We stayed here for 4 days in October, as part of two-centre break with The Holiday Place. The Hotel Nacional was one of the grand hotels of the world - and its still pretty good. It has frequented by presidents, hollywood stars, directors and musicians since it opened in 1930. (The President of Ukraine and a very senior Chinese (trade?) delegation were there when we stayed - though sadly not Johnny Depp, whose picture is in the hall of fame). If you want to get a feel for Havana and its rich recent history - it is THE place to stay.

Its not like staying in a modern hotel - more like a slightly faded grand country house. Its has charm and personality. From the impressive entrance, you enter the large reception area, which still has the original spanish floor tiles, mosiac tiled walls, dark wood reception desk and leather sofas. At one end, is the entrance to the Parisian Salon, next to that the historic bar with the 'hall of fame' photos of famous visitors, then a large meeting room (formerly the casino run by the mafia in pre-revolution days). At the other end of the reception area is the grand restaurant, and next to that the Churchill Bar. French doors in the middle open onto the terrace, lined with wicker seats where you can drink mojitos and listen to live cuban music.

The orginal lifts take you to your room (they don't always work - and were slow - but you get there eventually. Our room was on the 4th floor. Every-thing worked. It had a modern bathroom, two huge build-in wardrobes, a drinks cabinet and TV - with enough american channels to keep my teenage son entertained). Shortly after we arrived, room service appeared with a bottle of champagne and glasses in a silver ice bucket and a card (we were celebrating our wedding anniversary).

The 'unmodernised' 2nd floor mentioned by some other reviewers is the 'historic' floor - preserved as it was in the 1930s - and where you can pay a premium to stay in a room once occupied by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Errol Flynn or the mafia bosses.

Service
Very good - all the staff were very friendly and very helpful (except in the Internet lounge). Son was disappointed in the very poor internet connection. It is a problem in Cuba - but other hotels we've been in there do have better connections that don't crash every five minutes - and and cheaper rates.

Food and drink
The hotel has a variety of places to eat - at a range of budgets. We were on a B&B rate and had breakfast in the 'Le Veranda' buffet restuarant on the lower ground floor (overlooking the pool). There was a wide variety of options on offer - fruit, cereal, pastries, bread and toast, eggs etc. This restaurant also opened at lunch-time and in the evening for an all you can eat buffet for a set price (25 pesos per head for dinner).

The pool bar served very good club sandwiches, hamburgers and huge pizzas along with a variety of cocktails and ice-cream milk-shakes. The 'Cine Bar' offered 24 hour service with a similar menu - also available as room service.

On the terrace, the Creole restaurant "La Barraca" served grilled fish, chicken and pork for 11 pesos each. Huge portions - we ordered a meal for three an got a huge basket of chicken - and least two whole chickens in there - along with an enormous bowl of rice and another of black beans. I think ordering one meal between two would satisfy most people.

For our final evening, we decided to eat the grand Comedor de Aguiar restaurant. Three courses, with wine, for three people cost 100 peso (around £70) - very expensive by Cuban standards - but well worth it for the experience of eat where the Cuban govt entertain their guests. The food was good too.

Entertainment
We did the 'historic guided tour' - which takes place at 10am and 2pm each day. Its freeand open to any-one who turns up. The tour explains the history of the building and includes a peek into rooms on the historic 2nd floor (though not the presidential suite as it was occupied) and the bunkers under the terrace which have a small exhibition about the Cuban missive crisis.

We browsed the Cigar shop - where a lady will make you a fresh cigar - or you can buy pretty much any Cuban brand in any size.

We went to a concert of live Cuban music from Compay Segundo - of the famous Buena Vista Social Club. Great musicians! And we went to the Parisian show - a colourful and energetic cabaret in the Tropicana style (but cheaper and didn't require leaving the hotel). Finally, we swam in the orginal hotel pool made famous by Johnny Weissmüller (the orginal Tarzan).

We did find time to leave the hotel and visit the old city. Its a brisk walk along the Malecon to get there - and a short taxi ride back (5 peso in a normal taxi and 10 peso is a classic car).

We loved it.

Stayed here in October 2011 for a three day break flying down from Cayo Santa Maria. The hotel was a bit tired through it had a grand reception area and grand restaurant. The outside area with bars was excellent and offered a great view of the sea front all the way along to the great fort/castle. The staff overall were excellent, they were very friendly and couldn't do enough to help. The buffet restaurant for dinner was a bit common and was a hustle and bustle to get food and the staff were a bit dower. The old American soft top cars that were supplied to taxi us around were a hoot. We went the whole nine yards and did the bus tour for a few pesos and then go to the large castle/fort by bus T3 from Plaza Central where they do the nine pm gun fire every night. We also did the old town for shopping and sightseeing this was a bit tiring though. We ate out in the day and evenings in a lovely little restaurant Café El Mercurio in San Francisco Plaza in the old town where the staff and food were brilliant, so if you are ever in Havana give it a try you won’t regret it. Please get the most from Havana, it is a must. Over all Havana is a great place to go with a very low crime rate friendly and accommodating people. We had great fun and enjoyed it all. Well Done Havana.

This hotel has a lot of historical significance and it is evident in the photos located throughout the building. I have stayed here twice and while my stay was comfortable there were some snafus. I had to have my room key reactivated every time I left the room and there was some flooding in the bathroom from the bathtub. If your room key doesn't work I recommend going to the club room office for assistance instead of going all the way back to reception on the ground floor.

I think the hotel is well preserved but it's probably hit or miss when it comes to the comfort of the room.

The best part of my stay was enjoying mojitos on the patio in the late afternoon looking out at the water.

The Hotel Nacional is one of Cubas iconic monuments. A copy of the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach it is a massive stone building on a small bluff overlooking the Malicon (seawall) and Atlantic ocean. The hotel, like most in Cuba is rough and worn and has seen better days. Service in the socialist workers paradise is fair to poor. But the room had A/C and the TV, an old tube type got CNN in English. The hotel is full of Canadian and European and Canadian tourist and just a few Americans. Food in the dining is passable, but the Europeans crowd the buffet like a herd of cattle. The location is a five CUC cab ride away from the old part of town (Havana Viaja) where you will spend a lot of time. As most all hotels are state owned, and there fore public property feel free to stop by and use the Internet (eight CUC per hour), visit the rest rooms, or try a Mojito on the expansive terrace even if you don't stay there.