The picture on top may look good, but it's actually an old building that needed a lot of renovation. Most of their facilities are closed *not that It suprised me* the only thing that we did really enjoy was the peace and quiet of the area. I mean perhaps when I'm 60 I would come back here, but at that moment all I wanted was to have some fun. I have so many complaints already, from drinks, to food, to rooms, to facilities, to attitudes.......what else did I miss? So by the third day, I got really sick. I had a fever, fatigue, malaise, headache, difficulty swallowing.....tonsillitis!. To speed up the healing process, I had to take 2 IM shots (21 guage!) to each of my derriere with an old fashioned needle going to god knows which site!. My former nursing instructor would roll in her grave if she sees me do that! At least though, the physician was very good. She took the time to chat with me about her interests re: going out of the country (but Cubans are not allowed) and other frustrations in life. That was my first learning experience about their culture. Because of the staff members being so underpaid, it affects their job performace at times. I mean, it's not their fault that they couldn't go to Paris to take cooking lessons, nor that the spices were not so accessible to them. Even their ketchup and mustard were made in Spain! I can understand now why even the staff members in the resort sells CUBAN CIGARS *black market* to their own patrons. So in the end, I take back all my complaints, and just be glad that I was able to go and visit this country. On a positive note, Varadero is such a beautiful city. It's very clean, the people are nice, it's so safe to walk the streets, and their people are very good looking.