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.

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.

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.

An unsung hotel about a 30-minute drive from downtown Holguín, this is one of our favorite regional hotels. It combines many of the qualities you could hope for: great atmosphere, modern comforts, and killer views--the latter courtesy of the hotel's clifftop position overlooking the Mayabe valley. It's part of a faux-finca (farmstead) made famous by Panchito, the beer-swigging burro (donkey).

This reclusive hotel sits on the banks of the Yara river, amid forest at the base of the Sierra Maestra, about 15 miles south of the town of Bartolomé Masó. It´s pretty much at the end of the road—just getting here on your own by car has your heart racing on the frighteningly steep hills. The raison d´etre for visiting is to either hike to Pico Turquino or to the Comandancia de la Plata.

We love this hotel for its unique architecture and situation. Built atop a craggy massif rising over the semi-arid plains of Granma province, east of Bayamo, it makes good use of the natural limestone studded with cactus and with shade trees festooned with Spanish moss or “old man´s beard.” It offers spectacular views and will especially appeal to nature lovers, particularly birders.

Hotel Soroa is located in a World Biosphere Reserve in the Sierra del Rosario Mountains in Pinar del RíoProvince. This is an ideal exploration point for nature lovers given the close proximity to an attractive 21-meter waterfall and Cuba´s largest (and very beautiful) orchid farm with over 700 species of orchids.

Travelers seeking a bucolic retreat a notch above rustic will be pleased by this Cubanacán hotel that is a revamped (and previously motley) spa facility with a long pedigree. Just a short stroll from the Cueva del Indio and tucked below the mogotes of the Viñales valley, it enjoys a premium locale for nature lovers.

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