I would emphasize that the services offered are FREE gym and sauna for guests staying at our hotel It is also good to note that hotel guests are entitled to free parking
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Art Deco Style
Historic Hotel
Location
Mercaderes 263, Havana 10100 Cuba
Hotel Raquel
826 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
There is positive and negative at this hotel, the building has its colonial past charms and very nice details, bring you back many years ago. Refurbishments would be more than welcome all over! We didn't take the lift an historical Masterpiece! To conclude was ok for one night as we were just stopping over La havana
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Date of stay: March 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Great location, beautiful art deco architecture and spacious, clean and tastefully decorated rooms. The staff was attentive and rather friendly. Of course there have been elevator failures, hot water and breakfast on some days lighter than others: but this is so throughout the island. In summary we really liked this hotel and will come back with pleasure Patricia
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Date of stay: February 2024
Value
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Location
Cleanliness
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The hotel has a beautiful building. It has an old aesthetic. Excellent attention from all the staff. The terrace is beautiful and the vitro in the room area is beautiful. Very good location to go out walking. Very varied breakfast. Very good cleaning.
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Date of stay: October 2023Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I had two different stays at this hotel whilst on a tour. The building was stunning and was in a great location. The first stay was for three nights and we had no hot water for the entirety of our stay. We contacted reception multiple times and the service was very poor in dealing with this issue. One morning we went for breakfast to find bugs on the food. Our second stay, nine days after our first stay, we enquired whether the hot water issue had been resolved and we were told that there was still no hot water. The lady in reception literally told us it was "too bad". We were really disappointed with our stay here and it was such a shame because it was such a beautiful building that has so much potential to be a great hotel.
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Date of stay: December 2019
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is my second time to Habana, so I know all the usual faults, but even this place was beyond poor. Do not stay here, go give your money to small hotel or a home stay.
The front desk staff are rude and demotivated. Arrived at 11pm, and they couldn’t find our reservation, so they slowly did nothing until finally over an hour later, let us check in to many of their empty rooms. Standard no water / cold water for most of the time. We showered at the sister hotel and at the Pool of the Iberostar.
The hotel roof terrace is empty and not manned, I did not see one person drink at the bar in my four nights there ... probably put off by the high prices. Breakfast, despite the cheery staff, was awful.
The one saving grace for this place is the location .... the only one.
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Date of stay: March 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The place is truly beautiful. It’s something to see. The hotel is very bad if you’ve just arrived to Cuba because there’s no Wi-Fi. Which means you’re completely off the grid from the moment you arrive in Cuba until you manage to find their cell phone service shops and buy a SIM card. The room was beautiful but dirty. Very dusty and over run with ants. Ants were EVERYWHERE. On the sheets, on the floor, and inside of the bathroom. The room gets VERY hot, as there is no AC or fans. You just deal with the heat until the sun sets and even then it’s really warm until about 1-2 am. The room’s window is difficult to open and even more difficult to close, so you get woken up at 6-7am to all the loud noise from the street. Also, the beds are not comfortable AT ALL. I booked a room for me and my wife and in our room there was two separate beds that we needed to put together. The hotel staff are really nice and warm, they make the hotel bearable. The free breakfast is horrible and is completed owned by the flies. The plates and the glasses weren’t clean at all. We had to manually wipe them off ourselves. The hotel also didn’t serve us water with our breakfast, just fruit juice and disgusting milk. The location is ok. It’s on a really nice street, but it’s just annoying that the doors stay open 24/7 so all the locals know who you are and where you stay. They also had a sauna and another amenity that they NEVER told us about. It was our last day that we saw technicians coming in to work on them and were shocked to find out that they existed. Overall, the hotel is below average.
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Date of stay: February 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:THIS HOTEL HAS NO WI-FI! ALSO DO NOT exchange money with the hotel if you don’t have to. They...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wonderful hotel entirely in Art Nouveau style: lamps, furniture, mirrors, lift...everything is in art deco style and for those who love it it is truly a dive into the past. The ceiling is simply amazing and the hall is often photographed by tourists who come across it by chance. I saw it myself while you were walking along Calle Obispo and I fell in love with it. So my last night in Cuba I wanted to spend it here. The rooms are ancient, with original floors, but in mine the bathroom has been redone and is convenient and comfortable. My room had air conditioning but it was quite cool even with just the open balcony. Presence of shampoo and shower gel and body cream. The breakfast was very abundant: coffee, milk, yogurt, local fruit, bread, butter, cold cuts, cheese, freshly squeezed fruit juice, a typical honey dessert Furthermore, the manager of the hotel as well as all those who work there were extremely and incredibly kind. For me it remains one of the most beautiful hotels I have slept in. I would like to go back again!
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Date of stay: August 2023Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Well what can I say about the dear old Hotel Raquel?
You will not be disappointed with the colonial charm and ambience of this hotel, which in spite of its art deco theme, that may or may not be to your taste, still inspires and captures your imagination. The breakfast IMO however is far from inspirational and best left to dine with itself. The rooms are very clean, pleasant and most have balconies. There are views of old Havana from the rooftop "garden" where you can enjoy a cold beer or other refreshment. Location wise the hotel is not far from the center of the old town and is therefore very convenient for many of the sights, bars and restaurants.
My reservations: - The room was pre-paid but on leaving I was still overcharged for the two drinks from the bar that I had on my room tab. 1+1=3 if you know what I mean. In fairness I did receive a belated apology for this while I waited for my second taxi following a request to the "doormen" who had previously set me up with a non-official taxi which was presumably one of their family or friends or perhaps was paying them some sort of commission. These same doormen had earlier in my stay offered me prostitutes to take to my room which if you are a single man may or may not be a plus point...I reluctantly declined due to some sort of stupid moral obligation I had to other guests…or on second thoughts maybe it was due to my daily consumption of rum!
In conclusion I think that if you are a couple you will probably not have the same experience that I as a single man encountered. The hotel is fine and the majority of staff very helpful. It’s just a shame that due to one or two people letting their fellow workers down this hotel took a nosedive in my popularity rating.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I stayed in Havana for one week at the Raquel Hotel from July 15 - 22 2004. The hotel is located at the heart of old havana in the jewish quarter. The Hotel Raquel is only 1 years old but is one of the best hotels i have stayed. Staff is friendly and helpfull and they speak english but one minus is making domestic calls can be expensive. Prostitution is abudant in havana, i traveled by myself and staff in the hotel offer me prostitutes for $20.00, which it was a big turn off but overall hotel is clean, nice, great location and safe.
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Date of stay: July 2004
Value
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Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Staying at the Raquel was pure pleasure, the staff were very frieindly and helpful, one of the Bell boys even walked us down to the bank to change some money. It is a beautifull building and we were told by the staff that it has been in operation as a hotel for two years, previous to that it looked like it was some sort of Merchant Bank. The rooms are beautiful ,ceilings very high all with elegant mouldings , furniture was oldy worldy cast iron beds and marble dressing table etc. Even if you do not stay here pop in just to cast your eye over the wonderfull painted glass arched ceiling.
On the top floor there is a terrace, good place for cocktails in the evening and a quaint little bell tower where one can dine on a romantic meal for two. We had a good traditional meal here with a great bottle of Cuban red wine, Pricey but worth evey CUC, but felt the staff really put a lot of effort in on our behalf.
Location was great, turn right and you find yourself in Plaza Vieja- great place to people watch drink home brewed beer and dine on skewers of garlic prawns, turn left then right and find Obispo Street full of livey bars playing cuban music - We stayed four nights and had a fantastic time.
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Date of stay: July 2005
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Our room was supposed to have a balcony, but in reality it is the top floor and the window looks out on the top floor. Ours (extra cost) looked out on the vaulted roof (which was stained glass but not what we ordered.) NO BALCONY rooms. And just FYI. No screens so if you open your windows, bugs...and if you are on the top floor people walk by and the curtains are heavy damask and essentially black so they block all light. Not an advantage by any means.
Palm Springs, California367 contributions80 helpful votes
I would not recommend this hotel as a wedding site. There are better hotels that would accommodate your needs. Specifically, Melia Habana, Iberostar Parque Central, or Blau Varadero Hotel Cuba,
Palm Springs, California367 contributions80 helpful votes
Always change money at banks, not hotels. The hotels take a high percentage skim off the top of the exchange. We were advised to change $US to Mexican Pesos before we entered Cuba. The exchange rate for Mexican Pesos to Cuban CUC (the visitor currency) was much better than $US to Cuban CUC.
There are more places to choose from in the Havana area.
ALSO KNOWN AS
raquel hotel havana
LOCATION
CaribbeanCubaCiudad de la Habana ProvinceHavana
NUMBER OF ROOMS
25
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Are there any historical sites close to Hotel Raquel?
Many travelers enjoy visiting Old Square (Plaza Vieja) (0.09 miles), San Francisco de Asis Square (0.1 miles), and Palacio De Los Capitanes Generales (0.2 miles).
