I have been there many years ago (ok not that many about 3 or 4) but haven't bought boxes at their cigar shop, and quite frankly don't remember what condition the store was in. Has anyone visited the hotel recently and what do they think of the store. Buy or don't buy? Thanks.

"I'll take Tryp Cayo Coco for $1000, Alex." I guess I'll never be a Jeopardy contestant because I haven't heard of the place before.

I was at the Tryp CC last July...(holy cow was it hot!!!)
Anyway, the cigar shop there is quite alright. Not a great selection, but what they had was in good shape. The lady working there didn't seem to know alot, but very friendly and courteous.

I tried various singles (sometimes frowned upon by some here), but all were good. There were some full boxes..and she did say you could order boxes as well. Don't think I would do that though. I tried several different cigars, straight from a freshly opened box..excellent!

Why not take a short flight from Cayo Coco to Havana for the day? I did..bought all my boxes at the LCDHs there.

quote:

Originally posted by canoefoot:
I was at the Tryp CC last July...(holy cow was it hot!!!)
Anyway, the cigar shop there is quite alright. Not a great selection, but what they had was in good shape. The lady working there didn't seem to know alot, but very friendly and courteous.

I tried various singles (sometimes frowned upon by some here), but all were good. There were some full boxes..and she did say you could order boxes as well. Don't think I would do that though. I tried several different cigars, straight from a freshly opened box..excellent!

Why not take a short flight from Cayo Coco to Havana for the day? I did..bought all my boxes at the LCDHs there.

Thanks for your help. I can't go to Havana as it's not I who is going but some family friends, and they won't be stepping off the resort.

I might give them $250 to get me one box of RyJ Churchills. I guess I won't gamble with more than that. Kind of a funny thing, my first real CC was a RyJ Churchill at this very resort, and I still remember how nice and helpful the store ladies were, not like in Varadero where they always overcharge.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dusko007,

I was there a couple of years ago also and the shop was stocked with a good selection of Hoyos, Punch and Bolivars and some Cohibas in a glass unit. Nothing outstanding though.

Stick to the LCDh store and not the convenience shops on the resort and I would not have cigars ordered in. The other option is to purchase from the airport - I think it was Jose Marti, they also had a good selection there.

Skip the flight to Havana. I saw the state of the aircrafts (1960's Antonovs). You would be safer trying to float to Florida and then catch the current south to Havana.

The YAK-42 is a nice ride!! Once you get past the "cooling" system that looks like water poured over dry ice...

Don't buy at convenience stores or even the hotel stores...find a legit casa del habanos...ESPECIALLY in a TOURIST ONLY area like Cayo Coco. And whatever you do...DO NOT BUY SINGLES, 3-PACKS or 5-PACKS, only complete boxes with the inventory receipts. Not ANYWHERE in Cuba. There are 10-packs of some of the cigars that are OK (because they DO have the inventory receipt), but the ones they have for Montecristo and Cohiba and a few others in the cardboard boxes...and the singles they sell...they're ALL fakes. That's how the store employees make their money.

They hide the ones that come from Habanos, SA that, if they sell or not, it's no big deal. But you will see tour guides go in and talk up those smaller packages, and steer people away from boxes...why? Because the tour guides get a very substantial kick-back for selling the smaller packaged cigars!! The black market is quite pervasive in EVERY aspect of consumer life in Cuba...from cola and beer at the kiosks and even in restaurants, to cigars. People have jobs not for the salaries, but for the access to money and things with which to barter. Someone at the Crystal brewery, for example, manages to pilfer a few dozen cases of beer. They sell it to someone at a kiosk in the street in Nuevo Vedado for $.20 per can. At the kiosk, they sell it for $1.00 per can, and it's $.80 pure profit per can. The store is also stocked by the State...but if they sell the official product, the State gets the profit and the worker gets nothing. Naturally, the workers would rather sell the black market item where they get the profit. Same with cigars.

Those 3 and 5 packs cost about $2 or $3 each, and are sold for $40 to $60 each...pure profit, based on black market cigars rolled by anyone and everyone with anything that's available. Same with singles...they do NOT go into inventory, crack open a new box, and lay it out to sell for the individual cost of the cigars that would be the price if you bought the box. First of all, unlike the singles and the smaller packs where you do NOT need or get official invoices for your purchase, the boxes are inventoried, and inventory is reconciled DAILY. If there is ANY discrepancy, heads roll. So, for the store to whip out a box, the box would have to be purchased by the employees so that inventory reconciles. It's just not worth it to them to make $1 or so per cigar. Instead, they fill the boxes with black market stock...the cigars cost about $2 each, and they sell them for $15 or $20 each, and again...it's pure profit.

So...moral of the story is that it's NOT wise to buy singles, 3 or 5 packs in Cuba, or any individual packets of cigars that they sell everywhere. Such items are black market, are not from factory production, and are not what they purport to be. The sale of them is pure profit, without regard to quality. And I'm talking even in the LCDH!!!! To be sure, buy cigars that come with the factory inventory receipt that must be filled out by hand, list your passport number and information, because only then are you assured that your box was part of original factory production.

Lots of people read this and say, nah, couldn't be. But they then come and say how they bought this single at a Caracol store in Varadero and it was awful. Why? Because. So, follow the advice or not...it's accurate, unfortunately.

And don't buy at the airport...

If you're going to put someone else in charge of buying a box for you, MAKE SURE they follow the rule of thumb. Everyone and anyone will be hustling boxes of RyJ Churchills...taxi drivers, tour guides, hotel clerks, chambermaids, pool attendants, bar tenders, bellhops, waitresses, the kid on the street, the old lady on the corner, EVERYONE EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME. And their story is a convincing one...why pay $250 for a box of RyJ Churchills when they can get the "same" box for only $150 (that cost them $30).

Be very explicit and admonish them repeatedly NOT to buy into the hustle and ONLY buy a full box at the casa del habanos, where they are given the triplicate receipt...

Now I am really paranoid with the singles that have been brought back for me.
RYJ7X47 thanks for background. Do you think the new tubes for the robustos and the P2 will stop this a little?

ryj, thanks for the in-depth explanation. So the cigar store at the Tryp is a no-no, even for a box? Where is the LCDH, at the Blau-Colonial? So the Tryp has a La Casa del Tabaco not a LCDH.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dusko007,

In theory, sure. In reality...doubtful. The packaging is subject to the resourcefulness of desperate people. It's unfortunate, but it's also a fact of life. If you notice how the sales are conducted, MOST of the time, there are no receipts. The salesperson reaches around the cash register and uses it as a mere receptical for money. Everything else is hand written on a small pad of paper. At the end of the day, the workers in the store are more interested in how that reconciles than how the books reconcile for the store...it's their livelihood. So...next time you're in Cuba at one of these stores, watch for the ol' reach-around!! Also, in the kiosks, COUNT YOUR CHANGE CAREFULLY! They put up prices that are difficult to calculate without putting some thought into it, and invariably they overcharge you anywhere from a dollar to more. Every single time. Without fail. Then they act surprised, "ohhh, I thought you wanted the laundry detergent I charged you for, too! So sorry!" Right.

Anyway...I don't put much stock into packaging. If something is awry, then sure...that's not a good sign. But simply because the tube or ring or packaging is good does not necessarily mean it's authentic.

Be careful. The only way to combat this is experience. Watch out for singles and small packages...watch the vendor do the cash register reach around...watch what the tourguides push on the people...and then how they salivate when the tourists buy their recommendation. To be sure in Cuba, buy full boxes, and get the triplicate receipts. It's a veritable free-for-all!

The store should be fine IF and ONLY IF they sell the box and go through the inventory process using the triplicate receipt. I'd be wary of buying cigars from ANY store that's not a dedicated cigar store. In many hotels, they have little convenience stores with a few boxes or singles here or there. Not a dedicated cigar store. It's a hotel store. Yeah, it's Cuba, yeah, it looks official...but in the end, even the workers in THOSE stores are bartering and hustling.

Thank you, once again.

I was tat the Tryp perhaps six-seven years ago. Small selecetion.

Fck the evening & night time mosquitoes were terrible, end of August. Hot...mosquitoes...and isolated. What's not to like.

It is less isolated today. You can take taxis all over Cayo Coco & Cayo Guillermo. You can walk to a few resorts to the east & west of the the Tryp.

Google earth Club Tryp Cayo Coco. The views are good. Lots of photos.
Google earth Cayo Guillermo. It is a few miles west of Cayo Coco.

I went in May, but I did stay at the Sol Cayo Guillermo a year or two prior in mid August. Yes it was hot and I don't remember what was worse, the black flies or the mosquitoes.

I was at the Krystal Laguna resort in March for a week. The Cigar shop was small but had a decent selection of the mostly Cohibas and Monticristos and with a few other brands thrown in. They sold cigars individually or by the box. If they didn't have an open box of what you wanted, they would open a new box. I had them open a new box of the Genios maduros just to get a couple. The gifts shop - mostly rum, cigars and cigarettes - sold cigars by the single and in three and five packs. They did include the receipts mentioned by ryj7x47 if you bought a box, and would open the box for you to check before you bought. I bought a variety of the singles and three-packs while there, and most were very good. A few were iffy on taste or were plugged, but looked ok, the label, construction, etc. I smoked at least three cigars a day while I was there, and enjoyed it thoroughly. The airport duty free had a much larger selection and I bought several boxes there to bring back. I know that there were fakes being sold on the beach, but I never ran into any. One other tip, when leaving, pay for the VIP room at the airport. It'll be the best 20 CUC you'll spend.

The VIP at arrival is even more important. Rather than wait in huge long lines to clear immigration, you get whisked away to a private line where they are, maybe, 1 or 2 people. Ten minute wait while everyone else is there in line for an hour. Then, you give your baggage claim to your host, who takes you to the lounge where they give you soft drinks, beer and/or coffee while a porter searches out your luggage. Once the process is complete, you go get your bags that have already cleared customs. Everyone else has to go one by one through the customs line where it's up to the whim of the customs inspectors to ask that you go pay $100, or go through the secondary inspection line, before leaving with your bags. Totally arbitary and quite capricious. It's a great way to avoid about 2 - 3 hours worth of heartache. Leaving the country it's usually not that tough anyway...but entering, THAT'S where the VIP comes in handy! Getting to Cuba often involves changes of planes, delays, and all sorts of other travel hassles. Having to wait in the huge lines to clear immigration, and then to clear customs, makes it all the worse.