hand held since it was broken, the towels were never really clean and the toilet wouldn't flush until the third try—every time. The only plus was that our AC worked and we had a little balcony. We also basically bribed the maid with pesos to keep the mini-bar stocked—which was expected— and she was a good sport about it, leaving us funny swan sculptures. The hallways were dirty—the same dishes and beer cups/cans sat in the stairwells of building 11 for days. I'm actually surprised I didn't see any roaches due to this. Lots of snacks for the lizards though. The pools were nice, but again, lacked cleanliness. We clued in after day one that the bar pool was gross—the tiles were slimey and I burned my bottom on what looked to be chlorine or bleach pellets on one of the seats in the pool. I also don't think it's appropriate to have small children allowed in the pool where the bar is and where adults are swearing, smoking and generally hammered. We moved to a pool behind our building next to the snack bar and that seemed to be the cleanest spot in the resort. The pool was clean, there was a nice man getting people chair cushions, the snack bar folks were friendly and the bathrooms were clean. Overall, the rest of the resort was filthy—no paper towels, often no toilet paper, no soap in any public washrooms—including the lobby washrooms. No ac in public places other than the a la carte restos (which it was questionable it was on) and the lobby store. The buffet food was ok—better than I had expected—but there were flies everywhere, birds landing in the food and cutlery, plates, etc. were often hard to find or not even there. I was careful what I ate since I've been on resorts before, but it was alright. The a la carte restaurants were mediocre. The Japanese was ok, but a lot of frozen veggies which was a disappointment. The Romantico was looking up since the appetizer was great, but my lamb main was vomit worthy. It tasted like they cooked frozen veggies and dumped a can of Chunky Beef Stew in a bowl. It went right through me. Gross is an understatement. My friend ate contaminated chicken at the beach grill—the same tongs used for everything—and had horrible food poisoning the last two days so I spent half of my time on the resort alone. Fun times. I am just overall so unimpressed with the staff, the customer service, the lack of friendliness, cleanliness and that this resort has the nerve to rate itself as a five star. Even more humourous are the signs all over the front desk to rate them on Trip Advisor while offering piss poor service. The positives I took away from this were the beach—which was amazing (no thanks to Iberostar), the staff at the beach bar, the pizza lady (who seemed like the only person halfway conscious of food safety), and the bus driver taking us the hell outta there. I totally get that the Cuban economy is in rough shape—I get that supplies may be limited, etc., but it is no excuse for dirty bathrooms, building, towels, sheets, etc. I understand not being able to update as well, but at least make an effort. I gladly tipped, sometimes when the service wasn't even warranted. Maybe that's the problem. This resort and it's staff have become complacent. I'll never return and will tell anyone who will listen not to waste their money in this dump.
