A Cuban identified as Thalía Soler posted a video on Facebook this Saturday sharing her disappointing experience during a day trip at the Gran Hotel de Camagüey, one of the most emblematic establishments in the province, and concluded with a decisive statement: "if I go back there, never again."
Soler recounted that he had been trying to book a spot to access the hotel pool for two months. Instead of setting the stage for a good experience, the wait led to a series of disappointments from the moment he arrived at the location.
"I spent two months constantly trying to reserve a spot to be able to swim in the pool. And in the end, when I arrived, everything turned out to be on fire," the young woman recounted in the clip of just over a minute.
Upon arriving at the establishment, they were informed that they could not bring their own drinks. The issue was that there was also no food available within the hotel, which forced the group to go out in search of something to eat after they had gone for a swim.
"They had told us that we couldn't bring any drinks. And when we arrived, there wasn't even a single option; we had to go out to find food after we had gotten into the pool," Soler described.
The lunch supposedly included in the day pass—spaghetti and pizza—also failed to meet expectations. The portions were so small that the young woman deemed them insufficient for one person, and the pizza was compared to something that leaves no doubt about its quality: "it was like the old flip-flops people used to wear before going out to carnival."
In addition to the issues with the food, there were other problems: the pool water was excessively hot, and the dishes arrived greasy. "Not to mention that the water was scalding, and on top of that, even the plates were greasy," he added.
Despite everything, Soler acknowledged that the company saved the day: "I had a good time because I was with my friends and we create a great atmosphere, but I'll never go back there again."
In the video description, the author was more direct about the background of what happened: "Unfortunately, the situation in the province is getting worse every day, and we can't do anything to fix it. A video is not enough to express everything I felt at that moment."
The Gran Hotel de Camagüey, inaugurated in 1938 and operated by the state chain Islazul, features 72 rooms, a pool for adults and children, a restaurant, a café, and four bars. It is also marketed internationally as "Gran Hotel Affiliated by Meliá."
Soler's experience is not an isolated case. In August 2026, another Cuban reported a nearly identical situation at the Hotel Neptuno in Havana: power outages, poor service, prohibitions on bringing in outside food, and poor-quality pool water. Complaints are recurring in various state hotels on the Island that offer day passes at prices ranging from 3 to 30 dollars, or between 10,000 and 19,000 Cuban pesos.
Camagüey is experiencing one of its worst crises in basic services in 2026, with power outages lasting up to 20 days without resolution reported in some neighborhoods, water shortages due to failures in pumping stations, and delayed salaries of up to six months in municipalities like Güáimaro. It is this backdrop that Soler tagged with the hashtags #Blackouts and #Precariousness while sharing his account.
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