Colony Hotel, Isla de la Juventud Cuba. 3 stars.

Description: Colony Hotel Cuba

The spacious and sun–lit, but sparsely furnished lobby is enlivened by lime-green lounge chairs and has a small general store. Still, there's no escaping the fact that this two-story hotel is a tad run–down, despite a recent refurbishing of soft goods. The 77 air-conditioned guest rooms and 24 bungalows have cool white tiles underfoot, but decor is lackluster and the mattresses are uncomfortable, although all have satellite TV plus telephones. By day, guests can partake of various watersports, and cars can be rented for forays further afield. The open–air Mojito Bar stands at the end of a pier and offers a more pleasant ambience than the desultory hotel bar. Otherwise nightlife is low–key, and the hotel is too far (about 45 kilometers) from Nueva Gerona to make a nocturnal sojourn a possibility. The mood is one of quietude and anyone expecting a lively vacation and/or salubrious environment will be relegated to looking glumly out to sea.