We would like to thank the concierge Raul Hernandez Cano for making our brief stay in the Hotel Saratoga such a wonderful one. Right from the moment we walked through the door we were made to feel like VIP guests in this very well presented 5 star hotel in the heart of Old Havana. On our first night Raul recommended we visit a local bar/restaurant where members of the famous Buena Vista Social Club were playing. We had the most wonderful evening and made friends with the lead vocalist called Angel. Each morning after breakfast we would go to speak with Raul and he would provide us with more hot tips on how best to plan our day. This was invaluable since it was our first time in Havana and we were only staying for 3 days, much better than using a guide book. We felt that in such a short space of time we managed to get a real feel for the beauty of Havana and its people. Raul was also very caring, my wife was suffering from flu and he called around to seek medical help and showed real concern. I would also like to say that everybody else in the Hotel were very friendly and made our stay such a special one, one that we will always remember with the fondest of memories. It was our first visit to Cuba and the Saratoga and will definitely not be our last.

My husband and I stayed at Saratoga for 3 nights as part of our Honeymoon trip. It was a beautiful and memorable experience.

We loved the deco of the hotel, very clean, good historical location, good size (not too big) ,very helpful concierge - Raul. We travel often together to treat ourselves but never stayed in any hotel where the concierge gives you a call to make sure you're feeling comfortable in the city. He booked us into a lovely rooftop restaurant in the middle of the Old Town that you wouldn't notice if walking along the street.

Our room was facing one of the most historical buildings in the city - The Nacional, and we enjoyed the sound of Havana from the street.

We used the bar a couple of times to experience cigars and mojitos which we thought were some of the best we've had in Cuba, and also cuban burgers which were very tasty. The bar men were friendly and helpful too.

Breakfast had a good variety .

Yes, it might be a bit too pricy, but overall we loved it !!

special thanks to Raul the concierge for all his help and good advice

My friend and I stayed one night at the Hotel Saratoga because of a recommendation from someone in my network. We'd been in Cuba for 2 weeks staying in the casas particulares most of the time, and had just returned from a 2 night stay in one of those all-inclusive beach resorts in Cayo Largo which was just horrible. Having spent quite a few occasions by the Hotel Nacional (one of the most famous in Havana), we had a pretty good benchmark for service and quality of amenities. Which is why when we finally made it to the Hotel Saratoga, we were pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful hotel with well kept and designed rooms that exuded peace and calm, good shower pressure(!), tasty food, and most importantly, an extremely likeable Concierge who was always professional, helpful and sincerely friendly. We really have to thank Raul who helped us out on quite a few occasions (even when we weren't checked in yet!) to provide information and good advice about where to go and how to get around in Havana. He's a lovely guy, and one of the main reasons why our stay was so enjoyable.
Agree with some user complaints regarding: inconsistent service from some staff, it ranged from excellent to downright poor; food at breakfast was touch and go (why can't they cover the pastries so flies won't land on them!); mosquitoes in the restaurant bit us a few times at dinner...
Still, I enjoyed myself, despite the short stay, and I LOVED the soft bed, the rooftop pool, excellent location and the old traditional architecture of the facade and design and furnishings of the interior. It looks like a world class hotel, and ALMOST feels like one too. Hopefully it can work out the kinks and get there soon.

Stayed twice over the new year period - once for 5 nights and then for another night after seeing other parts of Cuba.

Let's start with the positives:
1. The beds are incredibly comfortable - I slept very, very well.
2. Pool on the roof is very nice and the views are interesting
3. Lift is fast and very cool (and very technically advanced for Cuba)
4. Raul the concierge was friendly & helpful and booked us into La Guarida (very nice paladares).

But, there are a number of downsides to consider:
1. Service isn't good enough for a $300 night hotel - we experienced dozens of situations that ranged from slightly annoying to utterly infutriating - too many to list them all.
2. We always had to ask for milk at breakfast - even though there were plenty of staff - not one ever realised that after asking for it once, you may want it again.
3. Food ranged from adequate to the truly awful - again too many examples to list. Breakfast buffet ranged from pretty good to inedible and was different every day.
4. All males employed by the hotel made comments about my girlfriend or looked at her innappropriately - she found them sleazy and I just ignored them as all Cuban blokes seem to think they can walk on water with women.
5. One day no towels at the pool most days towels arrived at noon or much later.
6. One day they dropped the chlorine into the pool at 10am and then casually said 'don't swim for at least an hour' - we had to warn some poor lad who was about to jump in who walked up afterwards so he wouldn't burn his eyes (why wasn't this done at dawn or last thing at night?)
7. The toilet for the restaurant had no toilet paper for the entire stay.
8. After being upgraded to the top floor (the 7th) on our final night - the bath taps broke and water literally exploded everywhere and nearly flooded the bathroom.
9. The showers aren't that great and drain very poorly
10. The rooms weren't cleaned properly - to test this out we used to leave rubbish about the room - they were never moved or picked up.
11. New Years Eve a band for a private party soundchechecked all day at ear-splitting volumes around the pool (even with ear plugs it was a challenge) - having seen many a soundcheck this was easily the most inept one I've ever seen. Most of the people around the pool left in disgust!

The general manager of the Saratoga needs to be trained on how to run a hotel like this - only then do you have a chance of making Cubans customer service orientated - 48 years of communism has made them ill prepared for most of the jobs in this hotel. Most smiled, but to add insult to injury - quite a few were surly AND useless.

Cuba is a unique country in good and bad ways - the Saratoga is also good and bad - mostly bad and certainly unique.