Hotel Presidente
| Calzada, La Habana |
5 priser
6.80/10.00 |
Hotel Presidente på kartet
Vurdering
Aldo Lauria Santiago (31.10.2017 14:08)
Didn't stay there. Used restaurant and terrace. Great staff. Coffee very good. Dinner was extraordinary. Hotel itself too old school for my taste. Lots of taxis waiting for their CUC.... Location is residential not cute tourist area. But very close to malecón.
Didn't stay there. Used restaurant and terrace. Great staff. Coffee very good. Dinner was extraordinary. Hotel itself too old school for my taste. Lots of taxis waiting for their CUC.... Location is residential not cute tourist area. But very close to malecón.
Max Bradley Adams (01.09.2017 02:26)
Good WiFi and live music
Good WiFi and live music
Rich Woolworth (02.07.2017 14:49)
FIrst off, here's my personal rating system:
5 stars - the best, I never want to leave
4 stars - very nice, I can't wait to return someday
3 stars - adequate, but I wouldn't recommend it
2 stars - poor, I couldn't wait to leave
1 star - terrible. I turned around and walked away!
This hotel is like a once-beautiful woman who has lost her looks. A sad reflection of what she once was. Back in the days of Batista and the "mob", this must have been one of THE places to stay and play. Now it's shabby and broken-down.
We spent four nights here; as we were with a tour group we were unable to change hotels. The bellboys were hard-working and eager to please. In fact there seemed to be many more employees than there was work for. Lots of people just standing around. Our bags were delivered to our room in no time. That was when the fun ended.
The first thing we noticed was the overpowering smell of dampness and mold. I have a mold allergy so I was worried right away. Two of the electric sockets didn't work and there was no remote for the TV. The AC barely was powerful enough to cool the room; even when the temperature did get down it was still damp and humid. Then there was the shower. There was about 25% water pressure, which was actually OK because there was NO cold water! That's right, the tub/shower faucet was broken and all we could get was a trickle of VERY hot water (yes, I understand that parts and hardware are very hard to come by in Cuba). There was no chance of a shower, so we had to fill the tub before dinner and wait for it to cool down while we ate.
Speaking of eating, all the meals in the restaurant are buffet-style (no menu), with much of the food delivered frozen and warmed up in the kitchen. There didn't seem to be any real "cooking" going on beyond the chef at the grill who would prepare eggs in the morning and pasta at night. Typical of most Cuban cuisine, the food was heavy on chicken and pork and was quite bland. There is a wide selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, however. At breakfast there was plenty of hot coffee but you had to flag down a server for refills; everything else was self-serve.
Other than excruciatingly slow service, we had no problems with the bar. We enjoyed our drinks out on the front patio and the service was slow but cheerful.
We could see the pool from our room on the 8th floor and it looked clean, cool and inviting. After a hot, muggy day we decided to try it out. Even though the sign gave the pool hours as 10 AM to 10 PM, when we got there at 7:15 the red flag was up, signifying the pool was closed. The lifeguard was still on duty and we convinced him to at least let us take a shower before we returned to our muggy room.
I should note that after three nights in other hotels in Cuba, we had to return to El Presidente for our final night. This time we were given a room on the 10th floor which was MUCH nicer, almost up to "American" standards. We did hear, unfortunately, the AC went out on half of the building that night and the guests were left sweltering. Our room was unaffected.
If you do experience poor conditions in this hotel, ask to be moved to a better room; they do have some. Otherwise you'd be better off finding a room in another hotel.
FIrst off, here's my personal rating system:
5 stars - the best, I never want to leave
4 stars - very nice, I can't wait to return someday
3 stars - adequate, but I wouldn't recommend it
2 stars - poor, I couldn't wait to leave
1 star - terrible. I turned around and walked away!
This hotel is like a once-beautiful woman who has lost her looks. A sad reflection of what she once was. Back in the days of Batista and the "mob", this must have been one of THE places to stay and play. Now it's shabby and broken-down.
We spent four nights here; as we were with a tour group we were unable to change hotels. The bellboys were hard-working and eager to please. In fact there seemed to be many more employees than there was work for. Lots of people just standing around. Our bags were delivered to our room in no time. That was when the fun ended.
The first thing we noticed was the overpowering smell of dampness and mold. I have a mold allergy so I was worried right away. Two of the electric sockets didn't work and there was no remote for the TV. The AC barely was powerful enough to cool the room; even when the temperature did get down it was still damp and humid. Then there was the shower. There was about 25% water pressure, which was actually OK because there was NO cold water! That's right, the tub/shower faucet was broken and all we could get was a trickle of VERY hot water (yes, I understand that parts and hardware are very hard to come by in Cuba). There was no chance of a shower, so we had to fill the tub before dinner and wait for it to cool down while we ate.
Speaking of eating, all the meals in the restaurant are buffet-style (no menu), with much of the food delivered frozen and warmed up in the kitchen. There didn't seem to be any real "cooking" going on beyond the chef at the grill who would prepare eggs in the morning and pasta at night. Typical of most Cuban cuisine, the food was heavy on chicken and pork and was quite bland. There is a wide selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, however. At breakfast there was plenty of hot coffee but you had to flag down a server for refills; everything else was self-serve.
Other than excruciatingly slow service, we had no problems with the bar. We enjoyed our drinks out on the front patio and the service was slow but cheerful.
We could see the pool from our room on the 8th floor and it looked clean, cool and inviting. After a hot, muggy day we decided to try it out. Even though the sign gave the pool hours as 10 AM to 10 PM, when we got there at 7:15 the red flag was up, signifying the pool was closed. The lifeguard was still on duty and we convinced him to at least let us take a shower before we returned to our muggy room.
I should note that after three nights in other hotels in Cuba, we had to return to El Presidente for our final night. This time we were given a room on the 10th floor which was MUCH nicer, almost up to "American" standards. We did hear, unfortunately, the AC went out on half of the building that night and the guests were left sweltering. Our room was unaffected.
If you do experience poor conditions in this hotel, ask to be moved to a better room; they do have some. Otherwise you'd be better off finding a room in another hotel.
alay paun (16.03.2017 15:32)
Grand old hotel appropriated (ahem) from the wonderful Hilton clan
Grand old hotel appropriated (ahem) from the wonderful Hilton clan
Dave H (27.02.2017 02:46)
Free wifi.... but service on the terrace is pretty bad... indifferent... for what they make I figured it'd be better... must be a union.. you have to call them over and hope they will bring your drink, the right one and a cold one (if a beer) .... the service desk didn't have Internet cards for the wifi and didn't have money last time I tried to exchange. .. and the rate was pretty crappy when they did....
Free wifi.... but service on the terrace is pretty bad... indifferent... for what they make I figured it'd be better... must be a union.. you have to call them over and hope they will bring your drink, the right one and a cold one (if a beer) .... the service desk didn't have Internet cards for the wifi and didn't have money last time I tried to exchange. .. and the rate was pretty crappy when they did....
