Hotels - Nacional de Cuba

About  Nacional de Cuba

So much has been written about the charismatic Hotel Nacional de Cuba. Built in 1930, the Nacional boasts a long and rich history – palpable today – and is part of what makes a stay here so unique.

From the palm-flanked pool to the breezy garden terrace, the Nacional has many attractive areas to linger or lounge. Tuck into one of the Chesterfield sofas under stunning chandeliers and carved wooden ceiling to see why this is a favorite spot of foreigners and Cubans alike.

The sloping garden with aerial Malecón views is perfect for enjoying a cappuccino, tuna sandwich, Cuban cigar or stiff cocktail. Dotted with palms and archetypical wicker furniture, it’s an oasis of tranquility. It is a popular meeting spot for local business people, visiting dignitaries and Cuban cultural icons.

Everything here channels the glory days of the 1950s, from the Bar Hístórico to the vintage American cars parked outside in the long, sweeping driveway. For full effect, rent one (with obligatory driver) for an hour or two. Hotel Nacional has always been allied to the film industry and is the headquarters for the annual Festival of New Latinamerican Cinema of Havana.

Music and dance are equally represented at the Nacional where extravagant shows are hosted nightly at the Cabaret Parisien, second only to the Tropicana. Meanwhile, Salon 1930 is dedicated to Compay Segundo (of Buena Vista Social Club fame) and his successors perform here weekly.

Calle San Miguel No. 1159 esq. a Ronda, Habana

Napoleonic Museum

Very close to the bicentennial University of Havana is the Napoleonic Museum. This museum, the finest dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte outside of France, is housed in a small Florentine palace built in line with plans for a villa designed for the Medici family. It houses more than 7,000 pieces: weapons, military equipment, furniture, Sèvres porcelain, paintings, coins, books, personal items used by the Bonaparte family and even the death mask of the prisoner of St Helena, brought to Cuba by his last doctor. The Napoleonic Museum is considered to be one of the most important of the world, It is unique in its type in Latin America.

Zapata y 12, Vedado

Colon Cemetery

This cemetery holds the largest concentration of statues in the country and its finest funerary monuments representing different styles of architecture. Its structure is rectangular shaped Roman camp and comprises a grid of street blocks and lots. The entrance features a sculptural monument, Carrara marble, 34 meters long and 21.66 meters high, it is one of the most outstanding Cuban works of the 19th century. Classified as a National Monument, the cemetery is therefore seen as an outdoor museum. The cemetery is the only American cemetery dedicated to Christopher Columbus, the great navigator who discovered the island and other major destinations in the Americas.

Calle 17, e / Calle D y Calle E, Vedado, La Habana

National Museum of Decorative Arts

The Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas (National Museum of Decorative Arts) is housed within a rather interesting building in the district of Vedado, Havana. If you are on your way through Vedado and have free time, it’s worth visiting this museum, or at least to see the building itself. The construction was designed by French architects Virad and Dastugue, surrounded by beautiful gardens with sculptures. The Museum exhibits in its spacious rooms valuable works of European and Oriental art dating back to the 18th to 20th centuries. Among the items stored within the museums and the ones on display in its exhibition rooms, this museum has more than 33,000 works of high artistic and historic value from the reigns of Louis XV, Louis XVI and Napoleón II, as well as some oriental pieces dating from the 16th to the 21st centuries. It also has a Hall of Oriental Lacquers, with Chinese parabanes from the 17th to the 21st century; and a dining room in the Regency style and with Italian marble. You will find very carefully preserved furniture, ceramics, porcelains, paintings, and sculptures as well as works of applied arts. This museum offers several services with guided tours and specialized tours, and also features a library with cultural activities.

Malecon, Habana

Malecón Seawall Drive

The metropolitan esplanade that runs along the coast for some 12 kilometres, from the entrance to the Bay of Havana (Castillo de La Punta) to the fort of La Chorrera, beside the mouth of the river Almendares. The first project for the construction of this magnificent seawall dates back to the beginning of the 19th Century. Along it is a series of lookout points, esplanades and parks with geometrical layouts. It is one of the most popular places among the people of Havana.

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