Тур в Iberostar Grand Packard 5*

We were based 8 days in the Grand Packard hotel. It was a great experience. The hotel rooms and facilities are excellent, as is its location in Havana. Most importantly, it was the staff who made this stay extra special. There were a few initial quirks on arrival, but from the moment Maritza in the management team took control - the experience became outstanding. The staff were excellent: Odalis our butler went out of her way to ensure that our every request was anticipated and met, housekeeping was meticulous and Pavel the efficient and friendly concierge was most helpful. Good hotels can always be found - but it is the management and staff who make a hotel outstanding.

We stayed 3 nights on our first trip ever to Cuba. A nice & clean place. The room was spacious. Great if you have a room with a sea view, which we didn't. So we made it up by visiting the pool bar on the 6th floor. Great location within walking distance to the sightseeing spots in Old Havana. Close to some very good restaurants too. Our room rate included breakfast & the selection was pretty good. Little something here & there didn't bring it to the 5th star but does not diminish it's merits.

From beginning to end the stay at Ibrerostar was substandard, given that it's a 5-star hotel with pricing to match. Cons: > Entrance: You enter the hotel by dragging your own luggage up the approx. 10 stairs - not very accessible. > Check-in: arrived a bit early (12:30pm), some people who arrived at the same time were allowed to go straight to their rooms; we were told in a scolding manner that the check in is at 4pm (4pm!!) and our room wasn't ready yet but they were going to try getting it ready by 2pm, in the meantime we could use the SPA and Pool, so we when to the SPA until 2:30pm. After the SPA treatment the staff asked us for the room number, which we didn't have yet, they called the reception but could not get any information either, so they walked us down to the reception to clarify the situation. At this time they could still not check us in and said that check-in was at 4pm. We headed to the Pool for a while but the same strange situation was happening again, at some point service was denied to us because we didn't have a room number, so we went back to the reception at 4:30pm to check in the situation, and to our surprise, the room was still not ready and we had to wait until 5pm to receive the keys - an hour after the official check in time. > Spa & Gym: Clearly the staff at the spa are not trained in massage therapy. At the gym, you get handed one towel and the only water available is in glass containers, which is a bit dangerous and impractical. > Room: Some of our towels were dirty, and the housekeeping burst into the room at 9am the following day. Our shower was also leaking water into the room. > Check-out: There was a miscommunication on our bill at check-out which required a further 10 minutes of waiting. Pros: > Some of the staff are great. The bellboys were very professional and competent, as were many of the bar and restaurant staff. > The rooms are luxurious. Overall: > Results: When we complained about the ineptitude and requested a refund (and offered to leave the hotel), we were instead compensated in various services for about half the cost of the room. We were also followed around by several of the hotel's PR people for the rest of our stay asking us to sign documents on the reimbursement and to make sure we didn't leave a bad review. We were not offered a chance to document our feedback in any constructive manner, so I don't believe that the situation will improve.