A Cuban tourist reported a shortage in the buffet service at the Meliá Las Antillas hotel in the famous resort of Varadero, and warned people not to be fooled by the site's advertising, which shows succulent tables loaded with food.
"Don't be fooled, I'm in this hotel right now and half of the things are gone: no pina colada, no sangria or lemon soda, lousy sweets at the buffet, no yogurt or butter at breakfast. No Don't be fooled, this hotel is nothing like they say," the woman said in a post on the tourist facility's Facebook page.
The young woman, who studied medicine in Sancti Spíritus, added that she has gone to other hotels and has never seen "anything like it."
"Today, despite it being my birthday, they did not give me a reservation for the romantic restaurant, do not be fooled, this is not good, there are many much better hotels and at a lower price or at the same price," he said.
An Internet user tried to justify the lack of food with "the season", and argued that in high season it is more difficult to make reservations at restaurants. Likewise, he said that "hotels are a matter of luck and truth," because "some days it is terrible and other days it is wonderful."
In this regard, he explained "that the worst time to go is July and August because there are fewer foreigners and more Cubans," and acknowledged that when tourism is national "some things are scarce."
The affected tourist said she responded that she went with very high expectations and that she had "left cold," because "I have never been to such a bad hotel," she concluded.
Also on the TripAdvisor platform, some hotel guests have complained about the food, and have said that they preferred to eat in restaurants outside the facility. However, most reviews are favorable to the service.
A customer who visited the facility recently said there was no fish, the cheese was processed or so-called "process cheese," and there were no pizzas or variety of salads.
On August 1 it emerged that the Spanish chainMeliá Hotels International had lost national tourism in Cuba during the first half of 2023: "The operation in Cuba has seen an upward trend in terms of international tourism, but it wasaffected by the contraction of the domestic market and the fall in average rates," noted the company's semiannual report, released on Monday.
The analysis attributes the decline in national tourism to the devaluation of the Cuban peso and a supposed "growing competition" on the island that offers lower prices.
"The aforementioned drop in the participation of national tourism, together with the new devaluation of the Cuban peso, implied the need to resort to offers to face the growing competition. This factor added to the reopening of several hotels that operate in lower price segments, have caused a general drop in average rates," detailed the Spanish chain.
The Meliá Las Antillas is an all-inclusive hotel, only for adults and is sold as a special hotel for couples, with prices ranging between $300 and $500 per couple, for three nights.
Last May, Meliá Hotels International announced that it was going tomanage four new hotels in Cuba, in the midst of the regime's attempts to revive the tourism sector, which in 2022 barely reached 15.6% hotel occupancy. Its facilities are managed by the foreign part, in this case Melia, and a Cuban part, through the Gaviota companies or the military conglomerate GAESA.
Last March, the Cuban regime recognized the problems that the tourism sector has, which translates into a failure to meet the annual plan, which for this year is more than 3.5 million visitors.
Insufficient air connectivity, non-payments to suppliers that interrupted the supply chain and difficulties in accessing the international market, among others, are the problems faced by the sector, referred to in a report by Canal Caribe.
What do you think?
SEE COMMENTS (8)Filed in: