I approached this hotel rather warily, my room having been booked on my behalf; I'd read some alarming things here about the hotel, and my expectations were as a result pretty low.

In the event I was pleasanly surprised. The common parts have character, staff were mostly pleasant and obliging, and my room was large and bright.

The hotel's location is not ideal for tourists who want to be able to walk around the historic Old Havana, but it's a 5 peso taxi ride into town, and the Riviera has a more relaxed and peaceful atmosphere than hotels in town have. There are always taxis waiting outside the main entrance, and the fare seemed to be fixed at 5 pesos.

My room was adequately furnished and clean, although there were quite a few ants scurrying around. The bathroom wasn't brilliant, but I've experienced much worse in 3-star hotels around the world, and the bed was fairly comfortable. The maids did a good job of keeping the room clean, and I can't say I saw any mould, although there were a few inexplicable stains on the ceiling.

Breakfast is nothing to write home about. The coffee at breakfast is to be avoided; pay 1.5 pesos to get it in the bar instead, where they also mix a decent Mojito. At breakfast you'd do well to avoid the buffet and get a fresh omelette made for you.

Overall, I found this hotel more than adequate for my purposes, and judging by the comments of friends who stayed in other hotels in Havana but also saw my quarters at the Riviera it seems to compare quite well with the competition.

Date 7th March 2008.
Very much a sort of up-market backpackers hotel. Had no choice but to stay here as all other hotels were full. Definitely a case of you get what you pay for. Had a room on the 19th floor which would have been nice if:
a) it did not smell of mold
b) the lifts worked properly (not unusual to wait 20 mins for lift when they were working)
c) did not have to share room with cockroaches
All rooms appear to have hot and cold running water but not it would appear at the same time, some days only cold water and some days only VERY HOT!! water.
Lobby pretty drab and typical of most state run hotels.
Lobby bar OK but would be better if they cleared out the ladies - the -night that tend to hang around there.
Breakfast buffet plentiful but nothing to write home about.
Reception staff pretty grumpy and unhelpful.
Bar, restaurant, cleaning and concierge staff all very pleasant and helpful.

I read the reviews here AFTER I booked three nights at the Habana Riviera. I then cancelled two nights and kept one - nothing else was available as communist party delegates were booking up everything for their convention to replace Castro.

I was somewhat pleasantly surprised; the hotel room was fine though the hallways were dark and did smell a bit of mold. Breakfast food was average for Cuba. Not the worst I've had and not the best.

I was back three days later when we extended our Havana stay and the other hotel - a great property (Parkview Hotel) - had no more nights available.

The second stay here was more in line with other reviews here: the hotel room was less pleasant - bathrom was iffy and the smell of mold was in the room - and for $150 CDN...you'd think...

So it's a crapshoot: you may get a decent room, you may not. Depends on the floor I guess.

One nice feature about the hotel is the pool so if you're willing to risk a so-so room, go fo for it. Probably not a hotel for families if you're concerned about any mold issues. More a hotel for young people who can put up with so-so accomodation and who want a pool. It's a good location to see some of the sights around Vedado - the Hotel Nacional, art deco museum, and some great classic though run-down homes and other architecture in the area. Some great restaurants in this area as wel.l

We were two, and an average rate is only - OK. But I am not going back
to this hotel - with in total five more hotels experience in Cuba, Riviera shares the 5th place.

On a plus side - very good breakfast buffet and a great view to the city, with good location for people like us. We do like walking, and hate being constantly offered cigars and taxi rides. The latter will bug you in the Old city of Havana much, much more. The pool was nice for an afternoon break.

On the negative: mold smell was terrible, the very moment we come out of the elevator I wished we were not there. We were tired after 10+ hours in the air, and we thought we might be too tired to judge the hotel already. But the smell stayed and we took it with us in our clothes when we left. Although the mattresses were new, the pillows were not and they did smell and feel moldy. I honestly don't understand why the hotel management did not ditch out the thick (and dirty) wall-to-wall carpets decades ago. Ground floor posh restaurant only looks exclusive, the food and especially the wines they offer is far behind. This may be though our mistake, after three days of Cuban food and rum in all possible combinations, we thought some European food and wine from the Menu is a good idea. But it was not, not there.
When paying the bill do check the change you got back. Also, if you decide to change some money at the reception, insist on a receipt, otherwise you will feel cheated with a way too easy response "the rates go up and down all the time". Yes, sure, but that much in two days?!