My wife and I stayed on the 11th floor of the Habana Libre for a week in early April.
We'd read some terrible reviews after booking and were a bit anxious about what it would be like but I have to say that overall it was quite ok.
Our room was massive with fantastic views over the city and you can imagine that this must have been a very smart hotel in it's early days. The pool is clean, the girls at reception helpful and one particular bell boy was a delight.
Our king-sized bed was clean and comfortable.
One doesn't go to Cuba for the food but the buffet was ok and the various in-house restaurants seemed to make an effort.
It is unfortunate that the hotel has been allowed to run down so much. The carpet in our room was clean but badly stained, as were the tiles in the bathroom. Paint was flaking off in the bath and makeshift carpentry repairs looked like they'd been attempted by a three year old.
Of more concern were the crumbling walls in the outer corridors and the unhealthy sound of the lifts. You have to wonder if the lack of maintainence extends to the safety systems.
If you're on holidays you might want to consider one of the many lovely hotels in the old town as there isn't a great deal in this area (apart from the Jazz Club) and it will cost you 3-5 CUCs (worth about the same as Euros) to taxi into where all the sights are.

If you do cab in, ask to be dropped at the Cathedral Square and look out for a horse & carriage with the number 30 on the back of the carriage. You'll get a really good-value tour around the old town by a friendly knowledgable man. Much much better (and cheaper) than any of the hotel/ agent organised tours.

The Habana Libre may have been a 5 star once but it ain't anymore. Maybe 3.
But for a fantastic view, huge room and helpful staff you could do a lot worse.

We stayed here for just one night, having been upgraded and transferred from the Telegrafo when it had a problem with the water.

Overall we were impressed. It is a huge and wonderfully historic hotel with a very busy lobby (even at 5am when we had to leave for the next stage of our Cuban holiday!). The snack bar is excellent and good value for money, especially the pizzas.

The lifts are a bit iffy and our room's windows could have done with a clean, but the room itself was comfortable and well provided with facilities.

In the evening we ate at the Cuban restaurant on the ground floor, and for quite a while were the only customers there - outnumbered by staff! Our meals were OK though not exactly gourmet.

It's worth having a drink at the lobby bar in the evening just for the view you get of the internal atrium - probably state of the art when it was built but now looking very retro.

At least reception had a good supply of pesos - unlike many other central hotels!

Our chambermaid was determined to get a tip even though we were only staying one night, as she besieged us with a charm offensive. But full marks to her for making an effort.

And another reviewer was quite right in saying that Sol Melia desperately need to spend some money on the place, to bring it up to their normal standards.

We traveled to Cuba and stayed at the Tryp at the beginning of our trip, March 20-22 and at the end, April 2-3. The rooms are spacious and the views (especially ocean view) are increible.
Having said this, I sould maybe summarize my review saying: SOL MELIA CUBA MANAGEMENT: PLEASE INVEST MONEY ON THIS HOTEL. Regretfully, this Spanish company is making money but not investing on the property.
Although rooms are spacious and views are amazing, the rest is forgettable. When you arrive, the check in area is full of people. A huge upset: the lobby was packed with people, too many of them not hotel guests. We didn't like this at all, there are security guards but the significant number of non hotel guests at the lobby was noticeable. Elevators... bad!! You must wait at least 8-10 minutes (yes... 10 minutes!!) togo up or down. There are 6 elevators, only 4 are working: hotel has 25 floors, more than 30 rooms per floor, imagine... Once in the room, you find a "complementary" bottle of water, additional bottles cost 3 CUC(Cuban Convertible). Note that you are strongly advised to drink only bottled water, follow this advice. The matresses need to be changed, furniture is either broken or badly worn out. Bathrooms are spacious but during our stays -both- the toilette didn't flush properly due to low water pressure. Mantenance came right away when we called, but couldn't fix the problem. If you need the safety box, be prepared to pay 3 CUC per day.

Breakfast was another oddyssey. Coffee machines (instant coffee) didn't workm so they solved the issue serving it in a huge aluminum container that didn't keep it hot; there were always long lines to get coffee when available. The food offered was second (if not third) category (especially cold cuts such as ham and turkey). We decided to eat all other meals outside the hotel, better and cheaper.
The pool was very nice, no towel service and a bar only inside the hotel.

Overall, I must conclude that the Tryp Habana Libre is a highly overrated 5 stars hotel, 3 stars would suit better. I insist in calling upon the Sol Meliá Cuba management to invest money on this historical building, Habana Hilton for only 9 months until January 1959, when the Revolution entered La Habana and took over the hotel as its headquarters. It's a real shame that what could be a wonderful hotel is kept in such poor condition.

we stayed in the hotel from the 25th - 28th of march. Our room on the 19th floor had amazing views of havana and while the decor isnt the most amazing (it is cuba) the beds were excellent and HUGE and we had a new bathroom which was good!

breakfast is AMAZING and if you cant find somthing to eat there then you are the worlds pickiest eater - congratulations! :-)

the hotel has several resturants attached to it we went to the italian cuban one which was nice and gave you a great bread basket (all about the bread), there is also a diner which we tried for a quick bite which does excellent pizzas.

a HUGE downside of this hotel though is the amount of flies in the lobby. If you want to go down and relax with a nice cuba libre (real coke!!!) then it is ruined by flies buzzing all around you!! im really not exaggerating there must have been hundreds of them!!!

if you want a cheap hotel in havana with amazing views, good location and dont spend any time in the lobby then this hotel is a good option. However if you want mojitos or hate flies this is not the hotel for you!!