Are you looking for a vacation that offers warm weather, stunning beaches and gorgeous blue waters? If your answer is yes, then you should try Varadero Beach, a popular destination among tourist hot-spots in Cuba and the primary beach resort area of this Caribbean island. Varadero hotels are a pretty good option to take into consideration for your family vacations, romantic getaways, seniors, youngsters, and groups of friends.

There are choices for everyone at Varadero hotels. Varadero tempts many travelers with its warm and transparent waters and its white and fine sands. Whether you want to experience thrilling water sports or just lounge on the sunny beach, there’s plenty opportunity to explore and relax. If you are seeking a unique travel experience that blends fun and adventure, wonderful relaxation with stunning sights and amazing resort accommodations, consider putting Varadero hotels on your list of holiday plans. This popular tourist city features some of the best Cuba hotels.

The dazzling 20 kilometer beach is home today to some of the most sophisticated all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean. If you decide to go, I suggest sticking to the newer four- and five-star hotels. Just to mention a few: the 5 star Plus Paradisus Varadero Resort is one of the most luxurious all-inclusive hotels in Varadero, set in a luscious setting overlooking the sea in the finest area of Varadero beach, and it is recommended for events and incentives, weddings and honeymoon. The 5 star Iberostar Varadero Resort is also a spectacular hotel decorated with glamour and style, which offers an elegant on-site spa (complete with its own swimming pool) and an 18-hole golf course nearby, among other facilities. The newly built 5 star Barceló’s resort are ideal places to both rest and do sports.

If you search for a true feeling of exclusiveness regarding Varadero hotels, then the 5 star Barceló Marina Palace Resort would be a perfect choice. Having a prime beach location, next to Marina Gaviota, this hotel offers sober elegance at affordable prices. It also features an exclusive reserved area called Barceló Cayo Libertad Royal Island. Great resort to enjoy a family vacation or a couple’s getaway.

If you want to discover “your own private oasis within a romantic paradise”, the stunning Ultra All Inclusive 5-star Paradisus Princesa del Mar hotel will suit your expectations. Nevertheless it is designed for adults over 18. This Varadero hotel is one of Caribbean’s finest All-Inclusive resorts, offering refined elegance in harmony with nature and a wide range of services. It boasts sophisticated and spacious accommodation, extensive grounds and a wide range of culinary options, a large beach that’s great for walking and a lovely European Spa. Ideal for weddings and honeymoons!

Another appealing choice amid Varadero hotels is the Meliá Las Antillas, set in six hectares of exotic Caribbean gardens with water features and exuberant plant life. The Resort is a paradise of the most comfortable accommodation, delicious gourmet meals, and nautical sports.

For golf fans I suggest the Meliá Las Américas hotel, which is located near the Varadero Golf Club. This high category hotel is also recommended for events and incentives, weddings and honeymoons.

The Sandals Royal Hicacos Resort and Spa is a well-priced choice for your upcoming Varadero vacation when looking for the best offers. This is a great property in all orders.

However, when budget is a concern for your beach vacations, you may opt for one of the 4-star Varadero hotels.

Just to mention a few: the 4 star Breezes Bella Costa Resort is a contemporary beachfront resort, which enjoys a splendid location that’s close to Cuba’s only 18-hole golf course. Also the 4 star Playa Caleta Resort was completely remodeled in 2005 to modernize its facilities and improve its services. Its nice atmosphere with all the exotic Caribbean charms, along with its professional entertainment team that provides daily and nightly activity programs, will ensure a rewarding experience in your holidays.

The Oasis Varadero 1920 All Inclusive resort hosts a unique Cuban town, with villas as they used to be back in 1920’s.

Varadero hotels are suitable for children, teens and family safe vacations, as well as for nautical sports, fishing and diving lovers, golfers, couples, honeymoons and groups of friends.

Furthermore, most resorts have rooms and general facilities specially appointed for the handicapped, enabling those traveling with disabilities to enjoy accessible holidays.

There is a nice offer of tours, both within Varadero and going out to the nearby colonial jewel of Trinidad, The Yumurí Valley or the beautiful Escambray Mountain Range, among others.

Havana City is only about 150 km away and there are also excursions heading there for city tours, museums, fortresses and more, that you can combine with the renowned Cabaret Tropicana at night, for example.

The logistics for the tours are good. Nice buses, nice tour guides, nice schedules.

So, if you are planning a trip to Cuba, it might be wise to consider dropping by Varadero. Why not?

Posted: August 1st, 2008 under Cuba Hotels, Cuba Vacations, Hotel Reviews, Places To Go and Things To Do.
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By: Giselle Rodríguez

About two weeks ago I heard that the popular duo Buena Fe was releasing a new album named “Catalejo”, which means “Telescope”. The news instantly moved people from the entire city to the Karl Marx Theater, the place where the concert would take place, in order to buy the “so-wanted” tickets. It was a Friday night, the theater was crowded, and the lights were astonishing with dazzling colors of blue, red, pink, purple, green, yellow, that gave an amazing setting to the band. Plus, the sound was excellent. Once the hip musical group appeared, it was a passionate performance that combined old hits from prior albums and the songs from their latest and fifth CD: Catalejo, in which they sing once more to love, the disillusion, and the everyday life. Nevertheless the disk proved to be more social and extroverted than the previous ones.

It includes songs that are more challenging, that make people think, like “Catalejo”, “Los barcos en el Puerto” and “Fuera”. Buena Fe´s work shows again their commitment to creativity and intelligence through their lyrics. The topics that prevail in their songs are basically the daily life, the soul, and the heart. Also the sonority of the album is full of nice melodies and very contemporary rhythms. During the concert the fiery percussion and the trilling electric guitar mesmerized the audience. The public was delighted with the fusion of Caribbean sounds (but guarding the duet’s unique style) and the beautiful ballads mixed with beating nuances. It was an intense spectacle, full of lively tunes that also gave space for thoughtful meditation. Themes like “Fuera” (awesome percussion), “En cueros”, “Los barcos en el puerto”, “A la muerte” and “Viernes, sábado y domingo” were among my favorites ones, due to its great musical arrangements and fine lyrics.

Buena Fe has become an exceptional band of Cuban musicians, and a popular phenomenon with serious songs that speak about current social conflicts, fusing the island’s traditional musical styles such as trova with a more contemporary pop-rock sound. Many of their songs have become hits in Cuba and over the world.

The duo, Israel Rojas and Yoel Martinez, both grew up in Guantánamo, Cuba’s most eastern province, where Martinez studied classical guitar, playing in local bars and clubs, and Rojas trained to be a lawyer, writing song lyrics in his spare time. Playing together at first at local festivals in Guantánamo, Buena Fe soon caught the attention of the national record label Egrem, who invited them to Havana to record their first record, “Déjame Entrar” (2001). That’s how the duet entered into the world of performance and music to earn the favor of a cultured and heterogeneous audience, which is formed mostly by teenagers, but also includes people in their 30s, 40s or in their 50s who follows the group everywhere they go. And that’s just the magic of the music of Buena Fe, which is able to captivate any kind of public, because it has an interesting proposal of songs blended with intelligence and poetry.

«Buena Fe means “good faith” because our songs talk about the special spirit of a generation» says Rojas. «Cuba is one special country with situations, contradictions, rich and poor. It’s very contrasting society. Our songs talk about all this with good faith. We wanted through our music to talk about this spirit and the problems but with love». 

The discography of the band deserves a lot of credit because one can perceive an increasing quality in their albums, especially with the musical arrangements. The duet has evolved, without repeating formats. When they released their first record “Déjame entrar”, it was an instantly hit among Cubans. The debut climbed the charts with a charming collection of themes like: “No juegues con mi soledad” (Don’t Play with my solitude). Buena Fe emerged then as a great duo of musicians with an extraordinary ability to entertain and a willingness to make people to think with their smooth-pointed lyrics. I always embrace the project thanks to the humor, the irony, the metaphors, and the consciousness that came out from their songs, mostly written by the lead singer Israel Rojas who is also the Group’s director. This songwriter has a voice that simply seethes with attitude and the band excels at delivering smart, melodic pop anthems that immediately stick in your head.

They have brought down the stereotypes of popular Cuban music, always dominated by salsa music, embracing delicate and yet vivacious sounds, which are typically pop but with the touch of Cuban roots. In addition, thanks to Buena Fe pop music it’s seen from another perspective because they have escaped easy formulas, tasteless lyrics and mediocre refrains.

On their second album named “Arsenal” (2003) Buena Fe speaks about social, sport, ecological, and love issues, always from the national and popular viewpoints. They employ a wide range of poetic themes, mostly about love, creating a very romantic atmosphere. This CD helps me get through the day and in many occasions gets me going in the morning. I always remember waking up listening to “Fin de Fiesta”, one of the hits of this album, which is a great song dedicated to fun and divertissement.

“Corazonero” (2004) it’s one of my favorite records. It’s a repertoire of twelve songs that went through various topics, from the recognizable urban issues, sociological content, until those of love and couple’s relationships. My special song in this album is definitely “Corazonero”, having such energy in its lyrics and musical background. Other outstanding tracks of the CD: “Nacimos ángeles” (tempting beats), “Llegaré”, “El duende del bache” (very humorous) and “Soy” (an original song where a human spermatozoid tells his hard mission to come out to the world and fecundate).

Likewise, the group’s fourth album Presagios (2006) has a wonderful collection of themes including: “Sigo cayendo” and “Vamos corazón”, all of them chanting to the loved one. One controversial and original song is “Gracias por el fuego”, where the duet incites to authentic meditation. Another fun proposal is the transcendental and ironic “Nalgas”. The erotism of this theme has a unique elegance that contrast to the vulgarity and obscenity of “reggeaton” songs, which talks a lot about that zone of the female body. The disk has pleasing tunes and lively themes that bring you the dance and party atmosphere for which Cuba is famous.

Well done by the boys. Their genuine uniqueness is reflected in their authentic, fresh and diverse musical proposition, along with their intelligent lyrics and their rich sonority. I just hope they keep going with the excellent work, making verses that may encourage feelings and meditations in those who listen to them.

Posted: July 20th, 2008 under Cuba Vacations, Places To Go and Things To Do, Uncategorized.
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With the arrival of July in Cuba the temperatures rise, but also begins a vibrant calendar of events and festivities. One of the liveliest cultural celebrations in this time of the year is the Caribbean Festival, also known as the Feast of Fire, which is held annually in the Cuban eastern city of Santiago de Cuba. Between the 3 and 9 of July each year it is an enjoyable week, full of dance, plays and music, where participants become witnesses of a great party with Caribbean flavor.

But when this popular festivity of Caribbean cultures emerged? The Feast of Fire came to light in 1981 under the name of “Festival of Performing Arts of Caribbean Origin” in Santiago de Cuba, achieving this city the status of capital of the Caribbean. This event focuses on issues related to the preservation and development of Caribbean cultural diversity, as well as actions to unite the region and promote a cultural exchange with the rest of the world. It has become a popular celebration of regional music, folklore, plastic arts and literature.

This year the provinces of Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba shared the venue of the XXVIII edition of this encounter, promoted by the Caribbean House and the Cuban Ministry for Culture. The festival has gathered together a number of cultural expressions from the people of the Caribbean area, especially from Mexico, a region to which it is dedicated the event this time.

What can be done and see during the festival? People can participate in the shows, cultural galas, parades, exhibitions of books and magazines, and magical-religious ceremonies that are performed in theaters, squares, parks and institutions. The public can appreciate the mixture of autochthonous ingredients, socio-cultural and religious rites that came from Africa, and part of the best of European traditions.

The event had its popular inauguration with the Batá drums, in evocation to Eleguá and Obatalá, and gave the opening of the Parade of the Snake, a name that some associate with the importance of that animal in the symbology of the Congo people. And while the Devil was burning away by the sea, in the symbolic ceremony that serves as closing of the Feast of Fire, removing bad omens from this warm land; in Guantánamo “the changüí” was heard and Santiago danced to the beat of its conga and to the bachata.

However, the most interesting feature of this festival is the carnival itself, when the whole city seems to take to the streets in one big dance party until the early hours of the morning.

Until today, 9 of July, the festival’s activities provided cultural options in the Caribbean House, in the Traditions House, in the “Trova” House, and at the headquarters of the French Tumba, in museums, cultural centers, concert rooms and other establishments. There were several sites to visit in the framework of the event such as: the Universal Art Gallery, the Cabildo Teatral Santiago, the “Luis Díaz Oduardo” Cultural Workshop, the “Fernando Ortiz” Center and the squares and city parks, among many others.

This festival also encourages artistic groups and regional researchers to analyze their common historic and cultural roots, so it’s a great opportunity to participate in panel discussions and enjoy the colloquium “The Caribbean that Unites Us”, which highlights the traditions of English and French origin, the French Tumba and other cultural expressions.

Although the Feast of Fire ends today, the presence of musical and dancing groups, researches, writers and artists from almost 16 countries including Venezuela, United States, Germany, Costa Rica, Finland, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Honduras, Martinique, Belgium, Haiti, Argentina, Curacao, Denmark and France, enabled visitors to admire the uniqueness of the culture and traditions of Caribbean region through its joyful celebrations.

Posted: July 9th, 2008 under Cuba Events, Cuba Vacations, Places To Go and Things To Do.
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