The 21st-Century Traveler

Surfing For Hotels

Be prepared for some pitfalls when booking directly through hotel websites in Cuba. Many of the state-run chains -- Gaviota, Habaguanex, and Cubanacán -- have primitive or poorly maintained websites, and their online booking mechanisms can be cumbersome and inconsistent. You'll definitely do better with the larger international chains like Sol Meliá (www.solmeliacuba.com), Occidental (www.occidental-hoteles.com), and Barceló (www.barcelo.com).

In the opaque website category, Priceline and Hotwire are even better for hotels than for airfares; through both, you're allowed to pick the neighborhood and quality level of your hotel before paying. Priceline's hotel product even covers Europe and Asia, though it's much better at getting five-star lodging for three-star prices than at finding anything at the bottom of the scale. On the downside, many hotels stick Priceline guests in their least desirable rooms. Be sure to go to the BiddingForTravel website before bidding on a hotel room on Priceline; it features a fairly up-to-date list of hotels that Priceline uses in major cities. For both Priceline and Hotwire, you pay upfront, and the fee is nonrefundable. Note: Some hotels do not provide loyalty program credits or points or other frequent-stay amenities when you book a room through opaque online services.

Travel Blogs & Travelogues

More and more travelers are using travel Web logs, or blogs, to chronicle their journeys online. To read travelogues about Cuba, try the forum section at www.cubamania.com. You can search for other blogs about Cuba at Travelblog.com or post your own travelogue at Travelblog.org. For blogs that cover general travel news and highlight various destinations, try Writtenroad.com or Gawker Media's snarky Gridskipper.com. For more literary travel essays, try Salon.com's travel section (http://salon.com/Wanderlust), and Worldhum.com, which also has an extensive list of other travel-related journals, blogs, online communities, newspaper coverage, and bookstores.

Internet Access Away from Home

Without Your Own Computer -- It's hard nowadays to find a city that doesn't have a few cybercafes. Although there's no definitive directory for cybercafes -- these are independent businesses, after all -- three places to start looking are at www.cybercaptive.com and www.cybercafe.com. In Cuba, you'll find cybercafes in most major tourist destinations. Most of the more upscale hotels and resorts also provide for guest connectivity in one form or another.

With Your Own Computer -- Wherever you go, bring a connection kit of the right power and phone adapters, a spare phone cord, and a spare Ethernet network cable -- or find out whether your hotel supplies them to guests. Throughout Cuba, electricity is 110-volt AC, and most outlets are U.S.-style two- or three-prong. However, many of the large hotels and resorts that cater primarily to Canadian and European clientele are wired for 220 volts.

Using a Cellphone

In Cuba, cellular service is controlled by Cubacel (tel. 5/264-2266; www.cubacel.cu). Cubacel has offices at the José Martí International Airport and in Havana and most major cities and tourist destinations. Cubacel offers cellphone rentals for CUC$6 per day, with a CUC$3 daily activation fee. You'll have to leave around a CUC$200 deposit and purchase a prepaid calling card. If you have your own phone, you will just have to pay the CUC$3 daily activation fee. Cubacel works with both TDMA phones and GSM systems. Prepaid calling cards are sold in denominations of CUC$10, CUC$20, and CUC$40. Rates inside Cuba run between CUC50¢ and CUC60¢ per minute, depending on the hour and destination called, and you are charged for both outgoing and incoming calls. Rates to the rest of the world run between CUC$1.50 and CUC$5 per minute.