We stayed at the Melia Cohiba for 3 nights as part of a twin centre holiday to Cayo Guillermo and Havana booked through Thomas Cook.

I was surprised by this hotel: for a holiday destination, it bore the closest resemblance to a European or American 4/5* that I have come across. It had the feel of a business hotel.

Rooms: The room we stayed in was a corner and although we hadn't booked one I suspect it was a suite: there was a superking-sized bed, an office area, separated from a sitting area with sofas by a wide pillar. There was one plasma TV facing the bed, another facing the sofas. Being on a corner, we had windows around 2 walls of the room, on one side facing Havana Centre and the sea, on the other overlooking the pool. The decor was similar to what I would expect of a UK 4* such as a Mariott or Crowne Plaza. The bathroom was large with a jacuzzi bath tub. The only fault I have of the room itself was that the air con vent in the hallway area (yes there was a hallway in our suite!) dripped quite heavily, causing a bit of a flood. We got round this using towels and a glass from the bathroom!

Pool: The pools were lovely, in particular considering it's city location - more like a resort pool. The pool staff provided you with towels and cusions for the sunbeds as soon as you arrived. The cusions could also be used as lilos on the pool!

Location: Although the Cohiba is away from the centre of Havana, a regular free (air conditioned) shuttle bus runs both ways during the day. There are bars, shops and cafes in the immediate vicinity. There is also a taxi rank immediately infront of the hotel and taxis are reasonably priced.

Food & Drink: Although AI in Cayo Guillermo, we were only B&B in Havana. The breakfast was varied and plentiful - I cannot fault it. We did not eat any other meals in the hotel, partly because of the prices (5*!) and partly because you're missing experiencing true Havana if you do. Make sure you go to at least one Paladar while your there - like eating in someone's private dining room!

Staff: On my way to Havana from Cayo Guillermo I lost my passport. At the time when we most needed help, the Thomas Cook representative was not available - she did not turn up to our welcome meeting and in fact did not put in an appearance for the whole 4 days, nor was she contactable on her mobile. Aparently she was in Varadero. The hotel staff helped with this begrudgingly - being a fluent spanish speaker, I could understand the comments made between themselves, not all so complimentarly. That said, they did help (more than TC!) and phoned the coach transfer company and airport on my behalf. We relied on my spanish and a trustworth taxi driver in the end to sort this all out and get a temp. passport form the Embassy. Staff were otherwise courteous, but did not go out of their way to be helpful.

I would still recommend this hotel as my negative experience is largely based on an issue that most people will (hopefully )not have. The hotel itself was fantastic.

On the twin centre holiday: I'm glad we saw Havana, although it was a tiring trip, with an early start in resort and having to change rooms when we returned. Being B&B in Havana when you are also paying for AI in resort is slightly painful too. If I were to do it again, I think I would choose the overnight trip - it's too far for a day, but I would expect 2 days to be enough. The heat in Havana is overwhelming, so you can't say out in the centre for long comfortably.

we stayed there for 3 nights at the end of our trip. The hotel itself is very nice and the general staff quite friendly. As for the cadeca operator, the concierge service....Do not order breakfast in bed they tried to charge us 42CUP for it after me calling customer service and being told there was no charge!!! I was told I didnt understandf their policies and that the HW on my guest card meant mass rate...ie that I had b&B for 2 people for 3 nights but only one breakfast per morning the other had to be paid for...and I should have known this....very confusing...Anything we asked the concierge was met with I dont know or its not possible...quickly found ourselves in all cases that it either was easy or very possible!! Anyway....Just clarify exactly what you want and search for things yourself

We arrived in Cuba on the 4th of April. It is a very interesting place to learn about overall. The hotel was aesthetically average; there were nice restaurants, a good pool and lovely art displays. Our housekeeper, who came to clean every day, made us feel very at home and even wrote us a letter wish us a 'happy stay' at the Melia. The final day of our stay, however, turned out not so happy. The same housekeeper stole a US$300 shirt and another blouse from our room on the 9th of April, the last day of our stay. She did it this way hoping for it to go unnoticed until we were too far away to have much done about it. We noticed as we were packing to leave and immediately contacted hotel security. Turns out we we couldn't do anything about about it even though we were still there. They offered us no help and to this day we have recieved no compensation or even an apology after several letters to the General Manager. We will never stay there again and we want others who visit to take measures not to allow this to happen to them. The staff at Melia Cohiba are thieves.

We were here for just 2 nights at the end of a fortnight of travelling around Cuba, having stayed in Old Havana earlier in our holiday.

It's a 5-star hotel, which in Cuba equates roughly to 3 or 4 stars elsewhere, Having also stayed at the Parque Central on a previous holiday we felt this was marginally better, though the location is not all that convenient for seeing the sights.

We were very fortunate to find ourselves upgraded to an Executive Suite on the 25th floor. This was presumably because we stayed over Easter weekend and there weren't many businesspeople around - not that this was explained to us, we were just told we had been given a nice room!

The rooms were comfortable and well-furnished, though it was slightly
annoying to have to pay 2 pesos per night for use of the safe. And a typically Cuban aspect was that one of our 3 double-glazed panoramic windows was faulty so the glass was virtually opaque!

There was a huge choice of food for breakfast, though by about 9.50am
we noticed a long queue waiting to get in.

The piano bar was comfortable and relaxing, but on using the lobby bar we had very poor and uninterested service from the bartender at the time.

We only ate at one restaurant in the hotel, the 'Gourmet' one. Nice food, not all that expensive, but we experienced a frustrating 45-minute wait for our main course even though there were hardly any other customers in.

The pool is very nice, and much bigger and better than the one at the
Parque Central, with a large number of sunloungers, many in the shade.

One of the escalators wasn't working both days we were there, and the
Business Centre (where you can get internet access) is closed on Sundays! - and only seems to have about 3 PCs anyway.

Sol Melia literature states nothing is too much trouble for their Receptionists, but when I asked them to change a 10 peso note into 1s, I was told they had no change at all!

But all in all, a good hotel and it was an enjoyable experience staying there.

PS if while you are there you are wondering why there are so few shops, go out of the front entrance and turn immediately right, and you'll find a lot more hidden away around the corner of the building!