January 2008. We had booked 5 nights here to begin our holiday in Cuba. There had been a mix up with the booking and a single room had been allocated. This meant a hike in the price to get a double. After sleeping one night in very uncomfortable spring beds we decided to go elsewhere. The lift was not working, we were on the third floor and I walk with a stick so that was a bit tiresome too. Also the third floor rooms share a terrace which I thought was a bit of a security risk. The most helpful member of the staff was the doorman! Having said all this, the Hotel is stunningly attractive and sits in a beautiful square. I am told the food is good, we had a breakfast there which was ok, but other than that I cannot say. It was all a bit of a disappointment really. Rest of the holiday was great.

We were sent here by Hotel Raquel where we originally wanted to stay. Hotel Raquel told us they were having problems with their renos.

This hotel is in a terrific location for exploring Old Havana as many have noted already.

The staff is very sleazy and unfriendly. Everyone of them wanted to take your money and run. They offered to call us a taxi which would run us 10CUCs for a ride that should only cost about 3 CUCs.

The rooms were decent but we found the staff were loud and preferred shouting to each other in the hallways at 8:00am in the morning for the two nights we stayed there. The open air court yard also meant that if you wanted to sleep before midnight it would not be possible for the music playing right outside our room.

Breakfast was ok but beware of the "meats".

The sevice and atmosphere at the Santa Isabel was faultless. It was great to be right on the doorstep of most of the places to see in Havana. It is located on the Plaza de Armas and breakfast was served outside where we could watch the morning start for locals in Havana. Staff were most helpful with many speaking fluent English. Rooms were luxurious with the third floor having terraces overlooking the square.
Highly reccomend

Perfect base for exploring old Havana located on a one of the nicest squares I have seen (Plaza de Armas).
Although it is true that 5* service in Cuba is not what you are used to in the rest of the world, must say that we had very nice time on our 5 days there.