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.

 

O 'Relly No.4, (Plaza de Armas), Habana Vieja, La Habana

Segundo Cabo Palace

The Palacio del Segundo Cabo (Segundo Cabo Palace) is located on the north side of Plaza de Armas Square, Old Havana. This majestic palace is Neoclassical in style and was built in 1772 with local limestone full of holes and calcareous marine incrustations. This building was first built as headquarters of the Spanish vice-governor. Currently, and after several reworkings during which it functioned as Post office, Senate Palace, Supreme Court, National Academy of Arts and Letters, or the Cuba Academy of Science, nowaday it belongs to the Cuban Ministry of Culture, and it hosts the Centre for the Interpretation of Cuba-Europa Relationship.

Calle Oficios, esq Muralla, Plaza de San Francisco de Asís, La Habana

Alejandro de Humboldt Museum

The Museo Alejandro de Humboldt (Alejandro de Humboldt Museum) is located in a Colonial house in Plaza de San Francisco de Asís Square, in Old Havana, Cuba. Its name comes from the German scientist Alejandro von Humboldt, who is seen as the second person to discover Cuba. This is a scientific museum dedicated to biology and its main objective is to preserve research and promote the historical Humboldt’s legacy. This institution enhances the labor of Cuban and international personalities whose contributions are considered relevant for the development of culture in general terms. It exhibits the historical trajectory of the scientific and botanic data he compiled throughout the island at the beginning of the 19th century, as well as a botanic exhibition which is fundamentally made up of ferns. In this museum there is a perfect copy of a Kritosaurus skeleton found in the desert and donated by the Mexican government, as well as an enormous Pterosaur skeleton, which is around 10 meters length. The House also has a conference room with capacity for 100 persons and a specialized library on German literature.

Plaza de Armas, Habana Vieja

The Templete

The Templete, a small neo-classical style construction, was built in the second half of the 18th Century. It is located in Plaza de Armas. This was the site where the first public mass was celebrated and also the site of the first town council of the nascent town of San Cristóbal de La Habana. The Templete resembles a Doric temple and houses three commemorative canvasses by the famous French painter Juan Bautista Vermey. One of the walls exhibits the plate that declares Old Havana a World Heritage Site.

Oficios, e/ Amargura y Churruca, Habana Vieja

San Francisco de Asís Square

This square dates back to the first half of the 17th century. Its location, just a few metres from the bay, led to it becoming an important trading square over the years. It is said that around the year 1600 the first fountain of the city could be seen at this square. In 1836 it was replaced by a beautiful fountain made of white Carrara marble by Giuseppe Gaggini, under the good auspices of the Villanueva Count. This fountain is called Fuente de los Leones (Lions Fountain). On its paved area stand two noteworthy buildings: the Monastery and Basilica of San Francisco de Asís, which today houses the Museum of Religious Art and a concert hall. It is also where the Lonja del Comercio (Chamber of Commerce) is located, inspired by Spanish Renaissance architecture and topped by a dome on which a sculpture of the god Mercury stands. Among the houses built around the plaza, the house of the Arostegui family, residence of the Captain Generals until the completion of the City Hall at the end of the 18th century, was erected.

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