Cayo Naranjo, a tourist beach resort in the eastern Cuban province of Holguin, forms part of an expanding strategy in the leisure industry and provides visitors with an incredibly beautiful setting and the surprise of finding an aquarium in the sea.

Take a tiny coral isle fringed by a talcum-white beach that shelves into bathtub-warm turquoise waters. Add palm trees for shade. Build 35 simple cabins. Service the cay with twice daily ferry service. And, voila! You have the ingredients for a perfect tropical paradise. So how does Cayo Levisa, off the north coast of Pinar del Río, shape up?

This long-awaited newcomer, which opened in 2008, is tucked into a cove at Playa Las Tumbas, at the very westernmost tip of Cuba. The all-timber single-story hotel is intended to serve as an eco-resort granting access to the Península de Guanahacabibes Biosphere Reserve, preserving a rare swatch of tropical dry forest inhabited by endemic species such as solenodon and jutía.

For many years this motel-style complex on the hill overlooking Trinidad was the only hotel in town. It has undergone several transformations in recent years but is one place where the more things change, the more they stay the same. The location offers the advantage of receiving refreshing breezes, and the views over town towards the Caribbean Sea are no less refreshing.

This unique hotel is one of our favorite provincial hotels in Cuba. What was once a fairly simple villa rental on the beach, tucked into a small cove about 20 km west of Baracoa, was recently expanded and upgraded, metamorphosing into an atmospheric lodge on the sands. Backed by thickly forested mountains and edged by mangrove forest, it´s a perfect venue for nature lovers to escape the madding crowds.

Recently transferred from the Cubanacán hotel group to the Islazul chain, this pleasant countrified complex now takes in both Cubans and tourists. It´s on the northern outskirts of the city, on the Carretera Central close to the Autopista. Thus you´ll need wheels for exploring. Otherwise, we like its hilltop location, surrounded by palm-studded lawns, with a lake and fine views.

Providing an insight into the erstwhile privileged lifestyle of Cuba´s government elite, this reclusive villa-hotel is on an island once reserved for their exclusive use as a hunting retreat. Yes, you´ll do a double take! Those really are antelope and zebra wandering the scrubby island and formerly intended for the crosshairs of rifle scopes. Today the isle is a nature reserve and the lodge now caters to tourists. Still, it plays mightily on the hunting theme.

Hotel Casa del Valle is situated deep in the Yumuri Valley. It´s a cottage colony, offering programs for the treatment of stress, asthma, dieting and high blood pressure.
The lush vegetation and the peaceful silence found in the valley, Matanzas province, provide an easy escape from the tensions of modern day life.

Tucked into a lovely bay near the western tip of Cuba, this ever-expanding facility began life as a dedicated no-frills scuba resort two decades ago. It still functions as such, but has expanded to serve general tourist traffic and now offers more salubrious options than the rundown beachfront cabins that were once your only option.

The choice hotel in town, this three-star option has by far the best location in Baracoa. Loftily poised atop the craggy hill on the south side of Baracoa, it occupies part of the former 18th-century Castillo Seboruco and offers stupendous views down over the colonial town and towards El Yunque.