When you arrive in Cuba and you want to visit the (only) hotel in Maria la Gorda you better make a reservation immediately! We combined a visit to Aquas Claras (1 night), nice horseback riding, with a unbelievable, unforgettable ride to Maria La Gorda (Maria the fat).
A stay there will make you very happy. Quiet, nice beaches, only the food is not very well but I think that is a problem in Cuba.

Enjoy

Definitivno najljepse mjesto na Kubi i zasluzuje da tamo provedete barem nekoliko dana...uzivajte u setnjama gradom koji je pod zastitom UNESCA i cjenkajte se sa lokalcima na velikoj trznici prepunoj rucno izradjenih suvenira.Nemojte propustiti ni shuttlle mini bus koji svako malo vozi do preljepe plaze izvan grada.Navecer casa de la trova je mjesto gdje ne mozete pogrijesiti...I ako odlucite spavati u privatnom smjestaju potrazite Casa Felix Mercedes jer su to bili najljubazniji ljudi na Kubi

very windy island, bus nice with all in hotels to relax from the trip a couple of days

when you're on the main square, ont he corner is a big hotel: go inside, take the elevator to the fifth floor:
there is a terras-bar there with great overview over the square and harbor!!! MUST DO

Visit the museum of the attack by the american on the bay of piggs!
left of the museum is a GREAT hotel!!!!!!! with nice beach

Glitzy tourist enclosure within grubby Cuba outside ... the feeling starts the moment your hotel staff ties those colourful bands on your wrist ... pronouncing that "you are the privileged tourist and they the common locals ... and never the twain shall meet"... of course Varadero is fun for its lux beaches and on-the-house drink and food if you have bought one of those packages ... but if you want to see real Cuba, step out, even if stealthily, and mix with the locals ... go to Havana, of course, but also go to Cardenas, Matanzas and further on... tour packs often offer Varadero as the main course with a bit of Havana or so on the side ... its worth reversing the scheme at your own cost, assuming packages are often the way to get into Cuba, and venturing into the real local Cuba a bit - even staying at extra cost in Havana or another city with a family - gives a totally new view ... and you'll enjoy the cigars much more there...

Travellers are always complaining about the food in Cuba. In fact, it's excellent. The best place to eat is at someone's home. You will be served excellent and plentiful food - curries, chicken, rice, black beans, fruit, fish... In Trinidad, there are a lot of casas particular (bbs) in people's homes. You can easily find a place by asking around, or checking the listed casas particular in the Lonely Planet guidebook.If a place you want is booked up, they will be able to recommend somewhere else and will often take you there. This is a pretty cheap alternative to a hotel. Be forewarned, however, that the beds will be uncomfortable. (All beds in Cuba - other than at the resorts - are pretty uncomfortable).

Havana... where does one start and where does one end... perhaps at the Malecon, the sea-front of Cuba with its wind-swept air... but there is so much to see and do and experience in Havana... first go to the Partagas and the Romeo y Julieta cigar factories (both are open and closed on somewhat different days) and get yourself acquainted with this most Cuban of things... buy yourself a few (Romeo and Juliet, Cohiba and Monte Cristo are good), though its much better to buy it through a local Cuban... perhaps your host if you are staying with a family (highly recommended) as it is significantly cheaper ... then enjoy them over a Mojito at one of the many cocktail bars in Havana...perhaps that colourful one full of graffiti and postcards that Ernest Hemingway used to frequent... also visit Hemingway's room at the hotel Ambos Mundos where he stayed and wrote for quite a while ... the room is still maintained as it is with some of his belongings displayed... of course, the Museo Revolucion is unmissable... go there to get a full rundown on the revolution, Fidel Castro, Che, Batista, and the lot...it has interesting artefacts, letters, photographs and other paraphernalia...as you come out of it, there are the quaintest cars parked in front (not that there is any shortage of quaint vintage cars in Havana or Cuba)... but these are taxis, so take a ride...go to the impressive Presidential Palace too and to the Habana Libre for more of history...but don't miss the non-serious stuff too ... like feasting on ice-cream at Coppelia (an institution for local Cubans), dancing or learning salsa or tango at one of the local bars, and listening to Cuban bands playing at one of the many outside or inside restaurants and bars all over Havana ... while you engage in the serious business of downing Mojitos and chomping on your cigar or cigarillo ...

Good Place to Stay at Viñales - Cuba

"Casa Bemba" - Cheap, Nice food, very friendly people!

This is a stop on the travel bus route through provinces in Cuba.  The people here are the best in hospitality ONCE THEY KNOW YOU and the business you are here for.  I didn't know much Spanish and was still treated rightly.  Most of the citizens who befriended me spoke flawless English! TIPS: Know Spanish! Stay with friends. Carry toilet paper! DO NOT take pictures of soldiers, or those who you haven't asked permission. Buy no more than three boxes of cigars.