Giant chess set, thatched beach parasols, swim-up pool bar; it's all here at the 4½-star Península (one of 11 Meliás in Varadero). In case you get them mixed up, this one's got a mock-up Cuban castle plonked randomly aside its pool (for variation?). Elsewhere, a lavish plant-draped lobby leads to 581 comfortable if plain rooms.
Pretty paths lead through palm-tree-punctuated grounds to that beach.