We stayed in the Nacional de Cuba from 26-28 November. It was a dream! And a wonderful surprise after reading these reviews... Our room no. 228 was excellent (4*), breakfast was excellent and abundant, a bit crowded. Restaurants were fine, fantastic show at the Cabaret Parisien (in our case included in the room price). We checked the other hotels in the center and the Nacional de Cuba should be no. 1 on the list! It breaths history (we recommend the historical tour in the hotel) and the facilities and services are super. The people in Cuba think the same, they are really proud of this hotel. I have seen many hotels in the world and believe me, if you want to stay in Havana: do not hesitate and go to the Nacional de Cuba!

We Stayed at the Hotel Nacional in Havana from 12 Nov to 15 Nov as part of a "Twin Centre" break.

This was our Third visit to this Hotel.

On arriving the bell boys were down right away to lift our cases and then it was time to check in at the reception. I must agree with some people who do find the reception staff a bit "curt" at times, however they probably havent any real idea of customer service.

Once we had checked in we went to find our room number 232. We were very pleasantly surprised to find that we had been allocated a room that Jonny Weismuller aka Tarzan had stayed in. The room was reasonably big and very well kept.

After we had our dinner and had been out in Havana we returned to the Hotel were we went to the small quiet bar beside the Cinema cafe and the main buffet restraunt.

The barman who works there "Roig" made us the best mojito we have ever tasted...needless to say we had some more!! If you find him tell him Danny and Kirsteen from Scotland sent you for the best Mojito in the World...You will make him laugh!

We also visited the "Golf bar" which has all the portraits of the mainly famous celebrities and dignitries who have stayed at the hotel over the past 80 years or so! Its excellent to have a walk around and sip a cocktail looking at the portaits.

Breakfast was a buffet style one and altho there was some queueing required , be patient... We enjoyed everything on offer..sometimes having a continental and other times having fried eggs and bacon or an omelette. If the staff make you something to your liking then a small peso here and there will be much appreciated and certainly wont bankrupt even the most "thrify" of people.

We enjoyed the tour of Havana in the Chevvy "Coupe", The driver generally says 35 pesos for 1 hour but you can haggle. I offered him 27 and 2cds (which were free from a Sunday magazine ).

The people of Havana are generally poor and they are still on rations so if you can take some old tee shirts with you and hand them out. As well as pens and pencils for the children..YOU WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE however small!! Our favourite trick was taking the soap and bath stuff from our room and giving it to the people on Havana...The smiles make it worth while!

Another tour worth while doing is the Hotel Tour. It is very interesting and you'll see the secret tunnels and learn about the other side of the story regarding the "October Crisis" of 1962. You'll also get to see the Winston Churchill room which is magnificent.

A few sights to see would be Castro's Railway Carriage, John Lennon at the Park, The Cemetary and the Forest as well as the Capitol building.

The only downside about this visit was the bill....Make sure you check your bill when checking out. Listed on ours was 2 beers from the fridge in the room and a telephone call. I refused to pay, and basically stood my ground with it. They agreed to "write it off".

However this has happened to me in hotels in many other countries including Scotland!

I would reccomend the hotel to anyone interested in stepping back in time for a day or 2!

You're certainly stepping back in time when staying at the Nacional (bit like the rest of Havana to be honest). The hotel is steeped in history and has a buzzing but equally relaxed feel.

We stayed on the Executive floor which benefits from its own reception/concierge service and dedicated breakfast area. The room was comfortable - probaly a 3 and a half star anywhere else.

There is a fantastic terrace and lovely grounds to stroll around. Staff friendly and functional.

Our stay at Hotel Nacional de Cuba was wonderful. It was near a lot of exciting places. Copelia the ice cream parlor was just a couple blocks away. Old Havana was beautiful and near by, a taxi ride gets you there in 15min and it doesn't cost much at all. The canon shoot at 9pm is awesome, and after that they have vendors that sell hand made crafts, at a cheap price, and beautiful items for everyone. The revolutionary museum is nearby as well. I would highly recommend the tour offered by the hotel, it takes you to many places and it's affordable. Can't wait to go back and visit the "Forbidden Island".