The Santa Isabel is the grandest of Old Havana´s hotels, and its location is perfect: it stands on the eastern side of the Plaza de Armas, Havana´s earliest and most beautiful colonial square. The building is an eighteenth century mansion which was constructed for the Countess of San Juan de Jaruco but was later bought by the Count of Santovenia. It was converted to a hotel in the late nineteenth century.

A delightfully small and intimate establishment in what was once the mansion of Claudio Martínez de Pinillos, Count of Villanueva, the leader of Cuban Creole society in the nineteenth century. A great favorite with cigar aficionados and useful for private weekend parties. One of Old Havana´s best cigar shops, with private humidors to rent, is tucked away in the old slave quarters on its mezzanine floor.

This gracious hotel in the Islazul chain enjoys a superb position overlooking Parque Céspedes, in the very heart of the colonial city. The three-story building dates back to the 1940s and was last refurbished in 2002 to bring it up to tourist level. It is far from one of Islazul´s better hotels, but meets the bare minimum of standards for a multi-night stay.

The Florida opened in 1885 and swiftly became renowned as one of the city´s better hotels. It was restored to its original 19th-century charm in 1999 and has a lot of style. The Hotel stands on Calle Obispo, Old Havana´s liveliest street, currently being restored by the Office of the City Historian of Havana as the district´s principal shopping area.

The Raquel opened in June 2003 following extensive renovation work in the heart of Old Havana. Located in a wonderfully idiosyncratic building with a neo—Churrigueresque façade and tendrils of Art Nouveau wrought iron decoration, the Hotel Raquel contains further delightful design eccentricities including a vast stained glass canopy roof and a watchtower from which one can look out over the streets and squares of Old Havana.

This comfortable 14—room little hotel, which shares some facilities with the adjoining Hostal Valencia, is housed in an eighteenth—century building which belonged to the family of Don Pedro Regalado Pedroso y Zayas, who was a “Comendador de la Orden de Isabel la Católica.”

The Frailes reopened in 2001 within a few steps of the old St Francis Monastery in what used to be the residence of Marquis Don Pedro Claudio Duquesne in the 19th century. The friar theme is maintained with both the décor and the uniforms of staff. This is a quirky but popular place from which we have received good feedback.
Some of the rooms can be a little musty and most do not have windows (which at least makes it mercifully quiet).

This mansion, which was restored and converted by the Office of the City Historian of Havana in 2002 into the Hotel Beltrán de Santa Cruz, is only a moment´s walk down San Ignacio Street from one of Old Havana´s most beautiful squares, the Plaza Vieja. The other side away from the square is a different story with Old Havana´s crumbling edifices in full flow.

The Hostal Valencia was the first Old Havana mansion to be converted by the Office of the City Historian into a hotel. Originally constructed for Alderman Sotolongo, a member of Havana´s Town Council, a large part of the building had actually collapsed by the time it reached the head of the queue for restoration.

As close to a real Spanish tavern as you are likely to find in Havana, there are five rooms in this restored 19th century inn. Comfortable clean rooms make this a good option as long as you like flamenco, which plays nightly until 11pm. Indeed, one suspects that its clientele may be composed of those challenged by walking a straight line to their more distant accommodation.