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stephen and evelyn
10/2/2002
18:40:42
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 Sujet - Subject: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_0.clargo
hi folks, here is a recap of our vacation to csm. do not in any sense compare it to cayo largo,it is not!!! The hotel is beautiful and quite empty, the food is less than good, do not eat at the italian restaurant big mistake, los cocos is good, la picua for lunch is good, they usually catch fish in the morning so they are fresh unfortunately they serve them with the head still on. This hotel needs a lot of work before it gets its 5 stars. The staff are amazing they are really great, Krister is not the only person who should receive kudos here his asst. Alberto is very friendly and Vivian, she is so sweet these two people will help you out with anything you need. The best drinks are served at the Patio Bar!!! The hotel complex is so large that i really don't see any reason to reserve your rooms now, after all it is only open to the quebec market. The beach is very windy and can be cool at some time, the water is quite rough for young children, Do take a catamaran ride from the aquatic center for snorkeling 5.00 per person and your guaranteed a great time, Raphael is really knowledgable and he will go down and bring up the jellyfish, and sea urchins, we got to see an octopus, quite amazing. Do rent a jeep, 42.00us per day, and that way you can drive around if you intend to go into town, 2.00us toll booth each way, the people are quite friendly, we brought school supplies with us and visited a primary school nice experience, there is not much to see in sights regarding caibarien or remedios, if you do go to caibarien bring anything baseball to give to the kids, they are all fanatics of baseball!!We also took a drive toward yamaquey, and met a farmer who spoke english, Raoul.he brought us to his house to meet his family, real nice, these are the experiences we had if you want to see some photos drop us an email, by the way the nude beach was great unfortunately it attracts all kinds.
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Alexander
10/2/2002
19:40:19
|  RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_1.clargo
Hola both of you.
Thanks for the re cap of your trip. Sounds like a good time was had.
A small observation and just for general discussion. The Grupo Sol/Melia of Spain has several brands amongst their hotels.
The Sol resort on CSM is not supposed to be a 5 *
but a 4 * at best.
Stay at a Melia resort and you will find 5* service and food quality. They even have Gran Melia hotels which are top class.
If you want even more luxe in all inclusives stay at a Paradisus resort. Super! Again its only to inform you and others who plan to travel to Cuba.
Should you care to find out more check out-
http://www.solmelia.es
Food ! That is always a highly personal observation and yes in general Cuba is not known for its food. Yet I and many people who travel to Cuba on a regular basis seem to always find plenty of good things to eat and usually put on a few pounds during the trip.
And I congratulate both of you for getting away from CSM and seeing a bit of the real everyday life of Cuba and the cubans. Bravo.
Thanks once again for taking time to write a trip report.
PS- If time permits, write up and send in a trip report, on this new web site from Debbies. As it grows the information within shall assist many future travellers.
http://www.debbiescaribbeanresortreviews.com/
Ciao
Alexander
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pompier
10/2/2002
21:15:33
|  RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_2.clargo
Hi Evelyn !
You are right, very good place and your last sentence it's very thru I have seen a few guys all dressed up and seating with bineaculars to watch us that the only sad part in CSM, I hope the textile people will respect us the same way we did for them.
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dominique
10/2/2002
21:44:30
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_3.clargo
hi stephen and evelyn...thanks for your most detailed trip summary...I am going to csm april 7th with my husband and another couple...It is not our first experience with melia hotels...and there is a normal adaptation period for this hotel, the first in the area...Do you think the 4 of us can fit into a jeep??? how far is Caibaren or Remedios form the CLub???? I would definetly love to see your pictures...
Thanks in advance...Dominique
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sailor
10/2/2002
21:48:13
|  RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_4.clargo
Hi,
Those guys are the coast guard...They are not used to see naturiste..after a couple of months they will get bored. When we were there 3-4 weeks ago, they came and stand right by the naturiste beach, some people on the beach were not too sure what to do but when a girl (someone from the forum) went to ask them for light in her birthday suit, the situation became more relaxed, it was funny, after that they were less present ...it is new for them, don't forget. When you see them salute them 'Holla', they will smile and they normally just walked by.
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evelyn and stephen
11/2/2002
09:02:01
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_5.clargo
hi dominique, four people can fit in the jeep they are not of the greatest quality so try to find one with a door that opens. Gas in Caibarien is 75.liter us. (a bit expensive) Caibarien is about 30 minutes from the hotel. Fill up before returning to the hotel there is no gas at the hotel. Add another 15 minutes to get to Remedios there is Cafe Louvre in the square where you can have a drink, visit the churches, there are alot of one ways be careful the cubans will let you know right away Contre trafico!!! and they will laugh,
Hi Sailor regarding the unwanted at the nudist beach the cubans were not the problem we were talking about the quebecers.Oh yes as pompier mentioned binoculars were used and even one guy was taking pics. not for long must i say.
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sailor
11/2/2002
10:22:07
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_6.clargo
Evelyn, Stephen, really they were tourist with binoculars and camera? We had net seen any. CSM is a small place, it should be quite easy to talk to these persons at the bar or at the buffet about there voyeur problems loud enough that the people around can hear, normally it should work. There is people with no class everywhere...
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evelyn and stephen
11/2/2002
12:10:03
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_7.clargo
yes sailor, you are right, there are people with no class everywhere and they were informed rudely about their problems. We still enjoyed our selves immensely, they on the other hand moved out of sight.
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Lyne
11/2/2002
12:28:14
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_8.clargo
Evelyn and Stephen, out of curiosity, how did you deal with these "undesirables" (voyeurs with binoculars or others who took pictures at the nudist beach)? We were there tree weeks ago and aside from a few awkwardly curious security guards, we enjoyed the same mutual respect which exists at CL between clothed and unclothed vacationers. I hope these idiots were told to take their ogling (and their cameras) elsewhere!
Lyne :o)
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porto
11/2/2002
12:47:48
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_9.clargo
Hi everybody.
One more thing about those people looking at us naturist. My wife and I was swiming in the ocean . I left my wife alone and came back under the palapa. I saw a guy talking to her, no problem there. When she came back she told me that the guy asked her if she was a naturist and if she was also an (echangiste) Can I tell you that the guy received a truck of sh... They were beside us under a palapa and they were clotes. After this incident they move and we did not see them after.Probabely a guy (coco lobo) on the side
Porto
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evelyn and stephen
11/2/2002
12:58:50
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_10.clargo
hi lynn, no problem we are adults and very capable of blocking certain people out of our minds, actually we thought it was quite funny, after all maybe they never seen naked people before, quite flattering they thought we were all interesting.
hi Porto, i am not sure if you were there the same week we were but there was also a man who approached me and i was very uncomfortable with the fact of his remarks.Lets return to Cayo Largo where we are all more comfortable.
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porto
11/2/2002
13:40:39
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_11.clargo
Yes Evelyn we were there the same week and I spend one other week down there after you have left with Stephen. Stephen was the guy who give me the information concerning the car location.We were a bunch of 6 to 8 people at the first double palapa on the left side of the beach.
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evelyn
11/2/2002
13:54:56
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_12.clargo
hi porto, it would be nice to put faces to names.
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chris
12/2/2002
16:11:03
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_13.clargo
Hi, I live in S/W Ontario and am a frequent visitor to Cayo Largo.
Since it appears there will be no flights there this season, I'm thinking of trying CSM but an earlier posting mentioned it's only available out of Montreal.
Adding Toronto-Montreal flight costs makes it expensive.
I'm an avid naturist and love the beach, but don't want hordes of voyeurs, nor only a small beach for we naturists.
I'm not concerned about the food; it's not really that great in CL either !!!
Do you recommend that I go ?? (Likely in April)
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stephen and Evelyn
12/2/2002
16:18:41
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_14.clargo
Hi Chris,
my understanding is that Cayo Largo will be reopened next month. Since you do not like a small area of naturism i do not recommend csm, we only have a small section of the beach, mind you we did go for walks, what i am afraid of is once cayo largo opens up again, that the nudists will return therefore leaving csm to the clothes.Unfortunately there wil be voyeurs here, since the hotel is described as for all ages, and no mention of naturism anywhere in its description. I feel this hotel will become a family resort in due time.
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Lyne
12/2/2002
16:59:51
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_15.clargo
Stephen and Evelyn, you have brought up an interesting question - whether CSM will continue to welcome naturists even after CL reopens. Before leaving, we posed the question to Krister Esteban. He replied that as far as he was concerned, the left part of the beach would always remain a naturist section. I guess time will tell whether this designation eventually disappears, if and when the naturists return to their first love, CL. In my opinion, as long as there are naturists at CSM, they will have a place there.
I also wonder how CL came to be known as a "naturist" destination. Was it meant to be that way to begin with, or did the mostly european vacationers make it so?
Lyne :o)
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evelyn
12/2/2002
19:02:16
| RE: our csm holiday
IP: 2850_16.clargo
Hi Lynn, all i remember about Cayo Largo was the advertisements by the different tour companies, they all had pictures and announcements of naturism.
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