Ivon Carballo. General Manageress of the Club Amigo Plus Varadero Hotel

Featuring an original outlay, remarkable historical values, a new architectural design, and right after undergoing a refurbishing process that took one million dollars worth of investments, the Club Amigo Plus Varadero Hotel will reopen its doors in the first half of December. The new brand is one of the trademarks owned by Cubanacan Hotels.

Made up of three-star and four-star all-inclusive economical resorts, this trademark is –form a commercial standpoint- highly coveted by guests seeking cheaper food and drink offers, great entertainment, joyfulness and human warmth, the hotel’s general manageress Ivon Carballo told Caribbean News Digital in an exclusive interview.

Q- Can you tell us about the reopening of this hotel that will start making a name of itself worldwide under a new label?

A- This facility will open up its doors in the first half of December amid the high-peak tourist season. The name Club Amigo Plus Varadero is one of the trademarks owned by Cubanacan Hotels, the resort’s proprietor and manager. This brand encompasses three-star and four-star hotels in different tourist circuits across the country and under a cheaper all-in version, just the right choice for mid-income and low-income market segments looking for good entertainment, the human warmth of the Cuban people, cheaper gourmet offers and the attractiveness of the hotel’s presentation and Cuban style.

Q- As to the refurbishment and modifications the hotel went through to lift it up to par with the new trademark, what about it?

A- The hotel benefited from a one-million-dollar investment earmarked to refurbish certain facilities and services that didn’t need the demands of the kind of visitors we receive. Thus, the entire plumbing system was overhauled –especially in a resort like this- as well as the hot water system and the room design that, by the way, it keeps the former outlay almost intact, but marked by a change of color that better matches the trademark’s own features –more gladness, better entertainment, a gaudier expression. In a word, closer to a Cuban style.

Part of those resources have also been funneled into some public fronts with a view in mind to improve the beach area –one of the landmarks closely attached not only to the trademark itself but also to this hotel. This is a particularly privileged beach strip because it preserves the same unexplored sand Varadero was originally known for. At the same time, the whole system of umbrellas, beachfront thatch-roofed hut, the dune trail and all those vital elements that characterize this trademark were duly taken into account within the framework of this major and all-embracing restoration effort we carried out.

Q- As far as the hotel’s architectural structure and historical values are concerned, I know there are some particular details we should all know about. Can you give us some information on that?

A- This hotel is blessed with many values, regardless of its emblematic Cuban style especially seen in the design, in some decorative elements, paintings and the name of several in-house facilities. I’m specifically referring to the names of such restaurants as Atenas de Cuba, La Loma del Angel –in remembrance of Cecilia Valdes, Cirilo Villaverde’s celebrated novel- and Amelia, to remember prestigious Cuban painter Amelia Pelaez. There are so many other attributes that I’d dare say Club Amigos Plus stands out among Varadero’s so-called wonders. The rock the hotel is perched on –according to ZIGMA and a certified opinion- is above all a fossil dune. There’s another dune next to the beach, pretty well preserved and unaltered. The surrounding sand is the beach’s original sand as I said before, and there’s a nearby ecological reserve. On the other hand, the place has a history of its own because the now gone International Pioneer Camp once stood on the premises. This camp was a place that played out a vital role on the island nation’s historical development and it had a major m