Castillo de la Real Fuerza, Havana

Advantages: Great location in a safe area of Old Havana, Great food & music
Disadvantages: noise from the bar and restaurant downstairs

...El Meson de la Flota: Mercaderes b/ Amargura and Teniente Rey. Old Havana, Ciudad de La Habana, situated a few steps from the Old Square. La Meson de la Flota is found in a safe and renovated area of Old Havana. It is in fact more like a restaurant with rooms rather than a hotel per se, but has the advantage of excellent food at reasonable prices (for tourist eating places - £10 for a lobster brochette, rice and salad - very filling and delicious) and live music every night with Cubano-Flamenco concerts. The drinks, especially Mojitos were great too and won't break the bank (£3-£4 each). The rooms have very high ceilings and are clean and newly painted, although the state of the bathroom lets the place down a bit, with a bit more wear and tear than I would expect in a hotel. However there was a fridge in the room which... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Loads to see and do, great people
Disadvantages: Many hustlers, can become tiring

...to lift them off the ground! VEDADO Vedado is the most refined and essentially the middle-class area of Havana, if Cuba could be said to have a class-system. This is where you'll find the National Theatre, the Galeria Habana (a contemporary art gallery focussing only on Cuban art since the revolution) and schools of music. However its also where you'll find one of the most recognisable images of modern Cuba - the "Memorial Ernesto "Che" Guevara on the Plaza de la Revolucion. I had always imagined that the Plaza would be a huge square with no traffic and that I would be able to get close to the monument but the truth is that this is part of a busy taffic route leading into Centro one way and to the airport the other. The monument, thugh, is no less striking for that. It is a steel image created from the world-famous photgraph... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: An excellent introduction to Havana's charms
Disadvantages: None to note (despite the 'socks')

...a shot of the skyline of Havana - whilst I find myself being lead down the garden path by an ageing Cuban gentleman! we enter a cave and he explains in broken English that the bunkers leading from it where built during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The cave displays much history of the Crisis, however non of the documentation is translated into English so I would thoroughly recommend taking the guided tour which is offered by the hotel offered daily at a cost of 5CUC which offers an informative insight into the history of the hotel and is well worth the money if you have a couple of hours to spare - you even get a sneaky peek at the Suite de la Republica where Churchill stayed. You also get to visit the basement cigar factory located under the lobby where a former employee of the world renowned Partagas Cigar factory expertly rolls cigars... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful