Hotel Brisas Guardalavaca

Billed as a four-star all-inclusive resort, this is by far the nicest property at Guardalava proper. It originated a decade ago as a hotel managed by a Canadian company, and today is wholly run by Cubanacán. At the far east end of Guardalavaca, it has a preferential position with its own gorgeous white-sand beach – Playa Las Brisas – with a well-equipped watersports outlet (both open to the public), including scuba diving certification.

The hotel is in two parts: the main five-story hotel complex and an adjoining villa complex, with its own pool (with swim-up bar) – a much quieter retreat than the huge (and handsome) hotel pool, in and around which all the activity takes place. Together they are more accurately billed as three-star at best. As with all the hotels at Guardalavaca proper (the nearby hotels at Playa Pesquero etc. are a different matter), the physical infrastructure is tired and beginning to fall apart, although the place is kept clean. At least, here you get a selection of specialty restaurants in addition to the main buffet restaurant, but the fare is nothing to get excited about.

Hotel Club Amigo Atlantico-Guardalavaca

Perched atop a limestone headland between two lovely beaches at Guardalavaca, this is the original hotel that kicked off tourism here some three decades ago. Given the classy competition that has since arisen, this all-inclusive property struggles deperately to keep up. Apart from the setting, it's hard to recommend the Club Amigo Atlántico, with its terrible service, desultory food, and tired physical infrastructure that extends to broken windows and fixtures. Perhaps the overriding negative here is the sullen staff, with only a handful of employees seeming to care about guest welfare.

On the positive side, the entertainment here is upbeat and includes pianists as well as nightly cabarets. And there's plenty of watersport action, including scuba diving.

This plain-looking and weary Soviet-designed entity is laid out in four large parallel blocks behind a huge pool complex fronting the shore. Hence, very few rooms have ocean view. The mattresses are tired and sag, and at last visit the bathrooms were need of upgrading. We highly recommend you ugrade to the villa section about 100 meters inland.