Iberostar Origin Bella Costa

This resort, it is absolutely amazing. It is a diamond in the rough. Yes, it is a little bit older, but you get what you get for Cuba. The food is wonderful. The people are absolutely amazing. This was our second time to this resort. And we were treated like gold. We could not have been treated any better If it was humanly possible, this resort should be at the top of everybody's list to try. After a year and a half everyone rememebred us and we were welcomed back with open arms. It is small. The beaches are beautiful. They offer a whole bunch of different rooms. Such as family rooms, bungalows and regular rooms. The staff are top notch! We will be returning again and again. I love the Bella Costa [Details]

It is old needs many repairs
Has lots of shortages including Rum which they produce in Cuba. Ridiculous.
The Staff is amazing and they take a lot of abuse for the shortages and hotels conditions when they can do NOTHING about it.
The beach is amazing.
So if you are not picky about the hotel or food then for the price it is OK.
And the hotel staff make sure the hotel is very CLEAN. [Details]

Hotel lovely altho rooms need updating.The staff is wonderful and very kind and friendly. Honorable mention to Michel and Evelyn in Buffet. Very nice atmosphere all around. Rooms need a bit of updating especially bathrooms(shower) but average. [Details]

I had a fabulous time, would highly recommend! I really liked that the resort was small and it only took a couple of minutes from room to beach. Still, nothing felt crowded and all the expected amenities were there. Food wasn't 5 star but still pretty good with many options available. Beach was definitely 5 star! I loved it, beautiful white sand and gorgeous turquoise water. Best cappuccino I've ever had, in the coffee bar in the main lobby of the hotel. [Details]

First of all, I definitely go to Cuba for the beaches as they always impress.
The hotel needs upgrades. My roof in my bathroom had a small slow leak that when accumulated at night, was a huge slipping hazard. I told staff and nothing was done. I just kept my bath matt over it.
The curtains in room were falling off on top in areas. Door of patio was dirty with tape and to cover cracks. Small flies were in room, but didn't bother me much, no leaving open food. They got through my zip lock even.
Buffett windows were so dirty and if cleaned seems a good solution to tiding the place up-didn't happen when I was there.
It says they have two hot tubs, but they were not hot-pool temp.
Only had Pina colada on two of the 7 days I was there. Same with mojitos. They mention that they have these, every where in town had them but not at resort. Wine, they didn't have one evening, saying that they had been rationed. If they did have wine, it was only in lobby bar, that was a walk to go get from entertainment area. Pool bar/entertainment bar didn't serve it at all-disappointing!
Food was pretty good for what I was expecting. Snack bar was only open for durations. Then after every thing was closed, only served beer-that some people don't drink.
Entertainment was ok, but after that, there was no music or anywhere to go. Unless you wanted to go into town.
Smoking area in lobby was having doors installed, so now all the smoke is held in the room, where the windows are. No nice patio anywhere in the resort. The resort didn't have a nice patio or eating out side area.
They were painting and fixing up the exterior a bit as we were there, so maybe trying.
While I did overall enjoy my vacation by making the best of it-its better than camping-I would not likely stay at this resort again until it improves. There was mention of having new owners so hopefully things can improve. I had gone to Iberostar Bella Vista last year and found they had upgraded it and the amenities were much better.
Staff and house keeping were good and did there best. [Details]

This place is disgusting kneel down and shine a floss right across the floor as you'll see balls of hair dust and everything along the walls two or three inches out floors are never washed just a quick dusting in the center areas bathrooms are never wiped down daily food is someone mediocre at best and always mixed with something that food poisoning second meal into the trip spent 3 days healing bars kept running out of mix and products rooms are falling apart Outlets hanging out of the walls phones don't work no iron in room we're supposed to be dressers and closets painted shut place should be visited by Health Inspectors ha they obviously isn't any place should be shut down and as far as toilet paper they put one roll in if you run out too bad so sad wait until they decide to come in slightly clean your room and leave one so zero back up toilet paper when you run out common sense is to have an extra roll for that reason and there is way too many things to list that's bad about this place without writing a whole novel the only decent thing about this place is the staff is always cheery and ready to help even though they have to work in such poor conditions the coffee area off the lobby is about the only thing going for this place [Details]

We only spent a few nights here but enjoyed every minute,. We are fitness people so were happy to their gym with adequate equipment.

Also, we happened to be there when a Canadian Instructor was teaching aqua! Never seen this before in Cuba, She was AMAZING. Her energy was unreal and we all couldn't help but to dance!

Loved the lobby area for coffees and evening drinks. Food was not bad and beach and pool are gorgeous.

We will return but for a longer stay! [Details]

Resort needs a little bit of love. We enjoyed our stay at Bella Costa but the rooms are very run down and need some attention. The staff are what made our trip amazing. Our maid Judy and Afran, one of the gardeners really went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable. [Details]

The hotel building is not very well maintained. The staff are wonderful and very helpful. However, the rooms are extremely outdated and full of ants. The Wi-Fi did not work very well either. [Details]

Had a great holiday in Varadero Cuba. First trip to Cuba and we choose Bella Costa because it looked like good place for a family vacation. Location, food and activities were important for us. [Details]

Some the staff is rude. The gals working in the kids minding is amazing. We went with four of our kids ranging from six to newborn. We stayed for one night and then books another resort about five minutes down the road. The rooms are super rundown and there is bugs everywhere in the rooms. I asked different stuff to check out the rooms and they had a lady and they're just sweeping the spiders away they were even on the bed. We are not a picky family and I understand we're in a tropical place where there is bugs but not all over the room and all over the floor I have photos that you can see below. The showerhead didn't work. But the door knob fell off. The food was not good and we've been to Cuba four times. This resort is for people that don't care too much about where they sleep or what they eat or drink. The water is beautiful but the beach dips off into a big crater. And then get shallow as you get out further . Again a lot of the stuff was rude and you had the odd people that were nice. Save your money and go to a better resort. Like I said we were there for one night and transfer to a new resort. [Details]

In my 30 years of travels to Cuba, I usually avoid Varadero due to bad food and unhappy staff. This hotel is an exception.

Staff: extremely pleasant and professional. Special mention to Yoseline and Mariam (reception), Mabel (room cleaning), and Guest Services desk. I encountered 2 issues during my stay (room change and room safe breakdown with my belongings inside). Both were addressed. I was allocated one of the best room locations nearest the beach with best ocean/beach views. I was compensated for the safe issue with late checkout (330pm) as it took some time to resolve and I had to be present.

FOOD: restaurants were good (3 reservations), Mediterranean, Italian, Creole. All had great food & wine, presentation, and service.
Buffet also had good food, Paella, Tuna, Shrimp, various meats. Note for meats, stick with pork as it is the juiciest. Other meats are squished to dryness as they are cooking. I don't understand why hotels do that!
Burgers at the snack bar are very good!

ROOM: I had the AI Suite. Very spacious 1 bedroom, 1.5 bath, huge living/dining area with 55" TV. Not sure why a dining area considering all inclusive and no kitchen.
Varadero hotels not known for luxury, so when I say dated, the entry doors need to be slammed shut, sometimes several times (not enjoyable especially in early hours). The patio doors rattled when windy, and made a hair rising metallic grinding sound when opening/closing.
No issues with air conditioning or water pressure. Surprised to actually have hot water all the time. :-)

BEACH: hotel has a great stretch of shallow white sand beach, very spacious, crystal clear water. I found the palapas too close together so I did not use them.

Common: one thing to note, there was no social distancing and masks were optional except in eating area when standing. I had mine on most of time when walking about.

I recommend and would stay at this hotel again in the future.
Remember to tip! [Details]

The beach was beautiful even though there were too many waves and too much wind to allow the water sports. Weather was great, I got too much sun!

I really liked the food presentation at the buffet as well as the covered compartments for food at the beach restaurant. The main part of hotel and the grounds were clean and well kept for the most part. A few times the toilets ran out of paper though.

I was in a standard room with balcony, and to say it was dated would be an understatement. Very old. The bathroom only had one light and only warm water at best. If they would renovate these rooms they ratings would be awesome!

Food was very good, although the portions at the a la cartes were small. The main bar was very busy in the evenings and not enough staff.

All of the employees were great and so happy to help out in any way. I won't return until I hear they have renovated all of the rooms. [Details]

The first impression was a disaster when checking the bathroom. The photos talk by itself. I paid for a four starts hotel but, not even 1 star for this bathroom. I heard other comments regarding rooms located at the old building there are disgusting. The food was good for me there were variety. The beaches location is beautiful. The animation needs improvement at night. There is not internet service included and you pay for bad internet. Good hospitality from the employees but do not forget tips. At all, not coming back to this hotel. [Details]

We didn't take part in the many free water activities including kayak, canoe, paddle boat or catamarans. There are also Tennis courts and other activities to keep you occupied. The hotel is aging but only compared to what we are used to on our country. There are many cats with kittens to keep the children occupied. The children's club seemed unoccupied. [Details]

Unfortunately for us, the first two days at this hotel were pretty disappointing. To begin with, we were assigned room 623 – the air conditioning was faulty and no matter how we tried to adjust the dial, the room just wouldn't get cool enough. The washroom was quite dilapidated and the ceiling was constantly leaking. We finally gave up trying to adapt ourselves to the room and decided to complain. The concierge sent some maintenance people to try and fix the air conditioning. The repairmen promptly declared that our air conditioner had parts that needed to be replaced, and our only option was to completely change our room. We were then given a villa suite (room 726). The distance to and from the buffet restaurants, pool and main hotel facilities was exhausting, but the room was so much better. The beach was not as nice as we have experienced at many other Varadero resorts. There were too many rocky areas that made it hard to walk safely before we could even get into the water. The lack of shady areas ensured that we didn't want to spend too much time at the beach. The pool area is also lacking in shady spots. Most of this hotel is not air conditioned, and the whole lobby area is infested with mosquitoes – please carry bug sprays to protect yourself. The night time entertainment leaves a lot to be desired: there is one man who tries to keep a room full of patrons happy by asking trivia questions and creates contests where the person or group who answers the most questions correctly wins. There is a disco from 11 PM to 1 AM that we attended once – there were not many people there. The only one redeeming night was the aqua ballet show. The bars were really good with great service. The breakfast and lunch buffets feature well-covered, freshly cooked food on a daily basis. We loved the Cuban a la carte food, but the Mediterranean a la carte was not that great (with raw breaded pork and fish that you could easily get at the buffet). Most of the hotel staff was a joy to deal with and we will miss them. [Details]

This is our 3rd time at this resort. We love the family vibe from the staff. Always very friendly. [Details]

We've been going to this hotel annually for 5 years. It had been deteriorating to the point of no return a year ago. What a difference in 1 year! Rooms are being renovated. The food has improved dramatically: best I've ever seen at a Varadero resort (remember, it's still Cuba). As always, it's the extremely friendly staff that make this resort special. Also as always, it's right along the golf course. [Details]

This is the worst hotel We've ever stayed in. Dirty public beach with broken glass, beer bottles & cans, fecal matter in the sea, and other trash. The restaurants were terrible. Slippery floors, unfriendly waiters, and the food was absolutely horrible. The food stinked, and after eating it I've had a stomach ache. When we asked the waiters for water or coffee we would get it 2 hours later, and the coffee would be cold. Sometimes we would ask, but they wouldn't bring it. Only about 3 waiters were friendly and always brought us what we wanted right away. Also sometimes the buffet inside the hotel would open 15 or 30 minutes later then they should've actually opened which is 6.30PM. The elevators were very slow, and they broke quite often. The lights and electricity were knocked out in our room during thunderstorms. We called reception 4 times, and asked for a technician to fix the problem, but nobody came. It seems they didn't send anybody. We even found the electrical panel in our room ourselves and turned the lights back on. Sometimes they would turn off the hot water, and we had to shower with cold water which was very unpleasant. Sometimes they would even turn off the water completely, so we basically had no access to water. We only got 1 bottle of drinking water per day which was not enough. We even found the plaza in varadero and there we bought 5 litres of water. We even sometimes went straight to varadero, to stores to buy more water, because we just didn't have enough. The evening shows were good, but the performers demanded tips, which they should not do. There were practically no tourists in this hotel, only local people stayed here. These people are aggressive, rude, unfriendly, and they ruin the beach by littering on it. However they have a good lobby bar, with good fresh coffee, and the staff there are friendly. If you don't want to ruin your vacation, don't ever go to this hotel, because this hotel is awful. Go somewhere else for vacation, but never this hotel. I strongly wouldn't recommend this hotel to anyone. [Details]

The food is good the roim i got was gross i asked my agent tell i am repeat. Gor room a mile away! Changed room 2 hours later. On weekend alot of cubans came over welm hotel. Had to fight to get food before all gone. Cuban served faster than touists diappointing! [Details]

Hotel is a older resort but was very clean, staff was great, food was excellent, entertainment was good, near golf course and town. I would most likely go back there. Outside could use a little paint job but overall was pleased with my stay. [Details]

Don't Know wat to say ! The staff are very friendly ,the food lots variety every day , the Martinos Restaurant amazing place for a romantic night , just one think the room needs some renovation, & Yes they already started the 5th floor all new . The Beach like Paradise , a long and beautiful beach , I will come back again . [Details]

Even though the weather was not great, we still had a good time. The food was good even though the options were not as plentiful as usual due to the hurricane. [Details]

No hot water in the am, elevators were questionable, bar staff took their sweet time. [Details]

Do you remember Swans from towels in your hotel in Cuba? Forget about them. That is happening not because the cleaning Lady can't do them anymore, that is because there are no more towels in this hotel. In case you go to this place make sure you know about the hotel:
- the first thing I thought was: the room is simply not ready. I was wrong. That is the way how the room is providing.
- I upgraded room for ocean view (when I bought this trip) and I've got the second floor looking to the swimming pool. We changed the room since I was with small kid and swimming pool is Very noisy
- one towel per person (medium size)
- one beach tower is still providing
-no shampoo or soap in the room (take with you)
- no coffee or tea in the room. There is the coffee machine in the room. I have been told by customer service Lady that tourists are bringing coffee and tea with them. Bring with you
- you need to fight for your one bottle of water in your room each day
-don't take a bungalow since there are a lot of mosquitoes from the nearest Golf club
- there is no food for kids: no serials or any kind of porridge. Bring with you food for kids since bananas were only 2 times and you won't be able to substitute kid's food at least with bananas
- electricity was out for three times during my 9 days in that hotel. As a result, it was no breakfast one day
-be the first for each meal - it's not enough for everyone. I am not telling about quality (everybody knows) but I am telling that it's not enough food at the end
- problem with electricity leaves you without the air conditioner in any public area (lobby, cafeteria...)
- the hotel doesn't clean the beach. Be careful with kids; you never know when a piece of glass would be found
- no Majito in this hotel:). Be careful with alcohol in this hotel; look at the bottle it might be fake Rum
- did I complain? YES! Many times at the reception, 3 times customer service (you won't believe they have this department), and once to my representative.
BTW I was in Cuba many-many times and know what did I usually get from 4 star hotel. [Details]

Loved the beach but sadly the resort was not a good one for us. Poor housekeeping. We had to clean our own room ask for towels and bottled water everyday. Housekeeping made beds and left toilet paper that was all. We complained everyday....birds came in to buffet and beach restaurant and deficated everywhere. They pulled good off counters and plates... Cigarette butts in the hallways and very few smiling faces. We loved the people who worked at the lobby bar. They seemed to enjoy their work and people. Very few others did. I will not go back there ever!! [Details]

This resort is not recommended for anyone. The unsanitary rooms and inedible food was a shock as it is listed as a 4 star hotel. This should be downgraded to a 2 star. Our family vacation which was for 2 weeks ended up being at another resort. We will never go back to the Bella Costa. [Details]

Horrible experience ... this hotel has no organization ... the majority of the guests were locals were are completely filthy and rude. (To the point of fighting over food, which was worse than what expects for Varadero) no wonder you could not get any service a thank you nor a smile ... too bad for such a beautiful country ... but pay more money go elsewhere ... [Details]

Had a wonderful time all staff at the hotel was very friendly food was good all in all itt was good vacation [Details]

Overall it was a good experience. The hotel was nice but dated. The food was great, the beach was great but the rooms need major upgrades. Even though they were cleaned every day we would also get a sewage smell on certain days. [Details]