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Hotel Nacional and its magnificent gardens

hotel nacional skyline

Declared a National Monument and Memory of the World by UNESCO, the Hotel Nacional de Cuba is one of the most emblematic buildings of the Cuban capital. It is located in El Vedado, one of the best places to enjoy luxury rentals in Cuba, due to its enormous nightlife and its tourist and cultural development.

The hotel and its surroundings have an unparalleled view of the Havana Malecon and they communicate with the famous 23rd Street, the most famous and important avenue in modern Havana.

hotel nacional havana

The building was inaugurated in 1930 and has hosted for several decades important figures of art, science, culture, politics and society, from various parts of the world. It is located on the coastal outcrop of Punta Brava, one of the main points of attack for corsairs and pirates during the colonial era and constituted during the first half of the 20th century the most important hotel in the Greater Caribbean. Its construction lasted two years and was projected by the North American firms Purdy & Henderson Co. and McKim, Mead & White.

The structure responds to architectural eclecticism, which was in vogue in Havana during the years corresponding to its construction, although an inclination towards art deco stands out, with neoclassical and neocolonial nuances.

hotel nacional cuba terrace

Like many prestigious hotels of the time, it has a presidential suite, in which important figures like Buster Keaton, Jorge Negrete, Agustín Lara, Marlon Brando, Ernest Hemingway, Winston Churchill, the Dukes of Windsor, the scientist Alexander Fleming, have stayed among many others.

To the majestic facade that reveals three parallel naves, similar to the plants of the medieval churches, you add beams and Arab reminiscences, similar to those that can be seen in Catalan architecture. It is preceded by extensive gardens that simulate those of a monastic Spanish-Moorish cloister.

For several years after its inauguration, the hotel was one of the favorite places for Mafiosi who visited the island and in 1946 it was the meeting point of all US drug lords with their counterparts in Havana and throughout Cuba. Shortly after it was repaired, but the original plans were fully respected.

hotel nacional havana cuba

Currently, the building continues to receive the most important figures of art and politics visiting the island, as well as entrepreneurs and investors from around the world. In addition, several of the most relevant events are held in the international context. In its grounds are grouped several luxury rentals in Cuba, whose guests visit the lobby, the gardens and its historic courtyard with an incomparable view of the Cuban coasts.

The whole building is a kind of aristocratic museum, but relaxing and welcoming. In its instances, concerts of important Cuban music groups are held, which can be attended by any interested public, generally composed of the guests of the entity and visitors who choose to accommodate in one of our luxury rentals in Cuba, specifically in the area of 23 or Malecon.

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