We stayed at Melia Las Americas in Varadero, it is an all inclusive hotel for adults only, it is right on the beachfront, and it is about a ten minute bus ride to downtown Varadero, it is also right next to the only golf course. The hotel has ocean view rooms and garden view rooms, if you get a garden view room on the 2nd floor, or higher, then chances are you will also have a sea view as well, since the sea is on both sides of the hotel. Overall impression was that the staff were very friendly and attentive, both in and around the bar and also in the restaurants. The hotel has 5 restaurants, 4 of which have to be booked up in advance, you are allowed to dine in each of them as part of the all inclusive. Some are not open every single evening, so you need to plan your meals in advance A buffet style restaurant, open every day, no need to book, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. We found this to be a typical buffet style dining experience, that you will find all over the world i.e. the food is mostly warm unless you have something cooked to order, there generally was plenty of variety and you could always find something to suit. On a point of hygene, the chef station that cooks things for you, i.e. omelettes and fried eggs during breakfast, and meat during the evening meal, often receives cash tips left while they work, these notes then get pocketed by the chef. I think that the chefs should not be allowed to handle money while cooking food, it's just bad practice, I'm not against tipping but think that they should be provided with a seperate bowl or something that is left alone until the end of service. The A la Carte international restaurant, the food here was excellent, piping hot and really tasty, hurricane Sandy struck while we were dining here and the electricity failed for around 3 hours, however chef managed to still serve up some stunning food. This restaurant also has a string quartet playing along and will take requests. There is a Japanese restaurant named Sakura, the guests all sit around a show cooking station and then watch as the chef prepares the food, often with spectacular flaming results. Food here was also hot but perhaps a little bland. The downside was when one of the guests noticed the appearance of a couple of cockroaches under the loose woodwork around the perimeter of the cooking station. (Management to Note). The Italian restaurant is called Limoncello, however, we did not managed to get along to this one, it is not open every night and we could not tie in a booking in view of other arrangements we had made. Finally a fish tasting restaurant called Roblenza, this is open at lunch time for meals, and in the evenings for bookings only. Excellent tasting menu of lobster bisque, main course of assorted fish and lobster, followed by a dessert. Hotel room we had was a garden view on 2nd floor, bed was comfy and plenty of room for storing clothes, in room safe provided free of charge, air conditioning ( a bit noisy), a flat screen television showing numerous international channels, mostly American or Spanish speaking, some Chinese as well. Room was kept clean and tidy every day by Yanis. Only complaint would be the state of the bath, this looked very tired and worn out and really needs replacing (Management to note). The hotel is right on the beach and has plenty of sunbeds and shaded stations, although the beaches are public, the hotel does ensure that no locals try and avail themselves of the facilities. Overall this hotel is nearer 4 star rather than 5 star, but don't let that put you off, we had an enjoyable stay, so thank you Melia. Stayed October 2012, travelled as a couple.
