Cuba is located approximately 180 kilometers from the southern tip of Florida. The main island is 1200 kilometers in length and anywhere from 32 to 145 kilometers wide. In addition to the main island, there are some 4000 keys and islets forming part of Cuba. About 35 airlines from all over the world fly into the island, with the exception being the United States. Since 1960, the US and Cuba have been at odds, with the US imposing a strict trade embargo against Cuba, due to the 1960's revolution and the nationalization of American companies located within.

Cuba has 190 hotels, of which 10 are five-star, 61 are four-star, 72 three-star and 46 lower rated. More hotels are under construction, including some in the Cayo Coco region as well as the traditional Varadero hotspots.

Since Cuba's development has not kept pace with our own, I wouldn't advise going to a hotel that has a rating of lower than four-stars. While talking to other tourists at the airport that had stayed at 2.5-star hotels, it became apparent that they didn't have as good an experience as we did.

We booked at the Sol Club Las Sirenas (all-inclusive) in Varadero and found it to be a very nice hotel, with superior beach frontage. The grounds of the hotel were excellent and the quality of the food was also very good.

Following are pictures that we took at the Hotel, a day-trip into Havana, as well as various other areas around the beach. The pictures shown are large thumbnails, click on the picture to see a larger version.