We stayed at the Barcelo Solymar just after it opened in April 2002.

The hotel has two types of accomodation. One is a tall hotel type structure and the others are two storey bungalows that are beachfront. We enjoyed our stay there. However, I would not recommend staying in the hotel type building.
The elevators were as slow as molasses and the rooms are spartan and many have no view. The one we were first put in was near the corner of the hotel and the wind just howled through the corridor all day and all night. The next day we asked for a room in the bungalows and were very pleasantly surprised.

The rooms are spacious and each one has a balcony where you can plant your chair down and sit and gaze at the ocean. The food at the resort was fairly decent. I wouldn't waste my time trying to reserve at the two reserve only restaurants in the complex. The buffet room was fine and there was plenty of food to choose from. I would say the best food we had there was the daily ice cream that they would make from scratch. Dinners gave more choices other than breakfast and lunch. It got a bit tiresome eating there though for 4 straight days.
Unlike some resorts the Solymar's restaurants close down and after 10 pm you cannot get food.

The stretch of beach that the resort sits on is A1! It's in an excellent location and there are plenty of palm umbrellas to sit under and plenty of space so you don't have to be right next to someone.

The resort's two pools are nice too if you want a shallow safe pool to wade in for children.
The entertainment was kind of hokey and they offer a major show each night.
We went to two of them and enjoyed one show that highlighted dances from around the carribean. The second show was a big disappointment as it was a talent show that I found horribly sexist.

When staying at the Solymar make sure you bring lots of suntan lotion and insect repellant.
The mosquitoes come up full force at dusk and the suntan lotion is ultra expensive to buy at the resort's store.
The resort has two stores which sells inexpensive souvenirs. There are also people who go up and down on the beach with big carts selling souvenirs. These carts are legitimate vendors.
A big turn off was the once in a while local trying to sell you the usual cheap cigars.
Do NOT fall prey to them as you'll end up buying cheap tobacco junk!

The Barcelo Solymar is located between Arenas Blancas and Villa Cuba. It is the big yellow building right when you pass dowtown. The resort is walking distance to town and many restaurants.
I didn't care very much for the yellow, but the building and the hotel grounds were very bice. In October it was still a little empty (it's big - about 500 rooms) so they closed most restaurants for lunch time and we could only eat at the beach snack bar.
This was fine because the snack bar was serving great sea food 12 noon - 4pm.

BEACH : Beautiful!
The Barcelo is very wide and ut take sup a big chunk of the beach. It is not crowded at all since it is private. Many sports activities are organized thought the day, such as handball, beach volleyball, soccer, waterpolo....etc.

FACILITIES:
Only one out of three velevators was working for the whole week. Nevermind, it was good exercise.
The gym was great and well equiped 0 except a little too humid because they had all the windows open.
Gift shops had everything you could possibly forget at home.
Postcards and stamps are available at the post office - gift shop.
Car rental is also located in the lobby ( 82.00 USD per day for a small Suzuki).
Internet is 4.00 USD per 30 minutes....and it is very slooow, but it's there - and FYI, when you get a 30 min. coupon - you can actully be use it several times (a lot of peole throw it away because they think it expires after you use it once).

FOOD:
3+/4 star quality. The buffer restaurant has the same choice of meals every day. the good thing - it has a lot of choices, so you can eat spagetti, soup, steak, fish, pork...everyday.

ROOM:
Very clean. Service was great and we had bottles od water, coke and beer refilled every day without asking. Everything about the room was great, except of course, the freezing airconditioning, but that can be adjusted.

We flew down with Skyservice and they had a day schedule change so we got an extra 12 hrs to spend there.
We liked this vacation, aspecially the baech in Varadero.

Barcello Solymar - Varadero , Cuba

This colorful hotel really sticks out from a serene Varadero beach panorama. Once you enter it, it becomes even more fairy tale -like. It is really a combination of colors, plants and open spaces that give this hotel a playful and relaxing feeling.

Everything you expect from a 5-star resort you will get here: beautiful rooms, an efficient gym, fantastic restaurants serving all kinds of different foods (both buffet and a la carte), bars around pools, music and entertainment all day long. There is sports activities room, a place where you can rent mopeds and cars, or you can sign-up for some of very interesting tours of the area.

This resort's beach is very beautiful, and there are various sports and activities that everyone can join in. The location of this hotel is perfect because it is within walking distance to the heart of the town while at the same time being outside of it, so can have your privacy but still not miss any action in the town of Varadero .

This place has guests of all different ages and ethnic background but everyone is having a good time because there truly is something for everybody.

The Barcelo Solymar was our first vacation in Cuba.
We like the beach very much and we had a full sunny week!
The best part of our holiday was the staff that made us feel very welcome at the hotel. We practically made friend with everyone.

The rooms were nice and the restaurants were great also.
However, it didn't really look or feel likw a brand new resort. They were already doing some repairing and renovating on the property. Although nobody was in our way, it was still kind of awkward. Our last vacation was in Perto Plata and we had a better time at the resort, but not so much with the people.

The shower had hot water on and off, so we showered very quickly:)))))
The beach was very nice although there is only one bar that is close to the very far right end of the beach, so if you tend to walk to the bar often make sure that you are close to it - the sand gets to be very hot and the walk can be kind of tricky!

All on all, we had a good time - 7/10.