David C
Google
My wife y I stayed at the Melia Santiago from Jan 4 to 11th. We were visiting friends in the city, whom I’d worked with in the 90’s, bringing them care packages, and we needed a home base. We also wanted to just relax by the pool and escape the Canadian winter for a bit. ||We basically had the hotel to ourselves. There rarely seemed to be more than a few dozen guests at best, mostly over nighters, sometimes Cuban nationals. Everyone was pleasant, the staff warm, friendly y attentive, We quite enjoyed the relaxed peace y quiet. Plus we always felt safe and very well taken care of.||The meal plan included a simple but sufficient breakfast buffet; eggs, baked goods, fruit juices, plantains and other local items. Since there weren’t enough guests for an evening buffet, we were instead served a quite decent dinner, with our choice of a meat dish; chicken, beef, pork or shrimp, and a salad and other sides, at the courtyard restaurant. There are also quite a few quite reasonably priced local restaurants within walking distance of the hotel, with simple menus but good meals! I especially liked “ Naranja”. Anyway, we never went hungry.||The Melia was often short of a lot of their regular amenities, but they covered the basics y everything was quite clean and seemed as well maintained as the situation allows. With the crippling illegal US embargo, one is advised to bring your own condiments, meds, maybe some extra toilet paper. ||The hotel internet was included. It was spotty at times, best to sit near the window in your room. It’s fine in the lobby or by the pool. The satellite TV was down a fair bit, but we usually got our news in the morning and a movie or two at night. My wife loaded a few on her iPad before we left, I had my music, so we were fine. ||We often all but had the huge gorgeous pool to ourselves, which was quite relaxing, and for us, a real treat. When not travelling about the city visiting our friends, we’d entertain them there. It was actually quite cheap and included a poolside lunch at the grill!||Taxis downtown to the city centre cost about $5 US. We frequently travelled all about the city and back for $20 day tops. The downtown area was empty of the usual tourist crowds, many of the shops y attractions closed or on reduced hours. But we still quite enjoyed the musicians in Céspedes Parque, or relaxing on the Casa Grande patio, just watching the carnival of life go by. . |There’s a fair bit to see and do right near the hotel, within walking distance. Tho that was not the focus of our visit, we both got a quite professional hour long massage, with plenty of quite helpful health tips, for $20 total. ||Bring US dollars, a credit card and consider buying some local currency to use about the city, for extra savings. We typically tipped $2 to $5 and were very well taken care of everywhere we would go. ||The bottom line? Cuba is in the midst of an economic crisis. In Santiago de Cuba, not everything is open for business, and most of the tourists are gone. ||The Melia Santiago did the best they could. For whatever the hotel lacked, it’s rich in local charm, and a quite cheap vacation, compared to most other more popular Caribbean hot spots this winter. Nothing fancy, but we had a really good, relaxing time at the hotel and just casually tripping about the city. We highly recommend staying there at the Melia Santiago, and had a wonderful time just enjoying the cities simple charms!
