When it opened in 1958, the Habana Hilton wanted to embody a symbol on the island of Cuba. Largest hotel in Latin America at the time, it boasts 25 floors in the prestigious Vedado district. A few months later, in June 1960, after the Cuban revolution, the hotel was nationalized by the regime of Fidel Castro and renamed Habana Libre. Sixty years later, the establishment has become the “House of horrors”, explains Courrier International, relying on a report from local media Cubanet.
If the Cuban regime continues to present it as “One of the most emblematic, comfortable and luxurious on the island”, the hotel sold as a 5 star does not really please tourists. On TripAdvisor, the Cuban media has listed thousands of comments and bad ratings left by customers since 2012. Habana Libre is in turn described as “disappointing”, “terrifying”, “abandoned” or even “filthy”. Supported by clichés, they denounce humidity, damaged and old-fashioned furniture, the presence of fungi or cockroaches. In Google reviews (where the establishment has a score of 3.8 out of 5), Internet users also point out an “old-fashioned” hotel or even “in need of a major facelift”. While many people highlight the incredible view offered by the rooms, many also consider that the hotel’s five stars do not really correspond to reality.
A financial problem
How to explain the decrepitude of the hotel? According to Cubanet, this would be directly linked to the lack of funds from the Cuban state. The desire to renovate the establishment has come up against this situation for years. On the island, the big hotels are managed by foreign groups, but they still belong to the communist state. The Spanish group Melia, which owns Habana Libre, has reportedly tried on several occasions to do work. “PSeveral renovation projects were imagined between 2011 and 2019, but all turned into “mission impossible”, ”explains the Cuban media, relying on the words of a group executive. No less than ten floors of the hotel are currently closed because they are completely unusable and, at best, two elevators operate out of the six in the Habana Libre.
The problems do not seem to be limited to the inventory, however. Indeed, in the comments, some Internet users do not hesitate to criticize the hotel staff. “It is obvious that tourists are no longer welcome. All that interests is what tip we will leave, ”denounces an Argentinian customer. A hotel now a far cry from what was briefly Fidel Castro’s headquarters after the revolution.
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