Blog

Let's start 2022 by finally planning the next trip to the warmth on the magical island of Cuba: The Hotel Nacional, a historic site in Havana, is rediscovering its effervescence and awaits you as the first stop of a dream vacation.

It was the luxury accommodation for the American mafia during Prohibition, it survived the missile crisis, home to Hollywood eccentricities… In 91 years of existence, the Hotel Nacional of Havana has had a frenetic life, but it has rarely experienced as much solitude as it did during the pandemic.

Now that the pandemic in Cuba is under control with the entire population vaccinated, we can begin planning the trip of your dreams, starting from Havana and the legendary Hotel Nacional.

The building with more than 400 rooms took the opportunity of the forced closure due to the pandemic for a makeover: the facade has been restored, the floors have been replaced, the pool renovated, and some windows have been changed.

It is here that Lucky Luciano stayed in December 1946, during a summit meeting of the heads of the Italian-American mafia that he chaired, immortalized in 1974 in the film "The Godfather Part II" by Francis Ford Coppola: the clan bosses divide a cake decorated with a drawing of the Cuban island while assigning the various illicit activities.

About 500 gangsters had taken over the hotel for the convention, and the guest of honor Frank Sinatra had accompanied the lavish parties celebrated that Christmas with his crooning voice.

"Las Vegas did not exist, and Cuba was the perfect place for gambling, with its proximity to the United States, the climate, the beaches, the rum," Havana was the perfect place to become "the gambling capital."

On the famous Malecon, facing the bay of Havana, on December 30, 1930, the monumental H-shaped building opened its doors with its English porcelain still intact, its clocks imported from Germany, and its Venetian chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings.

This restoration work will allow you to rediscover the hotel of the 1930s, bringing the past back to life in an even more comfortable way."

In the corridors and rooms of the hotel, photos, objects, and even letters from illustrious guests are displayed, which led to the hotel being classified as a UNESCO heritage site in 1982.

You will relive the vintage atmospheres of the Hollywood era and you will be able to see the photos (they were not called selfies back then) of Marlon Brando, Errol Flynn, Johnny Weissmüller, Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, pianist Nat King Cole, writers Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, or even British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a great fan of Cuban cigars. The list of notable figures immortalized on the walls is so long that you will return to a lavish past in the heart of one of the most magical cities in the world.

We await you in Cuba! Write to us for a memorable stay in Havana and then continue on to one of the most beautiful and unspoiled beaches in the world!