7th August 2006
Trip Adviser, Surrey, UK

We stayed 4 nights at this hotel with two teenage children (17 and 13, girl and boy). We e mailed weeks in advance requesting a king bedroom and a twin room for the children, with inter-connecting door and received and very swift response saying that our request was confirmed. We arrived at the hotel at about 5pm and queued for sometime at check in. On reaching a receptionist we were told that the hotel was full and they had no rooms ready yet! We referred to our exchange of e mail and eventually we were given two rooms - they were next to eachother but not connected and both rooms had king sized beds. The children did not want to share a double bed and we complained to the reception staff that the room was not as booked. The staff were very unhelpful and the only alternative they came up with was a twin room two floors down from our room. Eventually they agreed to put an extra fold out bed in the children's room next to ours, but it was a 2 or 3 hours (and a second reminder) before the spare bed arrived. The hotel, however was beautiful, and in a great central location. The rooms were spacious with lovely bathrooms and the breakfast buffet was ample (if a little strange - would you want to eat stuffed peppers / capsicum for breakfast?!). You could even have champagne with your cornflakes! The best part of breakfast was the fabulous freshly baked bread. The only down side was that the staff were very slow to clear and re-set the tables, so if you are a bit of a late riser you may have difficulty finding a clean table to sit at. We had our evening meal at the hotel twice - the food was reasonable (not wonderful) and there was a good selection of wine. The hotel bar was lovely and there was a live Cuban band there every evening. The rooftop pool was small for the size of the hotel so little chance of getting a sun bed. It was windy up there too which probably accounted for the lack of parasols, so there was no shade and it was extremely hot - the views were great though. We went to the Tropicana cabaret show, but note that the minimum age is 16 (so our son could not go). Thoroughly recommend it but it was very expensive - seats were priced at 70, 80 or 90 Cuban Convertible Pesos (you get about 1.6 pesos to the £1) and included the show plus half a bottle of rum per couple. We also had to pay for our own transport so hired an old American Pontiac - the cars were awesome! Even a visit to the loo at the Tropicana was not included and cost 1 peso every time (about 60p)! We had also been recommended to go to the Casa de la Musica near Miramar and the guide book we had said it opened at 10pm and was the best place in Havana for live Cuban music and salsa. We went there on a Friday evening and arrived at 10pm only to be told it didn't open until 11pm so we spent an hour in a shabby bar next door. At 11pm we went in only to find ourselves freezing cold as the air conditioning was turned up so high and we spent the next 1½ hours being shown 70's UK pop videos on a large screen. At just after midnight they played some taped salsa music and a few locals got up to dance but by nearly 1am when there was no sign of any live music coming on we bailed out (It had cost us 15 pesos each to go in and was a complete waste of time). On the way back to the hotel the taxi driver told us it was open to 3am and was usually frequented by prostitutes! Worth a miss I would say! If you want to see live music walk up Obispa in the evenings and at many of the bars and reastuarants you will find small bands of Cuban musicians entertaining customers (they all want you to buy their CD's though!). One trip that is an absolute must is the City tour - you will learn so much about Cuban history and culture and see all the main parts of the City, including Hemmingway's old haunts. At the hotel we needed internet access for business purposes and hired a keyboard which hooks up to the tv in the bedrooms. We had to pay a depost of 50 pesos which we were told would be deducted from our bill on checking out. When we did check out there was no credit on our bill and the staff tried to say that it was taken into account in the adding up. After borrowing a calculator we found that there had been no deduction and we had to argue quite strongly for the 50 pesos to be deducted. Although the hotel itself is lovely and we would recommend staying there, we found the staff unhelpful and unfriendly and you really need to watch that you are not being ripped off.

I spent more than a week with my girlfriend in this fantastic hotel. English speaking staff, nice choice of meals, good variety of food for breakfast (we especially enjoyed the champagne for breakfast) and little but clean pool on the roof. Rooms are spatious, very clean, bathroom is big with bathtub and shower separated. We did not experience any problem with security, as other reviewers reported. There is a safe depost box in room, and nothing was missling. Drinks are great, but there comes only one little complaint we have. Mojitos (cocktail) were not allways perfect. Someteims they were too sour, sometimes too sweet, sometimes too weak in rum. But this is the only, little complaint.

We stayed at this fantastic hotel for 2 nights before continuing on to Varadero.
Our party consisted of four adults and four children.

We arrived very late at night and were all exhausted after the long journey. Unfortunately, despite our travel agents placing very specific requests a year in advance, our request to have rooms next door to each other (so we could keep an eye on the children) was completely ignored and it took over an hour to sort out a compromise. We received no apology a smile or even a drink from the receptionist who was VERY slow and laid back about the whole thing!

The hotel itself was beautiful and had a fantastic location and swimming pool. The rooms were clean and spacious and provided everything we needed as a base to explore this amazing city.

Sadly the food at the evening restaurant was terrible and the service very slow although the restaurant manager was excellent and kept us informed about the delay.

The breakfast was chaotic but there was a huge choice of food and everyone seemed happy.

The biggest disappointment of the stay was that my husband and I had a substantial amount of money taken from our safe in our room. The hotel responded very quickly and we were interviewed by the Hotel Manager and Head of Security. Our holiday rep in Havana also informed our rep in Varadero and everyone took this very seriously and professionally.

Unfortunately, we have never received a reply from the hotel (who were going to write to us with an update) despite making a note of our home address and email address.

We decided not to post this review too quickly (knowing how long things take in Cuba!) and we have not chased up the complaint ourselves as it would achieve nothing. We know the money was missing and sadly, nothing can be proved or otherwise but we recommend that if you do stay at this hotel, lock your valuables in your suitcases.

I would once again like to reiterate that this is a beautiful hotel in a fabulous location and a great place to explore Havana from. If we went to Havana again, we would definately stay there again despite the negatives.

I do however believe that if people take the time to research their holiday on trip advisor that they deserve an honest and unbiased opinion, hence why I have mentioned the good and the bad about the Parque Central.

Myself and my girlfreind spent a week (june 20 - 28) in the hotel. All the staff were very friendly and helpful. And despite the lack of manners from the people staying in the hotel, the staff always maintained a great attitude. A fabulous place to stay, we shall definetly go there again. A fabulous country made even better by the fabulous people. If anyone who works in the hotel reads this board then pay attention to this. The staff at the pool bar are the best anywhere in the world. Roberto, Douglas and Oestero (i do not think i spellled his name correctly) are the best staff any hotel anywhere could ever have. Thank you for such a nice time. I do not think my holiday would have been as enjoyable had i not had the chance to stay in your hotel.