Complex Gaviota Kohly and El Bosque consist of two buildings 400m apart on the banks of the Almendares River. They are in a quiet sector of the city close to the Grand Metropolitan Park which many consider the green lung of the Cuban capital.

Billed as Cuba´s leading eco—resort, this lovely woodsy hotel, a two-hour drive west of Havana, doesn´t live up to the billing but is nonetheless a delight in so many other regards. Surrounded by pine trees, it squats atop a hill overlooking the quaint mountain community of Las Terrazas (a purpose-built, post-revolutionary model village laid out around a large lake in terraces below the hotel.

You know you´re in for a visual treat as you snake uphill to this three-star hotel perched on the precipice of a mogote (limestone hillock) with dramatic vistas across the Valle de Viñales. Designed in neo-colonial fashion, this hotel is laid out in a kind of half-moon around spacious lawns studded with an attractive Olympic-size swimming pool.

With its unbeatable position overlooking the Viñales valley, Los Jazmines is one of the most renowned hotels in Cuba. It´s also a great bargain. The views alone are worth the price. But this hotel also has plenty of charm. The main building in a Mediterranean neo-colonial style rises three-stories over a swimming pool suspended on the very edge of the valley.

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?

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.

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.

Part of the Complejo de Turismo Topes de Collantes (Topes de Collantes Tourist Complex), on the east side of the Sierra del Escambray, this group of 29 self-contained villas set amid sloping lawns surrounded by forest is a good bet for travelers into hiking and nature activities.

A delightful option a few kilometers west of Trinidad, on the banks of the Río Guaurabo, Villa Finca Ma. Dolores is contrived as a traditional rural farmstead, complete with milking demonstrations, an aviary, and even traditional cockfights. It draws in the tour groups for horseback riding and lunch with folkloric shows, but overnighting guests are surprised to find that the accommodations are modern and the amenities up-to-date.

This Islazul hotel serving both Cubans and tourists lies in the countryside a few miles southeast of Sancti Spíritus. The post-revolutionary four-story hotel is of Soviet-era Bauhaus design familiar throughout Cuba. It bills itself as an eco-tour facility due to its position overlooking Embalse Zaza—a vast man-made lake surrounded by wetlands and drowned forest that are a habitat for thousands of migratory waterfowl.

The nicest hotel for miles around, this rural enclave, about two miles west of town, is themed after an indigenous Taíno village. It is popular with tour groups and reservations are thereby recommended. The heart of affairs is the swimming pool served by an open-air bar and games room. There´s also a tiny gym, and small beauty station where massages are offered.

Here´s another example of the Islazul chain´s admirable upgrades to its previously lackluster hotels. Once a decidedly dumpy property, this Cinderella is now set to charm, despite its two-star status. It´s easy to imagine yourself at some Mediterranean coast resort thanks to its perch atop a rocky and woodsy headland at the mouth of the Yaguanabo river, mid-way between Cienfuegos and Trinidad.

When you´re ready to escape the insufferable heat that overwhelms Santiago in summer, follow the steep, snaking road that leads up the mountains to Gran Piedra ("Great Rock"), a massive rock, estimated to weigh more than 63,000 tons. The namesake hotel, at a crisp 1,225 meters, perches on the mountain ridge just below the rock and is surrounded on three sides by pine forest.

La Lupe Villa is another quality Islazul proposition and our recommendation of choice in the area. Its 50 rooms are located 5 km out of town on the road to El Salvador. Villa La Lupe–named after a song composed by the late Rebel Army Commander Juan Almeida–is an attractive rural resort with a mixed clientele (Cubans and travelers).

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.

Run by Cuba´s Gaviota chain, this 80-room hotel plays a reasonable second fiddle to the Hotel El Castillo. The Port Santo stands atop a craggy bluff on the west side of Baracoa harbor, and a good two-mile walk from town (but just a one-minute drive to the airport). Hence, the El Castillo, with its in-the-heart-of-town locale, has the Porto Santo beat on that score.

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.

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.