Stayed in the Parque Central for two nights on the 6th Aug and again for 1 night on our return to Havana on the 19th Aug 2008. Not a 5 star hotel on european standards. Despite having a nice pool and foyer, the rooms of this Hotel were a big disappointment. The main problem was the smell of stale smoke which was present in both rooms each time we stayed.

This is not the main reason I am writing however. A Reasonable Hotel experience was marred by having €300 stolen from the room safe. My advise is, before placing cash in the Hotel room safe, count it carefully, note the exact amount and once again count it on departure. Whoever was responsible for the light fingered incident was clever enough not to raise suspicion by taking all of our cash. Only €300 was removed from my passport out of €1000 so on quick inspection it appeared as if everything was ok.

I reported this theft to reception and had a meeting with hotel security and one of the managers. They assured me that it was not possible, that no-one except the head of security has the ability to open a password protected safe. In fact their lecture / explanation was quite patronising "This has never once happened before" "Are you sure you did not loose it , Change it etc" Being on the last day of an otherwise perfect Honeymoon I did not wish to get the police involved and I accepted my loss.

When I got home However, to my surprise I found that I was not the first person that this had happened to. See other Tripadvisor reviews!
I e-mailed NH hotels to find out who had card access to our room on those dates but as yet I have not got any response. The fact that this site is monitored regularly by the hotel groups marketing manager might not speed up their reply but at least it is a warning to those of you who use the room safes.
The rest of Cuba was amazing and the Casa's were generally of a better standard, better value for money and more secure than this hotel.

Stayed at the Parque Central for 3 nights in August. Check in was simple and painless. We had a lovely room on the 5th floor. Bathroom had a bath and shower which was great. Breakfast was fantastic with everything you can imagine, we also ate in the restaurant on our first night, which was really good with the waiters being very attentive. The pool area is great and food there is also very good. We also spent some time at the bar there watching the Olympics with the saff, which was fun.

The hotel is a perfect cool haven after a day out in the city. The only down side is the bank. You have to wait in line for ages. you have to go in by yourself and the teller is so slow. I think I waited about 3/4 hour and there was only 6 people in front of me - I will never moan about Barclay's again.

Havana is an amazing place and I miss it so much, although I could never live there. We hired a guide for 2 days - first day we walked for 8 hours around Old Havana, learning it's history and what it's like to live there. We sampled great Mojito's and coffee and had a lovely lunch. Only the second day we had a guide and driver to go further afied - well worth every penny or cuc!!!

Our guide also booked us some fantastic restaurants. We went to the cigar factory, rum museum,market, into someones home to look at his art and the Taller Fuster's studio which was gob smacking. We walked along the Malecon and just walked the streets soaking up the atmosphere.

We felt very safe, athough I had been anxious before we went. There are kids who ask for sweets and people who want to take you to ' a really good bar/restaurant' but there is no pressure, just be polite, smile and say no thanks.

I would go back next week if I could, the people are friendly, the architecture is supurb if sad and unloved and the old American cars are wonderful and I'm not even interested in cars.

If your thinking out going to Havana then go you will love it - i did and I will be back.

stayed 10 nights here recently, overall very nice hotel. Nice room (fifth floor overlooking the park), nice staff, nice location.

Only issue we had was on the Saturday night during the hurricane (Gustuv), being a F4 the hotel was "encouraging" people not to leave the hotel, unfortunately this meant the restaurants having limited menus to (i think) cope with the increase number of people. Unfortunately that meant the food was very expensive limited choice. But this was in the middle of a hurricane and the normal menu looked very appealing.

After spending 10 nights in Varadero, I was really looking forward to spending time in Havana. I wasn't disappointed. The hotel is in a fabulous location, and the city is very easy to navigate on foot. Check in/out was quick and efficient and the room was more than adequate. A huge room overlooking the park. The breakfast was plentiful and well presented, the pancakes were especially good. I didn't eat in the restaurants in the evening, but had a snack by the pool. Prices were typical hotel prices and the food was good. The roof pool was a welcome retreat after a hot day seeing the sights. It can be difficult to get a lounger, even later in the day. Cabin Crew from Virgin use this hotel and spent most of their time by the pool. When on the roof terrace looking out to the Capitol building, take a look at the buildings to the left of the hotel and you can see bullet holes, the aftermath of the revolution. The views reminded me of a film set.
It is well worth doing a tour of the city with a guide, lots of interesting facts I had missed when using the lonley plant guide on my own tour. A visit to the cigar factory is a must, if you speak to the agency in the lobby of the hotel, they can advise you on tour times and provide a ticket. I also took a horse drawn carriage tour around the Havana. The most disappointing part of my stay in Havanna was Tropicanna, I was unsure about going in the first place. A lot of people had pointed out that it is a tourist trap but is a must see/do. I didn't really enjoy the night, and felt it was overpriced at around £50 each, added to that the cost of a taxi as it 20 minutes out of Havana and the drinks. However make your own mind up.
Havana is infectious and I can't wait to return.