"At the Meliá San Carlos Hotel de Cienfuegos can spend a week without a single tourist appearing"

Cienfuegos/In the midst of the dark that hid this Sunday on Cienfuegos, where the blackout lasted more than 20 hoursa bright building stood out at dusk. “All day I have only managed to gather 250 pesos with some Cubans who entered the bar to drink some beers,” says Gabriel, an employee of the Meliá San Carlos hotel. “There are people who come to take refuge here, drink something and to be able to at least see their hands,” he explains. A triumph if one takes into account that the fall of tourism has emptied more than ever its facilities.

“The service to external clients gives very little, here the major tips always give the guests, but right now there are very few,” adds the worker. During the month of January, the high season of tourism in Cuba, the hotel has had an occupation below 15%, according to 14ymedio An employee of the administrative area that prefers anonymity. With rooms ranging from $ 115 to $ 160 per night, if they are reserved on the official website of the company, the establishment spends the days with a “buchito of customers who, in addition, come for one or two nights, if perhaps” .

The hotel, originally called San Carlos and opened in 1925, was owned by the businessman Antonio Mata until, after the triumph of the revolution, he went to the State until its closure, in the 90s. After several years of renewal, the Establishment reopened in 2018 with the name of its management company, Meliá, inserted. “It’s beautiful and comfortable, but in the city of Cienfuegos there is not much to do, so the few tourists who come here are because they are making a short stop between the West and the East,” says the employee.

“At this time there is not much difference between working here or in a tourist center of the Islazul chain,” he adds, alluding to one of the worst valued state companies dedicated to tourism.

The “does not raise the number of customers,” he continues. “We have kept almost all staff, but people are very little enthusiasm to come to work because here what really motivates are tips, not salaries, and guests without currency tips.”

At the door of San Carlos, a custodian observes the darkness that extends beyond the lights of the facade. It is night, has already fulfilled its turn and has removed the work uniform waiting for its relay, but the employee who must take care of the housing entry during the next few hours is delayed.

The lack of tourists does not help maintain labor discipline, something that is reflected in the details. Several ashtrays with numerous butts show that hours ago, or maybe days, that no one goes to clean them and two employees sitting on a sofa check their mobiles while they wait for their day to end.

“We are like in the coronavirus stage, but without Nasobuco,” says another bar worker. “I have counted up to a week without receiving the shadow of a tourist. The reduction of the template can come at any time,” explains man, in about 50 years and with two decades in the tourism sector. “I got a second work in a private restaurant and, if this is still worse, I’m going full time for that business.”

“It is also difficult to answer the questions of customers who want to go somewhere and know the night life of the city. We must explain that there is a generalized blackout, which best does not go out.” Among the last guests he has attended in the bar he has frequently heard the phrase that they do not plan come several times since the 90s. ”

According to the Meliá Third Quarter Dataits hotels in Cuba had an average occupation of 39%, well below their facilities in Asia, which is in penultimate position, with 52%. The San Carlos, in addition, is one of the properties that led the Spanish hotel to a litigation after the activation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Law. In 2019, Antonio Mata’s heirs They sued the company For profiting with the property, as well as several hotel and tourist searches platforms, including Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity.com, Trivago and Booking.com. The Florida judge who took the case, however, took Meliá and all the intermediaries of the case.

Despite lack of work, employees do have a motivation to go to San Carlos: “Electricity, water and food”. Every day they carry their phones at the hotel, knowing that when they return to their homes it is very likely that there is no light. However, the difficulties that extend from the door out also sneak into the accommodation managed by Meliá. “Right now we have the internet connection fallen because there seems to be problems with the server,” says one of the receptionists to a guest.

And everything that shines is not gold. A part of the hotel shows its lights off in the interior areas. “We have an energy savings plan that we must fulfill very rigorously. All the premises that are in disuse are turned off or out of service, including the elevators,” says the employee. “Management has asked us for calm and confidence that we will leave this situation,” says the woman as the one who repeats a mantra that deters her and the other workers of being pessimistic.