Nothing but the BEST - until the very end
On this 6th trip of mine to Cuba, (second to Cayo Coco), I experienced (with my daughter, and best friend) kindness beyond measure. Canadian people are good and well but the Cuban people show resiliency at every step, they take pride in their work, they show gratitude, are thoughtful and somehow they continue to maintain hope.
We stayed at the Mojito from January 31 to February 7th and were three of the last seven clients to leave the resort. We made friends Cuban and Canadian...(and feline, Eva named 25 cats.) Until the very, very last second we were treated with love, kindness, and special treatment. With a very uncertain future ahead, somehow, some way they went above and beyond. With an hour left until the resort shut down power and we shuttled out for the airport, we last 7 customers were served a plated beautiful lobster dinner, with wine and friendliness.
The beach was gorgeous, the ocean warm (we even found a conch shell) The resort was clean, our chambermaid Annia always had a smile for us and did a great job. The gardeners surprised us with a woven basket, a beautiful hat woven from palm tree leaves, other grounds folk made my child a little grasshopper, and a fish on a fishing rod.
Daily we watched as they worked so very hard, so many many hours.
We did not learn everyones names but the chef's did a great job, we had wonderful chicken, pasta, and fresh omlettes and french toast every day. At the pool side bar we enjoyed tasty sandwiches and hotdogs. Soup, I never thought I'd have soup in Cuba (but global warming had temperatures hit the lowest ever) soup was awesome, I tried 4 types. As always fresh soft bread, good salads, and fresh made to order smoothies with breakfast.
I went to the cigar bar one night, and it was wonderful, truly (comparable to a ski chalet feel at a fancy place in Blue Mountain) We had a lovely hot tub near the gym one afternoon, my daughter played basket ball, and worked out in the gym, and learned to play Dominos from Yoan an entertainment staff member. We learned a few dance moves, played giant Chess, played bingo (wonderful way to learn numbers in Spanish (or russian, if your only language is english) My daughter did some karaoke, special shout out to Kellie/Callie for being awesome as well as another young entertainment lady from Moron. My bestie took the bus to the Cave bar accompanied by staff and other hotel guests, and was safely taken care of, thank you Yoan for making sure my girl was safe (her first trip away from North America).
The front desk accomodated my only request which was to have a groundfloor room for easy access, and our beds and pillows were comfortable. The specialty coffee's at the bar in the lobby were amazing, probably shouldn't have consumed 4 before 11am one day but, hey it's vacation. The a la carte restaurant had a yummy muscle appetiser, and some fresh fried fish with mashed potatoes and veggies and Chocolate icecream. (thank you)
Staff were given very short notice of closure (picture "hey btw as of tomorrow you have no means of money we are closing) and yet somehow, somehow they put on brave faces and just kept going. I am not so brave, I can't say in their place I could have kept composure and I cried many times those last two days. Not for me, not for how vacation was ending, for the best people I have met in Cuba, for their uncertainty of what will happen . Every trip I have taken to Cuba has been special, but this trip to Mojito was something I will NEVER forget, I hope with all my heart for the safety, and health of the Cubans.
Our only issue was not with Mojito it was with the booking company/airline and their lack of information, contacting us, letting us know what to do etc. We were told everyone was leaving the resort at 4pm Friday, except those flying out Friday. We packed and checked out and bussed to Sol. Waited about 2 hours at Sol to learn they had no space for us, but we could "call a cab for $45 CAD to get back to Mojito... Mojito less than a kilometer away. We waited a bit and google maped where it was and then us two women and a child dragged our luggage the kilometer down the street back to Mojito. The staff put us back into a room (double the cleaning for them as our room had already been cleaned, the fridge and TV removed for closure etc, again double shout out to Annia - none of us knew, no thanks to airline)