First few days were great, loved the atmosphere of a nice small hotel in the centre of the Old Town. On one day my friend was very ill and the staff were fantastic in getting us in touch with doctors and taking us to a pharmacy. I couldn't recommend them highly enough for their help.

We were due to stop at the hotel for 3 nights whilst in Havana. Unfortunately, because the ceiling had fallen in on our room we were shipped to another hotel for one night. They did pay for the taxi to be fair but we still had to wait for over an hour to get a return taxi the following day. The room we had was basic but clean, the air con worked in a fasion and the room had no window. As there was no nautral light and insufficient bulbs to make reading difficult. Because they have not got a kitchen breakfast is down the road at a cafe. (not the most sumptuous spread!) They claim the building was a monestry and a a result a lot of walking tours are brought in to the lobby/reception which makes things very crowded and noisy.

We booked one night at this hotel before we left on our trip for Cuba. Luckily we printed out our confirmation and reservation from Hotwire.

Upon arrival around 3 pm on Nov 5th, 2006 the mid 30s, female receptionist kept us waiting for a good 30 minutes (it was not busy at the reception desk at all) before telling us we were not on her reservation list. When we showed her the print out of our reservation she said she'd never heard of Hotwire and implied we were ripped off by a bogus website!

This woman then told us we should pay her for our room and sort out our booking with Hotwire on our own. We insisted we had a reservation and after another long wait she finally consented to let us stay overnight and sort it out with her manager in the morning. She then asked us if we wanted to pay extra for a "nicer room with a window". When we didn't go for the upgrade she gave us a room with twin beds and claimed there were no rooms at the hotel with double beds!!!!

For $134 (CAN) we got a windowless room with lumpy 14 by 6 inch rolls for pillows and a bathroom with black mold covering the entire portion of the ceiling directly above the shower head. In all fairness, the included breakfast buffet was excellent.

Oh and by the way, we never heard another word about our booking being invalid. The morning staff at the hotel were pleasant and competent. We're not sure why we were given such a hard time at check in and put it down to bad luck that the first receptionist we encountered at Les Frailes can at best be described as the biggest waste of air and space in Havana.

If you're reading this, skip the hotel and try to look for a Casa particular from a website which lists all of them. These are rooming houses run by Cubans and feature friendly hosts, clean and comfortable rooms, breakfast incl., at prices which are a fraction of what you pay for one night's stay at Les Frailes.

Los Frailes has a very gimmicky theme (monastery) and is well located but it is not good value for the money. We left after one night and stayed in a wonderful Casa particulare thereafter.

For being Cuba, this hotel is excellent. I did stay in one of the junior suites for 70 US$ pr. night. My very helpful local travel agent Lazaro at the Cuban connection (---) was great at finding good rates in Havana and Isle of Youth for me, last minute. I highly reccommend them. Please understand that Cuba is developing and that you can't expect the same comforts there as you can in your own country.

Anyway, the hotel is good, it's relatively quiet, the location is great in the district of Old Havana even if you have to walk a few minutes. (It'll be well worth it since you won't be bothered with traffic noise.) You are safe on the streets there and in the hotel. The room was large with a comfortable bed and bathroom. There was a fridge and cable tv with some odd channels. I even had a small balcony in my room overlooking the streets. At night I could hear the Buena Vista Social club playing from a nearby restaurant!

The bellboy wanted to help me with my luggage, but I declined. There was no problem with the minibar tab and the staff was helpful in general. I know they have a good relationship with my travel agent, so that might have helped.

I didn't try the breakfast as I arrived late, but I can say that you don't come to Cuba for the food, generally speaking!