I stayed 3 nights at the Nacional with my boyfriend in early May and we both loved it! It is further from central Havana than some of the other Hotels (about 1km), but this is more than made-up for by the atmosphere of the hotel itself. We popped into the NH Parc to enjoy some air-conditioning after walking around the city and although it is very nice, its the same as any other 5 star hotel and could be anywhere. There's a lot more history with the Nacional and a lot of famous people have stayed there in the past (plus the band Audio Slave were staying there at the same time as us - my boyfriends a big fan).

The rooms are fairly basic, but ours was perfectly clean and I found the staff very helpful and polite. The outside bar is a wonderful spot to get over the jet-lag in very comfortable sofas over a few mohitos.

I wouldn't recommend tackling the walk into town without water (in the heat it feels a lot further than it actually is!) - but it's a great excuse to try out all the different types of transport - old convertible cadillac, horse and cart & coco-taxi - all wonderful! and none too expensive as long as you haggle a little first.

Theres a restaurant about 2 blocks away from the hotel (I can't remember the name) on something like the 18th floor which has incredible views of the entire city and also the Nacional - highly recommend a romantic sunset dinner.

I would definately stay here if I return to Havana!

Hello,

I thought maybe I had lost 100 euros from the saving box in the way from Nacional Cuba to varadero, but thinking a lot of it, reviewing carefully al our movements an reminds, the result is tha between 100 and 150 euros were stolen from our saving box, and if you see the reviews, I am not the only one (curiously, never CUCs, only foreign money?). Room 554.

And my wife, during a walk from our room to the lift, saw a maid tnat should be making the room, looking inside a private suitcase. ¿Is this normal?

This is easily the finest hotel I have ever had the pleasure of staying in. My husband and I spent 3 nights in the Nacional as part of our honeymoon, before heading off to Paradisus Varadero.

I was concerned before travelling due to the poor reviews on this site of the Nacional. However, all my concerns were completely unfounded. We enjoyed every minute of our stay.

The hotel lobby and grounds are breathtaking. The worst that I can say about our room was that the decor was plain. It was large, very clean and secure. As we were on our honeymoon, we had a bottle of cava in our room on arrival.

The staff are all extremely friendly and helpful. The hotel offer a tour of the hotel and our guide, Estela, was a wealth of knowledge. This was one of the highlights of our time in Havana, as the hotel is steeped in history.

A number of previous reviews comment on the poor customer service in the hotel. I would point out that we were asked by staff for our feedback on the hotel. In addition, the hotel has suggestions boxes in the lobby for guests to air their views.

The hotel has 3 restaurants and a cafe. The buffet breakfast is excellent. The selection of food is faultless. We ate in the cafe rather than the restaurants and were happy with the food.

The terrace bar is wonderful and I would agree that they did serve the best mojitos in Cuba.

I would highly recommend this hotel, but only to those with an interest in Cuba and her culture. The hotel is a national monument, not a theme park.

Note: This review is limited in scope because we only visited the hotel one evening. We had accomodation elsewhere and did not stay overnight. Perhaps we were unlucky, but based on this limited experience we were not impressed.

We visited the Nacional after a day of sightseeing in Havana. Our plan was to have a couple of drinks in the bar and then have dinner in one of the restaurants. The bartender boasted that he makes the best mojito in Cuba, so my wife decided to try one. I was driving, so I requested just a cola.

The barman prepared and served the mojito (repeatedly boasting it's the best in Cuba!) and then just plonked an unopened can of cola next to it for me. He didn't even give me drinking straw. I rather timidly asked for a glass, because this was meant to be the best hotel in Havana (or one of the best) and I did not particularly want to swig from the can.

Without saying a word he then put a plastic cup down on the bar next to the unopened can. Any barman worth his salt would at least pour the drink, but this one obviously didn't consider pouring drinks to be be part of his job. I then asked if there was any chance of a glass, because glass is nicer to drink out of than plastic. He raised his eyebrows, sighed, and then again, without saying a word, produced a glass. I still had no ice or lemon, and had to pour the drink myself, but I'd had enough of this surly man by this point and gave up.

We presumed, rightly or wrongly, that if standards were so pathetically low in the bar, there may be problems in the restaurant too; and in any case we did not want to put it to the test. So we left and ate elsewhere.

On another note, prostitutes were soliciting in the hotel car park, near our car. This was taking place within the hotel's gates, on the hotel's land, not a public street. Security guards and a car park attendant were on duty and must have seen it. I think we can assume the management of The Hotel Nacional de Cuba are aware of the problem but have chosen to turn a blind eye. I have no idea if this is a regular occurance and I realise that some people will not care less. I'm just passing on what we saw, in case you are thinking of staying here and this would bother you.