The hotel's 457 rooms, 15 suites, and Presidential Suite are conveniently prepared and equipped for maximum comfort, while their location offers a magnificent view of the city.
Hotel History
On the coastal salient of Punta Brava, on the Taganana hill, toward the far end
of the San Lazaro cove --customary site of pirate landings--, rises the
Hotel Nacional de Cuba since December 30, 1930, the “flagship” of Gran
Caribe.
During the 19th century, the hill on which the hotel stands held the famous
battery of Santa Clara. The “Ordoñez” cannon, one of the largest of its time,
still lies in the hotel’s gardens. On the headland of Punta Brava, Corregidor
Don Luis Aguilar chastised the British during the seige and assault of
Havana. The hotel’s most famous and luxurious restaurant is named after him.
The project and construction of this majestic building was completed in two
years by the US companies McKim, Mead & White and Purdy Henderson Co.
Visitors are captivated by the galleries of the gardens that recollect monastic
cloisters of Moorish-Spanish arcades, the main hall resembling three parallel
aisles of a Medieval church, or the simulated beams of the ceiling that recall
an old Catalan monastery with Arab reminiscences. Its eclectic architecture
combining Art-Deco, neoclassic and neocolonial designs,
the handsome Apartment of the Republic with its direct entrance and the
necessary privacy for state guests, and its comfortable Presidential Suite
have, time and again, attracted many distinguished personalities from the
fields of art, literature, politics, commerce, science and business.
Among its first illustrious guests were artists, actors and writers such as
Johny Weissmuller, Buster Keaton, Jose Mujica, Jorge
Negrete, Agustin Lara, Tyrone Power, Romulo Gallegos,
Errol Flyn, Marlon Brando and the famous Ernest Hemingway,
who donated a blue fish specimen to the “Sirena” bar. The guestlist includes
well known Italian American gangsters Santos Traficante, Meyer Lansky,
Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello. The hotel’s reputation as a
deluxe host is backed by patrons such as Winston Churchill, the Duke
and Duchess of Windsor, scientist Alexander Flemming, and
innumerable Ibero American Heads of State and European monarchs.
The hotel was refurbished in the late 50’s, when all the comforts that make it
competitive were added without altering the original layout.
The protagonism of the Hotel Nacional de Cuba goes on, welcoming
distinguished businessmen and ordinary folk from all over the world, hosting
important international events and still remaining that “Enchanted Castle” that
Alejo Carpentier spoke of, as dazzling as it was on its opening night.
History | Reservations | Property Overview | Executive Service | Spanish Version