Date of Our Visit: July/11/2004
Destination: El Senador - Cayo Coco - Cuba
Visitors Star Rating: 5
Room: Lagoon Villa

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My husband & I just returned from El Senador on our honeymoon & we couldn`t have been more pleased ... we wish we could`ve stayed an extra week!!! And we definitely plan on returning!!!

RESORT: The resort itself is a massive property. Since we travelled in off-season, half of it was closed down, but we still explored it anyways. The buildings are well maintained, clean and nice. The furnishings are pleasant. Towels & bathrobes were clean & well supplied. Beach towel availability was appreciated. If you feel lazy the staff are happy to transport you in their little golf carts. : )

FOOD: I could go on forever about the food, but it was just delicious! I am a VERY picky eater (at one resort I lived on rice & salsa for a week!!!) & I had my fill at El Senador every single night!!! Fresh fruit! An omelette bar at breakfast buffet! The lobster bisque in the seafood restaurant - to die for! The gala dinner on Thursday - amazing! The poutine & pizza by the pool - what a treat!

ROOMS: We were fortunate to get a villa on the lagoon... and we loved it! Our own sitting room, private balcony overlooking a lagoon filled with sea creatures. A chambermaid who decorated our bed or towels differently each day. A mini bar with beer, pop & water......what more could we ask for???

THE BEACH: Pristine. Powder white sand. Turquoise waters. Shallow sandbars perfect for children. Bring a snorkel & mask... wherever there are rocks under the surface (only waist deep water!!!) you can see a variety of harmless but beautiful fish. Bring a roll from breakfast and feed them & watch the fish swarm around you. Unbelievable! Plus the bar on the beach - terrific idea! There is a guy who comes along the beach in an ATV with fresh coconut, which he`ll split open, & fill with rum & pop (and REFILL repeatedly)... for $2.50!!! Delicious!

ACTIVITIES: The Animation Staff will keep you hopping with beach & pool volleyball, water polo, dance lessons, aerobics, hockey even!!! You can rent a sea kayak or paddle boat FREE and explore the beach. Catamaran rides - also free! Bikes - also free, but not much to see off the resort & it can get very hot & tiring (trust us!). We went for a snorkelling tour via catamaran for a small fee for an hour to much farther away reef & were blown away by the variety of fish & corals!

THE PEOPLE: The staff was fantastic! It is worth getting to know the people at the resort. I did not find tipping was expected as many say. When we did it, it was GREATLY appreciated, but it did not impact our level of service in any way. We also brought loads of gifts (toiletries, gum & candy, hats, t-shirts, school supplies, toys), which were FAR more appreciated than the tips! Staff to watch for, who we REALLY appreciated... Gabriel (swim up bar), Divnitsa (our maid), Erdwin & Adrian (Animation Staff)... they went out of their way to make our trip special.

NIGHLY SHOWS: Fun, wide variety of styles of shows & the staff are very talented.

COMPLAINTS: So small, so few! There were a lot of smokers and I found they were not always considerate where they were smoking (in the pool, beach, near kids)... but rather than complain, we`d avoid them. It`d be nice if they had designated smoking areas. And there were a few parents on our trip that allowed their kids to run wild unsupervised, verbally abuse the staff & really act up. It was to the point I found myself putting sunblock on some of them as they were getting burned in the pool... while their parents were on the beach!!! But then I reminded myself I was on my honeymoon & they were not my problem. Lastly, some people were very piggish with their litter (drink cups). It doesn`t take much effort to return your empties to the bar or put in the garbage. I know you`re on vacation, but wow! Don`t be lazy!

TRAVELLER TIPS: We were told to bring large plastic cups to save on trips to the bar... fantastic idea & we were the envy of many. We just grabbed 2 large heavy-duty Slurpee cups at 7-11! There is an AMAZING lobster shack 15 mins away via moped (can rent for $12/hour) on Playa Prohibida. we visited it 2x during our stay because it was so amazing. A fresh 4lb approx. lobster tail, a dozen grilled fresh shrimp, rice, banana chips... for $12 USD. Beer - $1 USD. I was blown away by the size, the freshness... the taste... I took photos to prove it! A lot of people we met at El Senador were repeat visitors & with good reason. We plan on being repeat visitors ourselves! WE LOVED IT THERE!

Here are a few comments about our stay at the El Senador, Cayo Coco, Cuba.

We stayed in a Junior Suite which has an adjoining room with a
sofa bed, chair and table with doors that close for privacy. The maid
surprised us everyday with swans made out of the towels and placed on
the bed and the bed was made differently everyday with maybe a tropical
flower placed on our pillows. I could hardly wait each day to see what
the maid had done to make our room more beautiful. The room was large
with a nice bathroom which included a bidet. There is also a hairdryer
and a special electrical outlet for electric razors only so adaptors
were not required. Bring your own hair conditioner as they only provide
shampoo and body lotion. There is a free in-room safe and a fridge and
bottled water was left in the fridge daily.

There are 7 restaurants at the El Senador. An Italian Restaurant, A
Steakhouse, A Cuban Restaurant, A Seafood Restaurant, An Asian
Restaurant, a special VIP Restaurant, A Beach Grill and 2 All You Can
Eat Buffets.
For the restaurants you needed to make reservations and as a guest you
are only guaranteed 2 reservations per week if my memory serves me right
but we were there at a time when it wasn't very busy so we had no
trouble getting a reservation anywhere for anytime. The VIP Restaurant
costs extra. The Buffets or Beach Grill do not require reservations and
dress is very casual. We enjoyed the Italian Restaurant the most. I had
pizza (different from Canada), spaghetti, and various other pastas.
They give you a whole bottle of wine at your table (I don't drink but my
husband enjoyed it very much). :-)

Most nights we were serenaded by local musicians who would do requests.
They also offered their CD for sale. The ambiance was wonderful.

Tip: Bring little packages of pepper
from restaurants at home because their pepper is tasteless for some reason.
There are two large pools, one that has daily activities such as pool
volleyball and the other pool is known as the "quiet pool". There is an
adult pool and a children's pool as well. The resort is large so we just
went to the pool that was closest to our room which was the "quiet
pool". The pool bartender was the best! I don't drink alcohol but he
made the best non-alcoholic Pina Coladas. :-)

Each night the entertainment staff put on colourful shows for the
guests. They were filled with music, dancing, drama and at the end they
always sang the same fun song complete with actions which they had the
whole audience participate in. I still can't get the song out of my
head. There is also a disco but we didn't go because we were usually too
tired after a day of swimming, walking along the beach, sitting in the
sunshine and eating, eating & eating!

My favourite activity at El Senador, Cayo Coco was walking along the
beautiful, white sand beach looking for seashells to bring home. Not
only did we get exercise to walk off all those calories from the "All
You Can Eat Buffet" but we walked in the crystal clear ocean and enjoyed
the view up and down the island.
For swimming I preferred the very large pool closest to our room but the
beach was lovely to walk along. The El Senador Resort also has a bar
on the beach specifically for its' guests.
There is also a beach restaurant that you can go to in your bathing
suit. The grilled cheese sandwiches are excellent there. :-) We found
that tipping even $1.00 U.S. each day to the maid, bartenders,
waiter/waitress, etc. was greatly appreciated in Cuba.

A dollar doesn't seem much to us but for a Cuban it is more than a days'
wage in some cases. So even though tipping is not expected because it is an
All Inclusive Resort, it sure is appreciated. Just for the record, even if
you don't tip, service is still excellent. The Cuban people are very
special. We also brought with us toiletries, candy, gum, T-Shirts, hats,
toothbrushes, panti-hose, perfume, lotions, razors, new toys, pens,
paper, crayons etc. to give as gifts to our maid, waiter/waitress,
bartender, gym instructor and so on. As we got to know the staff and
found out who had children we would give them gifts for their families
as well as for themselves. These gifts were graciously received and by
the end of our two week vacation, we received gifts from our maid,
waitress and gym instructor. We were extremely touched by their kindness.

When we were at El Senador we went to the gym for a workout every other
day and we played a few games of tennis. They have a games room with
ping pong tables and other table sports. At the beach you can take out
paddle boats or play beach volleyball. At one of the large pools they
also organize water sports or water arobics. The have also organized an
ocassional soccer game or you can just bike around the island to
explore. I also saw people fishing. All this is included in the All
Inclusive Package. If you want to pay extra you can take trips to the
mainland and enjoy speedboating and snorkeling and perhaps many other
sports. Or on the island you can pay extra and enjoy hang-gliding or
horseback riding. Cayo Coco is a small island connected to the mainland
of Cuba by a 27 kilometer causeway. You can easily walk around the
island or if you prefer you can bicycle or horseback ride. You can also
rent a car (many of them were Audi's) if you want to venture over to the
mainland

As for shopping, each day local artists display their wares at an open
air market located in the centre of the resort. Don't try and bargain
with the prices, they are reasonably priced already and the people don't
make very much money as it is. There are also a few shops located at the
resort with souvenir items such as T-shirts, towels, hats, mugs, etc.

The best memory I have of Cayo Coco is of the people we met. The Cuban
people are very special people indeed. The staff always went out of
their way to make our stay as perfect as possible. Once we got to know
one of the waitresses, we made sure we sat in her section every day for
breakfast and lunch and we learned all about her and her family. The
pool bartender was the best and he shared with us all about his family
as well. Many of the staff could speak enough English that you could
understand them but I brushed up on as much Spanish as I could so that I
could communicate better with these wonderful people. "Hola" is heard
all around the complex as staff greet the guests.

We definitely plan to visit the El Senador again in the near future.