Our hotel Iberostar Mojito (continued 3)

The cons, not big and not too many:
- we had some rain at night mostly and mosquitoes were really bad, despite using a DEET spray. It is always wet there and since there is a lagoon the vegetation is very dense.
The hotel had to spray all the bushes. Girls were bitten a lot more than guys, as I noticed.
- the walk to the beach past the bar had some rocks which could be difficult to pass during high tides especially. The bar itself misses the last step and it is a bit steep
there was another path to the beach which seemed destroyed unfortunately as it seemed to be an easier way to access the beach.There are 2 other beaches, the smaller cove and another large beach with pedalos and catamarans
but that beach had more seaweed and the services were only between 8AM and 4PM. Some people paid $5 tips to get sunbeds there.

- toiletries only provided once, fortunately I brought my own after reading TA forum.
- people throwing their plastic glasses and after a day there were plenty on the beach which the beach chair guys removed as much as they could, but the other beach parts had them.
not sure why people just don't bring their own reusable glasses. I always bring my wine glasses, and bought each of us a glass or cup with reusable straws, which is ecofriendly and can be recycled once broken.

- seaweed at the beach is not removed. Not sure why the beaches are not cleaned, well only one is, possibly the access is difficult with a tractor, but people could do it. It doesn't bring tips though.
The houses on the lagoon could have been spectacular if maintained and with AC although the mosquitoes can be really bad there.

Our hotel Iberostar Mojito (continued 2)

Our room was a superior 2314 and we had nice views of the palm trees from our balcony. In block 23 most rooms had sunny views. In block 22 although may be more calm, some of the rooms faced dense vegetation
and therefore would be dark and no view, but this would mean more mosquitoes.A lot of bushes with flowers everywhere. It was a good location too. The room was pretty clean and bar restocked daily. We also had beach towels and bathrobes in our room.
We enjoyed the balcony for a drink in the afternoon and at night and our son used it for reading in the morning and during siesta times.We had a clean bathroom, it even had a bidet,
however one minor point: the sink was a bit too low, so you had to bow lower, and splashes were bigger. Sometimes a slight odor from the sewers, but nothing big. It happens often at the sea places, even in Europe
it happens and some older places have it very strong.
I brought air freshener candle with us and mosquito coils too.

The beach is spectacular, white sand. The bar at the beach was good for drinks and hamburgers were tasty. Where ever there were rocks agglomerations colorful fish were around. They even came to the beach with the
glass bottom boat, we had it for free.

I used the pool only once. It is pleasant but can be noisy at times. There are also an adult calm pool and a kids pool. The hotel is colorful and sunny and has numerous palm trees and a lot of vegetation.

It is an older hotel and it lacks a wow moment when you arrive past the lobby, which itself is nice and pleasant. There are some massive columns around a little fountain.
Removing this and bringing the pool closer to the lobby in a spectacular shape would add a wow to the decor. Iberostars are usually luxurious hotels.

The personnel is rather smiling and ready to talk. They always were polite.

Many families vacationing there, which we really appreciated. Most women dressed for meals at the buffet, men on a casual side.

The walk to the beach through the lagoon was not a long walk and we needed some after all these copious meals. The wood at places is not attached and there are slopes and moving parts, floating parts of the walk,
so if you have mobility issues it could be difficult. On the lagoon and on our side the water seemed clean, and there were some spectacular birds every day.

Overall it was a very nice relaxing week and my family liked it a lot. We were lucky with our room with a balcony and nice views. Management was very present and wanted all of us to be happy. And we were.
I would give a very good 3.5 stars to the hotel, with 4 stars for food and drinks and shows, and 5 stars for the beach. A pleasant surprise for Cuba and relatively affordable price.

Our hotel Iberostar Mojito (continued)

New Years eve:

More extensive choices of cheeses and cold cuts, smoked salmon, Serrano. Big boat loaded with seafood big langosta, shrimps and crabs.An entire pig roast - cochinillo, this is Spanish dish and always
spectacular and good. Spanish dulces.

 After that we had a very nice show with kids in the first part, dance lessons and a spectacular boogie night show. They provided cotillion and served sparkling wine in a pyramid before the meal and also at midnight.
Although sparkling Spanish Cava was always available, and they even had some Freixenet and better wines to sell at the entrance of the buffet, so it was possible to get them for more demanding clients.
Christmas and New Years weeks are more expensive, but the food seemed much better and more choices as compared to low season. Of course they can't cook all this quantities and varieties for just a few guests.

For a Cuban resort the food was good to very good. Many places in Cuba have almost inedible food. So this hotel was a stand out.I had a chat with some other families and we all agreed food was really good for Cuba.
Of course if you are always eating from a single counter, the variety can be limited, however, we tried different counters and were very pleased with different choices.

One funny incident with our ketchup. I brought ketchup and Dijon mustard from Canada. Another tourist have seen my son having our ketchup and came and took it then after asked if he could have some for his family of 4.
Although I didn't mind them having it, we didn't want them to pass it around, so my husband told him it comes from Canada. The guy became like really embarrassed. He assumed I took a common bottle to our table.
Some people just have these thoughts, I guess they would do it themselves? Anyway, I asked for $5 and we had a good laugh. I didn't mind leaving them, and in fact we left our ketchup and mustard on our departure to the hotel.
A good joke.

Clients of hotel were generally nice and I had a chat with a couple of them. The personnel smiling and nice. We gave tips and some little gifts, although the room maids were well dressed, with makeup and had nice running shoes.

I had a little chat with one of the women of my age working at the buffet. She provided the best service of all, always remembered what we drank, and was quite discrete. I really appreciated her service. I don't aim to be the staff's
best friend, but she was really efficient, very polite and hard working and I liked that. She has a son and I left my son's jeans and sport vest at the end which looked like new ( kids grow up quickly), and she was very grateful for every gesture and tip.
I know some younger servers seemed very friendly and it is also nice, but they were literally spoiled by $5 tips, so not sure how sincere they were, although some people are naturally easy going.
A smile and a big thanks goes also a long way.
I helped some people with food choices to direct them to the right counter. I speak a bit of Spanish, which was really appreciated by staff. And I helped a few kids serving them soup or other dishes.
There are 2 extremes: some people tip a lot and others not at all. We tipped regularly but especially for good service, after all the tip is a sign of appreciation of service.


The shows were great. The dancers were spectacular and very nice to watch. The Cuban show and the Boogie night were very nice. One night it was raining and other nights
there were interactive shows, which we skipped.