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Cubans Can Now Stay in Their Own Hotels

The Hotel Nacional de Cuba is one of the hotels that will allow its countrymen to stay there now.

Some big news on the Cuban tourism front today: Cubans can now stay in hotels that were typically reserved for foreign tourists.

Cubans will be allowed to stay in the hotels beginning at midnight Monday, said employees at several Havana hotels. Word of the change came from Tourism Ministry officials, the employees said.

Sadly, this initiative is largely symbolic as many Cubans can't afford the hotel room prices which range from $60 to more than $200 a night. The average income in the country is $20 a month.

For years under Fidel Castro's rules, Cubans could not stay in their own country's hotels but with the succession of Raul Castro, he has been lifting many restrictions such as allowing Cubans to own cellphones and computers. Again, these are mostly symbolic since average Cubans cannot afford such items.

Still this might create a mini-hotel boom for country's capital of Havana. The tourism ministry expects at least 10 hotels to be built between 2008 and 2010.

Since we Americans still can't travel to Cuba, we have a dearth of Cuban Hotel Stories. If you got any, send 'em our way. Photos always appreciated too.

[Photo: scaturchio]

Tags: Killer View / Havana Hotel Reviews / → All Tags

Room with A Killer View: Hotel Havana Libre

Where: Calle L e/ 23 y 25 | Vedado,, Havana

We are suckers for a room with a killer view.  We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.

We deem this a Killer View from the Hotel Havana Libre mainly because we, Americans, will never get to go there. (Not that we want to venture into the land of Castro, but we have a bit of that whole "forbidden fruit" when it comes to Cuba.) The person who shot this pic gives us the dark history of the hotel:

View from the 22nd floor of Hotel Havana Libre. Once part of Hilton chain in 1958, and became the Revolution headquarter when Fidel Castro and his army ceased Havana in 1959. Fidel Castro stayed in a room on the 23rd floor.

But according to several TripAdvisor reviews, the views might be the only thing worth it about this place.

And in case you were curious what the restrictions were for Americans traveling to Cuba, this site has the full list. They also offer you a way to visit Cuba via Canada, but that's a story for Jaunted.

Related Stories:
· Tianzhou's photostream [Flickr]
· Hotel Havana Libre reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Hotel Havana Libre [Wikipedia]

Tags: Hotels / → All Tags

Cuban Mobster Hotel Photo

Where: Paseo Y Malecon, Havana, Cuba

Amy, of NewYorkology fame, sent us the above snapshot of the legendary Riviera Hotel in Cuba. Turns out she visited the joint at the turn of the century, back when the Yankees were still winning World Series titles, and Cuba was Cuba.

She says of her February 2000 visit:

Indeed it looked like it was entirely unchanged from the '50s. It did smell a little musty, but not too bad. And I think the power would go out n some floors for a few hours at a time. But the view was stunning and that pool was just over the top.

This is definitely a hotel with tons of "potential," and could become a great property with the right type of renovations and service improvements, so don't screw it up Accor, or you could find a horse head on your pillow.

Related Stories:
·   Riviera Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]
·   Cuban Mobster Hotels Goin' Legit [HotelChatter]