More about Hotel Melia Cohiba
Casa de Melba - Havana - casa...
by nedward
Casa de Melba - Havana - casa partiular - excellent family - grandfather fought in revolution with
Fidel. Casa de Estrella - Matanzas. Hotel Melia Cohiba, Hotel Nacional, Sol Palmera, Melia
Varadero
$20 + $3 for breakfast great breakfasts! Great family - speaks some English - Near Malecon and night life in popular Vedado section of
Havana
Impressive Melia Cohiba
by TripAdvisor Member v3nture
I stayed in the Royal suite of the Melia Cohiba in the summer of 2004. The room was enormous and decorated to a very high standard. The view of the Malecon was worth the nightly fee alone.
As soon as you enter the hotel, there is a sense of quality. Marble surroundings and a magnificent floral center piece placed between 2 bars. One a modern bar, which you would find in many hotels. The bar on the left hand side, makes this hotel special. Laden with beautiful art work and a grand piano, which was played in mesmerising style by a lady one night before we went out to explore Havana's nightlife.
Great art work is prevalent throughout the corridors. On the 2nd floor there is an expensive (for Havana, cheap for the UK) cigar shop . There is also an old-fashioned Cigar room, with memorabilia stacked on all four ways.
Heading towards the swimming pool, there is a spa, I didn't use it so can't comment. Outside, the atmosphere by the pool is tranquil but not as upbeat as other places, such as the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The pool is small but clean, geared more towards children. A good place to catch a tan.
The staff were excellent and very friendly, which seemed a natural trait of most Cubans. There's also a great hairdresser.
Overall, Melia Cohiba is the best hotel I've stayed in throughout my travels across the globe, situated in one of the greatest cities in the World . A masterpiece.
Good hotel
by TripAdvisor Member AlvaroLuis
I did stay at the Melia Cohiba from Nov 17 through the 25th on a business trip.
Location is great for a nice view of the malecon and the ocean. Is also not too far from the historical area (Habana Vieja)... only a 5-10 minutes ride.
The hotel itself seemed a little dated, but you would only notice if you are particularly picky (I did take note just so that I could make this an accurate review, not because it really bothered me) I recommend you bring your own soap bar and shampoo, as they provide some but might not be up to what you're used to. 220V current is also used in Cuba, fortunately most laptop computers, if not all, come with a current converter, so that was not a problem for me.
I tried 4 of their 5 restaurants and found them all to be good quality of food and service. The only one I did not go to was the pasta restaurant.
Had no problem with room service (used them twice, once for breakfast and once for a late snack)
Internet: there's a business center with 5 computers available from 0800a.m. to 8:00p.m. There's also wireless service in the lobby area, but it was not working last week. No internet available in the rooms.
Unimpressed
by TripAdvisor Member jodyq
Lovely hotel, fine food, especially for Havana, but the staff...
Maybe it was because we were among a large group put up here by Iberia airlines having cancelled our flight, but we were treated like dirt by some staff members, shouted at like children for exceeding an allocated 3 minute phone call by 15 seconds and reminded in large that no outside food or beverages could be taken into the hotel EVER!
Nice Malecon location but too far from old Havana; great rooms, but try NH Parque central for the best hotel in Havana as regards location, class, staff, facilities, food and wow factor.
nice hotel
by TripAdvisor Member DGDV
we stayed here or 3 nights, found that it served its purpose, clean, tidy, nice reception, huge bedroom suite. a bit away from old havana but cabs are safe and cheap, its closer to tropicana club which is fantastic. highly recommend it for a few nights.
Expensive, Decent
by TripAdvisor Member speakSpanish
Stayed for one week, 2 people, spent almost 5 grand! We couldn't believe how expensive it was. We did enjoy the restaurants, coffee at breakfast was good, way too much food given for the morning continental breakfast [ was included] Didn't even always have three meals a day. We got a few cigars - Cohibas great. Watch the prices in the hotel. The bartender in the Cigar lounge tried to over charge me and it happened a few times in other places. Also I know we WAY over tipped. Our fault. You have to tip to pee and get toilet paper! One CUC [convertible Cuban pesos] is 23 pesos in the local currency. The locals earn about 40 CUC a month so if you tip 10 CUC pesos at dinner that is one weeks pay. They don't use CUC currency so you really tipped 230 pesos in their standard.
Good experience
by TripAdvisor Member IntrepidAtlanta
I stayed at the Meliá Cohiba for 5 nights (but not consecutively) in Jan. 2007. The hotel was excellent, especially in light of the conditions that seem to prevail in Cuba. The lobby is impressively decorated, albeit in an international modern style that has little to do with Cuba. There are two lobby-level bars, one of which--hung with Cuban art--is particularly pleasant and has live music (piano, strings) in the evenings. I only ate breakfast at the hotel but the buffet was abundant and the food of good quality, although the baked goods were not the high point of the meal. However, plentiful fresh fruit (melons, pineapple, papaya, guava), excellent omelets, and Spanish churros more than compensated for the leathery pastries and uninteresting breads.
I occupied two different rooms during my stay. One was slightly larger than the other, but both were equipped with minibar, desk and good reading lamp, table and chairs, and in-room safe. Plenty of hangers in the closet. Bathroom toiletries were standard issue but the terrycloth robes were a nice (and unexpected) touch. The hairdryer was, alas, quite inefficient but I was afraid to use the one I brought since I couldn't figure out which voltage it would run on. (One peculiarity is that often hotel rooms in Cuba have both 110 and 220 volts). The air conditioning was adequate but no more, something I have experienced in other Meliá properties, for instance, in Spain. Rooms were clean and well-serviced and it was nice to receive a chocolate on the pillow at turn-down time. The view from my window encompassed both the water and the city: definitely spectacular. The pool area was lovely too.
Although I'm bilingual, many of my English-only friends on this trip noted that they had no trouble communicating. The staff was helpful and unfailingly polite. A money-changing desk is available in the lobby.
This being Cuba, you have to expect some quirks. We experienced a few brief power outages (20 min. or less) for which the staff was very apologetic. It was not very convenient to check my e-mail through the hotel's business center; computer users are billed in 20 min. increments at 4.00 CUC but because connections to the internet are dial-up only they are very, very slow. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my stay and would certainly recommend this hotel to others visiting Havana.
Photos
El Abanico at the Melia Cohiba, Havana
Forum Posts
Hotel Nacional vs. Melia Cohiba - Which is closer to Old Havana?
by geewonder
Hotel Nacional vs. Melia Cohiba - Which is closer to Old Havana?
RE: Hotel Nacional vs. Melia Cohiba - Which is closer to Old Havana?
by gsthunder
Hotel Nacional
RE: Hotel Nacional vs. Melia Cohiba - Which is closer to Old Havana?
by fallingnow
From Hotel Nacional you can see Old Havana, Morro Castle...it's 25 minutes on food.
RE: RE: Hotel Nacional vs. Melia Cohiba - Which is closer to Old Havana?
by russian_yaz
Hi...Melia Cohiba is around 10min from Nacional and Nacional is around a 25min walk from the Old Havana. So as U can see, both are very close, but Nacional is more close. Depends on U wich one to book but Nacional has the best services U can get, Cohiba is not as good...have fun!
RE: Hotel Nacional vs. Melia Cohiba - Which is closer to Old Havana?
by havanacmg
Hello, I live in Havana, Cuba.
Yes the National Hotel is more near to Old Habana. But in the same havana center there are a new five star hotel named Hotel Saratoga, this is the late hotel inaugurated in Havana. The web page is www.hotel-saratoga.com this hotel is wonderful. The swimming pool are in the terrace.
If you want write me to havanacmg@yahoo.com
Happy travel.