A Cuban toured the buffet of the Hotel Playa Vista Azul, a five-star establishment in Varadero, and documented in a viral video what he found: endless lines, depleted sweets, a shortage of cheese and ham, and long queues to get eggs or tortillas, all for a price that hovers around 1,000 dollars.
"It’s really unfortunate, truly unfortunate. They charge almost a thousand dollars for a service that is worth nothing," concludes the author of the clip, published by the page Isla Local on Facebook, where it accumulated nearly 50,000 views, 529 likes, and 163 comments in just a few days.
In the images, the man narrates what he sees while walking through the food area: "People lining up for sweets, but there are no sweets. On the cheese line, there’s a lot of hot pepper. Look at the line for cheese and ham; they say it's not worth the wait. And on the other side is the line for eggs, for tortillas, the Cubans here, you know. Struggling and in need of a hotel that's supposedly not delivering."
The hotel featured in the video is the Ocean Vista Azul, a complex of 501 rooms located on the South Highway, kilometer 11 in Varadero, classified as five stars and owned by the Grupo Empresarial Gaviota, which is controlled by the Cuban Armed Forces.
The official prices of the establishment are approximately $326 for two nights on an all-inclusive basis for two adults, although longer packages can approach or exceed the $1,000 mentioned in the video.
The complaint is not an isolated case. In April of this year, a Cuban woman went viral with her complaints about the Grand Aston Varadero Beach Resort, where she claimed that they only served "chicken with rice and cabbage" and that the bread had weevils.
The pattern is repeated throughout the Cuban hotel industry, which is experiencing its worst crisis in decades.
According to reports from June 2026, Cuba lost nearly 50% of its visitors in the first four months of the year, hotel occupancy in Varadero does not exceed 10% during certain periods, and about 30 hotels have temporarily closed due to a lack of fuel and low demand.
In February, the Cuban government closed several hotels due to a lack of fuel, while the chains that remain open are applying discounts of up to 25% and offering free transfers to attract tourists.
The sector's revenues have accumulated a 70% decline since 2019.
The contradiction between the international prices charged by these establishments and the actual quality of service—characterized by shortages, power outages of up to 20 hours, and a structural energy crisis—is at the heart of the outrage expressed by an increasing number of visitors on social media, turning Varadero into a synonym for a tourism promise that the regime can no longer uphold.
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