When I was in Varadero in 2001, we went into Varadero (the town) one day. The beach there is public, so you have a lot local cubans. We ate at a beach side restaurant which was a grilled chicken place. The chicken was fine - much as you would get a rotessiere chicken place in USA or Canada. The restaurant had a local three piece wandering around playing, mostly Cuban music, but when they got to our table, they played Hotel California (recognizing us as non-Cubans). They didn't know any English, but had phonetically memorized the words. Very funny some of the mistakes they made, but good enough to earn a nice tip.

We also went into Havana, which was amazing. If at all possible, I would suggest trying to spend a night in Havana so you get a couple days to tour the city.

Greg