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Securing Hotels in Cuba for Americans


Americans securing hotel reservations in Cuba is still not as straightforward as one would hope by now, still mired down in the red tape of governmental bureaucracy. We have been anxiously awaiting for U.S. based travel providers who work with international hotels on a grand scale to become established in Cuba.  This process is happening very slowly, with minimal movement towards stronger relationships between U.S. based hotel booking providers and Cuban hotels. 

~This preferred provider relationship is favorable to clients as the strong relationship between a large travel provider and the hotels they work with frequently assists in many ways.~

When hotels see that a reservation is made from a preferred vendor that sends them a lot of business, they take extra care to reserve the guests into favorable room locations, mark them down for possible upgrades based on availability at the time of check in, and are very receptive to travel agents working with them to ensure all of this on your behalf.  It is also very helpful after the stay in the event of problem resolution if things weren’t quite right for you.  Also, through many of these large providers one can typically reserve hotels with no cancellation penalty at all if you cancel up to a week or so prior. 

~Working directly with Cuban hotels is still not possible due to legal restrictions, however U.S. citizens can book a Cuban hotel directly that is a part of an international chain that is not based in the U.S. or Cuba.~

There are only two within the old town area of Havana; the Iberostar and the Mercure.   Iberostar is based in Spain, however they are not offering this property to U.S. residents through their website, and when I contacted the hotel directly was advised they require a 3 night minimum when booking directly.  The Mercure hotel is part of the Accor chain based in France, and they do have online booking for Americans through their website; with no cancellation penalty (pay at the hotel) and breakfast included.   Here is a link to the hotel website for further info:   http://www.mercure.com/gb/city/hotels-havana-v6417.shtml

~The other option currently is to reserve your Cuban hotel through a non-US based third party travel consortium. ~

I have networked with travel professionals and looked into numerous non-U.S. based hotel reservation companies and like www.HotelsClick.com for this.  They are based in Italy, in business for 10 years now and have a good variety of hotels available in Cuba with an English language website.  They have a 25 Euro per night cancellation penalty that is somewhat buried within their terms & conditions.  This is much better than the typical 100% non-refundable policy
U.S. travel professionals are looking forward to more normalized relations between our country and Cuba, enabling travelers to more freely.  Our suggestion to those looking for hotel in Cuba soon is to work through one of the international chains that have hotels in your desired location, reserving this on their website of call center.  If nothing like this is available; go to a non-U.S. based online travel booking website such as www.HotelsClick.com.  Better yet, contact us for full assistance any time!!

Happy Travels….


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