Hotel Las Cuevas

Cars, hotels and favourite places

by DB08

Car hire is not a problem - just take care to read contract and make note of any scratches, missing aerial etc. There are very few road signs or speed restriction signs, but the roads have little motorised traffic, there are petrol stations on main routes and plenty of people willing to give you directions. If you do pick up hitchers make sure all luggage is out of reach. A good alternative to car hire is to use the Viazul buses, very comfortable and reliable, although not terribly frequent. They have a website if you google Viazul.
There are lots of hotels in Havana, although few in centre have pools (Sevilla, Nacional do, but are expensive) - we treated ourselves to 1 night at the Sevilla and loved the food and ambience, cost approx £70 for 2 people B&B, but you can stay for much cheaper in boutique hotels in Havana Vieja or even cheaper in peoples homes (Casas Particulares). Most hotel food in general not good, except for breakfast.
Our favourite place in Cuba was in far East of Island, a town called Baracoa - Hotel El Castillo. Fantastic scenary, lovely small hotel, poolside has panoramic views, super beach nearby, helpful staff. Also liked Camaguey for architecture and character. Trinidad is lovely, but very touristy. Has great beaches nearby at Playa Ancon. Would recommend staying in a Casa Particular in town and getting taxi to/from beach. We stayed at hotel Las Cuevas which was horrible!
We are travelling to Vinales, Zapata Peninsula, Cienfuegos, Santa Clara very soon and will post a report on our return........