arrived at hotel, line up for diamond club express check in was short, but we were last to have rooms assigned to us. over one hour wait time rooms were not ready. upon arrival at room 762,763 and 764 opened door to be overcome by the smell of black mold, attempted to open door to air out room to be overcome with the smell of raw sewage. after repeated attempts to contact front desk via phone without success, located golf cart driver to be returned to lobby. personnel at lobby informed us that there is nothing that could or would be done, manager was requested. he stated no other rooms available, request was made by all to be transported to another hotel or be returned to Canada. miraculously he located new rooms temporarily until an upgrade became available. by the time this was completed the first day of vacation has now been wasted. over the next 3 days we were all relocated to upgraded rooms without the diamond club advantages we paid for, fridge not working, fridge not stocked, no robes, slippers, rum. daily requests were made to the sunwing and diamond club reps to have these issues remedied, no luck. to get the fridge stocked we had to call everyday and had to wait till they arrived,wait time was up to an hour or we would not even get water. there was a shortage of bottled water for the rooms and restaurants on the Wednesday. the diamond club beach and beach bar did not open on Thursday and forget about being served on the beach, it is all self serve. the hotel itself is in a state of general disrepair, broken and loose tiles in the court yard, door locks continuously malfunctioning, numerous tripping hazards wherever you went, poor lighting, public bathrooms could not be entered due to the smell of urine, there was a constant smell of raw sewage as we traveled throughout the compound. dozens of cats in the dining area eating off of the floor and tables. buffet food is barely edible. compound is large with a lot of stairs, transportation is hard to come by and if it does arrive the condition of the vehicles is poor.

This was our 4th stay in Cuba but first in Holguin. Only been to Varadero before. It was very good. Lots of walking so anyone with mobility issues may not like it. There are golf carts that will pick you up to get around but still lots of stairs at the pool. I got 20,000 steps a day which was great for me.

Pros:
- Great lobby - lots of room and seats.
- Beds comfortable. I was so impressed! All my other stays had beds like rock and these were great.
- Rooms were clean and maids did cute arrangements on our beds each day.
- Lobby drinks good
- Wifi was surprisingly good - only once I could not get on (1 paso for an hour)
- Pools were lovely (4 plus a kiddie one (which was always closed)- mini club also has a pool)
- Food was good - lots of selection
- Ala carte restaurants were good (get three per week or 4 if signature club)
- Cuban really good (beef yummy!) Service amazing
- Italian was good food but bad service (good selection on menu)
- Romantico was nice - good service and food was good except for the
fish had a lot of pin bones in it. Kids are allowed but I think there
should a minimum age like teens. Some guests were there for a romantic dinner but kids were crying
- Did not try the Seafood but other guests told us it was good
- Foam party at beach was fun!
- There is a cigar bar which was great because the other areas were not that smokey with cigars. I saw some ladies go in to get drinks because it is not busy in there so no wait.
- Icecream at snack bar and buffet tasty!
- Breakfast and lunch was great service. Shout out to Lady Di and her area staff. Thanks!
- Food was good with fresh made omelets, pasta, pancakes, chicken, fish, beef etc. Made to order.
- Cave tour included was good. Runs every second day and guided by Junior who was great! Meet at lobby at 10 for an hour walk and tour around the cave. Wear running shoes.
- Entertainers were really nice. Shout out to Emilio, Diana, Melissa and Junior.
- Beach was clean and easy to find a spot. There are staff to bring you loungers.
- Free activities include: catamaran (fun) with guide, paddle boats, snorkell gear, kayaks. You need to book the catamaran and paddle boats (club house opens around 9:30 - 9:45 with rentals starting at 10)

Pros:
- Check in was slow (they did bring us a delicious welcome drink)
- Some bar staff were not friendly to our teens. They seemed annoyed that they were ordering anything. (eyes rolled)
- Dinner service at the buffet was not the best. Friendly but very slow. One day they were understaffed so it was hard to get water.
- It is hard to get small change for tipping (ended up going to currency exchange at hotel but it is usually a big line up)
- Lots of walking depending on where your room is
- Some of the pool games were only adult friendly.
- There was a miniclub for kids and a disco for adults but not a lot for teens to do. One ping pong table that was usually being used but not a lot of teen specific activities.
- Some foods that were pre-made were really hard to get at in the buffet. The lineups for the omelets, pasta etc were right in front of them so you had to go between guests to get at them and that was annoying. Suggestion to management: Please move the pre-made foods to an area that is accessible. This was a pet peeve of a lot of guests. If this was corrected I think it would be fantastic.
- Snack bar staff very unfriendly and ignored me even after making eye contact. Slow to get service and good. Food was ok thought but going to the buffet would have been faster.
- Pool by the gym and spa is disgusting. Avoid and use the one by snack bar.

Other stuff:
- Near the front of the hotel is a hill with a lot of crabs. Cool to see. Look along the top and you will see lots.
- Took horse and buggy to market at Paso Paquero. Nice driver. Cost was 25 paso. Market small but a bit bigger than the one at the resort.
- Went on excursion to the nearby park to see the min zoo, horseback riding, fishing, and lunch. Good excursion for half day with great guides (Luis and his friend)

I would come back to this resort:)

My family and I (4 adults and 2 children under 5) had a great 7 day stay. The staff was great from the moment we arrived. A special thanks to Dayrelis, Elisabet Silva, Yurisbel, Lourdes, Darlenis, Anisley, Yoandry and Maday Fabre. The food was amazing. There were many meat and vegetable dishes (although many vegetable dishes had ham unnecessarily added to them). For those who wanted more seasoning, there was an abundant supply of sauces. We loved the dessert options they had with every meal! We ate at a couple of the other restaurants( Creole and Italian ) which were good too. The pools were nice, although the kids' pool needed to be cleaned. We left the kids at the Memories Fun Club and they had lots of fun. The beach was nice but unfortunately there was a lot of algae. The sand was nice, with areas of shade too. Free catamaran and free pedal boat rides (same-day appointment needed)! Free horserides on the beach too. Obviously tips were much appreciated. The hotel itself was quite dated. We had two rooms amongst us and both washrooms need some work. One of the sinks was always on the brink of being clogged. Also, there was an open or broken sewer pipe outside our rooms (260 and 261). We could see the water bubbling out of the ground and worse, smell it. The resort are huge and you need to walk. You you have some issues or health problems you can ask for a car ride. They have a gof car thar carrie us when we need. Having said this, we had a great time and would go again.