Before opting to stay at this property, I’ve spent days/nights reading about various hotels in the area, and thinking about Mexico experience at Iberostar, opted to stay at Iberostar Selection Bella Vista. This is overall review of the trip to Cuba and the hotel as well:
Upon arrival many opted to exchange dollars to pesos at the airport, where they offer 18 pesos for $1 CAD, on the transfer bus to the hotel, we were offered 40 pesos to $1 CAD, at the resort some will offer 60-70 pesos for $1 CAD, and in town of Varadero you can exchange to 80-85 pesos for CAD. The choice is yours.
Upon arrival at hotel, no difference whether you are star prestige or regular customer. Check in was fairly ok, as not many people arrived. Upon arrival you get WIFI username and password, which works here and there, and you need to login very and very frequently as it kicks you out often. Internet is tolerable as you are on a vacation mode, and not there to watch netflix. What bothered the most was that at restaurants and bars, you need to scan the bar code and download the menu, for which you need a wi-fi. I suggest you download the menu, and email it to yourself, so you have a copy for the rest of the stay.
We did not use room service, but fridge had 2 bottles of water, and we saw only 2 cans of beer in 7 days, so don’t expect to have more. Not much to say about the food, not the greatest but enough to survive the holiday. Cuban restaurant not good at all, Japanese restaurant was a bit of show and fried rice with chicken and shrimp, and Italian was the better one out of specialty restaurants.
For star prestige you are supposed to get unlimited dining at the restaurants, but this was not the case, after 3 bookings, we would not allowed to book any more. Only option was to use dedicated restaurant on 11th floor for star prestige members, where food was OK.
If you want to rent a scooter or a car, there is a rental place in the hotel next door, Sol Palmeras, where we rented a scooter for $25USD on the credit card plus $10 USD cash supposedly for gas, we rented for a day and enjoyed it.
Beach is great, ocean is fantastic and tons of chairs available on the beach. Really enjoyed long walks along the beach.
Staff is hit and miss, some are pleasant and good, others are a bit rude, I would say.