Pretty much the same thoughts as everyone else. The location was 1st class but the hotel is in need of a complete revamp.
We stayed after the rain, on the 5th floor. The sixth floor was the openair restaurant and there was obviously a problem with waterproofing (or lack of it). We had large damp patches on our ceiling and lots of flaking paint. Others on the same floor actually had dripping water (which was dealt with by putting towels on the floor).
The food was OK, and we found the staff to be amiable & helpful.

I've been to Ambos Mundos in April 2008.
I was a bit freightened because it was a 2 star hotel and i was informed that the stars in Cuba are a bit different from what i'm used to. I asked for a room with a view. Because there's interior rooms.

As my expectations were low, I liked it very much.

good: the roof top breakfast (but the food was nothing special and the fruit was awful), the location is excelent, the employees are nice, the atmosphere of the hotel being old was very nice. I

bad: fruit, the elevator is beautiful but very slow and always busy, it needs improvement works but if you go knowing this fact i beleive you will enjoy it, for what it represents, it's historical.

Despite all the other negative reviews and I can understand how that could happen after seeing some of the windowless rooms we had a wonderful stay. Lets start with the fact that we had the best room other than Papa's on the 5th floor. Large corner room with new beds and a remodeled bathroom with good water pressure. It was only one floor up to the adaquate breakfast buffet. The staff was really helpful even when my wife needed some assistance getting back to the room after a FUN time at the Tropicana. The best part was that it was the location but the 24 bar was nice as well. Also the orange color made it easier to find after too many mojitos. Considering the fact that it was a STATE run hotel it was very nice.

I have been staying on three different occasions in different rooms on my recent central america and caribbean trip with 2 friends of mine, purely traveling on leisure purpose.

Well, what can I say.. this hotel is in a fantastic and very attractive spot right in the middle of the old town with easy access to the harbour, shops, museums, taxis, restaurants, etc. nothing wrong with that.

The lobby looks very attractive and is very regularly visited by other tourists who want to see the little turtle pond, the fish and Hemmingway's pictures/photographs on the wall. The rooms are OK for Cuban standart, not too big, but big enough for two people. I personally experienced in all three rooms that I had that the toilet wasn't flushing or not filling the water back in the tank. The A/C does work but not well enough. It took me three days to get my room down to 26.C - the problem in Cuba is not the temperature rather than the humidity, but OK, I knew that and my expectations were not too high. Two out of three bathtubs were leaking and I had a little swimming pool in the bathroom after taking a shower each morning. Interesting was as well that the air vent in the bathroom was dripping with water as well. Not much, but enough to make me believe one night that is was raining ;-)

I haven't used the restaurant apart from breakfast and that was let's say - OK. Not a great selection, eggs, some fruits not coold, as well one sort of cheese, one ham, three different jams, 2 types of bread, OK coffee but no real sugar. It was enough to feed you but was far away from being a nice experience before you venture out to the city.

I would even go back and stay again as I am not fussy about these things, but I believe I had to write an honest review.

Oh, and the staff was very kind at all times. They didn't wow me, but given the situation there they did a great job.