Having stayed at the Saratoga, the Hotel Nacional and the NH, I have positives and negatives concerning each of those hotels. The NH is quite central (not IN Habana Vieja, but CLOSE to). Location is better than the Saratoga (altough both of them claim to be next door to the Capitolium, they are in opposite ends of the monument - being the NH in the nicer end). The NH is older than the Saratoga (and you can see that clearly in the rooms: lack of painting, older furniture and bathroom). Mattress is VERY hard compared to the other 2 hotels. Still, pricewise (especially if you do some research - I ended up paying about USD 150 per night for a double room with breakfast) it is much more reasonable than the Saratoga. For that price they gave us a standard room on a high floor with a beautiful view and arranged breakfast the next morning for an extremely early flight. Nice hotel but did not impress me that much to be rated number 1 in Cuba.

Location, location, location and a great roof top pool. If only the staff could smile....

We had a fantastic three days at the Parque Central in December. The service was excellent, rooms lovely and clean, shower hot and powerful. Toiletries re-stocked every day and towels too. I cannot understand the comments that there was 'nothing for the kids to do apart from a flat screen TV' . Unbelievable! Why on earth would you go to such an interesting place to sit indoors and watch TV? Havana is a fantastic, interesting, cool city with so much to do - what are they talking about! The rooftop pool in the hotel itself with the wonderful views of Havana can fill a whole afternoon alone! Drinking mojitos and relaxing up there was one of the best bits of our holiday. If your kids don't appreciate culture, perhaps you shouldn't take them somewhere like this. Save your money and take them to Disneyland or a theme park if that's all they like. Then perhaps there will be fewer bored, loud, shouting children ruining it for everyone else around the pool.

The food in the hotel was great, both breakfast and dinner, lots of variety especially when you see the limited food available in the shops for local people so appreciate it! but we did also venture out as people have recommended to try the local cuisine. All good. Lots to do in Havana we spent a very pleasant hour in a horse and carriage being shown round Havana and finding out about the history and politics / religion. We ensured before we got in that there would be no unscheduled stops at her mate's factory / shop / bar to make us buy things, as we have had in the past in other countries and she assured us there wouldn't be! She was right too.

I was disappointed to read the review by the muppet who suggested getting two room keys, leaving one in to keep the air con all day long so that the room was cold when they got back from their day out! I was glad the hotel responded to this and suggested you DO NOT do this. A whole day of wasted air con and electricity just so rich westerners can be icy cold immediately you return to your five star hotel rather then having to wait a whole two minutes. Honestly. Also, you should be aware this is a country where there are often power cuts and water shortages, and things are much more scarce than we are used to at home. Be a bit sensitive and less selfish.

We had no complaints about the hotel whatsoever. Our only advice is do not take American dollars to change into Cuban pesos as you used to - the exchange rate in the hotel is 20%!! There is still a whacking great 10% on all credit card transactions and UK sterling changes, but less than 20%. This was also the case in most restaurants we visited - be warned!

The fact that the hotel manager takes the time and bothers to respond to guests' reviews on this website is a great indication of how the hotel is run. I have never seen another hotel bother to do this, so thumbs up to them for this. They really take customer service seriously.

As other people have said, you do get stopped in the streets, but it is not aggressive and people are just trying to make a bit of money. I get more hassle in Birmingham in my lunch hour from drunks trying to make me give them money. And when you see what is included in the monthly ration baskets they get you cannot blame them at all. It is nowhere near enough to live on, it's ridiculous. Unlike some places we have visited, however, such as India and Africa, we were not stopped by beggars or asked for money, simply invited to purchase things such as cigars. Lots of police around so you feel very safe. We were asked if we had any soap or shampoo by some people as like everything else this is in short supply, so I gave our horse and carriage guide some soap in lieu of a tip and she nearly cried she was so grateful.

Our other tips are to visit the Museum of the Revolution. We are not museum people at all, I would much rather be out in the sun, but this was well worth 5 pesos and gave us a really interesting insight into the history of Cuba, albeit slightly biased towards you know who! Also the Cigar Factory 'Partagas', yes all the books say it's full of tourists but it was well worth a visit. And stop for a mojito in The Two Brothers Bar. Live music and good drinks!

In summary if visiting Havana this is the best hotel for location, service and experience in our opinion, having stopped by a few others on our way from the airport. Our travel agent recommended it to us and she was entirely right.

Stayed at the NH PC for two nights in Dec'2007,this is a great hotel.Very clean,excellent rooms-good bathroom etc,great location for old Havana,your right on the doorstep for the Museum of the revolution,the excellent Bar Monserate and the touristy but great El Floridita.The breakfast was a great bonus at the hotel superb! Go Enjoy!