Cuba’s first ultra luxury hotel opened its doors Monday in Havana, with guests paying up to $2,500 a night to stay in five-star comfort on the Communist island.The “Gran Hotel Manzana,” part of the Swiss group Kempinski Hotels, is situated in the heart of the Cuban capital in front of the verdant gardens of Parque Central and the grand Alicia Alonso theater, home to the Cuban National Ballet.
Guests in each of the hotel’s 246 rooms, 50 of which are suites, have the pick of four bars and two restaurants and can take a swim in the rooftop infinity pool.
The European-style building first opened in 1917, before undergoing a complete renovation.
In order to deliver the project in time, the Cuban government was forced to accept the builders bringing hundreds of qualified workers from India, a rare move in a country that usually requires that only underpaid — and undermotivated — Cuban workers.
Now the hotel, jointly owned by Kempinski and the military-controlled Cuban tour operator Gaviota, charges between $440 and $2,485 a night.
“We appreciate hidden gems and this matches our philosophy,” Kempinski director Xavier Destribats told Cuban state television.
On the ground floor of the hotel, a shopping mall filled with high-end boutiques such as Versace, Lacoste and Montblanc sparked curiosity in a country where luxury was long ago banned under the iron-fisted rule of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.
“The hotel is really beautiful, but here everything is terribly expensive. It’s not for the Cubans,” said Lidia Martinez, a 29-year-old housewife.
Leonardo Padilla, a salesman at Montblanc, admitted he had difficulty selling watches ranging from $1,775 to $4,500 in a country where the average wage is no more than $30.
Please my Cuban companeros…DON’T GIVE IN TO THE IMPERIALISTAS!!THIS IS NOT WHAT EL JEFE CHE DIED FOR.FIDEL SHOWED US THIS WASN’T THE WAY!
RAUL KNOW WHA YUH A DO ENUH YUTE,man will mek a page reach yuh from yard enuh hombre!!Cuba doesn’t need this type of investment because it doesn’t benefit our people. How can the lifeblood of the revolucion..we the people. .not be involved or incorporated in matters affecting us??
Raul why are u reintroducing predators n scavengers to bleed n nyamm out Cuba?DON’T you see how the Chinese is sucking the lifeblood from Jamaica! !??although u should, out of respect for Fidel,I won’t tell you go SYM!
Libertad siempre!!
Down with the imperialist dog shyts getting their slimey sticky fingers on Cuba Libre!!
This is actually NOT Cuba ‘s first luxury hotel, maybe for the uber rich, yes, but there are beautiful, luxurious hotels located on other parts of the island , not many, but family owned few .
I hope Cuba does not change its unique quaintness and classic old beauty .
The people in cuba seh dem waa upgrade they are craving western world new things badly