Hotel Sol Palmeras reaches its 33rd anniversary of foundation today.

The Sol Palmeras Hotel is a reliable exponent of the quality of services in tourism in the largest of the Antilles, 33 years after its foundation, an event that took place on May 10th 1990 and which was attended by Fidel Castro Ruz, historic leader of the Cuban Revolution.

The oldest mixed hotel in Cuba is a reference point for the leisure industry in a country that boasts of having it among its more than 300 places of accommodation.

At that time, Fidel also officially opened the Paradiso Hotel (Playa Caleta), located at the entrance to Varadero, on that occasion he exchanged with managers and employees of a collective operated by the Gran Caribe group.

For many Spanish businessmen like Francisco Camps, Sol Palmeras marked a before and after for tourism on the island, just as the nation was opening up to the global tourism market.

Around 15 percent of the tourists who visit it are repeaters, many of whom have returned 30, 35, 40 times, something closely linked to the work of the employees themselves, who with their kind treatment are the first promoters of bringing back to the facility, men and women who are already considered part of the family.

According to Antonio Erranz, deputy general manager, Sol Palmeras continues to stand out among its Varadero counterparts for its high occupancy levels, with a high average number of guests.

Arnaldo Díaz Hiedra, general secretary of the trade union bureau, explains that this is due to the high quality standards achieved, despite the ageing of a hotel plant that is constantly undergoing renovations to provide the client with new experiences.

«Thirty-three years of being present in such a competitive and changing sector, Palmeras has remained in a prominent place and fulfilling what Fidel asked for at its inauguration: to be an example, a guide and a school».

According to Arnaldo, these predictions have been amply fulfilled, «all thanks to its workforce, and especially to its founders, who forged a quarry maintained over the years, setting an example and providing their knowledge to train thousands of others who have swelled the ranks of the tourism industry».

He remarked that «today we are still among the most prominent in the opinions of our customers, in new times, with new goals and challenges, but we are sure that, as always, we will succeed».

More than three decades later, it must be admitted, Sol Palmeras is home to the best attributes of the leisure industry in the Greater Antilles. As the current Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz once said, this hotel was born straight and stays straight.

Photos: From the author, and taken from Trip Advisor.

Written by Eva Luna Acosta Armiñán.