Review - Havana Botella
This is the second guest review from blogger and photographer Pickle Pop. As well as the words, all of the excellent photos in this review are hers. Check out Pickle’s blog, and follow her on Flickr. Also, check out the previous review Pickle did for us.
Photos by Pickle Pop, rights reserved
When I booked the Havana Botella for this review, it was advertised as a Cuban experience. Somewhere between booking it and arriving, it seems there was a change to that theme, and the owners had started re-designing the resort into a Miami Aquarium style.
Overall look at feel
I was pleasantly surprised when (my friend) Bunny and I tp'd into the reception and were greeted as it was bright, welcoming and gave us a true reception feel, with luggage splayed around and welcoming spots for us to sit and rest.
We were immediately informed that a lot of the amenities were currently unavailable, and we were offered a free 2 day stay when it was complete.
For that reason, this review can only take into account what was available at the time we stayed and to say it was a little chaotic was an understatement.
There was a long beach, underwater area and bar available to us along with a pool.
The part of the sim that was still Cuban themed was beautiful, but no matter where we were we could see the giant unfinished parts of the sim that were mid transformation, which made a full immersive experience almost impossible.
Overall - 2 / 5
The Rooms
We stayed in one of the 2 story 1 bedroom apartments, which overlooked the beach from atop a rocky waterfall.
The decor was themed around the Flamingo, which are a common sight in Cuba, so I definitely loved this little touch.
We had a large kitchen with a bar and seating area, a bathroom, a bedroom and a balcony. There were also two youtube-enabled TVs.
I did find such a large kitchen and bar area strange seeing that it was a one bedroom, but if you're staying with a group of people it would make a great meeting point before wandering off to activities.
Our view was obscured by the ongoing building in the distance when on the balcony or in the kitchen, and although I believe that we were parcelled off for privacy, there was no other security provided.
Overall - 3.5/5
The Facilities
We were given a welcome pack on our arrival with the option of many free activities along with landmarks to the spots, including archery, restaurants, a secret garden, some jet skiing and more.
However, due to the refurbishment in progress, most of those landmarks led us to building sites, or places that should not have been accessible because they were still works in progress.
We did partake in Beer Pong, an underwater hover-ride (which was self drive), a short Kayak and feeding the dolphins that were all free activities included in our stay, and with all due respect we could probably have done at a free beach location.
I'm entirely unsure whether there were more options for us because of the building work, and the difficulty in finding what was available. The activities we did took only a short amount of our time.
I chose the Bronze Package for their Fathers Day deals from the website, which also included a RP Dinner, a Spa and Yoga with Turtles.
The dinner was a lovely surprise as we were teleported to a wonderfully decorated underwater style aquarium restaurant. We both enjoyed our experience. I think this will remain for the Miami themed resort.
The next day when we were waiting for our Yoga and Spa, we were upset when no staff showed up to help us, and we were so disappointed we actually left without an official checking out. We were later offered the Spa and Yoga to be added to the complimentary 2 night stay in the future.
It's worth noting that the beaches are adult friendly (nudity and sex permitted) but the resort boasts being family/child friendly, which made us a little uncomfortable. The rules notecard does ask you to be respectful of the presence of child avatars, so it's not completely overlooked.
Rez rights were on (we had trouble at first but it was solved after a quick message to the owner), and we were permitted to rez up to 50 prims during our stay inside of our rental, and poses and props could be rezzed anywhere on the resort.
Overall - 2/5
The Animations
The furniture itself is from some of the more premium brands in SL, and most of the options had adult menus and a couple had same gender options too.
For cuddles, sits and friends they were perfect for what they're used for and we particularly enjoyed the friend options on the loungers by the pool.
The Adult menu's although premium were not 'ruckus' quality, but still decent enough.
Both of us particularly loved the bathroom animations for brushing your hair and teeth at the mirror, and the toilet animation pulling your pants down was a lot of fun.
Some of the added activities animations need some work, for example when we did some swimming the pose threw us into a sandy bank, and trying to go down a waterslide meant we were flipped 3500 ft into the air! During dinner we were also eating with our fingers, with our elbows in our food.
Overall - 2/5
Other considerations
The initial booking process was bizarre to me. I filled out a form on the website which i felt did not ask me enough questions, and was messaged by an owner in world when i was offline, asking for more information.
I refilled in the booking form on the website with all the additional information, and was then messaged in world again, and given a receipt before i'd even paid, which included a warning that the payment needed to be sent within 48 hours to secure our rental.
After payment, I had absolutely no contact with any staff, and on the day of our check in was actually confused about whether they'd received payment, and our vacation was actually going to go forward. I think this could be revised and made a much smoother experience.
We paid 5000L as a Fathers Day special package for 2 nights and 3 RP experiences.
We had the resort to ourselves with only one or two of the owners on sim at the same time as us occasionally, and we experienced difficulty with lag quite regularly.
This might be due to the ongoing building and I would have to return to find out for certain. We were both able to hop on black dragon for pictures which was a pleasant surprise. Loading times were often really slow.
It is an Adult resort, but as stated already it's also advertised as Family Friendly, so book with your family with caution.
Overall
As it stood, there were many reasons to believe Havana Botella had immense promise, and we managed to have an enjoyable time regardless of the few amenities, but I truly feel like our vacation should have been postponed as both of us were disappointed by the amount of things to do and spent much of our vacation sitting around chatting rather than enjoying activities.
I would advise that before you hand over your L's to visit this resort, you ensure that all the building has been completed, and there are things for you to do beyond sitting at a pool or laying on a beach.
Website for more information and bookings
