Havana Holiday Reviews

Hotel is lovely and the staff superb.Wonderful spacious rooms and food and drink not overly expensive.Yes the hotel is not central but as previously said on this forum,there is a free bus and taxis not expensive.Anyway its a nice walk into Havana.Would recommend.

This spacious hotel offers a total of 316 rooms, including 24 suites and 24 rooms with connecting doors. It is spread over a wide area, around the tropical and colourful pool area. The grill restaurant Los Loritos is to be found next to the hotel. The beach restaurant El Gal¿on awaits guests with a Caribbean atmosphere and culinary specialities. These include Spanish paella, barbecues, sea food, fish dishes and dishes from the grill. Amongst the hotel's facilities count a lobby area, a hotel safe, a currency exchange facility, a hairdresser, a nightclub, a restaurant, public Internet access (charges apply) and a car park. The complex features a swimming pool with children's pools, a poolside snack bar and a Jacuzzi. In addition to daily activities such as Caribbean dance classes, Spanish lessons, beach volleyball, tennis, windsurfing, pedal boating and catamaran sailing, a large choice of outings to local attractions is on offer to guests. The programme stretches from swimming with dolphins to trips into the colonial towns of Trinidad and Havana.

I have been a student of the Cuban Revolution for some time now, and was very excited to go to the museum which depicts it. It is held in Batista's old palace, and right away you get a sense of the great imbalance between Batitsta and everyday Cubans as the paace is made of marble, gold and is beautifully handcrafted in an old wolrd way. Outside the museum is a tank, and inside is lots of memoriabilia, but also a great deal of newspaper clippings. There were lots of old weapons used by Castro, Che and the other revolutionaries. At times the museum seemed as if it was scrambling to fill the vast space with things of interest. Outdoors is also a recreation of the Granma, Che's bulldozer, and some American spy planes Cuba shot down. Overall I felt that the museum does not do justice to the revolution.

The location was beautiful and there were loads of things to do. The prices were reasonable and the food in the restaurants was very delicious. I cannot wait for our return trip there.

Havana is the most amazing place that I have ever visited, and while at first glance it may seem intimidating, the locals are very friendly.

As Havana is a big city, there aren't any beaches, but you don't miss them as there is so much to see around the city that you won't care about beaches.

The cost of food and drink varies depending on where you are, in the city itself, its quite cheap, but can be more expensive in your hotels.

The Night life was amazing, right outside our hotel was the Malecón, where a lot of Cubans gather on a night to talk, listen to and play music. Talking with the locals was a great experience, they are all so very friendly and want to know people purely to know them, not to get anything from you, and if you're lucky you may see some locals with their musical instruments jamming on the wall.

There is so much to see in Old Havana, so much history, we were only here for three days and it didn't feel like enough time to look round and see everything, I will defiantly be trying to go back to Havana again some time.

The Tropicana club show is a must, it is the most awe inspiring show I have seen and has some amazing music, dancing and so much history. The show has been around for many decades.

my driver and drove to two small towns, includoing Guanabacoa. Raphael is so nice and so helpful and such a professional and a great guy as a bonus that he made the trip a pleasure. I went to the Jewish cemetary and the caretaker lives next door in a small shack with a goat tied up like a watchdog. I asked him if he was Jewish and he said no but explained he got his job because "they trust me." He was so helpful in what he showed me and in his explainations (in Spanish). Truly a lovely day, Raphael's talks with me are a wonderful memory and seeing a small town is a pleasure after busy Havana.

I cannot speak highly enough of our brief time in Havana. It is difficult to describe the experience - all I would say is that if you have a chance of visiting - do so!!! The city is jam packed full of places to visit - it is pointless for me to list them all - any travel guide can point them out. We fitted as much as we can into our 3 days and were not at all disappointed in anything we saw or did. It was amazing. Among our favourites - although it is hard to narrow down were the museum of the revolution - an amazing collection - El Capitolio - we were allowed into Casto's study and sat in his chair - and Revolution Square where again we were able to sit in Castro's chair. By Revolution Square is Jose Marti Memorial at around 140m it gives amazing views across Havana and beyond. We hired a private guide for our first day and she was amazing - she fitted in all we wanted to do and more - she took us to little known places, showed us what tourists don;t usually see, gave us an amazing insight into life in Cuba and Havana in particular. She showed us ramshackled houses in a really rundown part of town. We spoke to one resident selling trinkets in front of his house and he told us 17 families shared that house - sometimes more than one family in one room with only paper separating their own areas. We saw where buildings had just fallen. We saw areas we were warned not to return to without her and certainly not at night. We felt we saw beyond what the average tourist sees - certainly better than a group tour. We even ate in a restaurant within a resident's house in Chinatown. She buzzed up and we were told to wait. Ina while we were shown in, up some stairs to the 1st floor restaurant which was full of locals. Without doubt a walk and also an opentop car ride along the Malecon is a must - it is so amazing. At present UNESCO is undertaking a massive restoration project that will protect and secure the amazing architecture around the city. I will definately return in years to come, but hope that the inevitable opening up of Cuba to Americans does not spoil the character of such an amazing place.

Something that is definitely a plus of the hotel is the good prices of the bar and its location -practically two minutes walk from anywhere in the old havana. I would recommend it to anyone because the pros of this hotel are more than the cons, i'm just writing both so i'm fair, but it's definitely worth it spending a few nights there next time you're in havana vieja.

Its a little far from Habana Vieja, the historical center, but Melia Habana offers free shuttle to its customers. For me its the best Hotel in Havana and the best option too.

If your looking for history then Havana is the place, on the sea front although not a beach resort there is plenty of sightseeing, shopping and sun. would definatley go back.

Old Havana is still wonderful and worth any amount of time you have available. We chose to skip the beach scene this time and concentrated on culture - in and outside Havana. The old city is wonderful in many ways - but there is some "bad" ... poverty, begging, tired old buildings and many old cars ... which all add to the scene that is Havana. Don't miss it. One day is not sufficient, but is better than none. Plan on walking - it is the best way to see it.

I hired Raphael Hernandez, found through Patricia at the Park View Hotel's tour desk, as my driver and drove to two small towns, includoing Guanabacoa. Raphael is so nice and so helpful and such a professional and a great guy as a bonus that he made the trip a pleasure. I went to the Jewish cemetary and the caretaker lives next door in a small shack with a goat tied up like a watchdog. I asked him if he was Jewish and he said no but explained he got his job because "they trust me." He was so helpful in what he showed me and in his explainations (in Spanish). Truly a lovely day, Raphael's talks with me are a wonderful memory and seeing a small town is a pleasure after busy Havana.

Would defineatley go again, so much to see and do, great atmosphere. Not really suitable for families with young children, its more of a cultural sightseeing place than a beach resort, although Havana is on the coast. We visited and loved the museum of the revolution, the flea markets by the harbourside, florentinos bar and just enjoyed wandering the streets taking in the sights and sounds. Taxis are cheap and in abundance for those that dont enjoy walking too far.

LOved Havana. great atmosphere, definately hope to return here. The people are friendly and obliging, so much to see and do, would recommend a minimum of four nights here.

Havana as a whole is excellent just to wander around. We did the open top bus tour from the harbour as this is a good overview of the city. The Museum of the Revolution is interesting and a good way to escape the heat for an hour. Don't go to Havana for shopping or amazing food (you won't go hungry though) but the people are very friendly and the place is fascinating.

Booked with The Holiday Place and they were excellent. Much cheaper than high street travel agents and the reps were excellent.