I was a little bit leery booking this hotel after reading some of the reviews for the Inlaterra. However, when we got there the check in was friendly, fast and hassle free. I booked on the internet and prepaid, so when we checked out all we had to pay for was whatever we used from the mini bar. The room was simple, clean and adequate. The bathroom was a bit worn out, but clean and functional. The air conditioner worked there was a mini bar and TV [not that you spend much time in your room when you are in Havana]. There were 4 computers available to hotel guests and the connection was good enough [$6 CUC per hour/card). Most of the other complaints posted were about the food. The breakfast [which is included] was great! Fresh fruit, breads, pastries, eggs, salads, coffee, tea and juice. What else would you need? The Louvre cafe outside the hotel was a great place to have a drink and people watch. The drinks are cheap and the food is actually very good. Sandwiches for lunch are a great deal and very good. Beware at night though, usually after 10 pm when the "working girls" come out and take their place in the cafe. All of a sudden we looked around and realized the cafe was full of young girls and older men [tourists] talking and making plans. That was a bit uncomfortable, and yet the staff at the hotel [guards, wait staff] all seemed to know the girls and ignored what was happening. They did not bother anyone, but if you are a single female traveler you might not want to sit there after 10 pm as to not be mistaken for a working girl. Also be prepared when you sit in the cafe to keep your belongings close [as you should always anyway] and have people begging from outside the cafe trying to catch your eye so you will give them money. Once you leave the hotel be prepared to have throngs of people begging you for money or trying to sell you Spanish newspapers. These were all things we expected when we read the books, etc so it was no surprise. On the 4th floor [the rooftop] there is a bar at night that serves drinks and appetizers. It had a neat atmosphere and great night views of the city. Over all the hotel was friendly, the food was good and the environment was comfortable. The rooms were clean [we left the chamber maid a $5.00 CUC tip each morning when we left the hotel] and came back to a very clean room and interesting and cute towel display each day. Inglaterra is a good, cheap hotel to say in for a few days.

We stayed one night at the Inglaterra, the final night of our holiday, having been booked in four the first four nights too, but were sent to the Plaza as they said they had problems with the water supply on one floor, so couldn’t fit us in. (We met a couple who had been told this about a different hotel – maybe it’s true, maybe they overbook, I don’t know.) Anyway, we had been to the cayos and to Trinidad and now they had apparently fixed the water. As it turned out, the Plaza compares well to the Inglaterra. Perhaps if we had been here for four nights, we would have had a nicer room, I certainly would have asked for an upgrade, but as we were here only for one, it hardly seemed worth it. The room had no outside window, only one onto an internal air-shaft type space and another on to the corridor. At least this meant it was quiet! It was a perfectly decent size, although the bathroom was very compact. No fridge and the safe didn’t work, nor was the air-conditioning very effective, but we coped! We booked the place because we wanted history, not luxury and I was delighted to find that Federico García Lorca had stayed here!

The ground floor terrace was a good place to watch the world go by, and listen to the band, but you were rather aware of the traffic fumes. Good views from the top floor terrace. Staff were fine, but the tourist desk people weren’t prepared to book you into a restaurant other than the Bodeguita del Medio, so, having been travelling all day, back from Trinidad, we copped out of going to find a restaurant, and ate in the hotel restaurant as it did roast meat which made a change from fried or grilled and we could have a glass of wine. The bar and restaurant have great tiled decoration.
Breakfast the next day wasn’t great – no one cooking you eggs to order, as there was at the Plaza and the rest of the stuff was a bit limited. I can imagine staying here again, if it was in a more superior-type room, although that wouldn’t improve the breakfast. However, for history and a good position, this would take some beating. The square it looks out onto is pleasant and you can go down Calle Obispo for shops, banks and bars with fabulous music.

Before I start my review, please allow me to say that I would not class myself as particularly fussy. Clean room & helpful staff are all that I was hoping for in Havana.

Stayed at the Inglaterra for 3 nights, and to be quite honest, while I enjoyed Havana immensely as a city, I could not wait to get out of the Inglaterra. Upon arrival we were checked into room 103. So small, that with our suitcases on the floor, we could barely move, the bedlinen was dirty, no natural light whatsoever as the only window looked out into the hallway (bizarre!), our toilet was broken and as a result the bathroom was completely flooded. Requested a room change immediately. We were moved the following day to a room only marginally better.

I found the staff to be extremely disobliging, eg. standing at the bar waiting to be served, barman behind the bar looked at me, walked out from behind the bar across to a table where he sat down for a chat with his friends. I don't know how long I would have been kept waiting, but after 2 or 3 mins I decided I wasn't thirsty enough to bother waiting to find out. If you need anything such as extra towels, an iron, etc... request them before 5pm otherwise you won't get anything. (Apparently housekeeping finish at 5 and not even the manager has a key to get you whatever it is you may need).


The Inglaterra is still living off it's reputation from the days when Sinatra & all the big stars allegedly stayed there many moons ago. It looks impressive from the outside, as do many buildings in Havana, and it is in a great location, but just across the street you could stay in the Parque Central and have a much nicer time with very helpful staff (from what I'm told by people who stayed there)

Allowing for the fact that this is Havana the standards of this hotel are not good at all. "Okay but some problems" is being generous. The bedrooms are shabby. The shower dreadful and...dirty sheets complete with pubic hairs on the beds!!! According to DK Eyewitness Travel (2007) "the interior is a model of elegant austerity, particularly in the large restaurant with its columned arches. Rooms vary in size but all are decorated with the restrained refinement". Sorry but their reviewer did not see our ramshackle room. Breakfast was the worst out of the 3 Cuban hotels I stayed in. The Roof Garden Terrace Restaurant was not worth the wait for the lift - albeit the views were wonderful. No one appeared to be eating - just taking photos!!! We hotfooted elsewhere to dine.