Hotels - El Comendador

About  El Comendador

This comfortable little hotel, which shares some facilities with the adjoining Hostal Valencia, is housed in an eighteenth century building which belonged to the family of Don Pedro Regalado Pedroso y Zayas, who was a ‘Comendador de la Orden de Isabel la Católica’. The Hostal Valencia has become so popular that it is often frustratingly fully booked, but the Comendador is, if anything, even better, and certainly quieter, although it is slightly more expensive.

The rooms are very comfortable indeed, and unlike the Valencia they have air conditioning – indispensable in the summer months. Highly recommended, whether you choose a high-ceilinged room on the upper floor or a more cosy one on the mezzanine. The right-hand back room on the top floor has a charming view of the Diana, Princess of Wales Garden and the ships coming and going in the harbour. The tapas bar on the ground floor is excellent and is much frequented by European residents of Havana.

The Comendador was restored and is now run by the Office of the City Historian of Havana, so all its profits are reinvested in the restoration of the city’s historical centre.

 

Calle San Ignacio 54 (Plaza de la Catedral), Habana Vieja, La Habana

El Patio Restaurant (Marquis of Aguas Claras Palace)

This is a 1760 Baroque palace venerated for the great beauty of its Andalusian patio. It has a fountain surrounded by tropical vegetation where you will find several tortoises. Before the Revolution, this monumental building was the headquarters of the Industrial Bank; nowadays it houses the El Patio Restaurant. Although it offers traditional Cuban food, it speciality is meat and crustaceous, dishes as the Cathedral Mixed Grill (a varied grill) and skewers of lobsters and shrimps. The bar serves a collection of wines beers, rums and cocktails. It is currently possible to buy souvenirs in the craftworks shop located in the former Casa de Baños House, on the western side of the Cathedral square.

Calle Mercaderes No. 114, Habana Vieja, La Habana

Maqueta Museum of Old Havana (Scale Model Museum)

The Museo Maqueta de La Habana Vieja (Maqueta Museum of Old Havana) (Scale Model Museum) hosts a 1:500 scale model of Old Havana, one of the most important of these models in all of Cuba, and is considered as a place of great interest, knowledge and entertainment by its inhabitants. It is continuously updated and is rather impressive due to the incredible attention to detail in its works in regards to some of the most important buildings of Old Havana. This is one of Old Havana’s must-visit museums, as it allows you to imagine what the historical center of Havana is like as a whole, and therefore being able to get a better look at it when walking its streets.

Tacon e/ Obispo y O'Relly, Habana Vieja

Arms Square

Plaza de Armas surrounds a statue of the patriot Céspedes and is ringed by shaded marble benches and second-hand bookstalls. This square, founding in 1519, was the city's first open space, around which the most important political, military, religious and civil institutions were located. The palaces that surrounded it during the 18th century are worthy exponents of Cuban Baroque architecture. On the square’s eastern side a small neoclassical temple, El Templete, marks the spot where the first Catholic mass was celebrated in 1519. Next door is one of the city’s most luxurious hotels, Hotel Santa Isabel. To the north, the squat but angular and moated Castillo de la Real Fuerza (Fort of the Royal Forces) is one of the oldest forts in the Americas.  

San Ignacio y Empedrado, Habana Vieja

Cathedral Square

The sumptuous Cathedral Square isthe focus of Old Havana life. Of particular interest in the Cathedral Square are the Cathedral, a baroque church, and the Museo de Arte Colonial, housed in a handsome pal­ace dating from 1622. Tourists linger at El Patio’s outdoor café, sipping coffee or mojitos and tapping their toes to Cuban son.

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