Parque Central has a great location in Old Havana. You could not ask for a better location to enable you to walk around the streets of Old Havana and see ALL the hot spots of the city.

Rooms are lovely. Large with spacious bathroom and 'living' space. The balconies are small and good for standing only. The closets have the room safe, good size for passports and money, camera...not too much more. Lots of hangers for your clothes...but if you have two people, take a few extra. Laundry service is quick and inexpensive. No iron in the room, may wish to ask on the first day to secure one.

In the bathroom you get basic soap and shampoo/conditioner. I would recommend taking your own hair products as the water is pretty harsh on the hair! Your own choice of soap may be wise as well. And of course take all your toiletries...pretty hard to find in Havana.

The TV is great with full interactive functions - including internet. You can email from your TV - I didn’t work it out but if I really wanted to get out an email I would have asked for help. But the TV had a load of functions and features - viewing your room bill, internet, movies, CNN, MTV, Fidel Castro channels.... The bed was enormous - if a little hard - but that is fine for me. Room has a few pieces of furniture, good for lazing in. Air conditioning is brilliant and kept the room very cool. The key is a 'card' type and automatically shuts the room down when you extract it out of the socket when you leave the room. The curtains are really heavy, so if you need an afternoon nap, the room can be made pitch black!

I got a room facing into the hotel so quite quiet. One night a little loud as a roof top party happening - but I was heading out anyway, so no problem for me.

Room service is fine. They keep the room in top shape. Leave 1 peso and you can get a love heart made out of a towel of your bed! I left lipsticks and the like- got the same treatment.

SO in general rooms great!

Lobby of the hotel is air conditioned - many are not in Havana, so I loved walking in there from the hot streets. It may not have the 'splendor' of the other hotels, but the modern rooms and air con. lobby are what I was after exactly.

The ground floor bar is very slow to serve, but since the Cubans themselves don’t have the opportunity to be waited on, they don’t fully 'get it'. But I was fine with it. I ordered at the bar and sometimes took the drinks myself. Certainly faster.

The front desk staff and not the 'happiest' of people but will help if you persist with questions. Security in the lobby and hotel is excellent. So if the guys plan to do 'entertaining' in their rooms, it ain't happening! You can take a Cuban 'friend' to the bar or the 2 restaraunt in the hotel. All the meals I had in the hotel were excellent. Love the beef! Breakfast buffet is tremendous and if you are a late riser, a breakie at 9:45am will get you through till dinner. Sat/Sun buffet open till 11am - other days 10am.

I will return to Cuba, for sure and if I stay in a hotel (next trip I reckon a private house), but if I stay in a hotel, Parque Central again for me. Highly recommend.

The hotel is well located and the interior is modern, clean and well maintained. Despite being owned by a Spanish chain service is generally poor and typically Cuban. It was possible to sit in the lobby bar for 20 minutes without been served, coffee at breakfast has to be fetched whilst staff stand around and reception is best summed up as unhelpful.

The highlight of the hotel must be the rooftop pool with stunning views of the city, lovely in the evening. However beware you can be evicted without notice if the hotel has booked a function, the only advance notice is a member of staff erecting a PA system.

Rather annoyingly the room safes are all locked open on arrival. A member of staff will unlock it for you but the expects to be tipped for his efforts

The rooms are pleasant but nothing special.

Food in Havana is generally poor but a notable exception is La Guarida, a paladare in central Havana, booking is essential. Not cheap but worth it.

We stayed here as the first stop of our holiday in Cuba 6-9th April. We had very good service from the reception - unlike some reports. he room was large with an enormous bed, large bathroom and small balcony. Unfortunately there are building works next so our room overlooked this which was a shame but as we were so busy - not a problem.
The bar was a bit slow and I think the trick is just to remind them or go up and ask for what you want. If it does arrive - go again.
The food in the hotel was lovely, without exception.
The pool was clean and much appreciated after a hard day pounding the streets of Havana. Views were fantastic.
In Havana - we walked and walked - the old town is not huge so this is possible. We took a carriage ride with a guide who was excellent- told us the history and many anecdotes. We went to the Nacionale for a show and meal. The meal was fine but the show,although good was very uncomfortable with people being crammed onto tables with strangers and not feeling very comfortable about it. Personally I enjoyed the show but couldnt wait to get out and move around.
We also went to the Hemigway bars which we really enjoyed. There was a lovely restaurant in Plaza d'arms - I think it was called Mina - very good.
We also went the Havana Jazz Club at the Melia - not really a Jazz club - just a show but very good- all in a hard rock cafe style venue.
Taxis were cheap and fine. Food and drink in Havan was cheap. The loos are primitive so go prepared with loo roll and coins for paying. I've seen worse at home though.
Wish we had had more tome in Havana- would have liked to have gone to the Havana Club Museum and the museum for the revolution. Didnt think much of the Malecon- nothing much to see there. We really enjoyed the market near the Malecon though - bargains galore and all genuine craft pieces.
We will go again and would probably stay at the Parque Central - it is central, comfortable and the views are great.

We flew from the Uk to Varadero in Cuba, We were then collected in a mini bus with 2 other couples for the 2 hour transfer to Havana. The tranfer was extremely comfortable.

We stopped off on the way at a vantage point so you get your first view of Cuba. Had my first Cubralibra.

We arrived at the NH Parque Central at about 5pm Check in was extremely efficient and we were in our room within 10 minutes of walking through the door.

First night we were tired and decided to dine at one of the 2 restaurants in the hotel. We had the most excellent meal and were treated like kings. Cannot remember the name of the restaurant but it is the one that is not used for the buffet breakfast. The hubby ordered a beer and they brought it to the table in a champagne bucket. Both had a three course meal and drinks and the bill was $60 (peso) They also brought out a complimentary starter so we ended up with a 4 course meal. The meal and setting was outstanding.

The buffet breakfast is something special, They serve Bucks fizz and also have a massive cheese selection. The staff were good at clearing tables and also serving coffee.

Lobby bar was good but I feel that the service was a little slow. Pool on the roof and snack bar are really excellent. The service here is wonderful.

Ive left the best till last. The rooms were something to die for. The bed was at least 6ft wide and the room was very well presented. The bathroom is also huge with a doulbe shower cubicle and a bath in there.

There is a mini bar in the room with every item at $3 peso but we found that if you cross the road there is a shop that is filled with soft drinks beer and water for a fraction of the price.

We went on a 1/2 day trip arround Havana to get our bearings and then we went to see the sights we wanted.

My do list is a visit to the cigar factory behind the capitol building $20 peso
Internal Visit to the Capitol building (stunning) about $8 peso
Visit the rum factory we did this on the 1/2 tour.

We went to the Hotel Nationale for a meal and show. Show was very good but the meal was extremely disappointing at $30 Peso.

We did venture and went to China town (hehe) The Cuban China town is fronted houses in a built up area. The restaurant we chose was Chan Li Po
We were taken there by taxi at a cost of $2 peso. The restaurant is full of Cuban people which to me says that the food is good. The menu is in Spanish, (im very ignorant and really need to learn to at least the basics) We ordered with the help of a lovely waitress who spoke excellent English. Spring rolls, 2 special soup filled with seafood and meats, Hubby had special chop suey and i had Lobster thermidor. We had about 6 drinks each and the bill came to $24 peso which in the uk equates to about £15.

Go Go Go to this restaurant as the food services and friendliness of the staff is second to none.


We had the best time in Havana great City, great people what else can I say.