Got back from the Sol a couple of days ago.

Thomas Cook flight out was one of the worst I have been on!!
Paid for extra legroom only to find that if you were above a 30" waist you could hardly get in and out of them! My wife is a size 8 and they were too small for her. I had bruises on my hips after the flight!! No entertainment, so the crew offered us 2 free drinks. This seemed ok, but it took them nearly 3hrs to get around to us.
I have had better seats and attendants on Ryanair/Easyjet flights.

Flight back was much better with a newer A330 and the crew appeared to be much more interested in the customers onboard.

We first went there about 4 years ago and although the resort was nice, the food was not so good. Not this time though, the food was very good (they did run out of things a few times, but it is Cuba and under a strict import embargo), however, the hotel is looking tired and requires renovation. we heard that this is due to the hotel being in continual use.

Rooms were ok, ours had it's share of problems but most were sorted fairly quickly. Worst was the soap tray falling from approx 3ft into the bath, just missing my wifes foot!!! It had fallen before and just fixed back into place with some sealant (no screws or plugs) Hotel had no running water one morning for a couple of hours, no major issue really as almost everyone was by the pool or beach.

Pool does not have anywhere near enough sunbeds when the hotel is partially full so god only knows what it will be like in peak season. People were putting towels on beds at 7am then wandering off for breakfast. Pool was cleaned daily and appeared to be fine, few chips and cracks.

Beach was as good as we remembered it to be and we spent most of our time down there, it can get a bit cooler due to the breeze off the sea. Again get down there pretty early and just to the left of the small beach bar is about the best area.

Staff were first rate, almost all extremely friendly and stopped to chat (especially for famlilies with children) Best staff we have had on our trips away!! After tipping a couple at the pool bar, they almost always brought our drinks over to the table.
Men, plenty of premier league games on TV over there during the week ;-) usually put it on in the lobby bar.

Used the Marlin (formally Blue Diving) scuba centre located on the beach near the Melia.
Diving staff were excellent, Jose, Ivan and Robert were always friendly and happy to chat.
There was a lady inside who did almost all the admin and she was very good as well.
However, the manager requires some lessons in customer service. Paid for all my dives on the Saturday (we returned home on the Sunday) and told them I would pick all my gear up on the Sunday morning, he said it would be fine.

Went to pick it up and the centre was closed with a note on the door stating that they were closed for the day and they would re-open on Monday morning!!
After 3 hrs of trying to contact someone (reps and hotel staff were eexcellent in trying to help) with no joy I had to leave several hundred pounds worth of equipment there and am in the process of trying to claim it back from my insurance.
Note:- always pay when you pick your equipment up.

Met some lovely people out there and now have an even longer Xmas card list (jk) :-)
May go back in future, but not with TC due to the awful flight out.

The staff were great especialy orlando at the pool bar
i really liked the hotel but ive a few bad points

the food in the buffet was luke warm at best so use the cooking stations as much as you can
the rooms smell of damp but once the aircon was on none stop for a day it cleared most of it
but all in all its a great holiday shame about thomas crook but thats not the hotels fault

before we went away we read lots of reviews about the resort, it put me off, and i thought i would have a terrible time,but i can honestly say that we had a wonderfull time along with our friends.
the room was a little smelly but once the air conditioning was on it cleared and never came back. staff were great and would always help, never got pestered as other reports have said.
food was ok, no problems there. lots of trips and beach activities
i would recommend it and have many good memories no bad ones at all

I visited the sol with my boyfriend both in early twenties and there's always something happening. There were young children through to our age group to older couples who all seemed to be having a great time.

I honestly don't know why people are being so negative about this place. It was absolutely magical! As for greasy food... i don't think so. There was so much choice as far as food was concerned and it all tasted beautiful. The staff will do anything for you and a simple 1 peso tip (about 60p) means the world to them. After a couple of days when the staff got to know our faces, as soon as we went into the restaurant and the waitress spotted us she would save us a nice table and get the usual drinks all ready for us.

The hotel was set in magnificent grounds with beautiful white sandy beaches, palm trees and a clear ocean. The weather was beautiful. Although when we arrived there was a bit of rain, it didn't last long, more like a short tropical shower which was a nice break from the hot sun to be honest.

There are lots of trips you can go on so i recommed going to the short welcome meeting and getting booked on them. The speedboat trip was a particular highlight, and yes my boyfriend thought he was 007. As part of this trip we went snorkelling which was also a great experience.

One thing i would like to say is that when you go remember where you are going. The people don't have a lot of money and yet they are always willing to help and always have a smile on their face.

If you have any spare toiletries at the end of your stay, the staff really appreciate it if you pass them on! :o)