Casa Juanito y Maria del Carmen | Vinales | Cuba

Photos Casa Juanito y Maria del Carmen 

Languages: Spanish, English

Modalities: Quiet, Fantastic hosts, Comfortable, Charming

Amenities: TV, Private bathroom, Laundry service, Garden, Patio, Ceiling fan, Breakfast service, Dinner service, Queensize bed, Bathroom with shower

Address: Sergio Dapico Norte #9 Vinales, Pinar del Rio, Cuba

Phone: +53 48793186

Email: villamariayjuanito@nauta.cu

Reviews Casa Juanito y Maria del Carmen

Aug 14 2018

Name: Craig Cummings

Country: Australia

I stayed here at: 07/03/2017

How did you make the reservation?: Through Cuba-Junky's Casa App

How much did you pay per night?: 20cuc

Ive been meaning to review his casa for a while because in many ways it was one of the best places we stayed in Cuba. This is mainly because of the hospitality of Maria and Juanito who are terrific hosts. They both go out of their way to make sure your stay is comfortable and enjoyable. They also try their best to communicate with you beyond simply providing you with service. Juanito is up for a conversation about life in Cuba and with my limited Spanish I learnt a lot from him about life in Cuba. Maria is a great cook. We had breakfast there each day. Even though we were a couple she served enough food for 4! We also had an evening meal which was three courses for a reasonable price. Overall a friendly and comfortable stay.

How was your room?: The room was basic but comfortable with aircon and two fans. We slept well there.

How was the food they offer?: Breakfast was huge!!!! Eggs fruit toast cheese jam pastries juice coffee. Enough for 4 even though there was two of us. We had an evening meal which was very good. It was 3 courses. We had a grilled chicken dish which was very well prepared. As expected you can get a good mojito there as well.

Other services they offer: We had a vinales tour with their nephew which was a nice morning out. They can organise taxis and other tours for you.

Other comments: Lovely people. Comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. Highly recommend.

July 16 2018

Name: Matias

Country: Switzerland

I stayed here at: 06/06/2018

How did you make the reservation?: I did not make a reservation

How much did you pay per night?: 20 CUC (not sure) per night + 4 CUC per breakfast

Great localization. The view to the nearby mountains is marvellous and a 5 minutes walk gets you to the town center. Carmen and Juanito are adorable and talkative hosts. I felt treated like family. Juanito is very knowledgeable. He took me to a hike into the countryside which basically was a free guided tour!

How was your room?: Clean and well equipped (Air conditioning, hot water, toilet paper). Surprisingly never had insects. Some harmless lizards can come for a visit, though :) One big downside: the "windows" are crude metal shades. These don't really prevent hot air and sound from coming in - quite annoying since construction works would start just outside the house early in the morning.

How was the food they offer?: Only tried breakfast; it was great and a bit cheaper than the other casas I've visited.

Other services they offer: Juanito offers to book tours in Vinales for you. Horse ride into the farms/mountains, car ride to the main surrounding highlights (cueva del indio, mirador, pared prehistorica), day trip to the beach. Each costs 20-25 CUC per person, plus expenses for optional activities during the tours. I cannot confirm if better options are available elsewhere.

Nov 6 2017

Name: Beatriz Your

Country: Spain

I stayed here at: 10/09/2017

How did you make the reservation for this casa particular?: I did not make a reservation

How much did you pay per night?: 25

I stayed with 3 more friends in Viñales this October 2017 and this house was the worst experience we had. First of all we did not book this house, in fact we had a recommendatioarrived our host in habanna for another house that was full, so they decided to tranfer us to Casa Juanito without any explanation The host Juanito tell us about the horses tour with a comission for him, but we could finally find the same tour better and cheaper (because we speak spanish) so when we arrived at night he was absolutly rude with us. He started saying that we should leave the house next morning "early" before 9 am because other people would arrived. We felt that he try to take advantage of tourist however because we were spanish this annoyed him. The next day we leave the room and find another house in Viñales that was much more better and even cheaper.

How was your room?: The room for 4 person is very small, i would say that there is not space for 4 bagages and 4 persons. It has no fridge. it is not in the center of the village, you have to walk 10 minutes. The room is not independient! You have to cross all the common areas to arrive.

Other comments: There are a lot of houses in Viñales much more better than this one. We change house because we had this bad experience.

Jan 23 2017
Name: Ulla
Country: Germany
I stayed here at: 12/29/2016
I pad 30 CUC per night incl breakfast

My review: From the beginning on we felt at home at the Casa Juanito y Maria del Carmen.
Maria made us wonderful breakfast and dinner. Clearly more delicious than in all restaurants that we visited.
Juanito has a wide range of interests and is also familiar with events outside of Cuba. He also speaks English and a bit German. Furthermore he is a very special guide with a lot of humor and knowledge about history, but also plants and animals. It is obvious that he has fun on his tours with his guests. In our conversations we learned a lot about Cuba. We sat with him, in swing chairs on the terrace, and chatted with him until the night.
The two rooms where very clean and comfortable. Per double room there was a bathroom with a shower. The Casa is quiet situated, since it is located in a side street (towards a nature reserve) of the main road of Vinales.

Feb 25 2016
Name: Teresa Myrwang Holum
Country: USA
I stayed here at: 12/12/2015
I made a reservation at the casa directly
Believe we paid 25 CUC per night. Breakfast may have been 5 CUC additional per person per day.

My review: Absolutely delightful place to stay, particularly given the warmth of the hosts, Juanito and Maria del Carmen. We fell in love with them and with their daughter who gave my beau salsa lessons. We fell in such love with the family that we are returning next month-- well ahead of when we told them we would see them next (in the fall)!
We were so impressed by their awareness and knowledge of what is going on in the world outside of Cuba. Juanito is well versed in US-Cuba history and that made for very interesting conversation.
We cannot wait to return!
Teresa & Bruce
How was your room?: Completely spotless… we could not have wanted for anything. Very comfortable bed and we felt very well looked after.
How was the food they offer?: Delicious and bountiful.
Other services they offer: Friendly and warm conversation. If you want to stay with a lovely Cuban family, this is the place!

April 26 2015
Name: Gus Auyeung
Country: Canada
I stayed here at: 04/07/2015
I made a reservation at the casa directly
I paid 25 CUC per night

My review: Cuba is very poor but the people especially our hosts are very rich in personality and warmth.
Our Spanish is very pitiful and their English is limited yet we talked and talked about everything. If our eyes were blank -not a clue what was said , he drew and acted like in charades till we understood and we even learned to play Dominos in Spanish.
The food for the locals were scarce but we ate like royalties. ( still bring tears to my eyes )
The amenities for the locals were non-existent but our rooms were clean and yes there was toilet papers (very sufficient amount for all situations). These folks washed their house everyday much more than I did mine in Canada.
Yes there were only 5 channels on the TV but we saw it only for 2 minutes. We learned about the flora and fauna , the fruit trees ,the herb bushes -in general a botany class which I hated all my life till now. We sat and watched the stars and listened to the mangos drop, hiked all day while the farmer worked his bulls in the fields, attended a private demonstration of how to wrap up a tobacco leaf in itself and left in amazement at what people will pay for it and hunted for treasure in the silent caves where once missiles were hidden and drank pina colada and real lemonade for our thirst and snapped photos of this Unesco Heritage site.
Our host kept leaving us with gems of wisdom mixed in pearls of levity. What a wise man!
To say the least we had a very memorable time.
I came home and read more of the reviews and happily all have the same experience and most were touched by the hospitality and genuine warmth.
To show my gratitude to these nice people--Go to Cuba and stay in Casa Particulars!