A wonderful old fashioned hotel, you can imagine Humphry bogart walking down the corridor. Very relaxing to sit on the terrace listening to the band and sipping a cocktail. A must do is the garden tour, they actually took us under the gardens in the old tunnels from the 60's missile crisis. Another must is the park that Castro dedicated to John Lenon, you can have your picture taken sitting on a bench with his statue. We only stayed 3 nights in Havana and it wasn't enough to visit everything. We then had 11 nights at Veradero which actually got a bit boring.

This is an amazing hotel - full of historic and old worldly charm. The foyer is stunning, full of black and white pictures of the Revolution. The outside Terrace bar is what you have dreamnt Havana to be - sitting in the setting sun, with a Mojito, cigar and the palms gently swaying - this is what its all about!

Food - buffet is fine for breakfast but i would give it a miss for dinner- you will find cheaper and nicer in the old quarter - O'Reillys do a great Lobster, rice and slaad for 12CUCs

We stayed here for 6 nights, which was possibly a bit too long.

We arrived at the hotel in the middle of the night because of a very long transport delay caused by a tropical storm. After initially being stunned by the beauty and elegance of the reception lobby this was not replicated by the night time receptionist who was appauling unfriendly, aggressive, curt and rude, I found her attitude uneccesary and unacceptable (never mind the fact it's supposed to be a 5star hotel and we gave her no cause for her unpleasantries). I found this quite upsetting and unerving to be met like this from a long journey. I did tell our rep about her behaviour she agreed it was unacceptable and said she would talk to the manager, however nothing was said again.

Our room was absouloutely fine, a good size, tastefully decorated clean and quite. It was not damp or smell of damp at all (I was relieved about this after reading some other reviews)., and the maids did a more than excellent job. the air conditioning was antiquated but you didn't really notice its nuances after a bit.

The environment of the hotel is stunning, but staying in a tourist attraction became wearing after 6 days. The flow of people through the hotel (just to take photos) reflected in a distant approach from the staff although whilst I can understand this it started to get on my nerves and I never truly felt like a guest, but I'll admit i was guarded after my first impressions.

The pools were OK but a bit run down and didn't really feel relaxing which was a shame, there was no guests only in the pools either. So if you want to experience the hotel whilst in Havana just drop by and help yourself to the facilities.

Havana itself felt very safe and we had an excellent time, we had great fun exploring the city. Expect to get hassled in the main toursist stretches but outside of these you'll get better music, better prices, better food and no hassle. Get a good guide book and use the private restaurants for food, you'll get a better feel for Cuba.

I would stay here again but just for a couple of nights.

I have just returned from a weeks stay at the Hotel Nacional with my husband, 2 children and mother - we loved it. Yes the hotel is dated however the history and faded elegance are what made our trip. It was a wonderful place to get away from the hustle of Havana and sitting in the garden drinking a cocktail and listening to the music was so relaxing. We upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite which was lovely and didn't work out much more than the 2 rooms we had originally and was certainly worth the extra money. THe hotel tour was very interesting and the Parisienne show was great fun. If you are looking for a taste of Cuba, I would definitely recommend this hotel. However, if you aren't interested in Cuba and just want a holiday in a luxury hotel then perhaps this is not the best choice. THis hotel is 100% Cuban owned and run, many of the others are overseas chains/ overseas investors so you can stay in similar hotels in any other country in the world.