4 Best Hotels in Western Cuba, Cuba

If an active beach vacation is what you're looking for, this centrally located, really big, all-inclusive resort combines two properties that share a plethora of pools, restaurants, and activities. The Arenas Blancas side has a striking interior courtyard adorned with hanging plants that fall for the length of the four-story construction, along with newer, more contemporary rooms than the older Solymar side. This is a busy complex, attracting families with kids of all ages, as well as younger crowds who mass at the property's main bar every night. Close to the center of town, it's also the ideal location if you want to get away from the crowd and explore on your own.

Built by the duPont family, this grand, three-story 1920s mansion is Varadero's only true boutique hotel; with only a half-dozen rooms, it often sells out. Dark-wood paneling, a grand staircase, and heavy furniture give the place a slightly somber air. A little worn around the edges, it's more shabby genteel these days, but the historical ambience is intact. Winston Churchill—and more recently Vladimir Putin and members of the Kennedy family—are just some notable guests who have stayed here. It's also a bargain when you consider the room rate includes breakfast, dinner, and 18 holes of golf at the Varadero Golf Club. The upstairs restaurant ($$–$$$, reservations essential) is one of the peninsula's prettiest places to dine, even if the food is overpriced and below par. If you just want to lap up the ambience for an evening, head to the third-floor bar at sunset to enjoy the views and the experience of living it up like a duPont. Sunday is often quieter, and there's less chance of sharing the mansion with noisy tour groups.

Varadero's first luxury hotel remains in the top tier of area resorts with six wings that fan out like flower petals from a lush circular atrium; the quality of the rooms and five à la carte restaurants don't disappoint. Paella is the lunch specialty at the casual, beachfront Ranchón restaurant. There are two pools and the requisite white beach. Although there is no kids' club, there are lots of child-focused, programmed activities. Rooms are sleek and modern and each has a balcony, with garden, pool, or ocean views (extra). Level Two rooms are close to the beach and have concierge service; premium ocean-view rooms have corner terraces with double the view. For golfers, there is a free shuttle service to the nearby Varadero Golf Club plus discounted rates.

In some ways, this rambling complex of pseudo-colonial-style, concrete bungalows and outbuildings epitomizes all that's wrong with Cayo Largo's tourism program: it lacks any authentic local character. The landscape is scrubby but the beach facing this spot is a cut above those farther east, and all the rooms are arranged around the pool. The Sol Pelícano does offer every imaginable activity, from basketball to diving to windsurfing, and there's also a kids' club.