Travel Casserole: Review: Hotel Nacional de Cuba: Part I

On our first trip to La Habana (March 2008) we arrived at Hotel Nacional de Cuba a bit after midnight local time. We had navigated customs, collected our luggage, successfully taken a taxi to the hotel. All little things that in any other country you take for granted. But in Cuba each of these carried the stress of the unknown and operating without a safety net. So it was late, and we were equal parts tired and relieved at having cleared the potential landmines at HAV. But we didn't know what the Hotel Nacional held in store for us. Online reviews repeatedly warned of tired furnishings and service that could be indifferent at best. The woman who 'greeted' us at registration checked us into room 267, which was a standard room. Two double beds. Old furniture. Old, thin, office grade carpeting and a view of the parking lot. We'd be here for 4 nights. I had to try and see if we could do better than this. I went back downstairs and politely asked if there were any alternatives available. The front desk agent let us know that a one bedroom suite could be had, but it would be an extra 50 CUC per night. I had pre-paid the hotel stay through a travel agent outside the U.S. And this 200 CUC upgrade fee would chew up a not insignificant fraction of our walking around money. But room 267 sucked. I thanked the desk agent for her trouble of checking us in twice (doesn't hurt to be overly nice and appreciative), then handed over the 200 CUC.

This was easily a top 5 all time vacation decision.

Here's Judy's reaction when we opened up room 439 @ roughly 1am.

Judy's reaction to our room upgrade @ hotel nacional

Furniture and carpeting were still dated. But we now had king size bed in a massive two-room suite. Each room had views onto the malecón and the water beyond.

Unfortunately the first few shots I took were with my Helio Ocean, which actually had a decent camera for a back-in-the-day phone. But the on/off the plane experience reset my default resolution to 320x240, so all I have of those first jubilant moments in room 439 are teeny postage stamp size images that feel like they are from a million years ago.

The bathroom in room 267 must have been pretty lousy as I was clearly excited to document how awesome I thought this one was.

It was by no means perfect. But if you have read any guide book or any tripadvisor reviews you knew to leave your luxury expectations stateside.

For example, the shower in the tub needed to be jerry-rigged a bit with a towel in order for the showerhead to aim the water at you, not the wall. And those vertical blinds would slap around pretty crazily with the amazing cross breezes you get when you open up all the various windows you have in this room (small price to pay in my opinion, for those amazing breezes; plus, I found a way to tie them back before too long.)

Bathroom rm 439 of hotel nacional - havana

TV was modest, especially since it's a good 15 feet from the head of the bed. But, you're not in La Habana to watch a lot of tv, are you?

All of these shots are just of the bedroom.

Somehow I managed not to take any shots (or have lost the shots I took) of the 'sitting room' that was on the other side. Had its own TV, big windows looking out to the water. Really amazing space.

View from the sitting room, facing west.

Sunrise seen from the bedroom window, facing east toward Habana Vieja.

So when we came back in 2009, I asked for room 439 again. And somewhat miraculously, we were able to get it. Had to spend one night in a random room before it became available. But some charm and determination with the front desk got us in there for the final 4 nights of our second stay in La Habana.

My advice is if you can comfortably handle the extra 50 CUC per night, go for the 1 bedroom suite rooms. It's roughly a 20% price hike over the standard double room, but it is a infinitely superior space. You cannot beat the corner configuration of room 439 with windows on each wall that provide both amazing views and refreshing breezes at virtually all hours.

One detail to note, though, is time of year may impact how much space you get with these rooms. We stayed twice in March and once in December, over the Christmas / New Year's week. While March is busy, December is jammed. So in December they consolidate rooms a bit and room 439 does not include the extra sitting room. That is apparently rented out separately.

Fast forward to 2011

When we returned during Christmas / New Year's week of 2011 we once again requested room 439. Upon arrival at registration we learned that we had reserved a one bedroom suite on the executive floor. Sounded okay, but with room 439 we knew what we would be getting. Would this executive floor room be at least as good as that?

Short answer: yes.

We got room 809/810. And now I think we have a new favorite room @ HNC.

All the space of 439, but with more recently updated furnishings.

Fully functional shower that needed no MacGyver tactics to aim the water stream.

The second 'sitting' room was included.

With its own flat screen tv and second bathroom (not shown).

And we were assigned an exceptionally friendly and upbeat camarera, who left us those little towel origami-like creatures that you hear about on TripAdvisor.

The only downside of this room compared to 439 was the view. It was in a different tower, so our sightlines were facing a bit more east than northeast. Which means our direct shot was these neighboring buildings.