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• Travel and Tourism
• Arts and Culture
• Caribbean
• culture an traditions
• Destinations
• Havana
• international
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• Business and Economy
• 07 / 01 / 2008

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Cuba's tourism industry, which has grown steadily thanks to the country's natural, historic and cultural wealth, has an infrastructure that combines big hotels and facilities turned into little giants for tourism.

The hotel, which will turn 100 years soon, is across from Central Park and near the Grand Theater of Havana, a major cultural site for ballet and opera performances.

It is also close to the Capitol, which houses the Academy of Sciences of Cuba, the former Presidential Palace, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Church of Angel, which has a very attractive architectural style.

The 65-room Lido Hotel offers a familiar atmosphere and excellent treatment that invite guests to repeat their visit. It is at walking distance from the former Galician Center (Grand Theater of Havana), the Museum of Natural Sciences and the former Asturian Center, currently the Museum of Fine Arts.

The Lido Hotel is also close to the Museum of the Revolution, the Prado Promenade, hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, shops and Old Havana, which boasts castles, squares, mansions, cobblestone streets and an active social and cultural life.

One of the most interesting options is the Raquel Hotel, which offers 25 luxury air-conditioned double rooms distributed on three beautifully decorated floors.

Its attractive terrace-lookout, which has a magnificent dome, has galleries and spaces carefully decorated, creating an ideal ambiance for leisure.

Unique establishments for cigar aficionados like the Conde de Villanueva Hotel or monastery-style hotels like Los Frailes are complemented by facilities like Palacio de San Miguel, an attractive option for those looking for culture and intimacy.

The hotel is housed in a building bought in 1936 by Antonio San Miguel y Segalá, an illustrious personage from the early 20th century who excelled in journalism and literature and who turned the edifice into a center for intellectual meetings.

The establishment, which has iron-wrought staircases and balconies, offers ten rooms distributed on three floors overlooking the Bay of Havana and equipped with satellite TV and air conditioning.

Outside the capital, as far as the village of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa – in eastern Guantánamo province –, founded between 1511 and 1512 by Governor Diego Velázquez, tourists can enjoy excellent options.

Travelers to Baracoa can stay at La Rusa Hotel, which is a small 12-room establishment that provides an intimate and cozy ambiance overlooking the sea.

For guests, the natural landscape is complemented by a 575-meter flattop mountain known as Yunque de Baracoa (Baracoa's Anvil), because its similarity with that tool used by ironsmiths.

(DTCuba)