The Cuban government bans the sale and export of antiques. Hence, there are no stores selling antiques to tourists.
Habana Vieja
The city’s largest market is the Centro Cultural Almacenes de San José (Av. Desamparados at San Ignacio, tel. 07/864-7793, daily 10am-6pm), on the waterfront side of the Alameda. Also known as the Feria de la Artesanía, it sells everything from little ceramic figurines, miniature bongo drums, and papier-mâché 1950s autos to banana-leaf hats, crocheted bikinis, straw hats, and paintings.
Habana Vieja contains dozens of expo-ventas (commercial galleries representing freelance artists) selling original art. They are concentrated along Calle Obispo. Try Estudio-Taller Ribogerto Mena (Calle San Ignacio #154 e/ Obispo y Obrapía, tel. 07/867-5884) or Taller La 6ta Puerta (Calle Oficios #6 esq. Obispo, tel. 07/860-6866, www.amramirez.com), the gallery of Angel Ramírez. The Asociación Cubana de Artesana Artistas (Obispo #411, tel. 07/860-8577, www.acaa.cult.cu, Mon.-Sat. 10am-8pm, Sun. 10am-6pm) represents various artists.
One of the best galleries is Galería Victor Manuel (San Ignacio #46, e/ Callejón del Chorro y Empedrado, tel. 07/861-2955, daily 10am-9pm), on the west side of Plaza de la Catedral. Around the corner is the Taller Experimental de la Gráfica (Callejón del Chorro, tel. 07/867-7622, tgrafica@cubarte.cult.cu, Mon.-Fri. 9am-4pm), a cooperative that makes and sells exclusive lithographic prints. It’s one of the more fascinating places to buy exceptional art.
You can buy handmade Spanish fans (abanicos) at the Casa del Abanicos (Obrapía #107, e/ Mercaderes y Oficios, tel. 07/863-4452, Mon.-Sat. 10am-7pm and Sun. 10am-1pm).
The Tienda El Soldadito de Plomo (Muralla #164, tel. 07/866-0232, Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm, Sat. 9am-1:30pm) sells miniature lead (!) soldiers, including a 22-piece War of Independence collection, for CUC5.45 apiece. A large glass window lets you watch artists painting the pieces.
Centro Habana
This area doesn’t abound with galleries. Two exceptions are Galería Galiano (Galiano #256 e/ Concordia y Neptuno, tel. 07/860-0224, Mon.-Fri. 10am-6pm, Sat. 10am-noon) and Collage Habana (San Rafael e/ Consulado y Industria, tel. 07/833-3826, Mon.-Fri. 10am-6pm, Sat. 10am-noon), both with works by top artists and pertaining to the Fondo be Bienes Culturales (www.fcbc.cu).
Vedado and Plaza de la Revolución
Vedado has an artisans' market on La Rampa (e/ M y N, daily 8am-6pm). The Casa de las Américas (Av. de los Presidentes, esq. 3ra, tel. 07/55-2706, www.casa.cult.cu, Mon.-Fri. 8am-4:45pm) hosts exhibitions with works for sale.
Servando Galería de Arte (Calle 23, esq. 10, tel. 07/830-6150, www.galeriaservando.com) represents some of the top artists in Cuba. The ever-fascinating El Espacio Aglutinador (Calle 6 #602 e/ 25 y 27, tel. 07/832-3531) offers avante-garde works.
Playa (Miramar and Beyond)
Two of my favorite art galleries are Estudio-Galería Flora Fong (Calle 11 #4212 e/ 42 y 44, Playa, tel. 07/204-9543) and Lighthouse Studio (Av. 47 #3430 e/ 34 y 41, Kohly, tel. 07/206-5772, www.kadirlopez.com), displaying the works of Kadir López-Nieves.
For one-of-a-kind prints signed by world-renowned photographer Roberto Salas, head to his Galería Roberto Salas (Calle 30 #3709 e/ 37 y 39, tel. 07/206-5213), where he sells iconic images of Cuba during the past 50 years.
A visit to Casa-Estudio de José Fuster (Calle 226, esq. Av. 3ra, tel. 07/271-2932 or 5281-5421, www.josefuster.com, daily 9am-5pm) is a must while in Havana, regardless of whether you buy or not. The “Picasso of the Caribbean” sells ceramics priced CUC25 and up, and main art pieces sell from CUC150 into the thousands.
Habana Vieja
The Instituto Cubano del Libro (Cuban Book Institute, Obispo, esq. Aguiar, tel. 07/862-8091, Mon.-Fri. 8am-4:30pm) has a bookshop; most books are in Spanish. To the southeast of Plaza de Armas, tucked off Calle Baratillo, is the setting Feria de Publicaciones y Curiosidades.
Librería La Internacional (Obispo #528, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/861-3238, daily 10am-5:30pm) stocks a limited selection of texts in English, plus a small selection of English-language novels. La Moderna Poesía (Obispo #527, esq. Bernaza, tel. 07/861-6983, Mon.-Sat. 10am-8pm) is Cuba’s largest bookstore, although virtually the entire stock is in Spanish.
La Papelería (O’Reilly #102, esq. Tacón, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/863-4263, Mon.-Sat. 9am-6:30pm), catercorner to the Plaza de Armas, sells pens and other office supplies.
Vedado and Plaza de la Revolución
Librería Fernando Ortíz (Calle L, esq. 27, tel. 07/832-9653, Mon.-Sat. 10am-5:30pm) is your best bet for English-language books. Its meager collection spans a wide range. Librería Centenario del Apóstol (Calle 25 #164, e/ Infanta y O, tel. 07/835-0805, daily 9am-9pm) has used texts.
Havana has about two dozen official La Casa del Habano cigar stores (daily 9am-5pm). Buy here; if you buy off the street, you’re almost certainly going to be sold fakes, even if they look real.
Habana Vieja
The best cigar store is La Casa del Habano (Industria #520, e/ Barcelona y Dragones, tel. 07/866-8086, Mon.-Fri. 9am-7pm, Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 10am-4pm) in Fábrica de Tabaco Partagás. It has a massive walk-in humidor, plus a hidden lounge with a narrow humidified walk-in cigar showcase for serious smokers.
My other favorites are La Casa del Habano (Mercaderes #202, esq. Lamparilla, tel. 07/862-9682, daily 10:30am-7pm) in the Hostal Conde de Villanueva and Salón Cuba (Neptuno, e/ Prado y Zulueta, tel. 07/862-9293, daily 8:30am-9:15pm) in the Hotel Iberostar Parque Central. And the Casa del Ron y Tabaco (Obispo, e/ Monserrate y Bernaza, tel. 07/866-0911, daily 9am-5pm), above El Floridita, has knowledgeable staff. This store also lets you sample the rums before buying.
Taberna del Galeón (Baratillo, esq. Obispo, tel. 07/866-8476, Mon.-Sat. 9am-6pm, Sun. 9am-5pm), off the southeast corner of Plaza de Armas, is well stocked with rums.
Vedado and Plaza de la Revolución
The Casa del Habano stores in the Hotel Nacional (Calle O y 21, tel. 07/873-3564), Hotel Habana Libre Tryp (Calle L, e/ 23 y 25, tel. 07/834-6100), Hotel Meliá Cohiba (Paseo, e/ 1ra y 3ra, tel. 07/833-3636), and Hotel Habana Riviera (Malecón y Paseo, tel. 07/836-4051) are well stocked.
Playa (Miramar and Beyond)
Miramar has the best cigar store in town: La Casa del Habano (5ta Av., esq. 16, tel. 07/204-7974, Mon.-Sat. 10am-6pm), run by Carlos Robaina, son of the legendary tobacco farmer Alejandro Robaina. It boasts a vast humidor, executive rooms, private lockers, bar and lounge, and good service. Club Habana’s La Casa del Habano (5ta Av. e/ 188 y 192, tel. 07/275-0366, daily 9am-5pm) is also excellent.
Habana Vieja
Men seeking a classic guayabera shirt should head to the state’s El Quitrín (Obispo #163, e/ San Ignacio y Mercaderes, tel. 07/862-0810, daily 9am-5pm) or Guayabera Habana (Calle Tacó #20, e/ O’Reilly y Empedrado, Mon.-Sat. 10am-7pm). El Quitrín also sells embroideries and lace for ladies, plus chic blouses and skirts. Most items are Cuban made and of merely average quality. For quality designer guayaberas, head to PiscoLabis (Calle San Ignacio #75, e/ Callejón del Chorro y O’Reilly, tel. 5843-3219, www.piscolabishabana.com, daily 9:30am-7:30pm). This private cooperative also sells one-of-a-kind sandals, purses, and adornments.
Nearby, Sombreros Jipi Japa (Obispo, esq. Compostela, tel. 07/861-5292, Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm) is the place to go for hats of every shade. La Habana (Obispo, e/ Habana y Compostela, tel. 07/861-5292, and Obispo, esq. Aguacate, Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm) offers a reasonable stock of shoes and leather goods. Designer shoes and handbags are the expensive name of the game at Zapatería Obrapía (Obrapía esq. Oficios). Catercorner, Carpisa Italia sells high-end Italian imports.
Jacqueline Fumero Café Boutique (Compostela #1, esq. Cuarteles, tel. 07/862-6562, www.jacquelinefumero.com, daily 10am-10pm) sells exquisite women’s fashionwear by the internationally acclaimed designer.
Vedado and Plaza de la Revolución
Adidas and Nike have well-stocked branches selling sportswear in the Galería Habana Libre (Calle 25, e/ L y M, daily 8am-7pm).
Playa (Miramar and Beyond)
The Complejo Comercial Comodoro (3ra Av., esq. 84, tel. 07/204-5551, daily 8am-7pm), adjoining the Hotel Comodoro, and Miramar Trade Center (Av. 3ra, e/ 76 y 80) have outlets for various name-brand European designers.
The boutiques at La Maison (Calle 16 #701, esq. 7ma, tel. 07/204-1543, Mon.-Sat. 10am-6:45pm) sell upscale imported clothing, shoes, and duty-free items. Likewise, Le Select (5ta Av., esq. 30, tel. 07/204-7410, Mon.-Sat. 10am-8pm, Sun. 10am-2pm), with its ritzy chandeliers and marble statues, is as close as you’ll come to Bond Street or Rodeo Drive.
Habana Vieja
Longina Música (Obispo #360, tel. 07/862-8371, Mon.-Sat. 10am-7pm, Sun. 10am-1pm) sells musical instruments and has a large CD collection.
Graphic artist Idania del Rio sells cool contemporary posters and cards at Clandestina (Villegas #403 e/ Brasil y Muralla, tel. 5381-4802, www.clandestinacuba.com).
Vedado and Plaza de la Revolución
The Centro Cultural Cinematográfico (Calle 23 #1155, e/ 10 y 12, tel. 07/833-6430, Mon.-Sat. 9am-5pm) sells posters and videos of Cuban films; it’s on the fourth floor of the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC). La Habana Si (Calle L, esq. 23, tel. 07/832-3162, Mon.-Sat. 10am-9pm) has a large CD selection.
Playa (Miramar and Beyond)
For the widest CD selection in town, head to the Casa de la Música (Calle 10 #309, tel. 07/202-6900), the salesroom of Egrem, the state recording agency.
Habana Vieja
Havana 1791 (Mercaderes #156, esq. Obrapía, tel. 07/861-3525, Mon.-Sat. 10am-7pm, Sun. 10am-1pm) sells locally made scents (CUC6-18) in exquisitely engraved bottles with not entirely trustworthy cork tops, in an embossed linen bag. Farmacia Taquechel (Obispo #155, e/ Mercaderes y San Ignacio, tel. 07/862-9286, daily 9am-5pm) sells face creams, lotions, and other natural products made in Cuba.
Tienda Museo el Reloj (Oficios, esq. Muralla, tel. 07/864-9515, www.cuervoysobrinos.com, Mon.-Sat. 10am-7pm and Sun. 10am-1pm) will cause a double-take. At this deluxe store, gold-plated fountain pens (each in an elegant cedar humidor with five cigars) sell for CUC1,000 and the cheapest watch costs US$2,000. These are limited editions made in Switzerland and sold under the old Cuevos y Sobrinos label.
Vedado
You’ll “ooh!” and “ahh!” over the fine handcrafted jewelry at Rox 950 (Calle Linea #256 e/ I y J, tel. 07/209-1479 or 5281-7118, www.rox950.com), where silversmith artist Rosana Varga sells her stunning contemporary silver creations in a fittingly beautiful manse.
Playa (Miramar and Beyond)
Most upscale hotels have quality jewelry stores, as do La Maison (Calle 16 #701, esq. 7ma, Miramar, tel. 07/204-1543, daily 9am-5pm), Le Select (5ta Av., esq. 30, Miramar, tel. 07/204-7410, daily 9am-5pm), Joyería La Habanera (Calle 12 #505, e/ 5ta y 7ma, tel. 07/204-2546, Mon.-Sat. 10am-6pm), and the Club Habana’s Joyería Bella Cantando (5ta Av. y 188, tel. 07/204-5700, daily 9am-5pm).
Habana Vieja
Harris Brothers (Monserrate #305, e/ O’Reilly y Progreso, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/861-1644, daily 9am-7pm) has four stories of separate stores that sell everything from fashion and children’s items to toiletries. The only photography store in town is in the Gran Hotel Kempinski Manzana (Agramonte esq. Neptuno). Opened in June 2017, it sells Canons, Leicas and Nikons at vastly inflated prices.
Centro Habana and Cerro
East of Avenida de Italia (Galiano) is Calle San Rafael—a pedestrian-only shopping zone, known colloquially as “El Bulevar.” Havana’s main shopping street retains many department stores from prerevolutionary days. La Época (Av. de Italia, esq. Neptuno, Centro Habana, tel. 07/866-9423, Mon.-Sat. 9:30am-7pm, Sun. 9:30am-2pm) is a good place for clothing, including kiddie items and designer fashions. The former Woolworth’s, today called Variedades Galiano (Av. de Italia, esq. San Rafael, tel. 07/862-7717, Mon.-Sat. 9am-5pm), still has its original lunch counter.
Vedado and Plaza de la Revolución
Galerías de Paseo (1ra Calle, e/ Paseo y A, tel. 07/833-9888, Mon.-Sat. 9am-6pm, Sun. 9am-1pm), at the foot of Paseo, has more than two dozen stores of varying kinds.
Playa (Miramar and Beyond)
La Puntilla Centro Comercial (1ra Av., esq. 0, tel. 07/204-7240, daily 8am-8pm) has four floors of stores covering electronics, furniture, clothing, and more. Similarly, there’s Quinta y 42 (5ta Av. y 42, Miramar, tel. 07/204-7070, Mon.-Sat. 10am-6pm, Sun. 9am-1pm) and Complejo Comercial Comodoro (3ra Av., esq. 84, Miramar, tel. 07/204-5551, daily 8am-7pm).
The largest supermarket is Supermercado 70 (3ra Av., e/ 62 y 70, Mon.-Sat. 9am-6pm and Sun. 9am-1pm), with all manner of imported foodstuffs. The best-stocked store for food items is Palco in the Miramar Trade Center (Av. 3ra e/ 76 y 80, Mon.-Sat. 10am-6pm and Sun. 10am-1pm).
Havana has many centros deportivos (sports centers). The largest are the Complejo Panamericano (Vía Monumental, Km 1.5, Ciudad Panamericano, Habana del Este, tel. 07/795-4140), with an Olympic stadium, tennis courts, swimming pool, and even a velodrome for cycling; and Ciudad Deportiva (Vía Blanca, esq. Av. Rancho Boyeros, tel. 07/854-5022), or Sports City, colloquially called “El Coliseo,” in Nuevo Vedado.
The Club Habana (5ta Av., e/ 188 y 192, Rpto. Flores, tel. 07/204-5700) has a practice range. Nonmembers are welcome (entrance CUC20 Mon.-Fri.). Club de Golf Habana (Carretera de Vento, Km 8, Boyeros, tel. 07/649-8918, 8:30am-sunset) is about 20 kilometers south of Havana. The nine-hole “golfito” (as the locals know it) has 18 tees positioned for play on both sides of the fairway. It has a minimally stocked pro shop, five tennis courts, a swimming pool, and two restaurants. Membership costs CUC70 plus CUC45 monthly. Nine holes costs nonmembers CUC20 (CUC30 for 18 holes). Clubs can be rented for CUC15; caddies cost CUC6.
Upscale hotels have tiny gyms and/or spas, though most are a letdown. The best are at the Hotel Nacional (Calle O y 21, tel. 07/873-3564, nonguests CUC15), Hotel Meliá Cohiba (Paseo, esq. 1ra, tel. 07/833-3636), and Hotel Meliá Habana (3ra Av., e/ 76 y 80, tel. 07/204-8500).
Gimnasio Biomerica (Calle E, esq. 17, Vedado, tel. 07/832-9087, Mon.-Fri. 8am-8pm), below the Centro Hebreo Sefaradi, charges CUC8 monthly. One of the best facilities is at Club Habana (5ta Av., e/ 188 y 192, Rpto. Flores, tel. 07/204-5700, Mon.-Fri. 7:30am-7pm, nonmembers CUC20).
Private spas have blossomed in Cuba. One top-notch option is Spa O2 (Calle 26, esq. 26B, Nuevo Vedado, tel. 07/883-1663, www.o2habana.com, daily 9am-11:45pm), with a small gym, beauty treatments, and a café. In Habana Vieja, Spasio (San Ignacio #364, tel. 07/768-2602, carlos.fente@nauta.cu), on Plaza Vieja, is recommended. And in Miramar, Vida Spa (Calle 34 #308 e/ 3ra y 5ta, tel. 07/209-2022 or 5483-3005) offers treatments from massage to skin peels.
Club Habana (5ta Av., e/ 188 y 192, Playa, tel. 07/204-5700) has aqua-bikes and kayaks for rent. Full-size yachts and motor vessels can be rented at Marina Hemingway (5ta Av., esq. 248, Santa Fe, tel. 07/273-1867), which also offers sportfishing (from CUC275 for four hours; from CUC375 for eight hours, including skipper and tackle).
There’s excellent diving offshore of Havana. The Gulf Stream and Atlantic Ocean currents meet west of the city, where many ships have been sunk through the centuries. The so-called “Blue Circuit,” a series of dive sites, extends east from Bacuranao, about 10 kilometers east of Havana, to the Playas del Este.
Centro de Buceo La Aguja (Marina Hemingway, 5ta Av. y 248, Santa Fe, tel. 07/204-5088 or 07/271-5277, daily 8:30am-4:30pm) rents equipment and charges CUC30 for one dive, CUC50 for two dives, CUC60 for a “resort course,” and CUC360 for an open-water certification. The Centro Internacional Buceo Residencial Club Habana (5ta Av., e/ 188 y 192, Rpto. Flores, tel. 07/204-5700, Mon.-Fri. 7:30am-7pm, nonmembers entrance CUC20) offers scuba certification.
Most large tourist hotels have pools and permit use by nonguests. In Habana Vieja, head to Piscina Hotel Mercure Sevilla (Prado, esq. Ánimas, tel. 07/860-8560, daily 10am-6pm, entrance CUC20).
The Hotel Nacional (Calle O y 21, tel. 07/873-3564, CUC18) and Hotel Habana Libre Tryp (Calle L, e/ 23 y 25, tel. 07/834-6100, CUC15), in the Vedado and Plaza de la Revolución, have excellent pools.
In Playa, the best pools are at the Memories Miramar (5ta Av., e/ 72 y 76, tel. 07/204-8140) and Hotel Meliá Habana (3ra Av., e/ 76 y 80, tel. 07/204-8500). Club Habana (5ta Av., e/ 188 y 192, Playa, tel. 07/204-5700, Mon.-Fri. 9am-7pm, entrance CUC20) has a swimming pool. The pool at Club Almendares (Av. 49C, esq. 28A, Rpto. Kohly, tel. 07/204-4990, daily 10am-6pm, CUC5) gets mobbed by Cubans on weekends. Farther west, the pool at Papa’s Complejo Turistico in Marina Hemingway (5ta Av., esq. 248, Santa Fe, tel. 07/209-7920) can get crowded with locals.
Baseball
Havana’s Industriales (colloquially called “Los Leones,” or “The Lions”) play at the 60,000-seat Estadio Latinoamericano (Consejero Aranjo y Pedro Pérez, Cerro, tel. 07/870-6526), the main baseball stadium. Games are played November-May, Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 2pm (CUC3). Contact the Federación Cubana de Béisbol (tel. 07/879-7980, www.beisbolcubano.cu).
Basketball
Havana’s Capitalinos play September-November at the Coliseo de Deportes (Ciudad Deportiva, Vía Blanca, esq. Av. Rancho Boyeros, Nuevo Vedado, tel. 07/854-5022) and at the Sala Polivalente Ramón Fonst (Av. de la Independencia, esq. Bruzón, Plaza de la Revolución, tel. 07/881-1011). Contact the Federación Cubana de Baloncesto (tel. 07/648-7156).
Boxing
Championship matches are hosted at the Coliseo de Deportes (Vía Blanca, esq. Av. Rancho Boyeros, tel. 07/854-5022), base for the Federación Cubana de Boxeo (tel. 07/857-7047). You can watch boxing at the Gimnasio de Boxeo Rafael Trejo (Calle Cuba #815, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/862-0266, Mon.-Fri. 8am-5pm) and at Sala Polivalente Kid Chocolate (Prado, e/ San Martín y Brasil, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/862-8634).
Soccer
Cuba’s soccer program is not well developed, although there is a national league. Havana’s fútbol team is Ciudad Havana (nicknamed “Los Rojos”—“The Reds”). Games are played at the Estadio Pedro Marrero (Av. 41 #4409, e/ 44 y 50, Rpto. Kohly, tel. 07/203-4698).
Havana is in the midst of a gastronomic revolution. Privately owned restaurants (paladares) have exploded in number, offering heapings of style and good food. It’s hard to stay abreast of new openings. Few state restaurants can compete on ambience and flavorful fare, although many are improving as they convert into workers’ cooperatives. Many state restaurants still attain true Soviet-class awfulness, especially the hotel buffets. The best paladares have been entirely taken over by U.S. tour groups; if you want to dine with locals opt for budget locales. When the U.S. cruise ships are in town, avoid lunch at popular venues.
Breakfast and Cafés
Most hotel restaurants are open to nonguests for breakfast. The buffet at the Mediterráneo (Neptuno, e/ Prado y Zulueta, tel. 07/866-6627, daily 7am-10am, CUC15) in the Hotel Iberostar Parque Central is the best in town.
If all you want is a croissant and coffee, head to Pastelería Francesca (Prado #410, e/ Neptuno y San Rafael, tel. 07/862-0739, daily 8am-noon), on the west side of Parque Central. The S Café El Escorial (Mercaderes #317, tel. 07/868-3545, daily 9am-10pm), on Plaza Vieja, is the closest in Havana you’ll come to a European-style coffee shop. This atmospheric venue with a Tuscan mood sells croissants, truffle cream cakes, ice cream, and gourmet coffees and coffee liqueurs.
Bianchini Croissantería-Dulcería (Sol #12 e/ Av. del Puerto y Oficios, no tel., www.dulceria-bianchini.com, daily 9am-9pm) is a delightfully bohemian, pocket-sized hole-in-the-wall that is the brainchild of Katia, the Italian-Swiss owner who has created a piece of Europe transplanted. She serves quiches, croissants, buns, and tarts, plus coffees and teas. The place is usually packed. Katia has a second outlet—equally small and cozy—in Callejón del Chorro (tel. 07/862-8477), off Plaza de la Catedral.
Paladares
Hugely popular, the cozy S Doña Eutimia (Callejón del Chorro #60C, tel. 07/861-1332, daily noon-midnight), tucked off Plaza de la Catedral, transports you back two centuries with its antique clocks and quirky oddities. Delightful owner Leticia delivers delicious down-home creole cooking that includes a superb ropa vieja (braised lamb prepared with garlic, tomatoes, and spices, CUC7) with heaps of cumin-spiced black beans. Leave room for the chocolate torta (CUC2.50). Reservations are imperative.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z have lunched at La Moneda Cubana (Empedrado #152, esq. Mercaderes, tel. 07/861-5304, daily noon-midnight), a colonial military-themed restaurant off Plaza de la Catedral. The creative Cuban cuisine includes lamb in garlic and coffee. Start with ceviche and end with rice pudding with shredded coconut. Tour groups take up much of the space. The rooftop terrace has castle views, good for witnessing the cañonazo ceremony at 9pm.
Fidel’s former private chef Tomás Erasmo Hernández prepares delicious Cuban dishes at S Mama Inés (Calle de la Obrapía #60, e/ Oficios y Baratillo, tel. 07/862-2669, Mon.-Sat. noon-10:30pm). The menu features filet mignon (CUC12), veal scallopini (CUC8), and a flavorful and piquant stewed lamb (CUC10), but the succulent ropa vieja (CUC12) gets my vote as the best in Havana. The octopus with garlic and pepper is to die for. Erasmo often makes the rounds to chat with guests.
Paladar Los Mercaderes (Mercaderes #207, e/ Lamparillos y Amargura, tel. 07/861-2437, daily noon-midnight) greets you with fresh rose petals on the marble staircase. Upstairs, this lovely colonial space has huge French doors open to the street below. Food is top-notch. I salivated over my octopus with pesto and onion sauce (CUC12), risotto with veggies and dried fruit (CUC8.50), and ropa vieja (CUC14).
Restaurante Chef Iván Justo (Calle Aguacate #9, esq. Chacón, tel. 07/863-9697, ivanchefsjusto.restaurant@yahoo.com, daily noon-midnight) rates highly, not least for the charming ambience in a restored and rambling two-story home dating from 1776. The kitchen dishes up such divine treats as cream of squash soup (CUC5), crab claw enchilada (CUC10), veggie and mushroom risotto (CUC12), and even roast pheasant (CUC18), although the lechón (suckling pig) and the seafood paella are the signature dishes. Warning: The upstairs restaurant is reached by a steep, narrow staircase. The same owner runs the adjoining Al Carbón (same details) downstairs. It specializes in Cuban dishes cooked over charcoal, but the paella is also available.
For something light, check out Jacqueline Fumero Café Boutique (Compostela #1, esq. Cuarteles, tel. 07/862-6562, www.jacquelinefumero.com, daily 10am-10pm). The eponymous Cuban fashion designer has conjured a sensational South Beach-style setting—walls of glass, electric-blue lighting, slate-gray tile floors, see-through plastic chairs—in one of Habana Vieja’s quintessential colonial plazuelas. It’s ideal for refueling on coffee, cappuccino, chocolate tarts, smoothies, or delicious sandwiches.
Consider Cinco Esquinas ground zero in the gentrification of Habana Vieja, with several great options. Café de los Artistas (Calle Aguilar #22 bajos, e/ Av. de los Misiones y Peña Pobre, tel. 07/866-2418, daily 10am-1am) offers excellent quality and value for a classic Cuban menu, including mouthwatering tostones and ropa vieja. Owner Luis Carlos is the stage manager for the Ballet Nacional de Cuba and photos of Cuba’s elite dancers festoon the walls.
Motorcyclists will love the decor at Chacón 162 (Chacón #162, esq. Callejón de Espada, tel. 07/860-1386, daily 11am-midnight), owned by Harley-Davidson enthusiasts and a hangout for local harlistas since opening in 2016. A motorcycle hangs over the bar, and the cocktails are cued to the theme: Street Bob, Bloody Mary V-Twin, and so forth. The fusion menu is well executed, too. I enjoyed a deliciously spicy pulpo peruana—octopus with veggies in tomato salsa (CUC9).
Intimate is an understatement for Habana 61 (Calle Habana #6, e/ Cuarteles y Peña Pobre, tel. 07/861-9433, www.habana61.com, daily noon-midnight), a cubbyhole restaurant tucked off Cinco Esquinas. It dishes out some of the most creative cuisine in the city, served amid contemporary surrounds in a converted colonial townhouse.
Count your blessings to get a seat at S O’Reilly 304 (Calle O’Reilly #304, e/ Habana y Aguiar, tel. 5264-4725, daily noon-midnight, CUC8-18). Cuba’s monied farandula (in-crowd) and tourists in the know cram into what has become one of Habana Vieja’s trendiest joints. The edgy art and high-energy buzz act like a gravitational force to passersby. Tiny it may be, but the paladar serves an imaginative menu of delicious dishes, from to-die-for ceviche to crab tacos.
I wish I could keep Azúcar (Mercaderes #315, tel. 07/801-1563, daily 11am-midnight) a secret—this is my favorite lunch spot in town. Owners Allison and Liset serve awesome tapas, tuna sandwiches, and even lobster in criollo sauce out of a contemporary colonial townhome that opens to the plaza. At night, the all-female Octava Nota performs.
Penny-pinching farandulas head to Bar La Chanchullero (Brasil e/ Berraza y Cristo, tel. 5276-0938, daily 1pm-midnight), a down-to-earth hole-in-the-wall on Plaza del Cristo. It serves tapas, plus garlic shrimp (CUC4), pork with parsley (CUC4), and chicken fricassee (CUC4).
Criolla
La Bodeguita del Medio (Empedrado #207, e/ San Ignacio y Cuba, tel. 07/862-1374, restaurant daily noon-midnight, bar 10:30am-midnight, CUC10-20), one block west of Plaza de la Catedral, specializes in traditional Cuban dishes—most famously its roast pork, steeped black beans, fried bananas, garlicky yucca, and sweet guava pudding. Troubadours entertain.
To dine with Cubans, you can’t beat S Los Nardos (Paseo de Martí #563, e/ Teniente Rey y Dragones, tel. 07/863-2985, daily noon-midnight), in a run-down building opposite the Capitolio. The long lines at night hint how good this place is. It has restaurants on three levels; be sure to dine in the atmospheric Los Nardos, not the more ascetic El Trofeo or El Asturianito, on the upper levels. The huge meals include garlic shrimp, lobster in Catalan sauce, paella, and Cuban staples. House sangria is served in a pitcher. The place is run by Cuba’s Spanish Asturian association.
The Sociedad Cultural Asturiana runs La Terraza (Prado #309, esq. Virtudes, tel. 07/862-3625, daily noon-midnight), a covered open-air rooftop space overlooking the Prado; get there early to snag a seat with a view. Master chef Jorge Falco Ochoa specializes in grilled meats and seafood. Try the grilled octopus with pesto and grilled potatoes, and perhaps a succulent leg of lamb, or grilled sausage in spicy mustard sauce. The food makes up for the ho-hum decor.
European
The modern Restaurante Prado y Neptuno (Prado, esq. Neptuno, tel. 07/860-9636, daily noon-midnight) is popular with expats for reasonable Italian fare and pizzas. The bodega-style La Paella (Oficios #53, esq. Obrapía, tel. 07/867-1037, daily noon-11pm), in the Hostal Valencia, serves paella for two people only (although one person could ostensibly eat a double serving) for CUC7-15. The caldo (soup) and bread is a meal in itself (CUC3). The kitchen also serves the Bodegón Ouda (Obrapía, esq. Baratillo, tel. 07/867-1037, Mon.-Sat. noon-7pm), a quaint tapas bar around the corner in the Hotel El Comendador.
Surf and Turf
The ritzy Café del Oriente (Oficios, esq. Amargura, tel. 07/860-6686, daily noon-midnight), on Plaza de San Francisco, is considered a showcase state restaurant and draws U.S. tour groups. It has tux-clad waiters and a jazz pianist downstairs in the Bar Café—heck, you could be in New York or San Francisco. The mostly steak and seafood dishes (CUC12-30), include calf’s brains with mustard and brandy cream sauce and a divine filet mignon, but it can’t hold a candle to the best paladares.
A merely adequate state-run restaurant is Restaurante El Templete (Av. del Puerto, esq. Narcisco López, tel. 07/866-8807, daily noon-midnight), along with adjoining sibling Restaurante La Barca. Housed in a restored colonial mansion, this dual restaurant has a diverse menu ranging from delicious fried calamari (CUC5) to overpriced lobster (CUC28) and a chocolate brownie dessert. It’s a great place to catch the firing of the cannon across the harbor at 9pm.
Self-Catering
The agromercado on Avenida de Bélgica (Egido, e/ Apodada y Corrales) is a great place to stock up on fresh produce. Imported meats are sold at La Monserrate (Monserrate, e/ Brasil y Muralles), an air-conditioned butcher shop, and at Harris Brothers (Monserrate #305, e/ O’Reilly y Progreso, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/861-1644, daily 9am-6pm), a department store with various foodstuff sections.
Paladares
Centro Habana boasts the most acclaimed paladar in town: S La Guarida (Concordia #418, e/ Gervasio y Escobartel, tel. 07/866-9047, www.laguarida.com, daily noon-midnight), on the third floor of a dilapidated 19th-century townhouse turned crowded ciudadela (tenement). Don’t let the near-derelict staircase put you off the world-class Parisian-style restaurant. The walls are festooned with period Cuban pieces and giant prints of famous personages who’ve dined here (from Jack Nicholson to Beyoncé, Rhianna, and Madonna) and fashion shoots on the crumbling stairways. (You may recognize it as the setting for the Oscar-nominated 1995 movie Fresa y Chocolate.) Owners Enrique Nuñez and Odeysis Baullosa serve such treats as gazpacho (CUC4) and tartar de atún (tuna tartare, CUC6) for starters and an out-of-this-world roast chicken in orange sauce and honey (CUC13), plus desserts such as lemon pie (CUC5). Despite the large wine list, only house wine is available by the glass (CUC4). There’s also a chic rooftop tapas bar and cigar lounge. Reservations are essential.
Giving La Guarida a run for its money is S San Cristóbal (Calle San Rafael #469, e/ Campanario y Lealtad, tel. 07/860-1705, rashemarquez@yahoo.com, Mon.-Sat. noon-midnight), with an eclectic museum’s worth of antiques, objets d’art, religious and musical icons, and armoires stuffed with old books. Ebullient owner-chef Carlos Cristóbal Márquez and his kitchen team deliver superbly flavorful traditional Cuban dishes, such as grilled lobster, succulent roast pork, and Cuban-style mezze plates. Beyoncé dined here and this was the only private restaurant where President Obama dined during his 2016 visit. Good luck booking a table! This is not a place for walking the streets alone late at night; take a taxi.
The homespun Paladar Doña Blanquita (Prado #158, e/ Colón y Refugio, tel. 07/867-4958, Tues.-Sun. noon-midnight) offers dining on a balcony overlooking the Prado. The criolla menu delivers large portions for CUC5-10. The place overflows with whimsical Woolworth’s art, such as cheap muñequitas (dolls), plastic flowers, animals, and cuckoo clocks.
For a view over the Malecón, head to Castropol (Malecón #107, e/ Genios y Crespo, tel. 07/861-4864, daily 11am-midnight), run by the Sociedad Asturiano. The chef conjures up fusion dishes such as pork tenderloin medallions with honey and Dijon mustard, but I prefer the ceviche (CUC4.50) or delicious octopus Galician style with sweet-and-sour pepper and potatoes (CUC3.65). The downstairs restaurant serves Cuban dishes from the grill; call ahead to book an upstairs terrace table.
The inspiration of Swedish film director and owner Michel Miglis, S Casa Miglis (Calle Lealtad #120, e/ Animas y Lagunas, tel. 07/863-1486, www.casamiglis.com, daily noon-1am) offers the only Scandinavian cuisine in town, although I’d more accurately call it Cuban-meets-the-world. The menu includes couscous, Mexican chili, and Greek souvlaki. My pork with herb-fried potatoes in bean sauce, chopped shrimp, and balsamic cream induced a sigh of delight. As did a divine vanilla ice cream with raisins and añejo rum topped with cacao. Your setting is a centenary townhouse with classically elegant all-white furnishings and place settings from Sweden. The bar is a work of art: Aged seats hang suspended as if floating in air. Miglis hosts live theme nights Friday-Sunday.
Nearby, Restaurant La California (Calle Crespo #55 e/ San Lázaro y Refugio, tel. 07/869-7510, californiarestasurant@gmail.com, daily noon-midnight) is justifiably popular with tour groups. I like the four distinct and antique-filled salas (salons), including a redbrick terrace, and its clever use of former sewing machine pedestals for tables. The house speciality is oven-grilled pizza. I love the mushroom risotto with squid-ink rice (CUC12), and the chicken supreme in lemon caper sauce (CUC8) is sure to satisfy. Sated? Then climb the spiral staircase to the wine and cigar lounge.
Asian
Barrio Chino boasts a score of Chinese restaurants, concentrated along Calle Cuchillo. However, this isn’t Hong Kong or San Francisco, so temper your expectations. S Restaurante Tien-Tan (Cuchillo #17, tel. 07/863-2081, daily 9am-midnight) is the best of a dozen options on Cuchillo. Chef Tao Qi hails from Shanghai. The extensive menu includes such tantalizing offerings as sweet-and-sour fried fish balls with vinegar and soy, and pot-stewed liver with seasoning. The budget-minded will find many options for around CUC2, but dishes run to CUC18. A 20 percent service fee is charged.
One of the best bargains in town is S Flor de Loto (Salud #313, e/ Gervasio y Escobar, tel. 07/860-8501, daily noon-midnight). Though the staff dress in Chinese robes, about the only Asian item on the menu is maripositas (fried wontons). However, the criolla fare, such as spicy shrimp (CUC6.50) and grilled lobster (CUC7.50), is tasty and filling.
Self-Catering
For groceries, try the basement supermarket in La Época (Galiano, esq. Neptuno, Mon.-Sat. 9:30am-9:30pm, Sun. 9am-1pm). Milk is the hardest item to find in Cuba. Try La Castillo del Lacteo (Av. Simón Bolívar, esq. Galiano, daily 9am-8pm), selling ice cream, yogurt, and, hopefully, milk.
Breakfast and Cafés
S Café La Rampa (Calle 23, esq. L, tel. 07/834-6125, 24 hours), at the Hotel Habana Libre Tryp, serves American-style breakfasts, including a breakfast special of toast, eggs, bacon, coffee, and juice for CUC7. The burgers here are surprisingly good (CUC5), as are the tuna and fried egg sandwiches (CUC5) and hot chocolate brownies (CUC3.50).
Paladares
Vedado abounds with great paladares, and every month at least one quality private restaurant opens to take advantage of the new legal space. Here’s my pick of the ever-expanding litter.
I regularly dine at S Le Chansonnier (Calle J #259, e/ 15 y Línea, tel. 07/832-1576, daily 1pm-11pm), a gorgeous restaurant in a vast, venerable mansion with soaring ceilings, beige leather banquettes, and sensational art—a testament to owner Héctor Higüera Martínez’s Parisian sensibility. Creative fare is highlighted by delicious sauces. The marinated octopus in garlic appetizer is to die for. Other winning dishes include spicy crab appetizer, duck with salsa guayabana, pork loin with eggplant, and roasted rabbit in mustard sauce. The menu is ever-changing. Most dishes cost less than CUC15.
Héctor’s influence is also all over S Atelier (Calle 5 #511, e/ Paseo y 2, tel. 07/836-2025, www.atelier-cuba.com, daily noon-midnight), another chic conversion of a 19th-century Spanish Renaissance mansion—formerly owned by the president of the Senate—adorned with fine Cuban art and, coincidentally, run by Héctor’s brother (Herdys Higueras Martínez) and sister (Niuris Higueras Martínez). Daily menus might include candied duck and red snapper ceviche or a superb squash soup (CUC5) and chicken with shrimp a la crema (CUC12). Try to snag a table on the rooftop terrace; tour groups fill up the place. Reservations are essential.
The chilled-out Café Laurent (Calle M #257, e/ 19 y 21, tel. 07/832-6890, www.cafelaurent.ueuo.com, daily noon-midnight) is in a fifth-floor penthouse of a 1950s modernist apartment block with veranda dining and white ostrich-leather seats. The three owners have imbued the place with fantastic retro decor and nouvelle Cuban dishes that wow diners. Try the carpaccio ahi tuna, tuna-stuffed peppers (CUC5), or oven-baked chateaubriand with wild mushrooms served in a clay casserole (CUC11.50). And leave room for the delicious chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream.
What’s not to rave about at S El Cocinero (Calle 26, e/ 11 y 13, tel. 07/832-2355, www.elcocinerohabana.cu, daily noon-midnight)? Visionary entrepreneurs Alexander “Sasha” Ramos and Rafael Muñoz have turned an old redbrick factory that once made cooking oil into a superb paladar and lounge club adjoining (and part of) Fábrica de Arte Cubano (FAC). You ascend a spiral staircase augering up the old chimney to a classy second-floor restaurant (grilled lobster with basmati rice, CUC18; chicken with criolla sauce, CUC5; pork ribs, CUC5) and, above, an open-air rooftop lounge club favored by la farandula (the in-crowd); the latter serves tapas such as whole octopus, gazpacho Andaluz (CUC3), and baguette with goat cheese (CUC5). Leave room for the artisanal ice cream. The lounge also hosts live jazz.
Inside FAC, restaurater siblings Niurys and Hector Higüera Mártinez run the sublime Tierra (Calle 26 esq. 11, tel. 5565-2621, Thurs.-Sun. 8pm-1:30am, by reservation only, CUC7-10), using old shipping containers with glass-paneled sides that open to a faux-garden patio. The menu roams the globe from tuna lasagna and lamb moussaka (unimpressive) to a divine fish-and-chips served in newspaper. Start with a mixto Arabe platter (CUC10). You pay the CUC2 entrance to FAC but don’t have to wait in line.
Tucked at the end of a brick walkway to the rear of a 1930s mansion and festooned with a decorative arbor, La Moraleja (Calle 25 #454, e/ I y J, tel. 07/832-0963, www.lamoraleja-cuba.com, noon-midnight) combines a romantic ambience—choose air-conditioned or patio dining—with superb nouvelle Cuban dishes, prepared in an outdoor brasserie. Try the house octopus salad, roast rabbit with port flambée (CUC10), or divine grilled shrimp with anise and garlic served in an earthenware bowl. The space also hosts live jazz.
Serving some of the best Italian fare in town, Mediterráneo Havana (Calle 13 #406, e/ F y G, tel. 07/832-4894, www.medhavana.com, daily noon-midnight) truly evokes the Mediterranean with its white and, well, Mediterranean blues in this converted 1920s mansion. Sardinian chef Luigi Fiori achieves sublime heights with his superb homemade sausages and ravioli (CUC6.50), lasagna (CUC5.50), and lobster spaghetti (CUC9), plus pizzas (from CUC4.75). The braised goat with herbs and olive oil is delicious (CUC6.50). It has been discovered by American tour groups who frequently take over the place. Two blocks east is El Idilio (Cale G #351 esq. 15, tel. 07/831-8182, daily noon-midnight), an unpretentious open-air Italian restaurant with gingham tablecloths. The open kitchen specializes in barbecued meats.
On Saturday night, you’ll likely find me at S La Chuchería Café Sport Bar (1ra esq. C, tel. 07/830-7908, daily 9am-midnight), a hip, straight-from-Miami demonstration of private know-how with its Philippe Starck translucent plastic chairs. There’s usually a line to savor delicious thin-crust pizza in the air-conditioned retro-themed diner or on a patio facing the Malecón. It’s also a great place to start the day with crêpes or a classic American breakfast (CUC3.50). Plus, it has reasonable burgers, great sandwiches, and creative salads. It even has pizza and shakes to go.
Guests at the Meliá Cohiba can step across the street to enjoy superb fusion fare at S HM 7 (Paseo #7 e/ 1ra y 3ra, tel. 07/830-2287, www.habanamia7.com, daily noon-11pm), with an open kitchen upstairs. Chic, 21st-century decor includes sleek contemporary styling that extends to the menu. I like the mushroom risotto in squid ink or the spaghetti Bolognese; ceviche (CUC5.25), octopus carpaccio (CUC6.95), and grilled dishes also feature. Downstairs, the bar serves tapas until the wee hours.
On the Malecón seafront (hence the name) is El Litoral (Malecón e/ K y L, tel. 07/830-2201, www.ellitoralhabana.com, daily noon-midnight). This maritime-themed restaurant in a graciously restored neo-colonial manse is one of few paladares that draws a Cuban elite for the all-you-can-eat antipasto bar—a brilliant and unique idea by owner Alejandro Marcel and chef-partner Alain Rivas. A wide range of seafood dishes include salmon pasta with vodka sauce (CUC18), as well as creative meat dishes such as lamb sausage with sweet potato patties. There’s a chic lounge bar with music videos, or hang out on the raised seafront terrace and watch the old cars go by. Next door, Dolce Vita (Malecón #159, tel. 07/836-0100 or 5291-1444, daily noon-midnight) raises the bar with its chic styling, glass-enclosed seafront terrace, and excellent Italian fare. Try the spinach ravioli with cream and peanut sauce (CUC12) or gnocchi with Italian sausage and tomato and basil sauce (CUC12), followed by profiteroles (CUC4).
For someplace unpretentious, try Paladar Los Amigos (Calle M #253, e/ 19 y 21, tel. 07/830-0880, daily noon-midnight), a cramped and popular little spot adorned with posters and photographs of famous Cuban musicians who’ve dined here. It serves huge plates of traditional Cuban dishes for about CUC10.
The tiny and cramped Paladar Restaurante Monguito (Calle L #408, e/ 23 y 25, tel. 07/831-2615, Fri.-Wed. noon-11pm), directly opposite the Hotel Habana Libre Tryp, is a bargain for simple but filling Cuban dishes such as pollo asado, grilled fish, and pork dishes (CUC3-6). Budget hounds are equally well served at Paladar Mesón Sancho Panza (Calle J #508, e/ 23 y 25, tel. 07/831-2862, daily noon-3am), on the south side of Parque Don Quijote. It has simple decor and fills with Cubans who come for its vast menu of tapas (such as fried garbanzos), shrimp cocktail (CUC3.30), stuffed eggs (CUC3.50), paellas (from CUC10), and ropa vieja (CUC6) at bargain prices.
Chef Osmany Cisnero’s StarBien (Calle 29 #205, e/ B y C, tel. 07/830-0711 or 5386-2222, starbien.restaurante@gmail.com, Mon.-Sat. noon-midnight, Sun. 7pm-midnight), a fine-dining paladar in a restored 1938 building, has garnered a loyal expat clientele. It has a patio, plus an air-conditioned interior with a lofty ceiling and contemporary furnishings. Recommended dishes include the superb ceviche and ravioli with spinach and blue cheese. After dinner, head up to the chic and popular bar to smoke a cigar.
VIP Havana (Calle 9na #454, e/ E y F, tel. 07/832-0178, www.viphavana454.com, daily noon-midnight, CUC25-50) is a soaring and stylishly avant-garde space rehashed from a centenary mansion. Chaplin movies show on a giant screen and a pianist tickles the ivories as you dine on Spanish tapas, pizzas, pastas, paellas, meat, and seafood. The veranda is preferred for lunch on clement days.
Spanish owner Massimo has done a superb conversion of a huge, late-19th-century mansion into S Versus 1900 (Linea #504 altos, e/ D y E, tel. 07/835-1852, versus1900lahabana@gmail.com, daily noon-3am). The ambience stresses antiques and colonial tile floors and floor-to-ceiling shuttered windows that open onto a dining terrace. My favorite dish: charcoal-baked pork in mojo criollo sauce with dried fruits (CUC16). The rooftop serves as a stylish neon-lit lounge space, good for postprandial cigars and rum cocktails.
In Nuevo Vedado, S La Casa (Calle 30 #865, e/ 26 y 41, tel. 07/881-7000, www.restaurantelacasacuba.com, daily noon-midnight) is worth the drive. This 1950s modernist house retains its original decor and is lush with tropical plantings. La Casa serves such delicious dishes as octopus with vinaigrette, tomatoes, and onions (CUC7), ham and spinach cannelloni (CUC75), pasta chicken curry (CUC10), and rabbit with mushroom sauce (CUC12). Actor Matt Dillon and soccer misfit Diego Maradona are among the famous clientele. Savvy owner Alejandro Robaina is usually on hand to fuss over guests. He has an elegant bar upstairs with hookahs and music videos, and hosts Thursday sushi nights.
One of only two dedicated sushi restaurants in town is PP's Teppanyaki (Calle 12 #104, e/ L y M, tel. 07/836-2530, ppsteppanyakihavana@yahoo.com, Mon.-Thurs. 6pm-11pm), upstairs in an apartment block. The owner, Pepe, spent eight years as a naval engineer in Japan and has done a good job of replicating Japanese decor, including a teppanyaki bar. He serves professionally presented dishes, such as an excellent octopus vinaigrette and a selection of maki (CUC9), including delicious Danish rolls.
Criolla
Popular with Cubans, the dark, chilly La Roca (Calle 21, esq. M, tel. 07/836-3219, daily noon-midnight) has bargain-priced garlic shrimp (CUC9), plus set meals from CUC5, including beer.
ArteChef (Calle 3ra, esq. A, tel. 07/831-1089, www.arteculinario.cu, daily noon-midnight) is operated by the Federación de Asociaciones Culinarias de la República de Cuba, a chefs association that offers professional cooking shows and classes. The space impresses with its classical elegance and wraparound walls of glass. The menu includes traditional dishes such as malanga fritters, plus paella (CUC5), rabbit in wine (CUC6), and lobster thermidor (CUC14).
Continental
La Torre (Calle 17 #155, e/ M y N, tel. 07/838-3088, daily noon-midnight), atop the Focsa building, offers amazing all-around views of the city. Its French-inspired nouvelle cuisine is of higher than usual standard: I recommend the prawns and mushrooms in olive oil and garlic starter (CUC10). I also enjoyed a fish fillet poached in white wine, butter, and cream, and roasted with cheese, served with mashed potatoes and crisp vegetables (CUC15). Order the mountainous and delicious profiteroles (CUC5) for dessert.
The Hotel Meliá Cohiba’s baseball-themed La Piazza Ristorante (tel. 07/833-3636, daily 1pm-midnight) offers 17 types of pizza (CUC7-20) but also has minestrone (CUC7.50), gnocchi (CUC10), seafood (from CUC11), and an excellent risotto with mushrooms (tinned). Smoking is tolerated and fouls the place.
Self-Catering
There are agromercados at Calle 15 (esq. 10), Calle 17 (e/ K y L), Calle 19 (e/ F y Av. de los Presidentes), Calle 21 (esq. J), Calle 16 (e/ 11 y 13), and Pozos Dulces (e/ Av. Salvador Allende and Bruzón).
This is ground zero for the boom in quality paladares. The scene is evolving so quickly that it’s truly dizzying.
Breakfast and Cafés
All the tourist hotels have buffet breakfasts. For freshly baked croissants and good coffee, I like Pain de Paris (Calle 26, e/ 5ta y 7ma, daily 8am-10pm). Pan.Com (Calle 26, esq. 7ma, Mon.-Fri. 8am-2am, Sat.-Sun. 10am-2am), pronounced “pahn POOHN-to com,” makes every kind of sandwich. It also has omelets, burgers, and tortillas, all for less than CUC5, plus yogurts, fruit juices, batidos, and cappuccinos.
In the Miramar Trade Center, the small, modern, clean, and air-conditioned Café Amelia (no tel., daily 8am-10pm) sells simple sandwiches, empanadas, and pastries, all below CUC3.
Paladares
At the homey S Corte de Principe (Calle 9na, esq. 74, tel. 5255-9091, daily noon-3pm and 7pm-11pm), Italian owner-chef Sergio serves probably the finest Italian fare in town on a simple alfresco patio with a quasi-Italian motif. Go with Sergio’s nightly recommendations (there’s no written menu), such as a divine beef carpaccio with mozzarella and olive oil, eggplant parmesan, or garlic shrimp. Leave room for real Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Sergio over-chills the red wines, so call ahead to have him open a bottle ahead of time. And if only he wouldn’t smoke in his own restaurant! Around the corner, and more elegant and avant-garde, is Bom Apetíte (Calle 11 #7210, e/ 72 y 74, Playa, tel. 07/203-3634, open daily 24 hours), an air-conditioned Italian restaurant serving divine pizza, ravioli, and gnocchi.
Gourmet Italian fare is the name of the game at Nero di Seppia (Cale 6 #122 e/ 1ra y 3ra, tel. 5478-7871, walterginevri@nauta.cu, Tues.-Sun noon-midnight). Wood-oven pizza, fettuccine with porcini and salsiccia—it’s all here, and all beyond good. You’ll dine on generous portions in a renovated mansion with various dining rooms and a terrace.
Moscatelli (Av. 7ma #6609 e/ 66 y 70, tel. 07/203-4507, Tues.-Sun. noon-4pm and 5pm-1am) is overseen by Marco, a dietician from Italy’s Lazio region. He amazes with his ability to import ingredients from his home. This is classic Italian fare, such as eggplant parmigiana, and seafood fettucine (CUC14). Given its location, it’s popular with local business folk and diplomats.
Boasting a one-of-a-kind riverside setting, S Río Mar (3ra y Final #11, La Puntilla, tel. 07/720-4838, riomarbargrill@gmail.com, daily noon-midnight) has a sensational locale and a ritzy modern aesthetic, thanks to a yearlong renovation of a 1950s modernist manse. Choose the alfresco waterfront deck over the snazzy air-conditioned interior, but bring a sweater in winter when a chill wind can kick in. The fusion criolla menu includes artfully presented ceviche (CUC5), beef carpaccio (CUC8), lamb with red wine and rosemary (CUC12), and chicken in blue cheese sauce with malanga purée (CUC15). Chef Alberto Álvarez is best known for his house dish: red snapper on a bed of potatoes.
Reservations are vital at the venerable Cocina de Lilliam (Calle 48 #1311, e/ 13 y 15, Miramar, tel. 07/209-6514, Sun.-Fri. noon-3pm and 7pm-10pm, CUC15-25), in the lush grounds of a 1930s-era mansion romantically lit at night. The brick-lined patio is shaded by trees and set with colonial lanterns and wrought-iron tables and chairs. Lilliam Domínguez conjures up tasty nouvelle Cuban. Her appetizers include tartlets of tuna and onion, and a savory dish of garbanzo beans and ham with onion and red and green peppers. Entrées include such Cuban classics as simmered lamb with onions and peppers; chicken breast with pineapple; and fresh fish dishes and oven-roasted meats served with creamy mashed potatoes.
By the shore, the suave, South Beach-style S Paladar Vistamar (1ra Av. #2206, e/ 22 y 24, tel. 07/203-8328, www.restaurantevistamar.com, daily noon-midnight) appeals for its ocean view with the Atlantic breakers crashing in front of an infinity pool. Owner Joel Arcu Otaño’s modernist villa is popular for its high-quality seafood. It also serves continental fare as well as Cuban staples. Starters include mussels in white wine sauce (CUC8), while main dishes include swordfish fillet with parmesan sauce (CUC15) and Mediterranean-style seafood pasta (CUC13). I never fail to order the serrano stuffed with honey and fig paste; the lobster presentation is a work of art. Leave room for a thick slab of lemon pie topped with meringue.
Fresh from a makeover, Paladar Ristorante El Palio (1ra Av. #2402, esq. 24, tel. 5289-2410 or 5358-6690, daily noon-midnight) has lured Ernesto Cárdenas, former head chef at the Hotel Parque Central. The menu has expanded, but still focuses on Italian-criolla cuisine, such as garlic octopus (CUC4) and shrimp cocktail (CUC6), plus a shrimp and lobster casserole (CUC8). Dine in a shaded garden or in a chic air-conditioned room with white-and-bottle-green settings.
La Fontana (3ra Av. #305, esq. 46, tel. 07/202-8337, www.lafontanahavana.info, daily noon-midnight, CUC2-15) specializes in barbecued meats from an outdoor grill serving T-bone steak. Starters include salads, escabeche (ceviche), and onion soup; main dishes include flavorful chicken with rice, pepper, and onions served in an earthenware bowl. Rice and extras cost additional. Choose cellar or garden seating in a traditional country bohío setting.
Cuban-Spanish couple Amy Torralbas (an artist) and Álvaro Díez (a sommelier) combine their respective skills at S Otra Manera (Calle 35 #1810, e/ 20 y 41, tel. 07/203-8315, www.otramaneralahabana.com, Tues.-Sat. noon-3pm and 7pm-11pm). Their paladar re-creates Amy’s grandma’s restaurant. Its gorgeous 21st-century minimalist sophistication draws expats to savor the sublime Cuban-Spanish fusion fare such as Andalusian gazpacho, baked snapper with ginger and coconut vinaigrette, or a chicken casserole with candied potatoes. Otra Manera defines Cuba’s nueva cocina fare.
The unpretentious Mi Jardín (Calle 66 #517, esq. 5ta Av. B, tel. 07/203-4627, daily noon-midnight, CUC15-20), in a beautiful 1950s home full of antiques, is run by an affable and conscientious Mexican and his Italian wife. They serve quasi-Mexican fare. The chicken molé mexicano and house special fish Veracruz are recommended. You’ll also find enchiladas and totopos (nachos), plus Italian and criolla dishes. You can dine inside or on a patio beneath an arbor.
Doctor Café (Calle 28 #111, e/ 1ra y 3ra, tel. 07/203-4718, www.doctorcafehavana.com, Mon.-Fri. 11am-11pm, Sat. 12:30pm-10pm) has some of the most creative gourmet dishes in town, courtesy of chef Juan Carlos. Every dish I’ve eaten here has been sublime. Try the crab ceviche or shredded crab enchilada appetizers, lasagna bolognesa (CUC13), or maybe a “deluxe burger” (CUC16). Choose patio dining or the atmospheric air-conditioned interior. Reservations are required.
Savor the best pizza in town at La Chuchería (Av. 1ra esq. 28, tel. 07/212-5013, daily 8am-1am), an oceanfront edition of Vedado’s eponymous pizzeria. This converted Spanish Renaissance manse has great ambience, and the bargain-priced pizzas are the best in town. Wash it all down with a milk shake.
Restaurante Habanera (Calle 16 #506, e/ 5ta y 7ma., tel. 07/202-9941 or 5511-8723, habnera506@gmail.com, daily noon-midnight) offers casual elegance in a converted 1930s mansion with faux-washed walls and a checkered floor. Curried shrimp in coconut cream, lobster with mango, and lamb with red wine sauce are highlights of the fusion cuisine menu. In clement weather, opt for the lovely garden terrace.
Out in Jaimanitas, S Santy Pescador (Calle 240A #3C23, e/ 3raC y Río, tel. 07/272-4998 or 5286-7039, santy_ch2004@hayoo.es, daily noon-midnight, by reservation) is a homey riverfront shack with no menu, but the best sashimi and nigiri you’ll ever eat (CUC10-20). Each morning Carlos and Felix, the fishermen-hosts (Santy was their dad), bring in their own catch; they kill and gut the fish to serve minutes before you eat it, prepared with some olive oil, coriander, and soy. There are two private air-conditioned rooms and bi-level riverside dining overlooking the funky fishing boats tethered to even funkier wharves.
Criolla
I return time and again to S El Aljibe (7ma Av., e/ 24 y 26, tel. 07/204-1583, daily noon-midnight), my favorite state-run restaurant in Havana. It’s popular with tour groups. You dine beneath a soaring thatch roof. The sole reason to be here is for the delicious house dish: pollo asado el aljibe, roast chicken glazed with a sweet orange sauce, then baked and served with fried plantain chips, rice, french fries, and black beans served until you can eat no more. It’s a tremendous bargain at CUC12; desserts and beverages cost extra. Other criolla dishes are served (CUC10-20). You can even take away what you don’t eat. A 10 percent service charge is also billed. The wine cellar is the city’s largest.
Seafood
State-run Don Cangrejo (1ra Av., e/ 16 y 18, tel. 07/204-3837, daily noon-midnight) offers some of the finest seafood in town, served in a converted colonial mansion offering views out to sea. It’s popular with the monied Cuban elite. The menu features crab cocktail (CUC6), crab claws (CUC18), and seafood mix (CUC25). The wine list runs to more than 150 labels.
Continental
Long a favorite of the Cuban elite, the overpriced Tocororo (Calle 18 #302, esq. 3ra, tel. 07/204-2209, Mon.-Sat. noon-midnight, CUC25-35), housed in a neoclassical mansion, has an antique-filled lobby extending into a garden patio with rattan furniture, Tiffany lamps, potted plants, and wooden parrots hanging from gilt perches, plus real parrots in cages. A pianist (by day) and jazz ensemble (by night) entertain. The merely average food is typical Cuban fare, although crocodile and ostrich occasionally feature. Even the bread will be charged, and a 10 percent service charge is automatic.
Self-Catering
Supermercado 70 (3ra Av., e/ 62 y 70, Miramar, tel. 07/204-2890, Mon.-Sat. 9am-6pm, Sun. 9am-1pm) is Cuba’s largest supermarket selling imported foodstuffs. However, the best selection is at Palco (Mon.-Sat. 10am-6pm, Sun. 9am-1pm), in the Miramar Trade Center; aficionados know that if you can’t find it here, it ain’t to be found in Cuba. Zona+ (Av. 7ma 3/ 66 y 68) is the nation’s first wholesale store for private businesses, a kind of mini Cuban Costco.
La Divina Pastora (tel. 07/860-8341, daily noon-midnight), below the Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña, offers average criolla fare in a harborfront setting; go for the setting. Its adjoining La Tasca bar-restaurant (tel. 07/860-8341, daily noon-11pm) offers an escape from the tour groups that descend on the main restaurant.
Paladar Doña Carmela (Calle B #10, tel. 07/867-7472, beatrizbarletta@yahoo.com, daily 7pm-11pm) serves delicious criolla fare such as a sublime octopus in garlic in an outdoor setting. Competing with Doña Carmela, El Cañonazo (Casa #27, tel. 07/867-7476 or 5361-7503), opposite the entrance to Fortaleza de San Carlos, is almost identical. This re-creation of a farmstead with poultry running around underfoot packs in the tourists, brought for commissions by every other taxi driver in town. As such, you pay inflated prices for roast chicken (CUC14), lobster (CUC17), and other dishes.
In Guanabacoa, the best option is the casual Mangle Rojo (Av. 1ra #2, e/ 11 y 12, Rpto. Chibas, tel. 07/797-8613, manglerojo.havana@yahoo.es, daily noon-11pm), serving fresh salads, superb pizzas, and tasty criolla dishes, all less than CUC10. Opt for either air-conditioned dining or the patio. It’s worth the detour to El Mexicano (Av. 3ra #6 e/ 2da y 3ra, Rpto. Chibás, Guanabacoa, tel. 5263-5413, daily noon-11pm) for its superb sandwiches and grilled meat dishes. Owner Jorge Luis Pérez has been running his café-counter restaurant with aplomb for two decades.
All hotels have air-conditioned rooms with satellite TVs, telephones, and safes; most have Wi-Fi. With the U.S. tourism tsunami in full flood, tour groups take over the high-end hotels and push up prices astronomically. There is no longer a low season! You’ll be wise to make reservations far in advance.
Casas particulares (private room rentals) have air-conditioning and private bathrooms, unless noted. New casas open weekly; Havana now has several thousand. The huge demand drives up standards (and prices). Since 2015, several deluxe privately owned “boutique” hotels have opened within the casa particular category.
With room availability at such a premium, keep your eyes on new hotels expected to open in the next two years: the 212-room Sofitel So La Habana (Prado esq. Malecón), Accor’s 112-room MGallery, the 202-room Ibis, and the 82-room Pancea Havana Cuba (Dragones esq. Industriales). Habaguanex plans to open six hotels in 2017-2019: Catedral (Mercaderes esq. Empedrado; 24 rooms), Cueto (Plaza Vieja; 57 rooms), the Marque de Cárdenas de Monte Hermoso (21 rooms), and Real Aduana (in the current Customs building; 55 rooms) on Plaza San Francisco. Havana will get its first airport hotel when Canada’s Wilton Properties builds the 363-room Hotel Arte, near José Martí Aeropuerto Internacional. And China’s Suntime International has partnered with Cubanacán to build the 600-room Hemingway Hotel at the Hemingway Marina.
Which District?
Location is important in choosing your hotel.
Habana Vieja puts you in the heart of the old city, within walking distance of Havana’s main tourist sights. Two dozen colonial-era mansions previously administered by Habaguanex (the commercial branch of the Office of the City Historian) offer yesteryear ambience and modern bathrooms; at press time, these hotels were being transferred to the military’s Gaviota tourism branch. There’s also a full range of state-run hotels and a wide choice of private room rentals. In this neighborhood the term hostal merely refers to small size.
Centro Habana, although offering few sites of interest, has three budget-oriented hotels; Cuba’s state tour agencies push the Hotel Deauville, used by many budget package-tour companies, but this gloomy cement tower is terrible and everyone who stays there has a complaint. This run-down residential district also has many casas particulares, but safety is a concern.
Vedado and Plaza de la Revolución offer mid-20th-century accommodations well situated for sightseeing, including several first-class modernist hotels with modest decor. Vedado also has dozens of superb casas particulares.
Playa (Miramar and Beyond) has moderate hotels popular with tour groups, modern deluxe hotels aimed at business travelers, and deluxe private villas. All are far from the main tourist sights; you’ll need wheels or taxis to get around.
Casas Particulares
Hands-down the most sensational offering is S Casa Vitrales (Calle Habana #106, tel. 07/866-2607 or 5264-7673, www.cvitrales.com, CUC100 including breakfast). Owner Osmani Hernández bills his nine-bedroom guesthouse as a “boutique hotel” and has exquisitely restored and furnished his casa particular with a mix of antiques, ‘50s modernist pieces, and vibrant contemporary art. The only drawback is the narrow staircase, which winds up four flights to the rooftop breakfast terrace. Situated in the epicenter of Habana Vieja’s gentrification, reservations here are essential.
The pricey S Casa Pedro y María (Calle Chacón #209, e/ Aguacate y Compostela, tel. 07/861-4641, www.boutiquehotelsincuba.com, CUC100 including breakfast) is in a gorgeously restored 18th-century townhouse. Behind the huge nail-studded door, colonial decor fuses with 21st-century touches; you’ll love the rough stone walls. Three bedrooms and one junior suite open to a quiet patio where breakfast is served. (My room had a tiny but delightful en suite shower-bathroom in a space hidden by a curtain.)
Emblematic of the new boutique-type offerings is S Loft Habana (Calle Oficios #402 e/ Luz y Acosta, tel. 07/864-4685 or 5284-2256, www.lofthabana.com, CUC120-350), with seven unique loft-like units inside a knocked-about building facing the harbor. These stylish air-conditioned units range from standard to deluxe; all have bare stone walls, mezzanine bedrooms, and en suite shower bathrooms. The rooms are kitted out to 21st-century standards and exhibit the good taste of Cuban designer José Antonio Choy. There is a two-night minimum stay.
Hundreds of budget casas offer humbler yet adequate lodging. For example, Hostal del Ángel (Cuarteles #118 e/ Monserrate y Habana, tel. 07/860-0771 or 5264-7686, www.pradocolonial.com, CUC30-35) offers a better bargain, although it doesn’t have the chic of Casa Vitrales or Casa Pedro-María. Restored by German owner Kenia, this centenary town home is stuffed with gorgeous antique furnishings. A spiral staircase leads to a mezzanine library, and balconies hang over the plaza. Its two bedrooms have en suite bathrooms.
Casa de Raquel y Ricardo (Calle Cristo #12, e/ Brasil y Muralla, tel. 07/867-5026, kasarakel@gmail.com, CUC25-30) is a gracious upstairs home; the spacious, airy lounge has rockers and mediopuntos. There are two rooms with lofty ceilings; one is air-conditioned and has its own bathroom.
Gay-friendly Casa de Eugenio Barral García (San Ignacio #656, e/ Jesús María y Merced, tel. 07/862-9877, CUC30), in southern Habana Vieja, has seven air-conditioned bedrooms with fans and refrigerators; five have private modern bathrooms. The old home is graciously and eclectically appointed with antiques.
Casa de Pepe y Rafaela (San Ignacio #454, e/ Sol y Santa Clara, tel. 07/867-5551, CUC30-35), on the second floor of a colonial home, has a spacious lounge full of antiques and songbirds. The owners rent three rooms with tall ceilings, fridges, fans, antique beds and furniture, glass chandeliers, and heaps of light pouring in from the balcony windows. Modern bathrooms have large showers.
Hotels
CUC100-200
At press time, the historic Hotel Inglaterra (Prado #416, esq. San Rafael, tel. 07/860-8594, www.gran-caribe.cu, from CUC90 s, CUC142 d low season, CUC120 s, CUC175 d high season), on the west side of Parque Central, was in the midst of a much-needed redo and relaunch by U.S. hotel company Starwood. It will reopen as a luxury hotel. No doubt it will retain its extravagant lobby bar and restaurant that whisk you metaphorically to Morocco. Expect its 83 rooms to offer great comfort and furnishings.
I like the Hotel del Tejadillo (Tejadillo, esq. San Ignacio, tel. 07/863-7283, from CUC95 s, CUC150 d low season, from CUC120 s, CUC195 d high season), another converted colonial mansion. Beyond the huge doors is an airy marble-clad lobby with a quaint dining area. It offers 32 rooms around two courtyards with fountains. The cool, high-ceilinged rooms are graced by mediopuntos (stained glass half-moon windows) and modern furniture.
Playing on a monastic theme, the Hostal Los Frailes (Brasil, e/ Oficios y Mercaderes, tel. 07/862-9383, from CUC95 s, CUC145 d low season, from CUC120 s, CUC195 d high season) has staff dressed in monks’ habits. It has 22 rooms around a patio with a fountain. The rooms have medieval-style heavy timbers and wrought iron, religious prints, period telephones, and spacious bathrooms. It has a bar, but no restaurant.
Just one block from Plaza Vieja, Hotel Beltrán de Santa Cruz (San Ignacio #411, e/ Muralla y Sol, tel. 07/860-8330, from CUC95 s, CUC150 d low season, from CUC120 s, CUC195 d high season) is a handsome conversion of a three-story 18th-century mansion with exquisite mediopuntos. Its 11 rooms and one junior suite have gracious antique reproductions.
The latest of Habaguanex’s boutique properties is the delightful Habana 1612 Hotel (Calle Habana #612, e/ Brasil y Muralla, tel. 07/866-5035, from CUC95 s, CUC140 d low season, from CUC120 s, CUC195 d high season). The 17th-century townhouse mansion has undergone a gorgeous refurbishing, melding modern decor throughout. With only 12 rooms, it exudes intimacy; seven rooms face the courtyard. The immediate neighborhood awaits restoration, so you’re in the heart of earthy Habana Vieja.
If you’re struggling to find rooms, there are other properties to try. El Mesón de la Flota (Mercaderes #257, e/ Amargura y Brasil, tel. 07/863-3838, CUC80 s, CUC130 d low season, CUC100 s, CUC170 d high season, including breakfast) is a classic Spanish bodega bar-restaurant with five intimate rooms. Hotel Park View (Colón, esq. Morro, tel. 07/861-3293, CUC62 s, CUC100 d low season, CUC67 s, CUC110 d high season, including breakfast) has 55 lofty and nicely furnished rooms, but minimal facilities. The drab Hotel Plaza (Zulueta #267, esq. Neptuno, tel. 07/860-8583, www.gran-caribe.cu, from CUC84 s, CUC120 d low-season) was built in 1909 on the northeast corner of Parque Central. It has 188 rooms (some gloomy; others noisy) that feature antique reproductions.
OVER CUC200
The Moorish-inspired Hotel Mercure Sevilla Havane (Trocadero #55, e/ Prado y Zulueta, tel. 07/860-8560, www.accorhotels.com, from CUC132 s, CUC164 d low season, CUC255 s, CUC274 d high season) was built in 1924, with an exterior and lobby straight out of 1,001 Arabian Nights. Its 178 refurbished rooms feature antique reproductions. There’s a sumptuous top-floor restaurant, plus a swimming pool and assorted shops.
Hotel Santa Isabel (Baratillo #9, e/ Obispo y Narciso López, tel. 07/860-8201, from CUC175 s, CUC260 d low season, from CUC210 s, CUC295 d high season), a small and intimate hostelry in the former 18th-century palace of the Count of Santovenia, enjoys a fabulous setting overlooking Plaza de Armas. The hotel has 27 rooms furnished with four-poster beds, reproduction antique furniture, and leather recliners on wide balconies; suites have whirlpool tubs. At press time, it was taken over by U.S. hotel giant Starwood, with plans to upgrade and rebrand as a mega-luxury option.
Overpriced Hostal Valencia (Oficios #53, e/ Obrapía y Lamparilla, tel. 07/867-1037, from CUC115 s, CUC165 d low season, from CUC140 s, CUC230 d high season) might induce a flashback to the romantic posadas of Spain. The 18th-century mansion-turned-hotel exudes charm with its lobby of hefty oak beams, Spanish tiles, and wrought-iron chandeliers. The 12 spacious rooms and junior suites have cool marble floors. The La Paella restaurant is a bonus. Attached is the Hotel El Comendador (Oficios #53, e/ Obrapía y Lamparilla, tel. 07/857-1037, from CUC115 s, CUC165 d low season, from CUC140 s, CUC230 d high season), another endearingly restored colonial home with 14 exquisite rooms.
The Hotel Ambos Mundos (Obispo #153, e/ San Ignacio y Mercaderes, tel. 07/860-9530, from CUC115 s, CUC175 d low season, from CUC140 s, CUC230 d high season), one block west of Plaza de Armas, lets you rest your head where Ernest Hemingway found inspiration in the 1930s. The hotel offers 59 overpriced rooms and three junior suites arranged atrium style. Most are small, dark, and undistinguished. Those facing the interior courtyard are quieter. Avoid the fifth floor—a thoroughfare for sightseers.
On the harborfront, Hotel Armadores de Santander (Luz #4, esq. San Pedro, tel. 07/862-8000, from CUC115 s, CUC175 d low season, from CUC140 s, CUC230 d high season, CUC300 s/d suite year-round) has 39 spacious rooms with colonial tile floors and handsome furnishings. A contemporary suite boasts a whirlpool tub in the center of a mezzanine bedroom with a four-poster bed.
A fine colonial conversion, the romantic Hotel Palacio O'Farrill (Cuba #102, esq. Chacón, tel. 07/860-5080, from CUC115 s, CUC175 d low season, from CUC140 s, CUC230 d high season) is centered on a three-story atrium courtyard lit by a skylight. It has 38 graciously furnished rooms on three floors, with decor reflecting the 18th (mezzanine), 19th (3rd floor), and 20th (4th floor) centuries. Facilities include a cybercafé, an elegant restaurant, and a jazz café.
Dating to 1905, S Hotel Raquel (San Ignacio, esq. Amargura, tel. 07/860-8280, from CUC115 s, CUC175 d low season, from CUC145 s, CUC230 d high season, including breakfast) is a dramatic exemplar of art nouveau style. The lobby gleams with marble columns and period detailing such as Tiffany lamps and a mahogany bar. It has an elegant restaurant and a rooftop solarium and gym. Located on the edge of the old Jewish quarter, the Hotel Raquel is Jewish themed and the restaurant serves kosher food.
City slickers will love the urbane sophistication of the stylish, 27-room Hotel Palacio del Marqués de San Felipe y Santiago de Bejucal (Calle Oficios #152, esq. Mercaderes, tel. 07/864-9194, from CUC145 s, CUC230 d low season, from CUC170 s, CUC280 d high season), on Plaza de San Francisco. The converted 1771 mansion of Don Sebastián de Peñalver blends a chic 21st-century interior—including dark mahogany in a sleek reception area—with a baroque exterior. Rooms (including three suites) have Wi-Fi, DVDs, and flat-screen TVs, plus Jacuzzis.
Entered via giant brass-studded carriage doors, S Hotel Conde de Villanueva (Mercaderes #202, esq. Lamparilla, tel. 07/862-9293, from CUC115 s, CUC175 d low season, from CUC140 s, CUC230 d high season) is an exquisite conversion of the mansion of the Conde de Villanueva. Doors open to an intimate courtyard with caged birds and tropical foliage. It has nine large and simply appointed rooms and one suite (with whirlpool tub) with 1920s reproduction furnishings. There’s an excellent restaurant and bar. The hotel courts cigar smokers with a cigar store and smokers’ lounge.
S Hotel Florida (Obispo #252, esq. Cuba, tel. 07/862-4127, from CUC115 s, CUC175 d low season, from CUC140 s, CUC230 d high season) is built around an atrium courtyard with rattan lounge chairs, a stained glass skylight, and black-and-white checkered marble floors. Sumptuously furnished, its 25 rooms feature tasteful colonial decor. Immediately behind the hotel, and part of the same building, is the similarly priced Hotel Marqués de Prado Ameno (Obispo #252, esq. Cuba, tel. 07/862-4127). The restored 18th-century mansion has 16 stylishly furnished rooms. A bodega (colonial-style bar/restaurant) will whisk you back 200 years.
On Parque Central, Hotel Telégrafo (Paseo de Martí #408, esq. Neptuno, tel. 07/861-1010, from CUC115 s, CUC175 d low season, from CUC140 s, CUC230 d high season) melds its classical elements into an exciting contemporary vogue. It has 63 rooms with beautiful furnishings and trendy color schemes. The hip lobby bar is skylit within an atrium framed by colonial ruins.
Perhaps the best hotel in Havana for its combination of location, service, and sophistication, the S Hotel Iberostar Parque Central (Neptuno, e/ Prado y Zulueta, tel. 07/860-6627, www.iberostar.com, from CUC235 s, CUC295 d year-round) occupies the north side of Parque Central and fuses colonial and contemporary styles in its 281 spacious and tastefully furnished rooms. Ask for a room with a wooden floor, as some rooms with carpets smell mildewed. It has two restaurants, a cigar lounge-bar, a business center, a rooftop swimming pool, and a fitness room. A modern 150-room annex, the similarly priced Iberostar Parque Central Torre, offers far hipper decor and postmodern design. It also has a rooftop restaurant and pool.
The finest rooms in Havana are at the S Hotel Saratoga (Paseo de Martí #603, esq. Dragones, tel. 07/868-1000, www.hotel-saratoga.com, CUC284 s/d low season, from CUC506 s/d high season). European architects and designers have turned this colonial edifice into a visual stunner. Guest room decor varies from colonially inspired to thoroughly contemporary. Most rooms have king-size four-poster beds; all have halogen-lit bathrooms and 21st-century amenities. A rooftop pool, spa, and gym offer fabulous views. The bar and restaurant are New York-chic.
The ultra-deluxe S Gran Hotel Kempinski Manzana (Agramonte esq. Neptuno, www.kempinski.com, from CUC370 s/d low seasn, CUC499 s/d high season) is the place to bed down in town. Located in the reconstructed Edificio Manzana de Gómez (dating from 1918) on Parque Central, the 24-room hotel is managed by Swiss hotel group Kempinski and features a rooftop terrace with a swimming pool, plus three restaurants, a spa, and a business center.
The formerly grandiose building at the corner of Prado and Capdevila lay in ruins for two decades, its facade supported by scaffolding. In 2016, Cuba’s Gaviota group began building a new hotel there integrated into the century-old facade. At press time, it was nearing completion as the 300-room deluxe Hotel Packard (www.gaviota-grupo.com).
Casas Particulares
In a townhouse overlooking the Malecón, Casa de Martha y Leona (Malecón #115, e/ Crespo y Genios, tel. 07/864-1582, leorangisbert@yahoo.es, CUC25) has a loft room that overlooks the family lounge with floor-to-ceiling windows with ocean views. Although simply furnished, the air-conditioned room has a modern bathroom, fridge, and fan.
For boutique chic, check into the appropriately named S Casa Blanca (Malecón #413 e/ Manrique y Perseverancia, tel. 07/862-3137, www.casablancacuba.net, CUC35-50), which has all-white decor and European furnishings. It has three rooms, each with a balcony overlooking the Atlantic.
Casa 1932 Habana (Campanario #63, e/ Lagunas y San Lázaro, tel. 07/863-6203, www.casahabana.net, CUC30-35) is an art deco wonder with an antique-filled lounge. There are three bedrooms, all with private bathrooms and hot water. Enjoy coffee or cocktails on the exquisite patio.
Party animals stumbling out of Casa de las Américas in the wee hours will appreciate bedding down at Casa Elaine González López (Galiano #257 Apt. 81, e/ Neptuno y Concordia, tel. 07/866-0910 or 5273-9295), on the 8th floor of Edificio América. Choose either a large single bedroom (CUC25-30) with modern bathroom or the entire floor as a two-bedroom apartment (CU50); the lounge has heaps of light and great views toward Vedado.
Perfect for families and small groups, the luxurious and self-contained S Casa Concordia (Concordia #151, Apt. B, esq. San Nicolás, tel. 5254-5240 or 5360-5300, www.casaconcordia.net, from CUC240 nightly) is furnished to boutique hotel standards. This gorgeous fifth-floor, three-bedroom apartment is adorned with fine-art ceramics and photography, a 32-inch flat-screen TV and other modern accoutrements, plus plush linens, including in the en suite bathrooms. The rate includes maid service, and breakfast and car transfers are offered. The same owners offer a homier one-room unit at the nearby Tropicana Penthouse (Galiano #60 Apt 101, e/ San Lázaro y Trocadero, www.tropicanapenthouse.com, CUC50), with modern furnishings, flat-screen TV, breakfast service, and a terrace atop a 10-story apartment block.
Bringing chic to a whole new level is the boutique S Malecón 633 (Malecón #633 e/ Escobar y Lealtad, tel. 5840-5403, www.malecon663.com, CUC50). Its four rooms are individually themed: the Eclectic Room evokes sumptuous centenary art nouveau; fans of art deco get the bi-level Art Deco Room with mezzanine bedroom; the Modern Room is furnished in 1950s style; and the Contemporary Suite offers a 21st-century take. You even get a Jacuzzi in the rooftop solarium. If midnight hunger pangs strike, downstairs is the eponymous tapas bar-restaurant. (Hopefully the music won’t disturb your sweet dreams.) Owners Orlandito (Cuban) and Sandra (French) also offer vintage car tours. A stone’s throw away, the three-bedroom S Malecón 215 (Malecón #215 esq. Escobar, tel. 5319-7569, CUC295) inspires oohs and aahs with its sumptuous remake. It has terrazo floors, gorgeous furnishings, and a to-die-for ocean view. It rents in entirety.
Hotels
CUC100-200
A stylish boutique option, the ultra-contemporary 14-room Hotel Terral (Malecón, esq. Lealtad, tel. 07/860-2100, comercial@hotelterral.co.cu, from CUC850 s, CUC130 d low season, CUC110 s, CUC175 d high season) opens onto the Malecón and features glass walls and heaps of travertine and stainless steel. Flat-screen TVs, minibars, and safes are standard, as are spa tubs. Some rooms have terraces. It has a bar, plus room service, but no restaurant.
Casas Particulares
S Casa de Jorge Coalla Potts (Calle I #456, Apto. 11, e/ 21 y 23, Vedado, tel. 07/832-9032 or 07/5283-1237, www.havanaroomrental.com, CUC30-35) is my favorite casa particular in Havana. This delightful home is run by Jorge and his wife, Marisel, who offer two large, well-lit, and well-furnished bedrooms to the rear of their spotless ground-floor apartment, only two blocks from the Hotel Habana Libre Tryp. Each room has a telephone, refrigerator, double bed with firm mattress, ceiling fan, and spacious bathroom with plentiful hot water. There’s a TV lounge with rockers, plus secure parking nearby. The couple and their daughter Jessica (fluent in English) go out of their way to make you feel at home.
I’ve enjoyed stays with Jorge Praga and Amparo Sánchez at Casa Fraga (Calle 11 #452 alto, e/ E y F, tel. 07/832-7184, amparosanchezg@hotmail.com, CUC35), where you are treated like family. They rent four rooms (two share a bathroom). One has lovely antique furnishings. Plus you can use their computer with Internet. A sparsely furnished lounge looks onto the street.
The filling breakfasts—including crêpes with honey—are reason enough to choose Casa de Eddy Gutiérrez (Calle 21 #408, e/ F y G, tel. 07/832-5207 or 5281-0041, carmeddy2@yahoo.es, CUC35). Four independent apartments are to the rear of the owner’s colonial mansion, including a lovely little cross-ventilated rooftop unit. All have fans and refrigerators. One apartment has its own small kitchen. There’s secure parking.
A true standout, S Casa Marta (Av. de los Presidentes #301, e/ 17 y 19, tel. 07/832-6475, www.casamartainhavana.com, CUC40) is a sensational four-room apartment that takes up the entire 14th floor and boasts wraparound glass windows. The beautifully maintained and spacious rooms feature antique beds and modern bathrooms, and all have spectacular views. Martha is an engaging conversationalist who speaks fluent English. She also offers an impeccably maintained 10th-floor self-contained two-bedroom apartment nearby (Calle 9 #453 e/ F y G, CUC60-70).
One block away from Hotel Presidente, S Casa Nieves (Calle 9na #485 altos e/ F y F, tel. 07/832-2974, CUC175 s/d) offers boutique hotel ambience. Graced with a delightful hostess, this spacious and airy four-bedroom upstairs manse opens to a lovely courtyard where delicious meals are served. It has been thoroughly renovated with modern bathrooms and consistent hot water.
A delightful hostess adds to your stay at Casa Elaine Colonial Guesthouse (Av. de los Presidentes esq. 13, tel. 07/832-4108 or 5275-1876, travelcuba73@yahoo.com, CUC35), a huge centenary home with lofty ceilings and twin lounges with eclectic furnishings. Elaine rents five large rooms, each different in style.
Casa Blanca (Calle 13 #917, e/ 6 y 8, tel. 07/833-5697, cb1917@hotmail.com, CUC30), in the heart of western Vedado, is a gracious colonial home with a front garden riotous with bougainvillea. Your host, Jorge, rents two antique-filled rooms with clean, modern bathrooms. It has parking.
“Palatial” sums up the 1915 S Palacete de Vedado (Calle D #154 e/ Linea y Calzada, www.palacetedelvedado.com, CUC400), a fully restored, two-story, four-bedroom manse tastefully furnished in white with cutting-edge art and boutique-hotel-standard bathrooms. There’s even a pool table! The owners offer airport pickup in an old Chevy. It rents in entirety. A stone’s throw away, S Hostal Boutique Maraby (Calle 11 #513, tel. 07/833-6276, www.mariby.com, from CUC230 suites, CUC500 entire house) taps the high-end market with uniformed staff and stunning and vibrant period decor. This romantic time warp is run to professional standards as a five-bedroom boutique B&B. There’s a reason haute couture designer Jean Paul Gaultier stayed here.
For a room with a view, you can’t beat the sensational (albeit pricey) S Habana Vista Penthouse (Calle 13 #51 es. N, tel. 5388-7866, www.habanavista.com, CUC115-135). It occupies two floors atop a 16-story 1950s high-rise and is accessed by elevator. Three bedrooms have views, retro-themed furnishings fit for a fashion shoot, and modern marble-clad bathrooms and tubs. It even boasts a private rooftop swimming pool and dining terrace for meals prepared by the kitchen staff. Two-night minimum.
Setting an even higher bar is S Artedel Luxury Penthouse (Calle 17 #260 e/ I y J, tel. 5295-5700, www.cubaguesthouse.com, CUC120), a three-room high-rise owned by Ydalgo Martínez. The eclectic furnishings are its real charm and include original 1950s lamps and Murano glass items. The suite with a blood-red wall is simply gorgeous. A rooftop wraparound terrace with 360 views will have you blessing your fortune.
Could this be the nicest place in Vedado? S Solinos y Yo (Calle 16 #2, e/ Calzada y Linea, tel. 07/329-9933, www.solinosyyo.com, CUC90), overlooking the Malecón at the far west end of Veado, combines jaw-dropping white-and-salmon decor with superb ocean vistas. With six air-conditioned and sparse yet lovingly furnished bedrooms, it’s perfect for families or small groups. The highlight is the huge lounge with an all-glass wall opening onto a seafront balcony. It’s staffed and operates like a B&B.
Want to know what $1,000 a night buys you in Havana’s new deluxe private property stakes? Then rent the rooftop apartment in the sleek 10-story high-rise at Atlantic Penthouse (Calle D, e/ 1ra y 2ra, tel. 5281-7751, renta.atlantic@gmail.com, from CUC200 s/d), with its chic and luxurious all-white interiors and wall-of-glass vistas over the city and Atlantic. You even get your own rooftop swimming pool with butler service.
Hotels
CUC50-100
Hotel Complejo Vedado St. John's (Calle O #206, e/ 23 y 25, tel. 07/833-3740, www.gran-caribe.cu, CUC48 s, CUC70 d low season, CUC56 s, CUC82 d high season) is a dour and gloomy 14-story property with 87 rooms, plus 203 rooms in the adjoining Hotel Vedado. Facilities include a nightclub, rooftop swimming pool, and the Steak House Toro.
A better option for budget hounds is Islazul’s Hotel Paseo Habana (Calle 17 #618, esq. A, tel. 07/836-0810, CUC34 s, CUC45 d low season; CUC42 s, CUC55 d high season), in a restored former private mansion in a peaceful section of Vedado. It has delightfully decorated rooms with modern bathrooms at bargain prices.
CUC100-200
The art deco high-rise Hotel Roc Presidente (Calzada #110, esq. Av. de los Presidentes, tel. 07/855-1801, www.roc-hotels.com, from UC80 s, CUC130 d low season, CUC98 s, CUC150 d high season) was inaugurated in 1927 and retains its maroon and pink interior, with sumptuous Louis XIV-style furnishings. Now Spanish run, it has 160 spacious rooms with tasteful contemporary furnishings, including marble bathrooms. Amenities include an elegant restaurant, swimming pool, gym, and sauna.
Mobster Meyer Lansky’s 23-story Hotel Habana Riviera (Malecón y Paseo, tel. 07/836-4051, www.gran-caribe.cu, from CUC80 s, CU125 d low season, from CUC95 s, CUC158 d high season) long ago lost its 1950s luxe but still retains its original lobby decor, with acres of marble and glass and original furnishings. The 352 spacious rooms are one by one being upgraded to modern standards; ensure you get a renovated room. It has two restaurants, a 24-hour snack bar, a swimming pool, gym, cigar store, and the Copa Room nightclub. It was being renovated at press time and will be managed by Spain’s Iberostar hotel group.
Hotel Habana Riviera, Vedado
The Hotel Capri (Calle 21, esq. M, tel. 07/839-7200 or 07/839-7257, from CUC120 s, CUC150 d low season; CUC135 s, CUC180 d high season) reopened in February 2014 after a 10-year closure. This 1950s classic has been stylishly refurbished with a retro look in classy brown and pistachio tones. Closer inspection reveals many faults, including shoddy workmanship and pathetic lighting in guest rooms.
Almost boutique in style, the well-positioned Hotel Victoria (Calle 19 #101, esq. M, tel. 07/833-3510, www.gran-caribe.cu, CUC62 s, CUC85 d low season; CUC90 s, CUC133 d high season) offers 31 small rooms with antique reproduction furnishings and Internet modems. It has a small swimming pool, an intimate lobby bar, and an elegant restaurant.
OVER CUC200
Hotel Tryp Habana Libre (Calle L, e/ 23 y 25, tel. 07/834-6100, www.meliacuba.com, from CUC222 s, CUC280 d low season; from CUC288 s, CUC372 d high season), managed by Spain’s Meliá, is Havana’s landmark high-rise hotel. It was built in the 1950s by the Hilton chain and became a favorite of mobsters. The modernist atrium lobby with glass dome exudes a 1950s retro feel. The 533 rooms are decorated in a handsome contemporary vogue. The hotel is loaded with facilities, including a 24-hour café, four restaurants, an open-air swimming pool, a business center, underground parking, and one of Havana’s best nightclubs.
The deluxe 22-story S Hotel Meliá Cohiba (Paseo, esq. 1ra, tel. 07/833-3636, www.meliacuba.com, from CUC221 s, CUC230 d low season; from CUC235 s, CUC280 d high season) has 462 spacious and elegant rooms featuring contemporary furnishings. It boasts first-rate executive services, and the magnificent swimming pool, gym, squash court, solarium, boutiques, five top-ranked restaurants, four bars, and the Habana Café nightclub combine to make this one of the city’s finest hotels.
The overpriced, state-run Hotel Nacional (Calle O y 21, tel. 07/836-3564, www.hotelnacionaldecuba.com, from CUC338 s, CUC468 d year-round) is Havana’s flagship hotel and where celebrities flock. A restoration revived much of the majesty of this eclectic 1930s gem, perched overlooking the Malecón. However, furnishings in the 475 large rooms remain dowdy; even the Executive Floor, with 63 specially appointed rooms and suites, has threadbare carpets and other faults. Dining is a letdown except at La Barranca, the open-air garden restaurant serving criolla fare. The Cabaret Parisien, the top-floor cocktail lounge, and the open-air terrace bar—perfect for enjoying a cigar and rum—are high points. Features include two swimming pools, upscale boutiques, a beauty salon, spa, tennis courts, a bank, and a business center.
Casas Particulares
Casa de Fernando y Egeria González (1ra #205, e/ 2 y 4, Miramar, tel. 07/203-3866, martell@alba.co.cu, CUC50) is a superb property. This gracious family home offers two spacious and airy rooms with huge and exquisite tiled bathrooms. Secure parking is available and there’s a patio to the rear.
Many homes in Miramar rent out in entirety, including S Casa de Elena Sánchez (Calle 34 #714, e/ 7ma y 17, tel. 07/202-8969, gerardo@enet.cu, CUC100), one of the nicest 1950s-style rentals in town. It has two rooms, each with TV, fridge, private hot-water bathroom, and a mix of antiques, 1950s modernist pieces, and contemporary furniture. A large TV lounge opens to a shaded garden patio with rockers. There’s secure parking.
For a complete apartment, I like S Casa de Reynaldo y Yasmina (Calle 17 #3401 e/ 34 y 36, tel. 07/209-2958 or 5241-6794, CUC120), whose ground floor apartment in a lovely 1950s home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a full modern kitchen. Meals can be prepared and served on a shaded rooftop terrace. Reynaldo is a fixer and even rents his chauffeured Audi A4.
The three-bedroom S Cañaveral House (Calle 39A #4402 e/ 44 y 46, tel. 07/206-5338 or 5295-5700, www.cubaguesthouse.com, CUC120) astounds with its tasteful furnishings. Designer Ydalgo Martínez brought artistic sensibility to this gorgeous Spanish-style hacienda villa, furnished with effusive art, antiques, and contemporary pieces, including the state-of-the-art bathrooms. Rented in entirety, you get what you pay for in spades.
If you want to know how Cuba’s elite lives, check out Casa María Torralbas (Calle 17 #20606, e/ 206 y 214, Siboney, tel. 07/217-2248 or 5258-5025, mariatorralbas@yahoo.es, CUC55), a gorgeous 1950s modernist bungalow in an area occupied by privileged MININT families. Two beautifully furnished rooms include use of a swimming pool in a lush garden.
Exemplary of the deluxe new breed of villas on the market, S Villa Miller Benfast (Calle 13 #2017 esq. 204, Siboney, tel. 07/2721-5314 or 5280-7636, CUC850 nightly) is a refurbished 1950s modernist gem with six bedrooms in two wings spanning a huge lounge and state-of-the-art kitchen. A lap pool graces the garden. You even get a well-equipped gym and a poolside lounge bar. It comes fully staffed.
A stunner worthy of Vogue, S VIP Le Blanc (Calle 92 #508 e/ 5ta y 5taA, Miramar, tel. 07/212-5436, www.espacios-de-lujo.com, CUC175 s/d) serves travelers with a taste for high living. Run as a deluxe boutique hotel, this six-bedroom villa is fully staffed with a concierge. Rooms include updated, en-suite baths and Wi-Fi. There’s a pool with lounge chairs and a staffed bar plus an on-site chef. Children under age 12 are not permitted.
Out in Santa Fe, Casa Isabel Betancourt (Calle 1ra #29628 e/ 296 y 298, tel. 07/208-5070 or 5270-4042, CUC20-40) offers a beachfront location in a beautiful coral stone house with a TV lounge and two lovely rooms. For something more upscale, Villa Yanin (Av. 3ra A, www.airbnb.com/rooms/11453585, CUC500), in Cayito de Jaimanitas, offers an oceanfront swimming pool with ranchón bar, Jacuzzi, and sundeck. The four-bedroom villa is owned by an Italian-Cuban couple (Marco and Yanin) and has been upgraded with gorgeous terrazzo tile bathrooms. It’s steps from Fusterlandia and Marina Hemingway and rents in entirety.
Though out of the way in southern La Vibora, the hilltop S La Rosa de Ortega (Patrocino #252 esq. Juan Bruno Zayas, tel. 07/641-4329 or 5246-4574, www.larosadeortega.com, CUC60-150) is irresistible for its magical ambience. Exposed brick abounds in this rambling Tuscan-like villa with romantic furnishings, city views, a swimming pool, and a Ford Model A in the driveway. One of the three sumptuously appointed rooms is a suite.
Hotels
CUC50-100
Hotel Kohly (Av. 49 y 36A, Rpto. Kohly, Playa, tel. 07/204-0240, www.gaviota-grupo.com, CUC48 s, CUC66 d low season, CUC58 s, CUC86 d) is a 1970s-style property used by budget tour groups, despite its out-of-the-way location. The 136 rooms have tasteful albeit simple furniture. Facilities include a 10-pin bowling alley.
The lonesome Hotel Chateau Miramar (1ra Av., e/ 60 y 62, tel. 07/204-1952, www.hotelescubanacan.com, from CUC72 s, CUC94 d year-round), on the shorefront, aims at business clientele. The handsome five-story hotel has 50 nicely furnished rooms (suites have whirlpool tubs), a pool, an elegant restaurant, and a business center. It’s a 20-minute walk to several fine paladares.
CUC100-200
The Spanish-managed Memories Miramar (5ta Av., e/ 72 y 76, tel. 07/204-3584, www.memoriesresorts.com, from CUC120 s, CUC150 d low season, from CUC170 s, CUC200 d high season) lives up to its deluxe billing. This vast modern property features a mix of neoclassical wrought-iron furniture and hip contemporary pieces in the marble-clad lobby. Its 427 cavernous rooms include five wheelchair-accessible rooms. It has a beauty salon, squash court, health center, tennis courts, a business center, three restaurants, and a huge swimming pool.
Used principally by package-tour groups, the mid-priced oceanfront Hotel Copacabana (1ra Av., e/ 34 y 36, tel. 07/204-1037, www.hotelescubanacan.com, CUC90 s, CU110 d low season, CUC128 s, CUC150 d high season) has 168 rooms with a quasi-colonial and slightly dated look; however, its modern bathrooms gleam. Its strong suit is its swimming pool (popular with locals on weekends; day pass CUC15) and a disco.
The 1950s-era beachfront Hotel Comodoro (1ra Av. y Calle 84, tel. 07/204-5551, www.hotelescubanacan.com, from CUC60 s, CUC92 d low season, from CUC80 s, CUC130 d high season) has 134 spacious rooms, including 15 suites, with modern furnishings. Some rooms have a balcony. The contemporary lobby lounge opens to four restaurants, several bars, and a meager bathing area. A shuttle runs to Habana Vieja five times daily. The Comodoro’s Bungalows Pleamar are the closest thing to a beach resort in the city. The 320 two-story villas (one-, two-, and three-bedroom) are built around two sinuous swimming pools.
OVER CUC200
Facing the Miramar Trade Center, Hotel Meliá Habana (3ra Av., e/ 76 y 80, tel. 07/204-8500, www.meliacuba.com, from CUC344 s, CUC361 d low season, from CUC475 s, CUC513 d high season), with its huge atrium lobby, is a superb hotel that aims at a business clientele. The 397 marble-clad rooms and four suites are suitably deluxe; the executive floor offers more personalized service plus data ports. Facilities include five restaurants, a cigar lounge, a swimming pool, tennis courts, a gym, and a business center.
With a blue-tinted glass exterior, the contemporary H10 Panorama (Calle 70, esq. 3ra, tel. 07/204-0100, www.10hotels.com, from CUC148 s, CUC211 d low season, from CUC204 s, CUC208 d high season) high-rise boasts an impressive black-and-gray marble and slate atrium lobby. I like the sophisticated decor in its 317 rooms, all with Internet modems. The executive rooms and suites get their own top-floor restaurant, and floors 7-11 have Wi-Fi. Other facilities include a piano bar, squash court, an Internet room, Italian- and German-themed restaurants, a swimming pool, and a top-floor piano bar with live jazz.
U.S. hospitality company Starwood took over management of the former Hotel Quinta Avenida in 2016, rebranding it the Four Points by Sheraton (5ta Av. e/ 76 y 78, tel. 07/214-1470, from CUC196 s, CUC246 d low season, from CUC333 s, CUC384 high season). It’s a pleasant enough place and offers plenty of facilities plus 186 rooms, including six suites, but is hugely overpriced.
S Casa Blanca (Casa #29, tel. 5294-5397, www.havanacasablanca.com, CUC250) is a great casa particular near the El Morro Cabaña complex. This restored, two-bedroom 19th-century villa rents in entirety. It has a pool, shady terraces opening to lovely gardens, and maid service, including for meals.
Banks and Exchange Agencies
The Banco Financiero Internacional (Mon.-Fri. 8am-3pm, 8am-noon only on the last working day of each month) is the main bank, with eight branches throughout Havana, including one in Edificio Jerusalem in the Miramar Trade Center (3ra Av., e/ 70 y 82, Miramar). Its main outlet, in the Hotel Tryp Habana Libre (Calle L, e/ 23 y 25, tel. 07/838-4429), has a desk handling credit card advances for foreigners. The Banco de Crédito y Comercio (Bandec), Banco Internacional de Comercio, Banco Popular, and Banco Metropolitano also serve foreigners.
The foreign exchange agency Cadeca (Obispo, e/ Cuba y Aguiar, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/866-4152, daily 8am-10pm) has outlets throughout the city, including most hotels.
ATMs
ATMs allowing cash advances of Cuban convertible pesos from Visa cards (but not MasterCard or U.S.-issued Visa cards) are located at Cadeca (Obispo, e/ Cuba y Aguiar, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/866-4152, daily 8am-10pm) and major banks.
Post Offices and Mail Service
Most major tourist hotels have small post offices and will accept your mail for delivery. In Habana Vieja, there are post offices on the east side of Plaza de la Catedral; at Obispo #102, on the west side of Plaza de San Francisco (Mon.-Fri. 8am-6pm); at Obispo #518; and next to the Gran Teatro on Parque Central.
In Vedado, there’s a 24-hour post office in the lobby of the Hotel Tryp Habana Libre (Calle L, e/ 23 y 25). Havana’s main post office is Correos de Cuba (tel. 07/879-6824, 24 hours) on Avenida Rancho Boyeros, one block north of the Plaza de la Revolución.
Servi-Postal (Havana Trade Center, 3ra Av., e/ 76 y 80, Miramar, tel. 07/204-5122, Mon.-Sat. 10am-6pm) has a copy center and Western Union agency.
DHL (1ra Av. y Calle 26, Miramar, tel. 07/204-1578, commercial@dhl.cutisa.cu, Mon.-Fri. 8am-8pm, Sat. 8:30am-4pm) is headquartered at Edificio Habana in the Miramar Trade Center (3ra Av., e/ 76 y 80, Miramar).
Telephone and Fax Service
Etecsa is headquartered on the east side of Edificio Barcelona at Miramar Trade Center (3ra Av., e/ 76 y 80, Miramar). The main international telephone exchange is in the lobby of the Hotel Habana Libre Tryp (Calle L, e/ 23 y 25, tel. 07/834-6100, 24 hours).
You can rent or buy cellular phones from Cubacel (Calle 28 #510, e/ 5 y 7, Miramar, tel. 05/264-2266 or 07/880-2222, www.cubacel.com, Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-7:30pm, Sat. 8am-noon); they can also activate your own cell phone for CUC40. The main Havana office is in Edificio Santa Clara in the Miramar Trade Center (3ra Av., e/ 70 y 82).
Internet Access
Internet access has expanded markedly since 2015. Wi-Fi is installed in most tourist hotels and public Wi-Fi zones are along Paseo de Martí and Parque Central (Habana Vieja); Parque Trillo (Centro Habana); La Rampa, Linea y L, and Parque John Lennon (Vedado); and Av. 1ra y 42 and Parque 13 y 76 (Miramar). In 2016, the government announced that it will create the world’s largest Wi-Fi zone the length of the Malecón. In 2017, another 47 public Wi-Fi zones were added. Users must buy a prepaid “Nauta” card (CUC2.50 or CUC6-10 for one hour at some deluxe hotels).
The main Etecsa outlets are in Habana Vieja (Obispo, esq. Habana, tel. 07/866-0089, daily 8:30am-9pm); at Calle 17 (e/ B y C) and Edificio Focsa (Calle M, e/ 17 y 19), in Vedado; and on the west side of Edificio Barcelona, at the Miramar Trade Center.
The Hotel Nacional (Calle O y 21, tel. 07/836-3564, daily 8am-8pm) and Hotel Habana Libre Tryp (Calle L, e/ 23 y 25, tel. 07/834-6100, daily 7am-11pm) charge CUC10 for Wi-Fi access.
Students at the Universidad de la Habana have free Internet service in the Biblioteca Central (San Lázaro, esq. Ronda, tel. 07/878-5573), at the faculty of Artes y Letras (you need to sign up the day before), and at the faculty of Filosofía y Historia, with long lines for use.
Immigration and Customs
Requests for visa extensions (prórrogas) and other immigration issues relating to foreigners are handled by Inmigración (Calle 17 e/ J y K, Vedado, tel. 07/836-7832 or 07/861-3462, Mon.-Wed. and Fri. 8:30am-4pm, Thurs. and Sat. 8:30am-11am); you need CUC25 of stamps purchased at any bank, plus proof of medical insurance and airline reservation to exit. Journalists and others requiring special treatment are handled by the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (Ministry of Foreign Relations, Calzada #360, e/ G y H, Vedado, tel. 07/830-9775, www.cubaminrex.cu).
The main customs office is on Avenida del Puerto, opposite Plaza de San Francisco.
Consulates and Embassies
The following nations have embassies/consulates in Havana. Those of other countries can be found in the local telephone directory under Embajadas.
• Australia: c/o Canadian Embassy
• Canada: Calle 30 #518, esq. 7ma, Miramar, tel. 07/204-2516
• United Kingdom: Calle 34 #702, e/ 7ma y 17-A, Miramar, tel. 07/204-1771
• United States: Calzada, e/ L y M, Vedado, tel. 07/833-3551 or 07/833-3559, emergency/after hours tel. 07/833-3026, http://havana.usembassy.gov
Information Bureaus
Infotur (tel. 07/204-0624, www.infotur.cu), the government tourist information bureau, has nine outlets in Havana, including in the arrivals lounges at José Martí International Airport (Terminal Three, tel. 07/266-4094, 24 hours) and at the Terminal de Cruceros (Cruise Terminal), plus the following outlets in Havana (daily 8:30am-8:30pm):
• Calle Obispo, e/ Bernazas y Villegas, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/866-3333
• Calle Obispo, esq. San Ignacio, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/863-6884
• Calle 23 e/ L y M, Vedado, tel. 07/832-9288
• 5ta Avenida, esq. Calle 112, Miramar, tel. 07/204-3977
Most large tourist hotels have nurses on duty. Other hotels will be able to request a doctor for in-house diagnosis.
Hospitals
Tourists needing medical assistance are steered to the Clínica Internacional Cira García (Calle 20 #4101, esq. Av. 41, Miramar, tel. 07/204-2811, www.cirag.cu, 24 hours), a full-service hospital dedicated to serving foreigners. It’s the finest facility in Cuba.
The Centro Internacional Oftalmológica Camilo Cienfuegos (Calle L, e/ Línea y 13, Vedado, tel. 07/832-5554) specializes in eye disorders but also offers a range of medical services.
Pharmacies
Local pharmacies serving Cubans are meagerly stocked. For homeopathic remedies try Farmacia Ciren (Calle 216, esq. 11B, Playa, tel. 07/271-5044).
Your best bets are the farmacias internacionales, stocked with imported medicines. They’re located at the Hotel Sevilla (Prado esq Zulueta, tel. 07/861-5703, daily 8:30am-7:30pm), Hospital Camilo Cienfuegos (Calle L, e/ Línea y 13, Vedado, tel. 07/832-5554, cirpcc@infomed.sid.cu, daily 8am-8pm), the Galería Comercial Habana Libre (Calle 25 y L, Vedado, Mon.-Sat. 10am-7:30pm), the Clínica Internacional Cira García (Calle 20 #4101, esq. Av. 41, Miramar, tel. 07/204-2880, 24 hours), the Farmacia Internacional (Av. 41, esq. 20, Miramar, tel. 07/204-2051, daily 8:30am-8:30pm), and in the Edificio Habana at the Miramar Trade Center (3ra Av., e/ 76 y 80, Miramar, tel. 07/204-4515, Mon.-Fri. 8am-6pm).
Opticians
Ópticas Miramar (Neptuno #411, e/ San Nicolás y Manrique, Centro Habana, tel. 07/863-2161, and 7ma Av., e/ Calle 24 y 26, Miramar, tel. 07/204-2990) provides services.
Havana is amazingly safe, and tourist zones are patrolled by police officers 24/7. Still, Havana is not entirely safe. Most crime is opportunistic, and thieves seek easy targets. Centro Habana is a center for street crime against tourists.
Avoid all dark back streets at night, especially those in southern Habana Vieja and Centro Habana, and anywhere in the Cerro district and other slum districts or wherever police are not present (these areas can be unsafe by day). I was mugged on a main street in Centro in broad daylight.
Beyond Habana Vieja, most parks should be avoided at night. Be cautious and circumspect of all jineteros.
Haircuts
For a clean cut, head to ArteCorte (Calle Aguiar #10, e/ Peña Pobre y Avenida de los Misiones, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/861-0202), on “Hairdressers’ Alley.” The fun, offbeat setting full of amazingly eclectic art and barber-related miscellany is unique. Or try Salón Correo Barbería (Brasil, e/ Oficios y Mercaderes, Habana Vieja, Mon.-Sat. 8am-6pm), an old-style barbershop. I use Olimpo Salón (tel. 07/860-6627, ext. 1960, or 5273-1371), in the basement of the Hotel Parque Central Torre.
Laundry
In Miramar, Aster Lavandería (Calle 34 #314, e/ 3ra y 5ta, Miramar, tel. 07/204-1622, Mon.-Fri. 8am-5pm, Sat. 8am-noon) has a wash-and-dry service (CUC3 per load) and dry cleaning (CUC2 for pants, CUC1.50 for shirts for three-day service; more for same-day service). There’s also a laundry in the Complejo Comercial Comodoro (3ra Av., esq. 84, tel. 07/204-5551).
Legal Services
Consultoría Jurídica Internacional (CJI, International Judicial Consultative Bureau, Calle 16 #314, e/ 3ra y 5ta, Miramar, tel. 07/204-2490) provides legal services, as does the Bufete Internacional (5ta Av. esq. 40, Miramar, tel. 07/204-436, bufete@bufeteinternacional.cu).
Libraries
The Biblioteca Nacional (National Library, Av. de la Independencia, esq. 20 de Mayo, tel. 07/881-5442, www.bnjm.cu, Mon.-Fri. 8:15am-6pm, Sat. 8:15am-4pm), on the east side of Plaza de la Revolución, has about 500,000 texts. Getting access, however, is another matter. Five categories of individuals are permitted to use the library, including students and professionals, but not lay citizens. Foreigners can obtain a library card valid for one year (CUC3) if they have a letter from a sponsoring Cuban government agency and/or ID establishing academic credentials, plus two photographs and a passport, which you need to hand over whenever you wish to consult books. The antiquated, dilapidated file system makes research a Kafkaesque experience. There is no open access to books. Instead, individuals must request a specific work, which is then brought to you; your passport or (for Cubans) personal ID is recorded along with the purpose of your request.
The Universidad de la Habana, in Vedado, has several libraries, including the Biblioteca Central (San Lázaro, esq. Ronda, tel. 07/878-5573 or 07/878-3951).
The Biblioteca Provincial de la Habana (Obispo, Plaza de Armas, tel. 07/862-9035, Mon.-Fri. 8:15am-7pm, Sat. 8:15am-4:30pm) is a meagerly stocked affair. It’s closed the first Monday of each month.
Cuba Libro (Calle 24, esq. 19, Vedado, tel. 07/830-5205, Mon.-Sat. 10am-8pm), a small English-language bookstore, café, and literary salon, has a shaded patio to enjoy the company of expat literati.
Toilets
The only modern public toilet to Western standards is on the ground floor of the Lonja del Comercio, Plaza de Armas. Most hotels and restaurants will let you use their facilities. An attendant usually sits outside the door dispensing a few sheets of toilet paper for pocket change (also note the bowl with a few coins, which is meant to invite a tip).
Air
José Martí International Airport (switchboard tel. 07/266-4644) is 25 kilometers southwest of downtown Havana, in the Wajay district. It has five terminals spaced well apart and accessed by different roads (nor are they linked by a connecting bus service).
Terminal One: This terminal (tel. 07/275-1200) serves domestic flights.
Terminal Two: Charter flights and other select flights from the Caribbean, South America, and Europe arrive at Terminal Two. Occasionally other flights pull in here, although outbound flights will invariably depart Terminal Three.
Terminal Three: All international flights, including United States-Havana flights, arrive at Terminal Three (tel. 07/642-6225 or 07/266-4133 for arrivals and departures) on the north side of the airport. Immigration proceedings are slow. Beware porters who grab your bags outside; they’ll expect a tip for hauling your bag the few meters to a taxi. A 24-hour Infotur (tel. 07/266-4094) tourist information office is outside the customs lounge. Check in here if you have prepaid vouchers for transfers into town. A foreign exchange counter is also outside the customs lounge.
Terminal Four: This terminal is for cargo.
Terminal Five: Aero Caribbean flights arrive here, as do private planes. It has taxi service and car rental offices.
In 2016, the Cuban government granted a French company the right to upgrade, expand, and ultimately manage the airport. A military airfield at San Antonio de los Baños is to be converted into a new terminal to handle private planes and possibly all U.S. flights (or cargo). It’s one hour from downtown Havana.
DEPARTING CUBA
Since 2015 a CUC25 departure tax is included in your airline ticket price. Make sure you arrive at the correct terminal for your departure. Terminals Two and Three have VIP lounges (tel. 07/642-0247 or 07/642-6225, salonvip@hav.ecasa.avianet.cu, CUC25 including drinks and snacks).
Bus
There’s no bus service from either of the international terminals. A public bus marked Aeropuerto departs from Terminal One (domestic flights) for Vedado and the east side of Parque Central in Habana Vieja. The bus is intended for Cubans, and foreigners may be refused. It runs about once every two hours. When heading to the airport, the cola (line) begins near the José Martí statue at Parque Central. There are two lines: one for people wishing to be seated (sentados) and one for those willing to stand (de pie). The journey costs one peso, takes about one hour, and is very unreliable.
Alternatively, you can catch Metrobus P12 (originating in Santiago de las Vegas) or Ómnibus #480 from the east side of Avenida de la Independencia, about a 10-minute walk east of the terminal—no fun with baggage. The bus goes to Parque de la Fraternidad on the edge of Habana Vieja (20 pesos). The journey takes about one hour, but the wait can be just as long. When heading to the airport, you can catch Ómnibus #480 or Metrobus P12 from the west side of Parque de la Fraternidad (you can also get on the P12 near the Universidad de la Habana on Avenida Salvador Allende). Both go to Santiago de las Vegas via the domestic terminal (Terminal One), but they will let you off about 400 meters east of Terminal Two. Do not use this bus for the international terminal.
Taxi
Cubataxi taxis wait outside the arrivals lounges. Official rates are CUC20-25 to downtown hotels, but most drivers will not use their meter. Avoid private (illegal) taxis, as several foreigners have been robbed.
Car Rental
These companies have booths at Terminal Three: Cubacar (tel. 07/649-9800), Havanautos (tel. 07/649-5197), and Rex (tel. 07/266-6074). These have booths at Terminal Two: Cubacar (tel. 07/649-5546), Havanautos (tel. 07/649-5215), and Rex (tel. 07/649-0306).
Cruise Ship
Havana’s Terminal Sierra Maestra (Av. del Puerto, tel. 07/862-1925) is a natty conversion of the old customs building. Passengers step through the doorways directly onto Plaza de San Francisco, in the heart of Havana.
Private Vessel
Private yachts berth at Marina Hemingway (Av. 5ta y Calle 248, Santa Fe, tel. 07/273-7972, www.nauticamarlin.tur.cu), 15 kilometers west of downtown. The harbor coordinates are 23° 5’N and 82° 29’W. You should announce your arrival on VHF Channel 16, HF Channel 68, and SSB 2790.
Visas are not required for stays of less than 72 hours. For longer stays you’ll need a tourist card (CUC25), issued at the harbormaster’s office (tel. 07/204-1150, ext. 2884) at the end of channel B. Docking fees (CUC0.35 per foot per day) include water and electricity. Gasoline and diesel are available 8am-7pm (tel. 07/204-1150, ext. 450).
Exploring Beyond Havana
AIR
Cubana (Calle 23 #64, e/ P y Infanta, Vedado, tel. 07/870-9430, www.cubana.cu, Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-4pm, Sat. 8am-1pm) offers service to all major Cuban cities. Most domestic flights leave from José Martí International Airport’s Terminal One (Av. Van Troi, off Av. Rancho Boyeros, tel. 07/275-1200).
AeroGaviota (Av. 47 #2814, e/ 28 y 34, Rpto. Kohly, tel. 07/204-2621 or 07/203-0668, www.aerogaviota.com) flights depart from Aeropuerto Baracao, about three kilometers west of Marina Hemingway.
BUS
Modern Víazul buses (Av. 26, esq. Zoológico, Nuevo Vedado, tel. 07/881-1413 or 07/883-6092, www.viazul.com, daily 7am-9:30pm) serve provincial capitals and major tourist destinations nationwide. They depart Terminal Víazul, which has a café and free luggage storage. It does not accept reservations by telephone; you must go in person or make a reservation on the website.
Ómnibus Nacionales buses to destinations throughout the country leave from the Terminal de Ómnibuses Nacionales. However, they do not accept foreigners, except for students with appropriate ID, who can travel like Cubans for pesos. Make your reservation as early as possible, either at the bus terminal or at the Agencia Reservaciones de Pasaje (Factor y Tulipán, Nuevo Vedado, tel. 07/870-9401). Your name will be added to the scores of names ahead of you. If you don’t have a reservation or miss your departure, you can try getting on the standby list (lista de espera, tel. 07/862-4341) at Terminal de la Última Hora (Calle Gancedo e/ Villanueva y Linea de Ferrocarril), in southwest Habana Vieja.
TRAIN
Estación Central de Ferrocarril: The main station is the Central Railway Station (Egido, esq. Arsenal, Habana Vieja, tel. 07/861-2959 or 07/862-1920), or Terminal de Trenes. Unfortunately, Cuba’s already dysfunctional system became more so when the station closed for lengthy repairs in 2015 (through at least 2018), and services were moved to Terminal La Coubre (Av. del Puerto, tel. 07/860-0700), 400 meters south of the main railway station (and Estación 19 de Noviembre for Pinar del Río). Tickets can be purchased up to one hour prior to departure, but you must purchase your ticket before 8pm for a nighttime departure. As soon as the main station repair is completed, Terminal La Coubre is slated to close for repair.
Estación 19 de Noviembre: Local commuter trains (ferro-ómnibuses) operate from this station (Calle Tulipán and Hidalgo, tel. 07/881-4431), also called Estación Tulipán, south of Plaza de la Revolución. Trains depart to San Antonio de los Baños and Rincón at 10:05am and 4:25pm (CUC1.70); to Artemisa at 5:45pm (CUC2.20); and to Batabanó at 5pm (CUC1.80).
Estación Casablanca: The Hershey Train operates to Matanzas five times daily from Casablanca’s harborfront station (tel. 07/862-4888) on the north side of Havana harbor.
Bus
TOURIST BUS
Havana has a double-decker tourist bus service, the HabanaBusTour (tel. 07/261-9017, daily 9am-9pm), which is perfect for first-time visitors who want to get their bearings and catch the main sights. For just CUC5 a day, you can hop on and off as many times as you wish at any of the 44 stops served by a fleet of buses covering 95 miles of route.
HabanaBusTour in Habana Vieja
The T1 route (double-decker) begins on the west side of Parque Central and does a figure eight around the perimeter of Habana Vieja, and then heads through Vedado and Miramar. The T3 minibus is a great way to get out to the Playas del Este.
PUBLIC BUS
Havana is served by often crowded public buses, or guaguas (pronounced WAH-wahs). No buses operate within Habana Vieja except along the major peripheral thoroughfares.
Most buses run at least hourly during the day but on reduced schedules 11pm-5am. The standard fare for any journey throughout the city is 20 centavos, or 40 centavos on smaller buses called ómnibuses ruteros, which have the benefit of being uncrowded. Taxibuses—buses that ply a fixed, nonstop route to the airport and bus and train stations—charge one peso.
Many buses follow a loop route, traveling to and from destinations along different streets. Few routes are in a circle. (If you find yourself going in the wrong direction, don’t assume that you’ll eventually come around to where you want to be.) Most buses display the bus number and destination above the front window. Many buses arrive and depart from Parque Central and Parque de la Fraternidad in Habana Vieja and La Rampa (Calle 23) in Vedado, especially at Calle L and at Calzada de Infanta.
Taxi
Modern taxis serve the tourist trade while locals make do with wheezing jalopies. Hundreds of cuentaspropistas now offer private taxi service, and on almost any street you’ll be solicited.
CUC TAXIS
The scene has been flipped on its head since 2013, when Transtur operated all turistaxis as Cubataxi (tel. 07/855-5555). Cubataxi still exists, but the taxi drivers are now self-employed and lease the vehicles, which can be hailed outside hotels or by calling for radio dispatch. Taxis range from modern Mercedes to beat-up Ladas. Only the most modern vehicles have functioning seat belts.
Some taxis are metered (CUC1 at flag drop, then CUC0.50 a kilometer); few drivers will use the meter, but will instead ask how much you want to pay. Alas, the U.S. tourist tsunami has inflated taxi rates. Expect to pay CUC10 between Habana Vieja and the Hotel Habana Libre Tryp, and minimum CUC12 to Miramar. Bargain the price before setting off! A light above the cab signifies if the taxi is libre (free).
Need a minivan? Gerardo Rojas (tel. 5273-3398) has served me well in a 13-seat Hyundai.
CLASSIC CARS
Fancy tooling around in a 1950 Studebaker or a 1959 Buick Invicta convertible? Private cars can be rented outside most major tourist hotels (CUC40-60 per hour, depending on car). Nostalgicar (tel 07/641-4053 or 5295-3842, www.nostalgicarcuba.com) can supply a fleet of hard-top Chevys to meet you at the airport and drive you around. Vintage Tours (tel. 5840-5403, www.vintagetour-cuba.com) offers tours (from CUC70 for two hours), as does OldCarTours (tel. 07/289-9155, www.oldcartours.com).
The state agency Gran Car (Calle Marino, esq. Santa María, Nuevo Vedado, tel. 07/855-5567, grancardp@transnet.cu) rents classic-car taxis for CUC30 per hour (20-km limit the first hour, with shorter limits per extra hour).
PESO TAXIS
Privately owned 1950s-era colectivos or máquinas run along fixed routes, much like buses, and charge 50 pesos for a ride anywhere along the route. Parque de las Agrimensores, on the north side of the railway station, is the official starting point for most routes. It’s fun, so hop in—but don’t slam the door!
BICI-TAXIS
Hundreds of homespun tricycle taxis with shade canopies ply the streets of Habana Vieja and Centro. The minimum fare is usually CUC2. You can go the full length of the Malecón, from Habana Vieja to Vedado, for CUC5. Always agree to a fare before setting off. These jalopies are barred from certain streets and areas, so you might end up taking a zigzag route to your destination.
COCO-TAXIS
These cutesy three-wheeled eggshells on wheels whiz around the touristed areas of Havana and charge the same as taxis. However, they are inherently unsafe.
COCHES
Horse-drawn coaches are a popular way of exploring the Malecón and Old Havana, although the buggies are barred from entering the pedestrian-only quarter. They’re operated by San Cristóbal Agencia de Viajes (tel. 07/861-9171). Their official starting point is the junction of Empedrado and Tacón, but you can hail them wherever you see them. Others can be hailed on Parque Central, and at Plaza de la Revolución. They charge CUC10 per person for one hour.
Car
The narrow one-way streets in Habana Vieja are purgatory for vehicles. The main plazas and streets between them are barred to traffic.
A treacherously potholed four-lane freeway—the Autopista Circular (route Calle 100 or circunvalación)—encircles southern and eastern Havana, linking the arterial highways and separating the core from suburban Havana. The intersections are dangerous.
PARKING
A capital city without parking meters? Imagine. Parking meters were detested during the Batista era, mostly because they were a source of botellas (skimming) for corrupt officials. After the triumph of the Revolution, habaneros smashed the meters. However, the state employs custodios in red vests to collect fees around many parks and major streets.
Avoid No Parking zones like the plague, especially if it’s an officials-only zone. Havana has an efficient towing system.
Never leave your car parked unguarded. In central Vedado, the Hotel Habana Libre Tryp has an underground car park (CUC0.60 for one hour, CUC6 max. for 24 hours).
CAR RENTAL
All hotels have car rental booths, and there are scores of outlets citywide.
Transtur (Calle L #456, e/ 25 y 27, Vedado, tel. 07/835-0000) operates the two main car rental agencies: Cubacar (Calle 21, e/ N y O, Vedado, Havana, tel. 07/836-4038) and Havanautos (tel. 07/285-0703).
Rex (tel. 07/273-9166 or 07/835-6830, www.rex.cu) employs Hyundais, VWs, and Audis and has offices at the airport; in Vedado (Malecón y Línea, tel. 07/835-7788); in Miramar at Hotel Neptuno-Triton (tel. 07/204-2213) and 5ta Av. y 92 (tel. 07/209-2207); the cruise terminal (tel. 07/862-6343); and in the Hotel Parque Central Torre (Zulueta esq. Virtudes, tel. 07/860-0096).
Bicycle
Bicycling offers a chance to explore the city alongside Cubans, although very few habaneros cycle and the city has no bicycle culture.
Specially converted buses—the ciclobuses—ferry cyclists and their bicis through the tunnel beneath Havana harbor (10 centavos). Buses depart from Parque de la Fraternidad and Calle Tacón at the corner of Aguiar (Habana Vieja).
Tito, of Bike Rentals & Tours (Av. de los Presidentes #359 Apto. 11A e/ 15 y 17, tel. 5841-4839 or 5463-7103, www.bikerentalhavana.com), rents cruiser-type bikes (CUC15 daily) and offers three-hour guided tours (CUC25). He also has bikes equipped for longer journeys beyond Havana (CUC17 per day). Roma Rent Bike & City Tour (Compostela #255 e/ Obispo y O’Reilly, tel. 5436-4243 and 5501-3562) charges similar rates for its 18-speed rental bikes.
Ferry
Tiny ferries (standing room only) bob across the harbor between the Havana waterfront and Regla (on the east side of the bay) and Casablanca (on the north side of the bay). The ferries, which operate 24 hours, leave irregularly from Emboque de Luz wharf on Avenida San Pedro at the foot of Calle Luz in Habana Vieja (tel. 07/797-7473 in Regla); the ride costs 10 centavos and takes five minutes.
Organized Excursions
Havanatur (Calle 23, esq. M, Vedado, tel. 07/830-3107 or 07/201-9800, www.havanatur.cu, daily 8am-8pm) offers a city tour, including walking tour, plus excursions to key sights in the suburbs and farther afield.
Agencia de Viajes San Cristóbal (Oficios #110, e/ Lamparilla y Amargura, tel. 07/861-9171, daily 8:30am-5pm) offers city excursions—from a walking tour of Habana Vieja (daily 10am) to modern Havana for architecture buffs. However, at press time it had been taken over the the military economic division, GAESA, and its status was in flux.
Paradiso (Calle 82 #8202 esq. 5ta, Miramar, tel. 07/204-0601, contacto@paradiso.artex.cu, and Calle 23 y P, tel. 07/836-5381) offers cultural programs.
PRIVATE GUIDES
Curated Cuba Tours (www.curatedcubatours.com) arranges personalized multiday itineraries for groups of four people or more, with private guides. Tours by Locals (www.toursbylocals.com) offers guiding services with Havana-born guides.
Jineteros (street hustlers) will offer to be your guide. They’re usually useless as sightseeing guides, and most will pull a scam.
This rural colonial-era town is 20 kilometers south of Havana. It is accessed via Avenida de la Independencia.
Mausoleo de General Antonio Maceo Grajales
Avenida de los Mártires rises south of Santiago de las Vegas and deposits you at El Cacahual. Here, Antonio Maceo Grajales (1845-1896), general and hero of the independence movement, slumbers in a mausoleum engraved in the style of Mexican artist Diego Rivera. The mausoleum also contains the tomb of Capitán Ayudante (Captain-Adjutant) Francisco Gómez Toro (1876-1896), General Máximo Gómez’s son, who gave his life alongside Maceo at the Battle of San Pedro on December 7, 1896.
Santuario de San Lázaro
Cuba’s most important pilgrimage site is the Sanctuary of San Lázaro (Carretera de San Antonio de los Baños, tel. 047/683-2396, daily 7am-7pm, free), on the west side of Rincón, a hamlet about four kilometers southwest of Santiago de las Vegas. The church, Iglesia de San Lázaro, is busy with mendicants who have come to have their children baptized. Behind the church is the Parque de la Fuente de Agua, where believers bathe their hands and feet in a fountain to give thanks to Babalu Ayé, while others fill bottles with what they consider holy water. The Los Cocos sanatorium, behind the garden, houses leprosy and AIDS patients.
San Lázaro is the patron saint of the sick (in Santería, his avatar is Babalú Ayé). His symbol is the crutch, his stooped figure is covered in sores, and in effigy he goes about attended by his two dogs. Limbless beggars and other unfortunates crowd at the gates and plead for a charitable donation.
A procession to the sanctuary takes place the 17th of each month. The annual Procesión de los Milagros (Procession of the Miracles) takes place December 17, drawing thousands of pilgrims to beseech or give thanks to the saint for miracles they imagine he has the power to grant. The villagers of Rincón do a thriving business selling votive candles and flowers. Penitents crawl on their hands and knees as others sweep the road ahead with palm fronds.
Getting There and Away
Buses P12 (from Parque de la Fraternidad) and P16 (from outside Hospital Hermanos Ameijeiras, in Centro Habana) link Havana to Santiago de las Vegas. Ómnibus #480 also serves Santiago de las Vegas from Havana’s main bus terminal (Av. Independencia #101, Plaza de la Revolución, tel. 07/870-9401). The Terminal de Ómnibus (Calle al Rincón #43, tel. 07/683-3159) is on the southwest side of town, on the road to Rincón.
A three-car train departs Havana’s Estación 19 de Noviembre (Tulipán) at 10:05am and 4:25pm, stopping at Rincón (CUC1). Trains run continuously on December 17. If driving, follow Carretera al Rincón, which begins at the bus station on the southwest edge of Santiago de las Vegas; bus #476 also runs from here.
This municipio lies east of Boyeros and due south of Havana.
Parque Zoológico Nacional
On Avenida Zoo-Lenin, Cuba’s national zoo (Av. 8, esq. Av. Soto, tel. 07/644-7618 or 643-8063, comercial@pzn.cubazoo.cu, Wed.-Sun. 9:30am-3:15pm, adults CUC3, children CUC2), southeast of the village of Arroyo Naranjo, about 16 kilometers south of central Havana, contains about 1,000 animals, but the cages are small and bare, and many of the animals look woefully neglected.
Tour buses (CUC2) depart the parking lot about every 30 minutes and run through a wildlife park (pradera africana) resembling the African savanna, including a foso de leones (lion pit).
To get to the main entrance, take Avenida de la Independencia to Avenida San Francisco (the parque is signed at the junction), which merges with the circunvalación. Take the first exit to the right and follow Calzada de Bejucal south. Turn right onto Avenida Zoo-Lenin (signed).
Metrobus P12 operates from Parque de la Fraternidad, in Habana Vieja.
Parque Lenin
Lenin Park (Calle 100 y Carretera de la Presa, tel. 07/647-1533, Tues.-Sun. 9am-5pm), east of the zoo, was created from a former hacienda and landscaped mostly by volunteer labor. The vast complex features wide rolling pastures and small lakes surrounded by forests. What Lenin Park lacks in grandeur and stateliness (it is badly deteriorated), it makes up for in scale.
The park is bounded by the circunvalación to the north and Calzada de Bejucal to the west; there is an entrance off Calzada de Bejucal. A second road—Calle Cortina de la Presa—enters from the circunvalación, runs down the center of the park, and is linked to Calzada de Bejucal by a loop road; an information bureau (tel. 07/647-1165) is midway down Calle Cortina de la Presa.
The Galería del Arte Amelia Peláez, at the south end of Cortina, displays works by the eponymous Cuban ceramist. A short distance to the west is the Monumento Lenin, a huge granite visage of the Communist leader and thinker in Soviet-realist style, carved by Soviet sculptor I. E. Kerbel. Farther west, you’ll pass an aquarium (entrance CUC1) displaying freshwater fish, turtles, and Cuban crocodiles. About 400 meters west of the aquarium is the Monumento a Celia Sánchez. Here, a trail follows a wide apse to a small museum fronting a bronze figure of the revolutionary heroine.
On the north side, the Palacio de Pioneros Che Guevara displays stainless steel sculptures of Che, plus a full-scale replica of the Granma (the vessel that brought Castro and his revolutionaries from Mexico).
An equestrian center, Centro Ecuestre (tel. 07/647-2436, daily 9am-5pm), also called Club Hípico, immediately east of the entrance off Calzada de Bejucal, offers one-hour trips (CUC15) plus free riding lessons for children, and has show-jumping exhibitions on Saturday morning, plus an annual show-jumping event (Subasta Elite de Caballos de Salto) in January. Horseback riding is also offered on weekends at El Rodeo, the national rodeo arena, in the southeast corner of the park. El Rodeo has rodeo every Sunday, with rodeo pionero (for youth) at noon and competitive adult rodeo at 3pm. The Feria de Rodeo (the national championship) is held each August 25.
A narrow-gauge railway circles the park, stopping at four stages. The old steam train (Sat.-Sun. 10am-4pm, four pesos), dating from 1870, departs from the information bureau in winter only and takes 25 minutes to circle the park. Another old steam train—El Trencito—is preserved in front of the disused Terminal Inglesa.
A parque de diversiones (theme park) in the northwest quarter includes carousels, a Ferris wheel, and pony rides.
Bus P13 operates between La Víbora and the park. Buses #88 and #113 leave from the north side of Havana’s main railway station and continue to ExpoCuba.
ExpoCuba
ExpoCuba, on the Carretera del Globo (official address Carretera del Rocío, Km 3.5, Arroyo Naranjo, tel. 07/697-9111, Wed.-Sun. 10am-5pm, closed Sept.-Dec., CUC1), three kilometers south of Parque Lenin, houses a permanent exhibition of Cuban industry, technology, sports, and culture touting the achievements of socialism. The facility covers 588,000 square meters and is a museum, trade expo, world’s fair, and entertainment hall rolled into one. It has 34 pavilions, including booths that display the crafts, products, music, and dance of each of Cuba’s provinces. Pabellones Central and 14 have Wi-Fi.
Jardín Botánico Nacional
This 600-hectare botanical garden (tel. 07/697-9364, daily 8am-4pm, CUC1, or CUC4 including guide), directly opposite ExpoCuba, doesn’t have the fine-trimmed herbaceous borders of Kew or Butchart but nonetheless is worth the drive for enthusiasts. Thirty-five kilometers of roads lead through the park, which was laid out between 1969 and 1984. You can drive your own vehicle with a guide, or take a guided tour aboard a tractor-trailer.
The garden consists mostly of wide pastures planted with copses divided by Cuban ecosystems and by regions of the tropical world (from coastal thicket to Oriental humid forest). There is even a permanent bonsai exhibit, and an “archaic forest” contains species such as Microcyca calocom, Cuba’s cork palm. The highlight is the Jardín Japonés (Japanese Garden), landscaped with tiered cascades, fountains, and a jade-green lake full of koi. The Invernáculo Rincón Eckman is a massive greenhouse named after Erik Leonard Eckman (1883-1931), who documented Cuban flora between 1914 and 1924. It is laid out as a triptych with greenhouses for cactus, epiphytes, ferns, insectivorous plants, and tropical mountain plants.
Club Gallístico Finca Alcona
Fascinated by cockfighting or aviculture? The state-run Club Gallístico Finca Alcona (Calzada de Managua, Km 17.5, tel. 07/644-9398 or 07/643-1217, Tues.-Sun. 9am-7pm, tours 10am-3pm, CUC10 including lunch), two kilometers northeast of Managua, on the east side of the botanical garden, raises gallo fino gamecocks for export. It displays the cocks in a ring (8am-11am Sat.-Sun. Dec.-June, Sat. only July-Nov.) and has brief cockfighting exhibitions, but not to the death. It has two thatched restaurants.
Food
One of Havana’s most sensational paladares, S Il Divino (Calle Raquel #50 e/ Esperanza y Lindero, Rpto. Castillo de Averhoff, Mantilla, tel. 07/643-7743 or 5812-7164, www.cubarestaurantedivino.com, daily 11am-midnight), four kilometers northeast of Parque Lenin, feels like a piece of Tuscany transplanted, complete with Italianate furnishings. That’s because the owners are Italian businessman Marco DeLuca and his Cuban wife, Yoandra. Try the pumpkin soup (CUC3), stuffed peppers (CUC4), fish fillet in strawberry sauce (CUC8), or lamb in red wine sauce (C7). Pizzas and pastas are also served. It has a superb basement wine cellar with bar. It can get packed with tour groups; reservations are essential. On Sundays, Cuban families descend to enjoy cultural activities in the organic garden, known as Finca Yoandra.
Las Ruinas (Calle 100 y Cortina, tel. 07/643-8527, Tues.-Sun. noon-5pm), in Parque Lenin, looks like something Frank Lloyd Wright might have conceived. The restaurant was designed in concrete and encases the ruins of an old sugar mill. It serves continental and criolla cuisine (lobster Bellevue is a specialty, CUC20).
Parque Lenin has several basic restaurants serving simple criolla dishes for pesos.
The Restaurante El Bambú (tel. 07/697-9159, Tues.-Sun. noon-5pm), overlooking the Japanese Garden in the Jardín Botánico Nacional, bills itself as an eco-restorán and serves vegetables—beetroot, cassava, pumpkin, spinach, taro, and more—grown right there in the garden. It offers an all-you-can eat buffet (CUC1).
The municipio of San Miguel del Padrón, southeast of Habana Vieja, is mostly residential, with factory areas by the harbor and timeworn colonial housing on the hills south of town. The region is accessed from the Vía Blanca or (parallel to it) Calzada de Luyano via the Carretera Central (Calzada de Güines), which ascends to the village of San Francisco de Paula, 12.5 kilometers south of Habana Vieja.
S Museo Ernest Hemingway
In 1939, Hemingway’s third wife, Martha Gellhorn, saw and was struck by Finca Vigía (Vigía y Steinhart, tel. 07/691-0809, mushem@cubart.cult.cu, Mon.-Sat. 10am-5pm, entrance CUC5, guided tours CUC5), a one-story Spanish-colonial house built in 1887 and boasting a wonderful view of Havana. They rented Lookout Farm for US$100 a month. When Hemingway’s first royalty check from For Whom the Bell Tolls arrived in 1940, he bought the house for US$18,500. In August 1961, his widow, Mary Welsh, was forced to sign papers handing over the home to the Castro government, along with its contents. On July 21, 1994, on the 95th anniversary of Papa’s birth, Finca Vigía reopened its doors as a museum, just the way the great writer left it.
Bougainvilleas frame the gateway to the eight-hectare hilltop estate—today the most visited museum in Cuba. Mango trees and jacarandas line the driveway leading up to the house. No one is allowed inside—reasonably so, since every room can be viewed through the wide-open windows, and the temptation to pilfer priceless trinkets is thus reduced. Through the large windows, you can see trophies, firearms, bottles of spirits, old issues of The Field, Spectator, and Sports Afield strewn about, and more than 9,000 books, arranged in his fashion, with no concern for authors or subjects.
It is eerie being followed by countless eyes—those of the guides (one to each room) and of the beasts that found themselves in the crosshairs of Hemingway’s hunting scope. “Don’t know how a writer could write surrounded by so many dead animals,” Graham Greene commented when he visited. There are bulls, too, including paintings by Paul Klee; photographs and posters of bullfighting scenes; and a chalk plate of a bull’s head, a gift from Picasso.
Here Hemingway wrote Islands in the Stream, Across the River and into the Trees, A Moveable Feast, and The Old Man and the Sea. The four-story tower next to the house was built at his fourth wife’s prompting so that he could write undisturbed. Hemingway disliked the tower and continued writing amid the comings and goings of the house, surrounded by papers, shirtless, in Bermuda shorts. Today, the tower contains exhibitions with floors dedicated to Hemingway’s sportfishing and films.
The former garage is to be restored to display Hemingway’s last car—a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker convertible, which was recovered in 2011 in destitute shape and at press time was being restored.
Hemingway’s legendary cabin cruiser, the Pilar, is poised beneath a wooden pavilion on the former tennis court, shaded by bamboo and royal palms. Nearby are the swimming pool (where guests such as Ava Gardner swam naked) and the graves of four of Hemingway’s dogs.
Several bus lines service the museum. The P7 Metrobus departs from Industria, between Dragones and Avenida Simón Bolívar, Parque de la Fraternidad, in Habana Vieja. P1 runs from La Rampa; the P2 runs from Paseo, in Vedado.
The charming colonial village of Santa María del Rosario, 20 kilometers south of Parque Central, is in the municipio of Cotorro, about five kilometers southeast of San Francisco de Paula. The village was founded in 1732 by José Bayona y Chacón, the Conde (Count) de Casa Bayona, and was an important spa in colonial days.
Venerable 18th- and 19th-century buildings surround Plaza Mayor, the main square. Casa del Conde Bayona (Calle 33 #2404, esq. 24, tel. 07/682-3510, daily noon-10pm), the count’s former home, includes a coach house. The Casa de la Cultura (Calle 33 #202, esq. 24, tel. 07/682-4259), on the west side, features a patio mural by world-renowned Cuban artist Manuel Mendive.
The main reason to visit is to view the baroque Iglesia de Santa María del Rosario (Calle 24, e/ 31 y 33, tel. 07/682-2183, Tues.-Sat. 8am-noon, Sun. 3:30pm-6pm), dominating the plaza. One of the nation’s finest churches, this national monument features a spectacular baroque altar of cedar dripping with gold leaf, a resplendent carved ceiling, plus four priceless art pieces by José Nicolás de Escalera.
Getting There
From Havana, take the P1 from La Rampa, P2 from Paseo in Vedado, or the P7 from Parque de la Fraternidad to Cotorro, then catch the #97.
Beyond the tunnel under Havana harbor, you travel the six-lane Vía Monumental freeway to modern Ciudad Panamericano, three kilometers east of Havana. It dates from the 1991 Pan-American Games, when a high-rise village was built in hurried, jerry-rigged style. Sports stadiums rise to each side of the Vía Monumental, most significantly the now-disused Estadio Panamericano (Vía Monumental, Km 4, Ciudad Panamericano). The desultory town has fallen to ruin.
Ciudad Panamericano is contiguous with Cojímar, a forlorn fishing village with a waterfront lined with weather-beaten cottages. Whitecaps are often whipped up in the bay, making the Cuban flag flutter above Fuerte de Cojímar (locally called El Torreón), a pocket-size fortress guarding the cove. It was here in 1762 that the English put ashore and marched on Havana to capture Cuba for King George III. It is slated to be restored as a museum.
Ernest Hemingway berthed his sportfishing boat, the Pilar, in Cojímar. When he died, every angler in the village donated a brass fitting from his boat. The collection was melted down to create a bust—Monumento Ernest Hemingway—that stares out to sea from within a columned rotunda at the base of El Torreón. A plaque reads: “Parque Ernest Hemingway. In grateful memory from the population of Cojímar to the immortal author of Old Man and the Sea, inaugurated July 21, 1962, on the 63rd anniversary of his birth.”
Cojímar was most famous as the residence of Gregorio Fuentes, Hemingway’s former skipper and friend, and the model for “Antonio” in Islands in the Stream. Fuentes died in 2002 at the grand old age of 104. The old man (who lived at Calle 98 #209, esq. 3D) could often be found regaling travelers in La Terraza (Calle 152 #161, esq. Candelaria, tel. 07/766-5151), where you can toast to his memory with a turquoise cocktail—Coctel Fuentes. You sense that Papa could stroll in at any moment. His favorite corner table is still there. He is there, too, patinated in bronze atop a pedestal, and adorning the walls in black and white, sharing a laugh with Fidel.
The funky fishing fleet shelters among the mangroves on the southeast bayshore. You might talk your way past the guard, but a footbridge gives you a birds-eye view of fishers bringing in and harvesting sharks (alas) and other fish.
Food and Accommodations
Islazul’s Hotel Panamericano (Calle A y Av. Central, tel. 07/766-1000), in Ciudad Panermicano, is popular with budget-tour operators. Despite a swimming pool, it offers nothing but regret for tourists.
In Cojímar, the shorefront Casa Hostal Marlins (Calle Real #128A, e/ Santo Domingo y Chacón, tel. 07/766-6154, CUC30-35) has a nice air-conditioned apartment upstairs with kitchenette, TV, an enclosed dining patio, and modern bathroom, plus parking.
After exploring, appease your hunger with soup and paella at Hemingway’s favorite restaurant, La Terraza (Calle 152 #161, esq. Candelaria, tel. 07/766-5151, daily 10:30am-10:30pm), with a gleaming mahogany bar at the front. The wide-ranging menu includes paella (CUC6-12), pickled shrimp (CUC6), oyster cocktail (CUC2), and sautéed calamari (CUC8).
S Café Ajiaco (Calle 92 #267 e/ 3ra y 5ta, tel. 07/765-0514, cafeajiaco@gmail.com, daily noon-midnight) serves delicious Cuban dishes alfresco under thatch. It packs in the tour groups; call ahead.
A steep, winding staircase delivers you to the second floor, open-air and breeze-swept Casa Grande (Calle Puezuela #86 esq. Foxa, tel. 07/766-6784, daily noon-midnight), where owner-chef Jorge Falcón cooks up a mean seafood grill (lobster, octopus, shrimp, and whitefish, CUC5-10), served with the usual trimmings. His pork ribs, the house special, earn raves. Reserve ahead.
Getting There and Around
Heading east from Havana on the Vía Monumental, take the first exit marked Cojímar and cross over the freeway to reach Ciudad Panamericano. For Cojímar, take the second exit. Metrobus P11 departs Paseo de Martí, opposite the Capitolio Nacional, in Habana Vieja, and runs along the Vía Monumental to Ciudad Panamericano. You can also catch it at the corner of Avenida de los Presidentes y 27 in Vedado.
On hot summer weekends all of Havana seems to come to Playas del Este to tan their bodies and flirt. The beaches stretch unbroken for six kilometers east-west, divided by name. A nearly constant breeze is usually strong enough to conjure surf from the warm turquoise seas—a perfect scenario for lazing, with occasional breaks for grilled fish from thatch-roofed ranchitas where you can eat practically with your feet in the water. Playas del Este is pushed as a hot destination for foreigners, bringing tourists and Cubans together for rendezvous under palapas and palms. It’s a nonstarter other than for a day visit.
When driving from Havana via the Vía Monumental, it’s easy to miss the turnoff, one kilometer east of the second (easternmost) turnoff for Cojímar, where the Vía Monumental splits awkwardly. Take the narrow Vía Blanca exit to the left to reach Playas del Este; the main Vía Monumental swings south (you’ll end up circling Havana on the circunvalación).
Tarará
Beyond the Río Tarará you pass Residencial Tarará (reception tel. 07/798-2937), a tourist resort at the far western end of Playas del Este, at Vía Blanca (Km 19). Before 1990 it was the Campamento de Pioneros José Martí, used by Cuban schoolchildren who combined study with beachside pleasures. Here, too, victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine were treated free of charge. It was here also that Castro operated his secret government that usurped that of President Manuel Urrutia Lleó after Batista was ousted. Che Guevara was convalescing here after his debilitating years of guerrilla warfare in the Sierra Maestra; Museo de Che (Calle 14, esq. 17) recalls his stay.
To the west is a delightful pocket beach that forms a spit at the river mouth; it has a volleyball court and shady palapas, plus a restaurant and marina with water sports. Bring snorkel gear: The river mouth channel has corals. The main beach, Playa Mégano, to the east, has a sand volleyball court and is served by the Casa Club complex (tel. 07/798-3242), with a swimming pool with grill and restaurant.
Entry costs CUC15 including CUC10 consumo mínimo; you must show your passport.
Santa María del Mar
Playa Mégano extends east from Tarará and merges into Playa Santa María del Mar, the broadest and most beautiful swathe, with golden sand shelving into turquoise waters. The beaches are palm-shaded and studded with umbrellas. Most of Playas del Este’s tourist facilities are here, including bars and water sports.
Playa Santa María runs east for about three kilometers to the mouth of the Río Itabo—a popular bathing spot for Cuban families. A large mangrove swamp centered on Laguna Itabo extends inland from the mouth of the river, where waterfowl can be admired.
Boca Ciega and Guanabo
Playa Boca Ciega begins east of the Río Itabo estuary and is popular with Cuban families. Moving eastward, Playa Boca Ciega merges into Playa Guanabo, the least-attractive beach, running for several kilometers along the shorefront of Guanabo, a Cuban village with plantation-style wooden homes and a vibrant touristic scene. (In 2015, a Chinese company signed a deal to build a $462 million hotel-golf course-condo project here.)
For grand views up and down the beaches, head inland of Guanabo to Mirador de Bellomonte (Vía Blanca, Km 24.5, tel. 07/796-3431, daily noon-10pm), a restaurant above the highway; it’s signed.
Recreation
Outlets on the beach rent watercraft (CUC15 for 15 minutes), Hobie Cats (CUC20 per hour), and beach chairs (CUC2 per day). Restaurante Mi Cayito (Av. las Terrazas, tel. 07/797-1339) rents kayaks and water bikes on the lagoon. Havana Kiteboarding Club (Calle Cobre e/ 12 y 14, tel. 5804-9656, www.havanakite.com) offers kiteboarding and stand-up paddleboarding at Tarará. Yuniel Valderrama (tel. 5284-4830, yunielvm80@nauta.cu) offers surfing and kitesurfing lessons at the west end of Playa Mégano.
Food
Almost a dozen beach grills line the shore and serve criolla fare and seafood, including grilled fish and lobster, as does Restaurante Mi Cayito (Av. las Terrazas, tel. 07/797-1339, daily 10am-6pm), overhanging the mangroves of Laguna Itabo.
In Guanabo, the best place is S Paladar Italiano Piccolo (5ta Av., e/ 502 y 504, tel. 07/796-4300, noon-midnight daily), a spacious private restaurant with river-stone walls adorned with Greek murals. Run by Greek owners, it offers surprisingly tasty Mediterranean fare, including wood-fired pizzas, served with hearty salads at low prices (CUC5-10). The private Restaurant Don Peppo (Calle 482 #503 e/ 5 y 7, noon-midnight) serves Italian dishes on a shaded terrace with suitably Italian ambience. Try the Hawaiian pizza (CUC5.80), fresh garlic octopus (CUC6), or mixed seafood plate (CUC9).
Air-conditioned Bim-Bom (5ta Av., esq. 464, tel. 07/796-6205) serves 32 flavors of ice cream along the lines of Baskin-Robbins.
Accommodations
One of the best casas particulares options is S Casa de Julio y Mileydis (Calle 468 #512, e/ 5ta y 7ma, Guanabo, tel. 07/796-0100, CUC30-35). Set in a beautiful garden, the apartment is equipped for people with disabilities and has a security box, large lounge with a kitchen, a simply furnished bedroom, and a small pool for children. It also has a bungalow. The owners are a pleasure.
If you want a more upscale beachfront villa, check out the stunning two-bedroom S Mayada Beach Villa (Calle 1ra e/ 490 y 492, Guanabo, www.villamayada.com, CUC267), adorned to boutique hotel standards in all whites. It has a sundeck, swimming pool, and a garden with outdoor shower and an opening to the beach.
Villas Armonia Tarará (Calle 9na, esq. 14, Villa Tarará, tel. 07/796-0242, www.cubanacan.cu, from CUC27 low season, CUC30 high season for a two-bedroom villa) offers 94 two- to five-bedroom villas—casas confort—many with swimming pools. All have a kitchen and private parking. A grocery, laundry, restaurants, and pharmacy are on-site.
The best of several desultory state-run beach hotels is Cubanacán’s five-story Hotel Horizontes Tropicoco (Av. de las Terrazas, e/ 5 y 7, tel. 07/797-1371, CUC58 s, CUC87 d low season, CUC66 s, CUC95 d high season), with 188 air-conditioned rooms with bamboo furniture plus modern bathrooms.
Gran Caribe’s Villas los Pinos (Av. 4ta, tel. 07/797-1361, CUC120-220 low season, CUC160-250 high season) is the most elegant option, with 27 two-, three-, and four-bedroom villas; some have private pools. Cuban visitors are prohibited. Islazul (www.islazul.cu/es/houses) also rents former private homes.
Services
Infotur (Av. Las Terrazas, e/ 10 y 11, Santa María, tel. 07/796-1261; Av. 5ta esq. 468, Guanabo, tel. 07/796-6868; Mon.-Fri. 8:15am-4:45pm, Sat. 8:15am-12:15pm) provides tourist information.
There are two post offices (Edificio Los Corales at Av. de las Terrazas, e/ 10 y 11; in Guanabo, at 5ta-C Av. y 492). The bank (tel. 07/796-3320) is at 5ta Avenida (e/ 468 y 470).
Transportation
Tarará (Vía Blanca Km 17), 27 kilometers east of Havana, is signed off the Vía Blanca, as is Playas del Este, with three exits farther east. A taxi will cost about CUC35. Beware the punto de control (police control) near Bacuranao; keep to the posted speed limit!
The T3 HabanaBusTour (tel. 07/261-0917, daily 9am-9pm) charges CUC5 from Parque Central to Playas del Este.
Cubacar has car rental outlets at Tarará (tel. 07/796-4161) and in the parking lot of Hotel Horizontes Tropicoco (tel. 07/797-1535). There’s also Vía Rent-a-Car (5ta Av., esq. 11, tel. 07/797-1494). A scooter is the perfect vehicle—rent one from Vía (CUC25 daily).
Cubataxi (tel. 07/796-6666) has taxis at the Hotel Horizontes Tropicoco.
