Holiday reviews for Cayo Coco

For those of you who dont already know, the Melia Cayo Coco is an adults only resort. This was a first for us, and the difference was astonishing. Many guests were honeymooners, whilst one Canadian couple actually got married on the hotel premises whilst we were there. This makes for a peaceful and relaxed atmosphere second to none on Coco, as the rest of the resorts permitted children. Without wishing to sound like the Grumpy 'old' couple, it was bliss to be able to relax by the pool without the screaming hordes!

We arrived on the Sunday, and should have departed for three nights in Havana on the following morning (be wary of the Havana trips - very anti social flight times);. Sadly, somewhere along the line we were forgotten, so six of us did not actually go to Havana as booked! Hoowever, we went on the Tuesday so a day late was better than nothing. On our return we were fortunate enough to be upgraded to a junior suite, which was actually a water bungalow out on the lagoon.

All rooms have A/C, mini bar (refilled on request - place your request prior to 16.00);, iron and ironing board, TV (mainly Spanish speaking channels, but some US English speaking film and news channels);, radio/CD player. Towels and bedding are changed daily and the maids are unintrusive whilst delivering 100% service. Room service is available, although with a 10CUC charge per order.

Main meals were taken in the buffet, which despite our misgivings turned out to be superb. The main buffet is air conditioned (most welcome); and there is a huge selection of foods. Additionally there is a hotplate. Mornings they will cook a choice of eggs (omelette/fried etc); and pancakes whilst lunch and dinner is usually a choice of pork/prawns (make sure you try these!);,steak and various fish. General food quality is superb and you wont go hungry.

Alternatively, there is the 'International a la Carte' restaurant on the lagoon (mozzies at night); or the air conditioned Italian (adequate); or the Cuban bar which was closed during our stay. On top of this, there was a grill set up next to the Cuban bar at lunchtimes where they were serving hog roasts most lunchtimes from 13.00. Shame on the enourmous British woman though, who was rude and demanded 'more cracklin'at every opertunity. You and your tatoo'ed ape made us proud to be English.Not.

The Melia has it's own stretch of beach, which is usually quite peaceful if not all that picturesque. Theres a beach bar of course, and plenty of Palm leaf parasols. The water is warm, but the sea sometimes a little rough but nice and clear most of the time with a little weed floating around.

Evening entertainment was certainly there, but we chose to sit in the main bar relaxing most evenings and let the entertainment come to us. Staff there are 100% superb, and we chose to tip at the end of our holiday, except the evenings we were given bottles of Champagne to take back to the room where we felt obliged to tip although the bar staff were reluctant to accept.

We did no rep organised trips whilst we were there, but there is a huge choice, including trips to Havana/Trinidad, speed boat trips, trips to swim with dolphins and much more. Private fishing trips can be arranged with any of the three official guides, but i would urge caution as these tend to work out very expensive and my chosen guide (Orlando); turned out to be a little unreliable.

All in all, the Melia Cayo Coco was superb and certainly the best AI holiday we have had, although admitedly we have not done too many as we tend to shy away from AI. If they were all as good as this place, then we may change our minds.

Some photo's are available here:

http://gallery113650.fotopic.net/