I have stayed in this hotel several times during business trips, the last was in late May 2007. In truth, it is a better choice for a business traveller than a holiday maker, especially one only 'doing' La Habana for 2/3 days before proceeding to Varadero as it is some distance by taxi into downtown Havana Vieja - definitely not walkable - and there is nothing else of note close by. That said, the hotel itself is of a good standard - the rooms are huge and all have balconies which overlook the sea or face the city itself and are well equipped and serviced.

The lobby area is large and busy, with 24 hr bar service. Once they know you, the staff are attentive and friendly, but it can be a little difficult to attract their attention at first - I recommend ordering your first drink by going up to the bar, repeat orders are then usually no problem. The hotel seems to rotate two evening bands, the better of them has a great old gentleman lead singer and some energetic young dancers. Importantly, they do not harass the customers to perform individual songs at their tables, as ifs very common in Cuba, although there is the usual collection and offer of a CD made later in the evenings.

The reception can be a bit chaotic, especially if there are large coach parties checking in, as happens regularly, so if there is one ahead of you, go have a mojito and wait till everything calms down.

The self service buffet breakfast is excellent, but what has become something of a standing joke with me is that getting a pot of coffee to accompany it is a challenge virtually every morning. There are plenty of staff, but they all seem to have perfected the art of looking straight through me and my attempts to catch their eye to get the coffee brought to the table!

The pool area is very extensive and clean, although again drinks service to your lounger is intermittent to say the least.

I had my hair cut in the hotel salon on this trip and it was a dream for me - 30 seconds of consultation followed by an excellent cut and colour executed by a very charming girl in under 30 minutes from start to finish.

I would also mention that during one visit, I was bitten very badly by mosquitoes (a hazard throughout La Habana at certain times of the year and they do buzz about the lobby area quite a lot) and ended up having to seek treatment for the very swollen bites. There is a fantastic twenty four hour medical service (doctor during the day and a nurse at night) at this hotel, if a prescription is required, as it was in my case, this is obtained from the next door hotel which has a pharmacy and the very helpful hotel staff fetched this for me. It is not free, but very efficient and reassuring.

All in all, a very good hotel doing their best in Cuba - where the embargo and general economic situation means that certain things taken for granted in the west don't always happen according to plan, e.g. maintenance on demand, the availability of certain foodstuffs and the occasional power cut (the hotel has its own emergency generator which usually kicks in within a minute of an outage) - but La Habana is like nowhere else in the world and well worth any minor inconveniences associated with staying there!