A Cuban doctor identified on social media as JAViart de Cuba posted a reel on Facebook in which she recounts what she describes as "the worst vacation of my life": she paid 315 dollars for an all-inclusive hotel in Varadero for herself, her husband, her daughter, and her six-month-old baby, and returned more exhausted than before she left.
"I am a Cuban doctor, I live in Cuba, and after a whole year of working, we decided to treat ourselves," she explains in the video.
After six hours of travel, the family arrived excited at the island's most famous tourist destination, but what they found was far from a restful experience.
The room, located on the sixth floor, had central air conditioning that "practically did not cool" and lacked hot water. The all-inclusive food was scarce and of low quality: unseasoned rice, only two main dishes—fish and beef—no dessert, no salad, and no ice cream.
Beer and wine appeared only once a day, during the evening show.
"We arrived hopeful, with low expectations due to the situation in the country, but we never imagined that it would be there that the horror movie would begin," the doctor recounted.
The most critical point came when the National Electric Power System collapsed. The hotel was without power for more than 24 hours and its generator could not keep the air conditioners running.
"Imagine that situation with a little girl and a six-month-old baby," she said. "Honestly, I had never struggled so much in my life, not even when I was on scholarship."
The only thing I can commend is the staff's willingness: "The only positive aspect I can highlight was the attention from the workers. They did everything within their power, but good service cannot solve issues of infrastructure and organization."
"I didn't make this video to hurt anyone. I do it because when you pay $315 for a vacation, you expect to relax, not return even more exhausted," concluded the doctor, whose reel garnered over 477,000 views and nearly 18,000 reactions.
The testimony is not an isolated case. The user Jitana Melanie reported in the Facebook group "Hotels in Varadero Cuba" her experience at the Hotel Sol y Mar: "They market it as a four-star hotel but it's not even two. It wasn't cheap at all, and the rooms had no electricity or water. Guests, including children, were sleeping in the lobby and on the floor."
Another user who visited the same establishment with 42 people found restrooms with leaks, store-bought bread, shredded chicken, and sugar-free desserts.
In July, another Cuban tourist reported similar conditions after paying 150 dollars a night at a hotel in Varadero that also lost electricity and water when the SEN went down.
The structural context explains these experiences. Cuban tourism is facing its worst crisis in decades: Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz acknowledged on July 30 before the National Assembly that 73% of the hotel facilities in the country remain closed and that around 25,000 workers are in a state of availability.
Between January and April 2026, Cuba received only 328,608 international tourists, a decrease of 55.8% compared to the same period the previous year, with national hotel occupancy dropping to 21.5%.
The 315 dollars spent by the doctor amounts to more than 20 months of base salary for a newly graduated doctor in Cuba, whose monthly earnings are 7,045 Cuban pesos, around 10 to 13 dollars at the informal exchange rate.
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