I’ll start with the end of the trip to get the bad and annoying out of the way first. After a week of lounging, at the airport in Cienfuegos, during the plane ride and even by the luggage claim area, people were complaining. “I can’t believe they didn’t have warm water…There were too many jellyfish…The food was boring…The shows weren’t good…The rooms were cheap…The staff didn’t smile enough…The first thing I’m going to do when I get home is give them an awful review on TripAdvisor.” That’s the most annoying thing about going to a cheap, all-inclusive resort in Cuba – the fellow travellers who have very high expectations of luxury. Now that I’ve got that out of my system…
Ancon is a 3 star resort – which I learned from experienced travellers to Cuba, is more like a 2 star resort. The building is old, sure, but it is painted in cheerful oranges, yellows and pinks that stand out beautifully against the lush green and the turquoise of the ocean. Yes, the rooms are basic, but you’re spending all your time at the beach or bar or making your way in a colourful Diesel to Trinidad, right? And yes, during the entire week we had warm water twice, but actually, on a hot day the lukewarm water was really refreshing. No complaints from me.
The lovely thing about Ancon is that it feels like camp for adults – the architecture, the atmosphere, the rum, and cafeteria all make it feel like a grown-up version of, “Meatballs” – ok, the comparison is loose, but still. You make friends, you lounge on the beach, you play ping-pong, and the staff of the hotel become your chums who teach you how to dance without moving your shoulders so much, and moving your hips much more. The minimalist communist architecture soon stops being a point of dissatisfaction as your ideas of the building turn from ‘this concrete slab’ into ‘this breezy, relaxing and colourful lounge.’
The rooms are small, but big enough with everything you need to make your stay comfortable – a bed, a bathroom, a view. Do you really need more? There is a TV (and someone on TripAdvisor complained that it was one of those old TVs that was bulky!) but you don’t need to turn it on and enjoy being away from the news, the media, the entertainment gossip – more time to enjoy the sea breeze and the rum.
The cafeteria is just a room with a lot of tables and cutlery, and it is lined with food. It’s not special food. It’s not fancy. But it is good. I ate a lot of sunny-side up eggs, cheese, fish and salads, and I always had a plate stacked full of fresh fruit. My stomach was always satisfied.
And the coffee was delicious.
We had a routine that quickly became a ritual. After breakfast we’d head over to the bar for fresh coffee – cappuccino or espresso. Armed with coffee and a happy stomach, we’d head over to one of the patios and sip away, enjoy the relaxed, satisfied feeling of having nowhere to be and a long day ahead of us.
The beach is the best part of Ancon and the reason why many people have been coming here for over 7 years to enjoy their holidays. It’s a long stretch of beach on a peninsula, which means that long after you’ve left the resort, you can keep on walking along the shore, with ocean on one side of you, green bush on the other and a blue sky above. Few people actually take the longer beach walk, and as you lose
sight of the hotel and all other things man-made., you feel like the island is yours
The sand is white, the water is lukewarm and turquoise. We happened to be there during the full moon and the higher tide allowed jellyfish to swim over the coral reef that usually keeps them away from swimmers. It did make the swim a little harder and several people were stung, but we figured out that if we swam fast enough with lots of splashing we’d usually avoid getting stung. If a pesky tentacle happened to slide across your skin, the bar staff gave you a glass or lemon juice or vinegar to help alleviate the stinging. We also found a part of the water that was jellyfish free, but you had to take a 15min walk along the beach.
It was jolly fun going to a 3 star resort. It’s comfortable. There is little to no kitsch. It’s all about the beach. The sky. And the city of Trinidad…another post to come on that soon.