With the closure of the Riviera Hotel and the progressive death of Havana Libre, they prepare the arrival of the K Torre

Havana/In the profile of the Cuban capital, the Habana Libre Hotel has been for decades an element that adds beauty and glamor. But the central building of El Vedado hides behind its beautiful facade a panorama of deterioration and abandonment that moves tourists and scandalizes tourist guides. Its nearby cousins, the Riviera and the Hotel Colina are not doing well in the times.

Carlos is dedicated to inspecting the security systems of hotels and recreational centers. With more than three decades in his profession, the opinion of this habanero is blunt: “Free Havana is a danger, it is very deteriorated and in the last revision that we made practically suspended in all the parameters, nor the fire extinguishers are complete “comments to 14ymedio.

“They have had to close many rooms and, right now, the hotel is barely working, the lobby And the 25th floor, where activities are done, but the rest of the installation is practically disused, “Carlos warns.” They have not decided to close it at all because it is a very emblematic place and they are also waiting for the tower to be inaugurated , which has the capacity to absorb customers who want to be in that area. ”

“The rooms are lousy, the air conditioning hardly works, there is hardly any hot water in the bathrooms”

This refers to the worker to the controversial new skyscrapers of 23 and K, which will house a luxury hotel managed by the Spanish Iberostarwhose opening has not yet been specified despite having announced, first, for January 15 and, then, for February 1.

It is not necessary to immerse themselves in the bowels of the accommodation, as Carlos and his team do, to notice how failures and laziness have appropriated the once Habana Hilton, opened in 1958 and built with the money of the withdrawal boxes of the Cuban union of the Cuban union of Gastronomy workers. Now, little is left of that former splendor of his early years, when he even housed the main office of Fidel Castro after his arrival to power.

“I was there in November,” says Marlén, a Cuban who is dedicated to the tourism sector. “The rooms are bad, the air conditioning just works, there is hardly any hot water in the bathrooms, the leaks keep several rooms closed and everything looks like very old.” In the halls that lead to each room, the smell of moisture is sneaking through the nose and the damage accumulates in corners, lamps and surfaces.

He lobby, Where the Latin American guerrillas protected by the regime of Havana and intellectuals from all over the world exchanged greetings, it is now an almost empty area. But it’s close Store galleryalso located on the ground floor, which shows more sincerity the status of the entire hotel: with leaks on the roofs, closed shops and luminaire scarce, rather than attracting frights customers.

Raúl was last December at Havana Libre thanks to the invitation of emigrated relatives. “I stayed on the 21st floor. The elevators are gloomy, it is afraid to ride them because they grim Old man, “details this newspaper. “To use hot water, I had to take it easy because between that it opened the battery and that it began to leave, a little warm more, I had a good time. One of my wishes was to rest from the little pressure and the cold water of the Shower of my house, but I didn’t find what I wanted. ”

The air conditioning was also poor but, at least, the benign Cuban winter contributed to Raul not to sweat inside his room. “The breakfast buffet lacked a million things,” complains the guest that had projected a wide variety of fruits, cereals, cheeses and other combinations. Instead he ran into a poor offer, much control by employees so that customers do not serve more of the account and poor quality foods.

“It has remained as an empty shell, vintage furniture, style lamps and all that atmosphere of the 50s were lost”

With only four stars – a recently lost -, the worst of the free Havana, in Raúl’s opinion, is the treatment of the staff, especially with national clients. “Very bad attention, especially at the door. Every day they asked me if I was staying at the hotel and that made me feel very uncomfortable. If employees do not have the ability to memorize faces, better give the guests A handle, because the other is pure and hard harassment. ”

The problem of leaks that fall from the ceilings has affected not only the rooms. ”You fall water into the head on the intermediate terrace, than in the halls, which in the Hall of Ambassadors, in the Presidential Hall or In the Latin American Hall. Everyone has leaks, “Raúl continues.” The buffet table next to the pool was closed when I went, so I had to take some breakfast bread, hidden, to have to snack while I was in that area. ”

Those who think that this symbol of Havana could not be worse are frightened before the near Hotel Riviera. Last year, when the structure of the springboard of the accommodation pool was collapsed, many fell into account of the ruin that had taken over the property, founded in December 1957 by the Hotel Company Riviera, owned by the gangster Meyer Lansky. The lack of investments and the years of excesses, had been undermining the building that in its design combined luxury and comfort.

This week, at the entrance of the Riviera, a guard and a woman who watered the grass were the only “guests” of the accommodation. Behind them, large broken windows where scaffolding are divided with powders from a clear restoration process, give the idea that the accommodation is closer to being demolished than recovered. The ceramic dome, which once covered the casino area, has been losing pieces and color due to the inclement salt of the near sea and the lack of renewal.

Despite the damage, the Riviera continues to stand out for its wide terraces, its rationalist style and a structure that allowed the customers of the marine breeze and the views of the city to enjoy. But, in the words of a tour guide who frequently visited the place, “it has remained as an empty shell, vintage furniture, style lamps and all that atmosphere of the 50s were lost and now with this closure more still”.

In his time of splendor, the Chilean writer was housed there Jorge Edwardssent in 1970 by Salvador Allende to reopen the embassy of his country and that would end up counting his experience in Persona non grataa devastating book about Castro’s regime.

“The attention of the staff is not good and the supplies are very unstable, one day they put something at breakfast and the next day there is no longer”

“If Lansky resurrects he dies again or the Riviera will have to lift again,” the guide is ironic, who recalls with special affection the lobby of the hotel, the gym, the smoking area and the pool area. “When you went up to the springboard you didn’t want to throw yourself into the water because from up there the show was sublime, you enjoyed the sea so close, the breeze and the hotel itself that looked spectacular from that position.”

Younger brother of Havana Libre and Riviera, the Hotel Colina shares the route of the deterioration of services with them. Also located in El Vedado, a few meters from the University of Havana, the accommodation reopened last January after a renewal process that has not left a good flavor among those who knew him. “It is now managed by the state chain Isla Azul, which is from the worst of Cuba,” says Marlén who also visited the place before repair.

Discreet in sight, the Hotel Colina has 80 rooms and since its inception it attracted a mid -range clientele that sought its central location and comforts. At the end of the last century, after the dollarization of the Cuban economy, on its ground university classrooms.

The reopening of the property, however, has not meant the return of those cultural moments. The Hotel Colina now has that standardized and personality image of all other accommodations managed by Isla Azul. That bohemian atmosphere of its beginnings where writers, troubadours and marchers arrived from the province gathered around the bar bar remained alone in the minds of the oldest neighbors. The touch -ups do not seem to have restored the good service that characterized the place.

“The attention of the staff is not good and the supplies are very unstable, one day they put something at breakfast and the next day there is no longer,” Marlén describes. The employee dedicated to tourism promotion is sharp when he evaluates the current panorama: “Cuba save the views, sunrises and nature but not hotels.”

Unlike what usually happens in the rest of the world, where historical buildings are restored – as is the case of Riviera and Havana Libre -, the Cuban government dedicates hundreds of millions of dollars to the construction of new facilities of great luxury and larger size, despite the pessimistic perspectives for the tourism sector.