My family and I stayed at this resort between June 22-29th. 2 adults (40+), myself and my boyfriend (20), and my younger sister (15). It was amazing for all of us. Whether staying as a family or couple, you'll always find something amazing to do.

When we arrived I was a little skeptic about the resort because it looked small (after passing all the other resorts which were many stories high) but it is huge with beautiful grounds! The layout is amazing and I love that it’s not just a huge hotel-like building. The entire resort is covered with hibiscus bushes, palm trees and flowers! The pool was amazing (felt a little warm, but its in Cuban sun). We had to wait a little for our room so we got drinks at the lobby bar, ate lunch and took a swim to cool off. The mojitos are not that good (but I am a bartender, so I'm a little more picky) but you have to try the tigers, adelitas, strawberry milkshakes and blue hawaiians. If you are a vodka lover like me, you can ask for any drink to be made with the alcohol of your choice, which was amazing for me because I hate rum.

The first day at the lunch buffet was so-so because I was comparing it to Mandarin. But we all found something we enjoyed and the other days and nights had amazing for food! You have to keep in mind that its a different country and there are going to be new dishes you've never seen before. However, they always had something for everyone: pastas, pizzas, hamburgers, hot dogs, roast beef, french fries, many kinds of fish, mussels, AMAZING desserts (just like Mandarin crème de caramel, strawberry tarts, fruit tarts, mocha mousse dishes, éclairs, and much more), fresh baked bread and buns, cheeses, fresh fruit (pineapple, mango, passion fruit, watermelon). The presentation is so-so but keep an open mind. They don't grow or import lettuce (so be ready for no salads).

Restaurants
A la carte restaurants were very good (Japanese, Cuban & Mediterranean). We went to Japanese twice and I suggest the Tepanyaki or Teriyaki with chicken. "Sushi" rolls were identical to what you'd find here and tempura (deep fried veggies) was yummy. Get the soy-vegetable soup, sounds gross but was soooooo tasty! Have to get the deep fried banana dessert! Cuban was also very good but a little uncomfortable because its outside and the night we went it was very hot. We got the steak and it was very good! I would suggest skipping the Mediterranean all together if you are not a seafood LOVER. And I stress lover, because its only seafood options, and mostly fish. We got the seafood pasta and the mussels and shrimp were good but the sauce on the noodles was yucky. But worth a try and if you don't like it you can leave and go to the buffet. You can reserve each one once but go to them as often as you'd like provided there is space (tip a buck and you're in).

Beach
Beautiful boardwalk to the beach (refer to pictures). Along the way you pass a snack bar/grill (hot dogs, hamburgers, fresh cut fruit) and a beach bar. The beach was amazing! Go early to get many spots under the umbrellas, but if you are a late comer (we usually got there around 11am), simply ask and look around for some chairs without anything on them and move them yourself. You have to be proactive and ask people and everyone is very nice and relaxed and willing to share space and shade. Don't be shy about this! Its very important to get a spot in the shade because you simply won't survive in the sun the whole time. At least one chair in the shade is important to keep your bag, sunscreen and drinks under. The water was simply amazing, 88-90 F. Paddle boating, catamaran, and snorkeling was fun too! Beach games were held every day for a bottle of a rum, very fun!

Excursions
-Havana+Tropicana ($135 CAN)
If you're adventurous I suggest the Havana trip including Tropicana. This was a long (7am-2am) but fun day! You visit Old Havana, New Havana and Downtown Havana. Beware for beggars and do not accept any help! If you do they expect a tip! For example, coming into Old H we got off the bus and these two young men were following us and drawing us, they expected 1$ for a 10 second sketch. Just don't look at anyone and say no thank you! Don't feel like you are being mean, but if you give in every time, you leave broke! Havana flea market was a horrible time. You get an hour to cruise it. SO HOT and crowded. Everyone is trying to make ends meat and you can't stop at any stand with hearing "Hey pretty lady, price? I give you deal, where you from, oh I love Canada, special deal for you, etc!" There are about 200 stands, ALL repeat themselves and all of them pester you. However, its very easy to bargain and get deals on everything!
The cigar and rum factory was awesome! I got 4 26ers or alcohol and a Cuban for $22!!! Get the cohibas, romeo & juliets or montecristo cubans. DO NOT buy them off the streets!
Tropicana was amazing and worth every penny. Research it to get an idea of what it is. If you get stuck with a spot in the back and there are empty tables closer up, simply ask to move up and they helped us without a problem and we got amazing seats!!! Be proactive, anything is possible in Cuba, especially for $1!
-Cayo Blanco ($70 CAN)
Catamaran trip to Cayo Blanco Island. Very beautiful. Beach was amazing and we were visited by wild dolphins! Bring sun screen! Snorkeling at corel reef was so amazing and my bf found a huge conch shell (cannot keep it though). Water was so warm, but a little greenish.

Entertainment
Nightly entertainment was a little silly (lame) but actually fun. Grab a table with your family and just keep asking the waiter for drinks. Grammy night was very funny! Don't expect much but just sitting there with drinks and music was enjoyable enough.

Resort
Grounds were beautiful. We took nightly walks around the resort and to the beach every night. BEAUTIFUL at night! Gorgeous lighting and atmosphere. Grab and drink and sit on the beach. Bring a camera to take shots of night critters: crabs and lizards. Very neat and harmless. Crabs were the size of melons and they ran away and did not snap at all! Geikos & tree frogs were neat and catchable. Disko was fun too. But you have to find the right night, because some nights there weren't many people at it. Downside: Bar closed at 2am! This was very disappointing! Food closed at 11pm. No chips. If you crave pringles or munch food when you drink, pack some pringles into your luggage (they shouldn't get crushed). You'll thank yourself. A can of them costs app. $8 CAN!

Things to Bring
- Bugspray! Essential! I had 20 bites on one leg! You don't need it during the day at all (too hot for them) but its a must for the night.
- Waterproof camera. A great investment for a worry free trip!
Olympus stylus 850 available at BestBuy with a floatation strap (so it won't sink) and case for $269. BestBuy offers 14 day return policy so if you don't like it after your trip you can return it no problem.
- Evening wear (cocktail dresses, heels, etc). Very nice to dress up and go to lobby bar at night.
- Comfy shoes for Havana excursion (sport flip flops)

*Buy alcohol freely. We had 3 26er bottles each expecting to pay CAN duty. Claimed everything we bought truthfully and paid no duty! Bottles of liquer (blue caracoa, grenadine, pineapple, coconut, etc) were $3 for a 26er. Good rum $6/7.

After we stayed in Havana three days, we were on our way to Varadero after a few stops to drop people of at other hotels we were really happy about how the place looks.

The room was only ready by three in the afternoon, so we had time for a long lunch, the buffet was great. A lot of choice and most important in a closed airconditioned area! Have been to several all inclusive hotels and this one is the best.

The room was nice and clean and we experienced some blackouts, just a minute then everything was working again, the maid wasn't too keen though, refilling the fridge was only refilling the beer, i had to ask for the fizzy water twice and got it once, the number of towels depended on her mood i think, one day is one short, two short, another no clean towels at all, I don't mind tipping, but it's not a pay-it-forward system is it?
But overall the room was clean, only fridge and towel issue...

The three restaurants, japanese was one big show, everything tasted the same, but nice to go to once, mediterranian i don't know, it was nice, but it was just a buffet, the cuban restaurant was the best, even you have to sit the heat and you are sweating over you food, it was best of three.
The best was still the buffet, me as a picky person, I was happy to see all the different choices and not even being a breadperson, there is a great variety of bread, decent bread not the bread"biscuits" the locals have. Once a week it's lobster, once a week seafood( crabs in all sizes),once a week italian(with all the hams) well it was great!

the pool was a nice area, i laughed my head of with the competitions they have regularly... the beach was great, light blue, you can walk pretty far out, but watch out for the pebbles and shells.

Only two remarks:
every night there is a show and the show is really really good, but that area is just a sauna, so i tried one night, I sat at the back, where there is a breeze, but yeah, a breeze comes with a whole posse of mosquitos, I ended up going to the doctor for a shot in my bum, cos the bites were swelling up like crazy. One tip, take vitamin B one week before you leave daily and while you are there.So an airconditioned room for the acts won't be a bad idea.

the bar area, it is just too small, either you go and sit in the sauna and have a drink or you stay in the bar and it is just too small, we would have dinner early so we could get a table at the bar, after 9 it's just packed. So maybe a bigger bar area.

BTW the people who are going to the hotel,there is a really nice girl working in the bar at night,Yanelis, she is great, say hello to her from the little asian who drinks champagne and the tall white guy who drinks caney rum.

We had a fantastic time at the iberostar varadero, there was 6 of us that spent two weeks here and it was heaven, every thing was perfect. weather was fantastic for june had a few storms but they tend to come about 4-5ish and they tend to last for a couple of hours, the longest one we had lastest all night but was gone by morning.but then again we are in the carribean so what can we expect, food is fantastic the buffet does everything, the japenesse restaurant is such good fun and food is delicious make sure you go even if you dont like veg, me & my boyfriend are the fussiest eaters ever and all we had was fried rice with chicken and beef, you can have whatever you want and the chef always does a little performance for you,make sure you take your camera's. the hotel is very very clean i dont have a bad word to say about that, the maid makes alot of effort with your room the only down side was that she pestered a couple that was with us for clothes ect which we found a little anoying as we were there on holiday, the pool is gorgeous its so warm and clean, the swim up bar is loveley just what you need on a hot day, the beach was loveley the water is so calm, blue and shallow we often put our beds in the sea.the star friends (reps) are loveley they will do anything for you and they work so hard but no matter what they always have so much energy, they go clubbing with you have lunch with you, always sitting with you round the pool, our 3 main ones were joolio, verona & lester make sure you look out for them!! if you want to do trips make sure you do the dolphins as it is amazing i still get goose pimples talking about it, you can pay in english money to your holiday rep so you dont have to change money up for it, we went into varadero flee market to get all our presents which was good just hop in a cab and go, varadero is the safest place in the world and we were advised to get out and about as much as we could, which we did and all the locals are loveley, you might meet a few beggers but they dont bite!! with your money make sure you dont change it all up at reception as there exchange rate isnt the greatest, we took about 800 away each and we spent 300 each so you dont need loads of money, also there are no pay phones there so it is cheaper to top up your mobile and use that i am on o2 and it was 50p a text and 99p a min, but the reception telephones charged me 25 pounds for a 4 min call to the uk, everyone was having the same trouble out there so take my advice and use mobiles or try and find a phonecard somewhere as they werent selling them at the hotel!! duty free at the varadero airport is soo cheap it is about 10 pound for a pack of 200 cigs but you are only allowed to bring 200 back p/p so we got people on our plane to buy them for us and got them of them at the other end.overall the holiday was amazing sooo didnt want to come back but back to reality now, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions will be more than happy to answer them the best i can.. have a fantastic time xxxx

We used trip advisor reviews during our research, so we felt obliged to submit our own one.

My husband and I visited Iberostar Varadero for 3 weeks from May 29 till June 21, 2008. We were there with our 6 y.o. daughter. Overall, everything was very nice. Hotel staff was friendly and efficient to a certain extent.

FRONT DESK. No problems at check in. We got the room immediately upon our arrival. One of the girls there spoke Russian, well, at least tried to.

ROOM. The room was spacious, very clean. Housekeeping was efficient and the lady was ready to do her work when it was comfortable for us. We left a peso every day for her, so she did swans, etc. from towels and fresh flowers.

FOOD. There was a decent choice of food at buffet, but we expected to have more seafood daily. They offered a lot of fruits & vegetables though. There were three days when selection was extremely wide, including lobsters, caviar, etc.., on the third day we were asked to fill out quality questionnaire. Next day, everything returned from luxurious back to just decent again.

Quality of meals in a la carte restaurants was sufficient, but the menu was short. You can buy some better wine there.

Restaurant by the pool was frequented by birds and flies, and as we did not enjoy such company, we visited it only once. Anyway, selection there was limited to junk food. The time that we visited my daughter saw grilled chicken there, so I asked for some, and a cook told me it was not ready. We picked some other food, but we noticed that in about two minutes the cook took that chicken and went off with it.

Otherwise, food is ok. Free room service is a nice touch.

BEACH. Beach is beautiful, although a bit narrow. Sand is like silk. Sea is clean and warm to swim. Beach towels are provided, you can change them as many times a day as you wish, plenty of sun beds are available.

TERRITORY. Territory is green, they've got great pond with frogs in it and another one with small turtles and fish by main restaurant. Everything is kept clean.

KIDS. Despite the fact that my daughter spoke no English or Spanish, she participated in all of the games and competitions, and enjoyed her time immensly.

ENTERTAINMENT. Animation team was excellent. They organized games, sport activities, dance classes every half an hour on the beach or by the pool, encouraging many people to participate. Every game was humorous, they also awarded different prizes and certificates. We won five bottles of rum!

Evening shows were good and fun to watch provided that you understand that the hotel supplies entertainment and not art or folk art. If you are looking for something more authentic, may be you should not choose an international chain resort.

BARS. Mostly quite regular, they make a lot of cocktails which are not on the list, so if you want something that is not there just ask.

In general, tips do encourage personnel to help you. All things which we had left on the beach or in the restaurant were never seen again. Those were small things though, but it had never happened to us before.

Apart from above, the resort is very good. We enjoyed our vacation, and would like to go back. Nobody of the people we spoke with in the hotel wanted to leave.