On Location: Iberostar bolsters Cuban hotels with road trip ideas, sea-and-city stays

Iberostar’s brand in Cuba is counting on Canadians this winter – and future winters – to experience its hotels not only in popular sun destinations, but also in lesser-known areas, such as Trinidad, by taking road trips.

PAX was recently able to experience life on the Cuban road with David Seguí Sánchez, a marketing executive at Iberostar Cuba, a brand that launched in 2022 that aims to “highlight the Cuban experience in the large Iberostar family, with superior quality hotels both in the city and by the sea,” as Marketing Director Alexei Torres Velasquez put in. 

Road trips are backing a campaign Iberostar launched in August aimed at travellers who love the sea, but who also love Cuba’s cities and culture.

To explore the western part of Cuba, guests can, for example, spend two days in Varadero, two days in Havana, two days in Trinidad, and the rest of their stay back in Varadero.

Over six days, guests can build a two-night stay at Selection Holguin, two more at Selection Esmeralda, one at Selection Ensenachos and finish in style at Grand Trinidad.

On a two-week vacation, there’s plenty of time to stay two or three days in Havana, two in Trinidad, two or three in Cayo Cruz, four in Holguin (with a visit to Santiago de Cuba) and three in Varadero.

Close to cities, it's easy to enjoy beautiful beaches within a two-hour drive, but you have to be prepared for a three to five-hour drive on some days with a rental car.

Still, it is the best way to see the country, as PAX learned on the road, passing countryside and villages, sometimes near the sea, and by foot in the Holguin mountain ranges of Cayo Cruz, Trinidad and Cayo Ensenachos.

An important player

Iberostar, a Spanish chain, has operated in Cuba for 30 years and has 18 properties spread around the island.

“Iberostar Cuba is an important player in the tourism sector on the island and we distinguish ourselves with a very personalized service, keeping the spirit of the Spanish brand and that of Cuban culture,” said Torres Velasquez.

The brand has four categories of four and five-star hotels:

• Grand: Two five-star establishments in Havana (Iberostar Grand Packard, which is good for conferences and events) and in Trinidad.
• Coral: with three five-star adults-only hotels in Holguin, Cayo Cruz and Cayo Encenachos
• Selection: with three five-star establishments coupled with Coral hotels, plus one in Varadero, which is more for families.
• Iberostar: with nine four and five-star hotels in Varadero and Cayo Guillermo.

With the exception of à la carte hotels in Trinidad and Havana, the properties are all all-inclusives with various culinary offerings.

Canadian customers have a “weakness” for the Coral hotels, the higher category, but “the more the winter season progresses, the more we have in the Selection,” said Iberostar Esmeralda’s Sales Director, Yuneisy Cabrera.

Iberostar Holguin, Esmeralda, Trinidad & Ensenachos

Iberostar Selection Holguin (576 rooms) and Coral Holguin (62 rooms)

Opened five years ago, these two hotels still breathe new life! The proximity to the quiet Playa Pesquero is a great asset, as is the Star Camp water park for children at Selection. The Coral has beautifully decorated poolside rooms and two villas with suites and private swimming pools in a tropical garden that leads to the sea.

Iberostar Selection Esmeralda (451 rooms) and Coral Esmeralda (121 rooms)

On a small island in the north of Cuba, with a 20 kilometer-long beach, these two hotels are even newer. The Coral opened in December 2021 and the Selection in November 2022. The first adopts a colonial air, with buildings with red roofs, while the second seduces with its white buildings whose architecture has a little “art nouveau” side.

On the Selection side, there is a sports bar, a club for teenagers in addition to the one for children and a spa. The Coral's ground floor rooms have privileged access to the swimming pool. Between the two hotels, a “serenity zone” welcomes adult Selection guests. The outdoor amphitheater facing the Selection swimming pool is used for activities and shows both on stage and in the water.

We liked the access to the island via a long road between two waters where colonies of pink flamingos live.

Iberostar Grand Trinidad

The hotel is one of the chain’s few urban flagships in Cuba. Installed in a former theater in the city center, it is exquisitely refined, from the vast glass-roofed lobby to the cozy rooms, some with terraces, from the high-end restaurant to unparalleled service! It is the ideal location for visiting the historic city of Trinidad, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on foot.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos (400 rooms) and Coral Ensenachos (46 suites in villas)

The two Cayo Santa Maria hotels are darlings of Canadians “arriving from Toronto, Montreal and Quebec with packages from Sunwing, Transat and ACV,” said Yaima Vera Garcia, a sales director. People come here to enjoy long sandy beaches protected from the wind, the spa and the Selection gym. 

On the Coral side, the villas are scattered over a charming peninsula. 

The main building houses the fine dining restaurant El Colonial and a beautiful swimming pool. Access to Ensenachos beach is easy and lunches are pleasant at the restaurant overlooking it.

Trinidad in Iberostar’s sights

“With a new flight per week from Toronto to Cienfuegos, an hour's drive from Trinidad, we want to promote this destination, which is much less known than the others, particularly among Canadian customers, but which has many attractions other than the beach in terms of proximity to nature and cultural heritage,” said Torres Velasquez.

Worth noting: the Iberostar Grand Trinidad will begin constructing an extension in 2024 which will double its current number of rooms (40) by 2025, with the addition of a spa, a gym, plus a swimming pool and a restaurant on the roof.

Meanwhile, a guided walking tour of Trinidad is a must. The streets are paved with stones that served as ballast for ships coming from Europe in ancient times.

Trinidad was, in fact, one of the first seven villages in Cuba with the arrival of Europeans, who owned sugar cane and tobacco plantations.

The buildings lining the streets are painted in brilliant colours. Leaning against the mountain, the city reveals its sloping streets in a joyful architectural cacophony.

Worth exploring: the library, the Local History Museum with its tower dominating the city, the Architecture Museum and, along the streets, Cuban art galleries, cafes, cigar shops, boutiques of all kinds.

In the evening, don't miss the Cuban music concerts in a bar or in the open air, such as at the Casa de la Musica.

New Iberostar coming to Havana

After a major renovation of the magnificent Iberostar Grand Packard, which opened in 2019 in Havana, the chain plans to open its third hotel in the Cuban capital next summer.

“It’s true that we already have three,” said Torres Velasquez, “but don’t forget that Havana remains the leading international tourist destination in Cuba, with many Europeans and Argentinians.”

“This new establishment will be a 42-story building, in the heart of the Cuban capital, the tallest in the city!”

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