What's New

Some things never change in Cuba, including the government, the architecture, and the fleet of old American cars. However, those things over which the government has no control -- including the drop in tourist numbers -- have prompted officials to open the way for further capital ventures in association with foreign companies. According to the Ministry of Tourism, Cuba aims to open 10,000 more hotel rooms in the next few years. Where leisure is concerned, there are folks moving into town. The most important changes and new developments in the tourism field are noted throughout this guide.

Havana

The most exciting development in Havana will be the opening of Cuba's first designer hotel in spring 2009. The Hotel Victoria in Vedado will be transformed by Esencia Hotels & Resorts (www.esenciahotelsandresorts.com) into a Conran & Partners-designed hotel.

The NH Parque Central Torre (tel. 7/860-6627; www.nh-hoteles.es) is a smart, modern annex of 149 new rooms due to open in autumn 2008 behind the NH Parque Central.

Habaguanex opened the Marqués del Prado Ameno hotel in spring 2008. The Old Havana hotel company is currently restoring a building on the corner of Calle Morro and Genios in La Habana Vieja, which will become the Hotel Packard. The company also plans to open the hotels San Felipe, Santiago, and Palacio Cueto, although scheduled opening dates are not yet known. Habaguanex has plans to restore hotels along the Malecón. It now manages 527 rooms and hopes to eventually open and run a total of 2,000 rooms.

The Hotel Habana Libre in Vedado is open while undergoing a refurbishment program and a redesign of its swimming pool area.

The Hotel Plaza on Parque Central is undergoing refurbishment without closure to mark its 100th anniversary in 2009.

The Spanish hotel chain Barceló will open the Barceló Habana Ciudad in April 2009 with 186 rooms.

The Spanish CRaytur Caribe hotel chain will take over the running of the three-star Atlántico in Playas del Este and the Villa los Pinos complex of 26 modern chalets, which will become a four-star facility.

The Melia Las Antillas in Varadero became an adults-only (ages 16 and above) resort in November 2008.

Viñales & Western Cuba

Esencia Hotels & Resorts will open the Casa Viñales, a 70-room eco-spa resort in the valley, scheduled to open at the end of 2009.

Avalon (www.avalons.net), which operates fishing and diving tours in Cuba, has opened Villa Marinera on Cayo Largo for its clients.

Varadero & Matanzas Province

The Carbonera Country Club Resort will be built by Esencia Hotels & Resorts just north of the international airport in Varadero by the end of 2010. It will house a PGA 18-hole golf course, boutique hotel, spa, and maritime center.

Oasis recently took over the running of the 444-room Brisas del Caribe in Varadero. The Spanish CRaytur Caribe hotel chain will take over operation of the four-star Barlovento Hotel, also in Varadero.

The Barceló Arenas Blancas will open in early 2009 with 358 rooms.

The Hotel Sirenis La Salina opened in 2008 in a zone of recent construction near the Tryp Peninsula Varadero at the end of the Varadero peninsula. Next to La Salina, the Iberostar Laguna Azul, with 814 rooms, is due to open in March 2009.

Trinidad & Central Cuba

In Trinidad, the Hotel La Ronda is due to open as a boutique Hoteles E in 2009. The El Mesón del Regidor, also in Trinidad, was closed during 2008 for refurbishment by Cubanacán and is due to reopen in 2009. The Hotel Plaza in Sancti Spíritus is being converted into a Hoteles E-branded hotel by Cubanacán in 2008 and 2009, as is the Hotel Mascotte in Remedios. The Hotel Plaza has some rooms open during the Hoteles E makeover, but the Hotel Mascotte is closed. They will be joined by a new Hoteles E, the Hotel Barcelona, scheduled to open in 2009.

Cubanacán will also be opening the Casa Verde and San Carlos in Cienfuegos, as Hoteles E establishments in the next few years. Just outside Cienfuegos, across the bay, the restoration of the Jagua Fortress was announced in mid-2008.

The group of islands called Cayo Santa María will be focused on a rebranding as Cayos de Villa Clara (www.villaclarakeys.com), with the aim of increasing the room capacity from 2,000 to 11,000 rooms. Spanish hotel chain Barceló alone will open 6,849 rooms by 2011. The Barceló Cayo Santa Maria will be an enormous complex made up of four hotels. The first 2,780 rooms are due to open at the end of 2008. The complex will boast a whopping 21 restaurants, 28 bars, two theaters, and a 2,200m (7,218-ft.) spa, among other facilities.

The Cayo Santa María island group is also slated to get an aquarium, three shopping complexes, a fitness center, a nightclub, and an amphitheater. The current Cayo Las Brujas marina will be expanded and a new marina built farther out on the key. Caibarien, the rather forlorn town that sits at the entrance of the pedraplén (concrete causeway), will get a golf course in its vicinity.

Over the next few years, Esencia Hotels & Resorts will open the Casa Cienfuegos along the Malecón in the coastal city.

Camagüey

A joint Cuban-Venezuelan venture will result in a hotel built on Cayo Paredón Grande.

El Oriente

Hotel Royalton in Bayamo will become a Hoteles E boutique hotel run by Cubanancán. The Hostal La Habanera, currently a Hoteles E establishment, will come under the management of Gaviota in Baracoa. The nearby Hotel Rusa, also to be managed by Gaviota, will be transformed into a Hoteles E hotel.

Holguin and Gibara will get new hotels: The Hotel Ordóñez will be built in Gibara and the Libertad and La Caballeriza will open in Holguin. The latter will open under the Hoteles E brand.

Gibara is also the proud owner of a new marina that opened in May 2008, with sailboats, aquatic bikes, and catamarans.

Santiago de Cuba

The Moncada Barracks in Santiago closed its doors in mid-2008 for an overhaul of the exhibits. It should reopen in time for the 50th anniversary of the Revolution in 2009.

Esencia Hotels & Resorts will remodel the well-known Casa Granda, currently run by Gran Caribe, as part of its Cuba hotels and resorts program in the next few years.

Hurricane Update

Hurricanes Gustav and Ike hit Cuba at the end of August and early September 2008, causing US$5 billion worth of losses. Some 200,000 homes were damaged and 30,000 were destroyed. Agriculture was affected, including the banana, coffee, guava, avocado, manioc, and tobacco industries. Nearly half the annual sugar crop has been destroyed.

Pinar del Río province and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud were particularly hard struck, as was Baracoa and other eastern areas of the island.

Many areas of Cuba were generally unaffected in any serious way, such as Havana, Trinidad, Santa Clara, and the tourist enclave of Varadero.

As tourism is the biggest source of income in Cuba, one of the first priorities has been to ensure that hotels and tourist infrastructure are up and running. Indeed, Sol Melía, the largest international hotel chain operating on the island, has confirmed to Frommer's that all its hotels are fully operational, except those with scheduled closures for renovation projects.

While Cuba has one of the most effective hurricane evacuation programs in the world, ensuring the absolute minimum loss of life, it still has struggled to deal with the logistical aftermath. Reports from inside Cuba suggest that there is not enough food to go around and that prices have soared for food, soap, detergent, and petrol. Some areas were still without power a month after the hurricane, but the Cuban government has made it a priority to repair the national grid.

It is difficult, at all times, to gain accurate information from inside Cuba. Readers planning on visiting Cuba independently should make direct contact with hotels and casas particulares to ensure that they are still operational after the hurricane season.

One should be aware that not only in hurricane conditions, but also after heavy rain, buildings do collapse in Cuba. Visitors should take care in streets in the poorer barrios of Havana, for example, where old Spanish colonial buildings have been known to crumble without prior warning.