Went back in 2014 (?). Enjoyed it!
We had about 5 days in Varadero (the beach part) which was lovely. We also did the 3 Cities trip whilst staying in Varadero, so we had a taxi driver take us to Santa Clara, Trinidad and Cienfuegos. Really different, Santa Clara is where Che Guevara is buried.
Then went onto Havana. Did a cigar factory tour, as well as Havana Club tour.
I bought some cigars out there, you can buy them "unofficially" from the tour guides at the factory.
Havana is really safe, they are very keen on keeping tourists happy.
Food not up to much, it's not like e.g. Jamaica or Barbados where it's packed with flavour.