Hotetur Los Balcones Blue Bay Hotel

There's a new hotel on Cayo Coco. It's from the Spanish hotel chain Hotetur and is called Los Balcones Blue Bay Hotel.

The Los Balcones Blue Bay Hotel has 154 hotel suites in two floor cabins just like the Melia Cayo Coco. Thankfully this hotel is also a 4 Star hotel so it sounds promosing.

This is how the hotel is described:

"BlueBay Cayo Coco offers a number of new facilities, including two swimming pools for adults and children, and a wide range of bars and restaurants catering for the whole family. Some offer top-class speciality cuisine where regional specialities are fused with a contemporary international flavour to produce dishes to suit every taste.
Green areas, a kids’ club and other facilities are within easy reach on this luxury all-inclusive complex."

And the rooms look very nice too!



The rooms have all the facilities you'd expect from a 4-star Cuban hotel, but are finished to a very nice standard.

Food-wise, there's an "international" restaurant, an a la-cart restaurant, a Ranchón Playa restaurant which offers grill food and some good seafood, there's the usual snack bar and a beach bar too.

There's also loads of facilities to make your holiday an enjoyable one:

• Swimming pools for adults and children.
• Conference room
• Shops and boutiques
• Kids’ club
• Jacuzzis
• Steam room
• Gym
• Games room
• Floodlit tennis courts
• Basketball courts
• Snooker
• Floodlit sports ground
• Hairdresser
• Parking
• 24-hour medical assistance
• Laundry service
• Money exchange
• Car and motorcycle hire

And where is the Blue Bay Hotel? Well, Cayo Coco isn't the biggest island you'll ever find. The important bit is that its on the north coast with the nice big waves:


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Also the hotel is just 10 miles from the airport. From my recolection its not under the flight path either.

Book the Hotetur Los Balcones Blue Bay Hotel

You can book the Hotetur Los Balcones Blue Bay Hotel from Sunshine at really great prices!

Tryp Cayo Coco Hotel Review

The Tryp Cayo Coco Hotel is another of the well-known Melia chain. And just like the rest, its an All-Inclusive hotel in the Ciego de Avila provence of Cuba and on the island of Cayo Coco.

One of the great things about the Tryp Cayo Coco Hotel is that it is just 15 minutes from the airport, but you'll probably never see or hear the planes unless you're hanging around at the airport.

The Tryp Cayo Coco Hotel is a hotel made for families and has 502 double rooms plus 6 suites with whirlpools in the rooms. If you need them, there's rooms specifically created with disabled access in mind. As with most hotels in the area, they're air-conditioned,have satellite TV, a telephone, mini-bar and a safe.

In the hotel grounds you'll also find a shopping centre, access to motorbike and car hire, a beauty salon, a babysitter and a doctor.

There's a number of restaurants available including an International buffet-style restaurant, a sea-food a la carte restaurant which is open in the evenings, an international restaurant, a BBQ & Grill restaurant for evening meals, a Cuban restaurant and another one offering Italian and Chinese meals. That's not including an Aqua bar, a Beach bar, a snack bar and a lobby bar. You're not going to go hungry or thirsty during your stay!

You'll also find two swimming pools, access to windsurfing, snorkeling, water bikes, kayaking and a hobbicat, You can also visit the diving school and take part in dancing and Spanish classes. You can also pay for horseback riding and play tennis, beach volleyball, basketball and pool So you're not going to struggle to find things to do either!

Tryp Cayo Coco Hotel Reviews

(-) One of the first reviews I read was that the majority of their party got ill on the holiday, they didn't have good air conditioning. But they were moved when they complained.

(+) This person agreed with others that it wasn't a 4 star hotel. The beach was apparently to die for, the staff were fantastic, there was laods of entertainment, the food was ok and there was someting for everyone.

(-) Someone else called it a total dump and said it was struggling to be a 3 star as the room wasn't kept clean and the pool had slime in it.

(+) This couple said they wished they didn't read some of the reviews on the internet as they had a great time. The local people are great. The weather was great and so was the beach.

(+) This person said the range of food was superb, but the rooms were a bit dated and the staff expected to be tipped.

Most of the other reviews I've read rated the hotel at betwen an 8 to a 10 out of 10.


You can book the Tryp Cayo Coco Hotel, or at least just look at the prices, airports and details from:

• Thomas Cook
• Going Places
• Kuoni
• My Travel

Hotel Sol Club Cayo Coco Reviews

The Sol Club Cayo Coco is part of the Melia hotel chain. In my mind, and we briefly visited the hotel, it is the ugly sister of the Melia Cayo Coco next door. Not only because its a "star" less in its grading, but because of the reviews I've seen from others.

Now if you look through the photos on their site it looks fantastic. In fact I'm almost tempted to go as it looks like they've got a fantastic mini-golf course. But you can't just go to the hotel because of that.

The Sol Club Cayo Coco lyes at the Western end of a great beach. The beach is fairly thin but isn't ram-packed with people. I'd say it's almost a perfect beach for people that want to relax in the sea. It's not a surfer's beach and slopes gently into the sea so would be almost ideal for children.


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A good thing about the Sol Club Cayo Coco is that it has another awesome beach, the Playa Las Coloradas, just a few seconds away. This beach goes on for miles and is a bit more sheltered from the wind which seems to come in at 45 degrees from the right. This beach has much smaller waves so you should make sure you pop along.

Sol Club Cayo Coco Hotel Facilities

The Sol Club Cayo Coco is an all-inclusive hotel with 270 rooms - 220 of them with views of the garden or pool area, 64 double rooms with a balcony with sea views and 4 "luxury" ones.

As is standard with many hotels in the Caribbean, the hotels have a hair-dryer, fridge, satellite TV, telephone, fridge and a safe. You can also get your convertible Cuban pesos there, hire a car, get your hair cut, visit craft shops, get your washing done, visit the doctors etc.

Is it just me or do they look like university dorms with MFI furniture? But if you've got young kids with you, you wouldn't want anything too posh.

There are two swimming pools which I'm sure you'll spend a fair amount of time around - even though they're surrounded by 1970's prison-block style hotel rooms. The pool is large, and that can't be a bad thing.

Sol Club Cayo Coco Hotel Restaurants & Bars

There's three restaurants and I've heard some great things about the food. There's the buffet restaurant Arcada, an international restaurant with a formal dress code and a beach restaurant which offers Cuban cuisine for dinner. There's also a snack bar at the pool (10am - 11pm).

For drinking there's the cocktail bar La Bodeguita, the lobby bar La Veranda - which is open 24 hours and the Bar Anfitearo which is open for an hour whilst you watch a show in the evening.

Sol Club Cayo Coco Hotel For Kids

The Sol also appears to be set up well for kids, unlike the Melia Cayo Coco which is for adults only, the Sol is squarely aimed at family holidays. There seems to be a lot to do for kids, including sailing, tennis, table tennis, beach volleyball, aerobics, water polo, archery, snorkelling and much more. That's not including the baby club and mini club.

Sol Club Cayo Coco Hotel Reviews

It seems most people that have reviewed this hotel go with Thomas Cook - and many like it, whilst there are a few that didn't. I think it all comes down to expections. That's why, I hope, sites like this will help you choose the right hotel in Cuba for you.

Here's a summary of few reviews:

(+) One person has stayed there five times now and they're going back later in 2008, they see the hotel staff as being very friendly (I think this is Cubans all over!).

(-) Another person was annoyed with how the staff expect tips, she said "no tips, no service". She said the rooms were very basic and her air conditioning only just worked. She made me chuckle when she said you're only allowed roll of toilet paper a day - and you'll need more when you sample the food! She said the lunch was poor and the dinner was worse. She commented that you'd get the same food throughout the day and then the next day with a sauce over it. She didn't even like the drinks that were on offer and ended up buying her own.

(+) This person said the rooms and some of the other parts of the hotel could be considered to be of 3 star standard, whilst the food, drink and staff should be a 4 star plus rating.


(-) This other person also doesn't rate it as a four star hotel, she said the rooms were also basic but clean. Apparently there was a leaky roof in the lobby and restaurant - I'm sure they would have fixed that by now! There were allegedly a number of accidents too. She also mentioned the tipping situation. She said if you don't tip then you won't get a satisfactory service. However, she was happy with the food, but a bit monotonous. She also liked the evening entertainment, the pool and the reasonably priced doctor. She recommended taking stuff to occupy the kids like inflatables etc.

(-/+) This person commented that he thought the hotel needed to be updated and was downgraded from a 4* to a 3* by another operator. Their room was clean but a bit dated (they only started building hotels here in about 1994). They weren't happy with the minibar not being refreshed - apparently that happened in the Melia Cayo Coco when we were there, but it was fine for us.

They liked the food a lot in the buffet but thought the Italian restuarant had a limited menu. But he hated the swarms of mosquitoes.

Overall the rating for this hotel would be "good". Don't expect luxury and you won't be disappointed.


You can book the Hotel Sol Club Cayo Coco, or at least just look at the prices, airports and details from:

• Thomas Cook
• Going Places
• Kuoni
• My Travel

Cuba Travel FAQ: How Much Money Should I Take & Credit Cards

So you're going to Cuba and you're wondering how much money you should take!

Well, it depends (what else would I say?). If you're going on an all-inclusive holiday you can realistically get away with taking about £50 for a week. This will probably go towards some tips, the odd bit of stuff (such as after-sun) and maybe some souvenirs if you venture out.

The excursions you can pay on your credit card - just make sure it doesn't have any relationships to America, such as MBNA or the Asda credit card (owned by Walmart). I paid on my Barclay card. Capital One wouldn't be any good either. Its best to phone up your credit card company first.

Also there were some issues with various types of debit card. I think Maestro didn't work so make sure you've got a visa one if you can. Or just take some UK Sterling and change it at the hotel.

You can't get the Cuban Convertible Peso outside of the island so you're probably best just taking cash and changing it there.

Summary: Take £50-£100 per week in Sterling, pay for your trips on a non-US credit card and have a great time.