I had made a reservation for 3 nights in Hotel Telegrafo. When I arrived at the hotel, the lady at the reception desk asked my voucher. Unfortunately I had forgotten it in Istanbul. She insisted that my name wasn’t on the list. Then another lady came and somehow found my name, but this time they said there wasn’t any room available at hotel, so they transferred me to Hotel Santa Isabel (Look for my reviews in Santa Isabel page). I didn’t pay any extras for taxi rides and hotel (Santa Isabel is more expensive). As far as I read from reviews, other people also lived a similar experience.

Next day I moved back to Hotel Telegrafo. My room was a large corner room with a double size bed and colossal windows looking at Prada Avenue and Parque Central. Hotel is on the very center of Havana and all life was flowing under my feet. The room was modernly furnished and clean. The bathroom was also in good condition. Towels and linens were a little bit old but clean. Mini bar was almost empty with just water, colas, beers and sodas. There was a safe in the room but I didn’t use it after the reviews I’d read here. Instead, I put my money and documents in a hidden place in my suitcase and kept it locked every time.

I didn’t eat at the hotel except breakfast. There was a buffet breakfast and it was the richest among 3 hotels I stayed in Havana. (Others were Santa Isabel and Beltran de Santa Cruz). There was food I wasn’t used to eat in breakfasts like rice, macaroni or meat but at least there were several choices.

The hotel is very central and it is easy to walk main sights like Old Havana, Capitol, Malecon or Partagas Factory. I booked a city tour from San Cristobal’s tour desk and made some shopping in the small shop.

The staff was really unhelpful and not very friendly. I asked my agency in Turkey to fax me the vouchers, and when I asked the receptionists about it they said it hadn’t arrived even without checking properly. I guess they don’t want to do anything more than the definition of their duty. And while checking out they charged me a bottle of water I hadn’t drunk.

Just don’t mind the staff and stay in Hotel Telegrafo to explore Central Havana for a few days. And never forget your voucher!

Having read all the previous reviews we decided to just give the hotel a go and have an open mind. Thankfully our stay was only 2 nights at the beginning of our holiday.

We had a large room that overlooked the internal courtyard where the bar was. If you are used to a smoking ban this was a bit irritating but not really the fault of the hotel so not a gripe for this site but just a pointer.

Reception: The most unhelpful staff ever. From start to finish they made any dealings that you had with them impossible. We had a few problems surrounding our transfer down the coast and we wanted to contact the hotel we were going to in order to confirm the arrangements. The reception staff would not assist us in any way and when we asked them would they look the number of the hotel up in the telephone Directory they said no. It was farcical.

Breakfast: Most of the other reviews have said it. Getting Coffee and Tea is not easy.

Tour Desk: The Lady who attends the desk is firstly hardly ever there…or secondly has no interest in doing anything for you and makes you fell like you are an irritant. We booked the Tropicana Show through the tour desk in the hotel. We has assumed that she would organise transport. That in itself would be acceptable but then when we asked how we would organise a taxi she just pointed outside ‘hail a cab’. So we popped over to the NH Parque Central who assisted and organised a very nice driver to take us there and back. Again 5 * to the NH Parque Central.

We ended up going across the Square to the NH Parque Central Hotel to their concierge who were brilliant. Helped us out with any problems and issues. I really wish we had stayed in that hotel.

We didn’t get any money stolen but we took most of our belonging out with us in a money belt. Certainly not ideal but we didn’t want to risk leaving it in the safe.

I was so disappointed with the hotel and that disappointment is mostly aimed at the staff who did nothing to make our stay enjoyable. The only saving grace was that we stayed here on the first 2 nights of our holiday and we had a brilliant time for the next 12

Stayed here for a long weekend with my girlfriend. Great base to explore old Havana- all the major sites are in walking distance. Rooms were fine, if a little dated, and we had a nice view over the old square. Street side cafe on ground floor was nice for evening drinks. Food not great, but certainly no worse than anything else experienced in Cuba!

Little tip also- the Bacardi building is just on the other side of the square, and if you offer the security guard a little persuasion, you can get onto the deck at the tope for amazing city views.

If I returned to Cuba again, I would consider staying here again.

We stayed at the Telegrafo for a night and had a very good experience with none of the problems mentioned. The room was comfortable with everything we needed and the decoration of room, lobby and public areas was quite new and in good condition. We had some food from the bar which was decent and some very good mojitos - this was the last night of our 16 day trip so we had a point of comparison. We did not have any problems with the staff although we both speak fluent Spanish and so were able to communicate without any problem. They arranged a late check-out for us as we had an evening flight without any difficulty. Bear in mind that hotel staff in Cuba are all government employees and may not have the same customer service mentality of other countries. I was shocked to read the reports of theft from rooms. As we only stayed the one night there was not much opportunity for this and we did not leave cash or valuables in the room. For a one night stay we were very pleased with the hotel and its location and would go back.