We visited this hotel at Easter 2006, this is our third visit. We would strongly recommend this hotel. My husband said he would never visit the same place twice - let alone three times but he made an exception with the Iberostar.

The hotel is very clean, the views from some of the rooms are fantastic. The hotel is currently undergoing some renovations and is closed until November.

Food is served 24 hours if you want it - early hours of the morning you can pick up a sandwich/roll in the lobby bar. There is a wide range of food available, salad items, freshly cooked pasta, fish, various meat dishes anything really - you will not be disappointed.
You can also eat in the Mexican restaurant but need to book early for this as it is very small and is booked in advance - it is still worth a visit.

You really will not go hungry, but could put on a few pounds!

Staff there are absolutely brillant, the star friends or entertainment staff make the holiday - they have activities during the day volley ball, archery, rifle shooting + more if you want to get involved for all the family. They all know your names and if you are a returning guest manage to remember you.

There is a kid's club - Lucy's club - Lucy is fantastic the children love her.

There is always something going on if you want to get involved, if on the other hand you want a relaxing holiday you can laze on the beach sipping cocktails.

We renewed our wedding vows at this hotel and the staff made our stay very special. If you are thinking of getting married there do it. Junior the wedding co-ordinator is great. He will arrange photos and video if you want it. If you want a hairdresser they do not work on a Sunday so beware. The photos however can be developed on site and you have them to take home - great!

When we were there at Easter there were 52 other returning guests that week - surely we can not all have got it wrong.

I assume if you are reading this you are thinking of going - if you are I am really jealous would love to go again. We will be returning next year I am sure.

The jungle tour is a must, you drive small speed boats through the mangroves great fun - reasonable price too.

Hotel
We found the hotel very clean, although a few alterations could be made to improve, eg light bulbs replaced in the fish ponds and the Iberostar shop opened,(we assumed it had been damaged in the previous hurricane)we both thoroughly enjoyed our stay and became very friendly with the bar staff particularly Edel and Ari. The gardens were beautiful and well kept.

Food
We enjoyed the Mexican restaurant, Izmel was very friendly and couldnt do enough for you. The Main buffet restaurant was very nice, everything piping hot and a wide variety each day!

Beach/Pool
Be aware you do have to get up very early if you want to bag a sunbed!The pool is lovely and clean and the beach is gorgeous and warm clear blue sea what more can you ask for?!

Trips
We would definately recommend the Dolphin trip.It is a 2 day trip so take necessities. It took a while on the bus but the guide was very informative and interesting.Although the hotel we stayed in was a bit basic but hey, it was only for a night!!we travelled through various resorts and then spent time in Trinidad which appeared very run down but the locals were so happy and friendly! If you go i would take some cheap paper pads and pencils as the children dont have much and are so grateful at the smallest of gifts!

Overall
We had an absolutely fantastic holiday and I would definately recommend this holiday and hotel to others and we cant wait til April 2007 to return! Also book off Thomas Cook TV on sky channel 645 great bargains to be had!

We had no problems when we stayed here and thank god we did as we had many other people from other hotels in Cayo Guillermo transferring to this hotel.....

The hotel is kept very well, gardens are lovely and the kids enjoy looking at all the different fish ponds around the grounds.

The room was always kept very clean and this was also quite spacious, adequate enough for a holiday anyway!

We never experienced any problems with food when we were here. It was always piping hot and had quite a varied choice. Although the only disappointment I found was at lunch time, there are two different places open, the main buffet and the snack bar on the beach but they both cook exactly the same food (mainly burgers, hot dogs, chicken fish and pasta) every single day. This did get a bit boring, I thought at least the buffet would have had some different choices!

The beach was also disappointing for a Cuban beach, I have been to Cuba many times before but this beach is very narrow and more 'cluttered' than most I've seen, although the water is still that lovely crystal clear colour.

The pool is fine although we chose not to spend too much time here as it was very hot and noisy at times too! Yes, you do have to put your towel out early if wanting a place by the pool but what hotel don't you have to do this?!!!

The only downside we faced was that when we were here we had the back end of hurricane Wilma and two tropical storms which resulted in 5 days of continuous bad weather and there is not a lot to do!!

When the sun did shine it was wonderful and the staff are also very friendly. If you're going here you shouldn't have a bad time!

I have been to the same hotel 3 times and have only just returned home from there! I think the hotel has everything you need and caters for different tastes.

The thing that really makes this holiday good is the staff. They can never do enough for you and are always there to help. I do think that they dont get enough thanks off the people they work for as with out them the hotel wouldnt be the same.
I have seen most of the shows they do there and i never get bored of watching them. They are amazing dancers but dont get paid enough, they are all very hard working. I have made good friends over there and one of the main reasons we like to go back is to visit them.

The rooms are cleaned every day and the maids are so friendly. They are always putting blackets and towels into swans and making the rooms very presentable.

There is alot of variety of food and covers a wide range to cater for most needs.

We are thinking of going again as we have made good friends out there, the cubans are amazing and very friendly. I would highly recomend this holiday.

The Daiquiri is a farly large hotel has lovely gardens which are well maintained and it is obvious that the Gardeners take great pride in looking after the grounds.

Considering the size of the Hotel the cleaners do a great job of maintaining the cleanliness of the grounds and rooms.

Throughout my 14 days stay I came across one cockroach (but hey it is the carribean and they do live there). During my visit to the Hotel guests including my Son complained of ear infectons this was down to the pool water and antibiotics had to be purchased from the Hotel Doctor (Make sure you have travel insurance).

Also it appeared that a stomach bug was present in the Hotel (again rectified by a visit to the Doctor) who maintained that it was heat exhaustion. But my personal opinion is that adequate measures are not taken to prevent fly`s from landing on food which is left out in the various eating places.

My advice is to take plenty of diohralite and when dining try and select food from the bottom of the trays or go to the Chefs who cook pasta etc while you wait.

The food in general is adequate nothing special, quite greasy and consists pretty much of the same thing each day. I also suspect that food which is left over from sittings is re-cooked and appears in differnt dishes (this doesnt help for avoiding stomach complaints either.

The Hotel location is lovely towards the area where the beach and pool are located. The beach is fine white sand with idigo blue sea.

The Carribean sea was constantly warm and beach activities were good. Take some banana out in the sea whilst snorkeling and feed all the fish that come from the corel.

The only down point in terms of location was close to the front of the Hotel there appeared to be a part of the swamp land which possibly had sewage pumped through it and at times did smell.

The Hotel Staff are all very friendly and are keen to engage in conversation. Many of the Barr Staff and Beach workers try to sell rum and cigars on the cheap.

The Entertainment is enjoyable pretty much like the caberet style that you find in the local club. The dancers are very well trained and perform some fine chorigraphed shows.

The older kids are well looked after by the entertainment staff during the day and try to get people to participate in volleyball etc. Not much for the very young to do and apparently there is a Luci`s Club which caters for 4 - 12 year olds, but I never saw the place open once in two weeks.

In all I would not visit the Hotel again and I would probably say that their are better places to go. If you want an OK Hotel as a base to stay in and plan to do excursions then it will suit. But if you are the sort of person/family that want Sun and everything that an Hotel can offer then find something else.

I have looked at other people`s reviews on this Hotel and can honestly say they must be easily pleased and been to some pretty sub standard hotels prior.

Returned last week from the ID. Unbeatable location on fabulous Cayo Guillermo beach. Is kinda remote (only 4 hotels on island) but this was attraction for us: complete escapism.

Rooms are spacious and comfortable with fridge and TV as well as good quality bathroom. Cleaned daily by excellent maids.

Food is on par with 3/4 star Med hotel buffets, always good selection and sweets were excellent.

Bars are stocked only with local drinks (hardly any international brands) but this is not too big a drawback, the cocktails are still popular.

Staff are the hotels big plus point. Incerdibly helpful and genuinely warm and friendly. Star Friends entertainment staff are enthusiastic without being pushy and make for a great atmosphere for the families there.

Facilities are good too. Pool is beautiful but perhaps on the small side. Reception area is large and confortable and there are a small selection of shops for essentials like souvenirs, sun tan lotion and camera stuff. Also a pharmacy too.

Overall a hotel I'd recommend to anyone wanting a quality Caribbean escape without breaking the bank.

We have recently returned from an All Inclusive holiday to the Iberostar Daiquiri, Cayo Guillermo, Cuba and can honsestly state it was probably the best holiday I, and the people I travelled with, have ever had. Why you ask?

Lets start at the begining. To be honest, the holiday did not get off to the best start as we encounted a 6 hour delay flying out of Manchester, and when actually on board the flight, the Thomas Cook cabin crew where not that particularly pleasant. However, we were on holiday and delays apart we were looking forward to it. Our problems did not end with the delay though. Once over Cuban air space we had to circle for almost another 2 hours due to the small Cayo Coco airport being very busy and nowhere for our flight to park, so all in all a nightmare flight which eventually meant that we arrived at the hotel almost 9 hours late and in the middle of the night.

But! this is where the hotel and Cuban people got involved and the holiday took a massive turn for the better. First impressions of the hotel were very favourable, large comfortable lobby with plenty of plants, water feature, comfortable sitting, nice decor etc, and very friendly reception staff who ensured we were booked in quickly. Although it was very late a waitress offered a welcoming drink, and there were several porters available to help with the baggage.

Our room was large, spotlessly clean, 2 3/4 beds that were comfortable, with air con, fridge, TV, plenty of wardrobe space, plenty of mirrors, large bathroom with bath and shower and complimentary toiletries etc. As we were to discover, the maid service was excellent ensuring the room was cleaned to a high standard every day with daily change of towels, replacement bottles of water, and nice touches like bed sheets or towelling being arranged with fresh flowers etc. We did not encounter any creepy crawly bugs in the room at all, nor did we think the flying insect nuisance any worse than any thing you would encounter in either Greece or Spain etc.

The hotel was situated within spectacular gardens that were tendered too by a team of gardeners who were like all, very friendly, and situated along a stunningly beautiful white sand beach with warm calm blue ocean. The beach was also cleaned daily !!! Plenty of sun shades and sun beds although the Canadians are up early claiming their beds!! There are water sports available such as canoes, pedalo's, bob cats, snorkelling etc.

The food, in our oppinion was very good indeed. We can be slightly fussy eaters but to be honest you would have to dine out at very expensive restaurants regularly to be at all dissapointed in the food. Service was excellent, with several choices for breakfask, lunch, dinner and snacks. All was well presented with the hot dishes hot, plenty of meat and vegetarian choices, pasta dishes, rice dishes and the salads etc very fresh. Fresh breads, plenty of choice for desserts etc complimented an excellent food set up.

The bars and bar staff were a favourite of ours ! and basically you could drink what ever you wanted with some very well known international brands of drink being readily available, but to be honset there is nothing wrong with the local branded drink at all and the bar staff are increadibly friendly and skilled at mixing the cocktails etc.

The entertainment ranged from very good when properly arranged and organised shows were put on in the seperate theatre, to pretty average when on the very few nights the team got audience participation a bit too much. The Canadian guests (who were the prominent nationality in the hotel)were very friendly but one or two of them could have turned the volume down a bit!

The actual location of the hotel is set on a small island with only 3 other hotels near by. There is nowhere to walk too unless you treck off to another hotel but don't choose this hotel if you want disco's, neon night life and 24 hour tacky ''English cafes'' because they don't exist and the place is better for it.

It is relaxing, spotlessly clean and comfortable. It has truly fantastic staff who are increadibly helpful and friendly, it has it's own stunningly beautiful beach, it has good food and drink and is simply a great place to holiday. I will without doubt recommend this hotel for any one seeking a relaxing beach based holiday, looking for good weather (we went March, their dry season and had 14 days unbroken sunshine with temps into the late 80's early 90's every day with soft cooling breeze on the beach)and looking for plenty of hotel based activity and entertainment.

Trips to the mainland and places such as Havana are readily available and a drive to the mainland on the 17klm causeway across the ocean is something worth seeing! The hotel has a few shops to cater for the souveniers, T shirts, odd toiletries etc, it's own Doctor and Pharmacy, a small bank,it has also it's own Cigar shop with one guy who rolls his own cigars! There's also a small gym and a couple of tennis courts. To be honest, the travel company brochures are very accurate when describing the hotel and whats on offer. If you're going to give Cuba a try and want a Caribbean holiday away from the crowds, try this place.

The best thing about the Daiquiri is the staff. Very friendly and obliging and not always fishing for tips as alleged in some other reviews.

Food was generally very good - the buffet choices were outstanding some evenings and the beach bar served a nice range of lunchtime food.The only disappointing meal we had during the two weeks was at the Cuban a la carte which also suffered from lack of atmosphere and the worst service we experienced all holiday.

The maid service was first class - our maid always left the room spotless and when I had a slight stomach upset she made sure that the bleach was used everywhere!She was worth the small gifts we left her and the occasional(every 2-3 days) small tip.

The location on the beautiful beach is almost perfect; there occasionally were problems with sunbed availability due to some selfish people who reserved the beds at both the pool AND the beach. However we found no problems if we were down on the beach before 9:00am.

The bars had good availability of drinks - we rarely had to wait long to be served( even though we didn't tip every time as some did!)There were usually plenty of places to sit around the huge reception/lobby area in the evenings.
Entertainment appeared to be generally good although it was a bit late in the evening for early birds like ourselves.

The Iberostar Daiquiri is the most friendly hotel we have stayed in.

The staff are all very polite and offer an ecellent service in all the different aspects of the hotel.

Unless you are incredibly well off and stay at exclusive resorts, this hotel was a 4* in Carribean standards being similar to other islands we have stayed.

The reception area is lovely and the gardens are very pretty - the children loved feeding the fish in the pond! All the rooms are basic but clean and probably ready for a refurbishment but who cares, how long are you in the room for anyway with such a beautiful beach and good pool area.

The kids club was enjoyed by our 7 and 10 year old and we felt very safe at all times even when the kids disappeared on a donkey ride down the beach. They loved their independence and we enjoyed our space.

Excellent choice of food in the main buffet and I'm quite a fussy eater the kids managed O.K. as well.

We would definately go back a great holiday had by all!

This was our first trip to Cuba having visited over 30 resorts throughout the Med/Australia/Dom rep. We booked the Daiquiri due to all the good reviews we had found on this and other holiday websites.

First of all we are NOT fussy holidaymakers, but I do expect to get what I pay for. This did NOT happen at the Daiquiri unfortunately...we were very disappointed with this trip & would not return.

On arrival we were given a room which I can only describe as 1-2*. It was dirty, scruffy & the bed that my 9yr old son was given was only fit for the council tip! On turning on the aircon we had a visit from several 2" long cockroaches. After returning our keys to reception we were moved to another room where we had to share two 3/4 size beds between the 4 of us. This room was no better & was situated on the main walkway at ground level so we were unable to open our curtains for the whole two weeks!

The food situation was terrible, the reviews who state YOU WON'T GO HUNGRY were true but I hate to imagine what these people eat at home if they want to eat what was on offer here! It was cheap dull food which was mostly cold. The only night it did improve they were handing out quality questionnaires surprise surprise!

The hotel is situated on a beautiful beach, however most of our holiday was spent fighting for a sunbed around the pool as it was SO windy on the beach it was unusable & all the watersports cancelled.

The kids loved the kids club, staff were very friendly but all to ready to tell you there sob story & how poor they are & how they need money for this relative or that! They do fish for tips & believe me get many from holidaymakers who swallow their stories.

Overall I think this hotel is too small for the amount of people, there are not enough facilities, sunbeds etc to go around & if you are looking to be pampered on your holiday you won't find it here.

We found everything to be basic with no luxuries. We would not return to Cuba, there are far nicer places to go!