Stayed here for 6 nights in late August and loved every minute !
The room i stayed in was a good size and very comfortable, and the buffet breakfasts were just what you needed before trekking the streets of Havana.
Loved the rooftop pool and bar....which made great mojitos ....a great place to relax and view the city.
The restaurant served excellent meals in the evenings, with the "dish of the day" at 14.75 cuc, a bargain for 3 courses.
Also worth mentioning the foreign currency exchange gave as good a rate as anywhere else.

Parque Central is in a great location and very central. You can walk most places from here around central Havana.

I stayed in a Suite which was really nice with more of a traditional decor. It was quiet considering the noisy street below but I was never woke by street noise! Rooms are clean and AC worked fine for me.

The rooftop pool was lovely and views over Havana were fantastic. Breakfast was really fresh and retaurant staff were pleasent and attentive. The Mediterranean restaurant was really nice in the evening too.

Reception and bar staff were friendly and helpful with excellent english skills.

The only gripe I had was that as soon as you step out of the hotel you are hounded by taxi and horse and carriage drivers - It would be nice if the hotel could do something about this because it does become pretty annoying when they don't take no for an answer and follow you down the street but I guess that's just the Cuban way!

All in all the hotel is a perfect choice for a trip to Havana.

Parque Central

My wife and I stayed at the Parque Central for 8 nights in August 2007, as part of our honeymoon.

The hotel is situated in Havana Vieja (old Havana) and the location is literally the best in Havana. You can walk to most sights and to the coastal road (Malecon) in 10-15 minutes, and there are numerous good bars & restaurants very close (our favorite was El Floridita!).

Hotel premises
The hotel is housed in an old building on Parque Central. Some rooms have a wonderful view to the Capitol building, but unfortunately ours didn’t.
It is generally very well kept, and the rooms are up to high standards. Our bed was huge and very comfortable. As expected in Cuba there were small issues of maintenance, such as an electricity plug with exposed wires hanging out of the bathroom wall… but nothing too important.
Air condition worked great. Minibar is extremely expensive, but across the road there is a small shop where you can buy water, etc about 70% cheaper.
Be sure to ask for a room as high as possible to avoid the constant traffic noise and pollution. Also try to avoid any rooms facing the back, as there is construction work on the new Parque Central Hotel at the back, and it is very noisy.

Food, etc
Breakfast is absolutely top notch. A full buffet with everything anyone could desire.
The restaurants are good - food in the whole of Cuba is not exactly haute cuisine - but in the hotel’s restaurants you an always find something good to eat for lunch & dinner. The lobster at the barbecue restaurant by the pool was wonderful.
The lobby bar is very pleasant, ant the drinks are very good. Service is awful (I think I am not the first to point this out), delivery of a simple coffee or drink takes ages and ages, and the waiters need constant reminding. We almost cancelled our order a couple of times.

Pool
The rooftop pool was wonderful. Clean and large enough, it was our cool oasis after a hot day walking around Havana.

Staff
The staff are wonderful, always smiling and helpful. Housekeeping is also very good, and any extra requests we had were met immediately. The room was kept very clean, and we always got thank you notes from the cleaning staff when we left small gifts for them.
The concierges are very knowledgeable and helpful and they always have a good idea to propose.

One small complaint is that although we were honeymooners, and stayed at the hotel for 8 days, we received absolutely no extra benefits. Upon leaving we asked for a free late checkout at 18:00 and it was not granted (we just got a 50% discount on the extra cost). I just mention it as a matter of principle.

I would definitely recommend this hotel, you can’t go wrong!
Will definitely return if we are lucky enough to visit Havana again…

We stayed in this hotel from 5th to 8th August (before moving on to the Blau Varadero) and we really loved it. We booked through the Holiday Place and met our rep the morning after we got there. He was great and gave us fantastic tips and advice and was very clear.

We chose it primarily because of the reviews on here but also because it has a lovely pool whereas several of the hotels we considered for Havana don’t have pools. And trust me, after a day of trekking around Havana you really appreciate that dip in the pool at the end of the day!

Checking in was a bit slow but only because everyone seemed to arrive at the same time! I guess its just that after hours of travelling you just want to get settled but it can’t be helped and the reception staff were very friendly and helpful.

Our room was lovely, it was on the corner of the hotel so we had a double aspect over looking the park (Parque Central) on side and the road on the other. I was totally mesmerised just looking out of the window at people going by! The Hotel Inglaterra was about 100m away right opposite our window just to give you a sense of direction and distance.

The room was clean, bright, big and charming. It had everything we needed. We were so impressed. After reading about Cuba and how poor it is in parts we were very pleased. Yes, it is grand and opulent and quite unlike the streets of cuba as such, but we loved it. Breakfast was amazing with everything you could possibly think of – fruit, cereals, pastries, cold meats and cheeses, eggs, bacon, sausages, omelettes prepared on request etc etc.. I have missed loads of stuff out! There is Champagne too if you are feeling extravagant!

We ate a meal on the rooftop the day we got there as we didn’t arrive until 6pm and after we had unpacked we were really tired. The view up there is fantastic and you really feel like you are in Havana – it overlooks the Capital building as I am sure you have seen from the photos. The food we had was one of our best meals in Cuba. Nothing flash, just some pork and chicken skewers, but it was lovely. The drinks were great and the waiters were very friendly and provided great service despite being rushed off their feet!

The evening we arrived a member of staff also brought a bottle of wine to our room. What a lovely touch!

You can change money in the lobby of the hotel and I would recommend you do this if you are new to Cuba. Some friends we met while traveling there used the local bank and didn’t go back. Don’t get me wrong, nothing happened to them, it was just easier and more convenient, and they felt happier to use the hotel’s money exchange – the difference in exchange rate really was just a matter of pence!

I believe you will love this hotel - we just couldnt fault it at all!