A classy, comfortable hotel by any standard, in the heart of central Havanna, just opposite the famed Malecon, and within easy commuting distance of the best sites in the city. The breakfast and dinner buffets are excellent, with a plentiful variety of dishes and fresh local fruits and vegetables. The decor is elegant and tasteful, with stunning floral arrangements, and a showcase of the finest in Cuban art in the public areas of the property.

The rooms are modern, clean and well appointed and the maid service is brisk and reliable. However, the airconditioning did not work well and the frequent interruptions in the public electricity supply did not help. This, however, seems to be a fact of life in Cuba.

The staff is hospitable, helpful, and friendly, but my companion and I were constantly harassed by the security guards each time we entered the hotel: they seemed to assume that because we were black we were locals who had no business in the hotel. That was very annoying, and was our only negative experience in an otherwise pleasant and enjoyable stay.

We didn't get the hotel we wanted as it was all fully booked, so we ended up in the business center in the Melia Cohiba. I thought it was great. Lovely pool, excellent italian restaurant, nice big rooms. We upgraded to a suite and it was all perfect!

The service was quite slow at times, but hey that's cuba!

Don't beat yourself up if you miss out on the Havana Cafe (part of the hotel), bad burgers and bad nacho's is all your missing out on. It is quite expensive, especially compared to the rest of this amazing city, but we didn't mind too much!

Definately recommend it, if you don't mind a short trip to where all the action is. 10min taxi ride into old town.

My husband, daughter and I stayed at the Cohiba in November 2005.
This hotel has an impressive Lobby and friendly staff. The hotel grounds and swimming pool are well kept, but our room, although a nice, comfortable room with everything working, was not all that clean. This could have been a case of our particular cleaner as opposed to general hotel practice, but it did detract a little from our stay.
Other than that, however the facilities were fabulous and the buffet breakfast which we had included was super: fresh, lots of variety and local fruits available.
It is a short cab ride to old Havana, so not a bad location, probably quieter than being right in the action if a good night's sleep is improtant to you.
I would stay at this hotel again.

This hotel was ok. Very surprised by the previous glowing reviews. Maybe Castro put them up to it!

The location is too far out of old Havana, therefore you have to get taxis everywhere, the only place to eat nearby are their over air conditioned restaurants.

The hotel needs updating, the rooms were large but everything falling apart ie the hairdryer kept on cutting out, the airconditioning worked but very noisy.

The doormen and staff in general were surly and looked down their noses at you.

The pool was lovely with plenty of beds and cushions.

There were many power cuts during our visit.

The lifts were slow and you felt as though they were going to break down, as they did.

Breakfast buffet was expensive and most of it was cold!

Drinks were very expensive.

In Cuba, you have to take into account where you are when comparing with the rest of hotels in the world.
Melia Cohiba is the best hotel in Havana, jointly with NH Parque Central. We asked everybody and this was our conclusion.
The service is good, the breakfast buffet excellent, the service in the restaurants superb and the bedrooms are spacious, clean and with anything you can need.
In my opinion the location is great, next to El Malecon. It takes you around 5 minutes cab ride to get into the Old Havana, unless you want to take the free shuttle courtesy of the hotel. It is in El Vedado, where the main hotels are and it is without doubt the best night life area in town. Visit the Havana Cafe next to the main entrance of the hotel: Great shows for tourists.
My main advise: Look at the good things the cubans can offer you: Nice historic buildings, clubs, restaurants and bars which have remained the same during 50 years, incredible music and dance, their good mojitos, daiquiris and beers and forget about everything else. Cuba is a real experience!!

The hotel is a 15min cab ride from old Havana but is right on the Malecon and we have a lovely sea view. The famed Havana Cafe is also attached. we did eat there but the food was not that great I would recommend drinks and the show there. The reception is very European in design very well lit lots of marble and we found that the majority of guests were European as were the crew who stayed there.

All the staff were extremely helpful and very appreciative of my attempts to communicate in broken Spanish.

The pool area is very nice and we sheltered with lots of little cabanas around.

We ate at the Italian which was excellent considering we were in Cuba, and the Buffet breakfast also good.

If you want to spend most of your time in Old Havana then this hotel may be a little far out but it is a great base to explore the rest of Havana.

My partner and I were in Cuba over 10 years ago and I had feared that this visit that the people would have changed for the worst due to the vast increase in tourism.

I am pleased that this is not the case at all, yes of course capitalism has made its usual mark but the warmth and good humour of the Cubans remains the same.

My Tri band phone worked in Cuba no problems as I was not sure before departure.

One word of advice for those travelling on a package, hop in a cab at the airport they are safe and reasonable. We had showered, changed unpacked and were having a drink at the bar when those who flew in with us arrived from their coach transfer 3 hours later.

It can take some time to clear immigration and then you have to wait for your bags and queue to change your money, imagine if you are on the same coach as someone who was at the back of a long queue.

One thing we also noticed is that where the hotel is situated benefits from the Atlantic breeze. We would leave the hotel a little chilly only to find old Havana like an oven so is you are not good in humidity it may be the place for you.

I stayed there for 7 nights the last week of September, 2005. A great hotel with all the amenities you would expect from a 5 star hotel. The breakfast buffet is unbeatable and is included in the room rate. Every imaginable fruit, meats, eggs to order, pancakes, french toast, fresh baked bread and sweet rolls, fresh squeezed orange juice...on and on.
The staff is very friendly and maid service superb. Even the serious looking security guards (dressed in suits and strategically located throughout the hotel) respond with a smile when confronted with a friendly 'ola'.
The hotel is located on the water in a very safe area about 5km from old Havana. Everything is a cab ride away but the cabs are very reasonable.
I will stay there again.

My wife and I stayed at this hotel as part of our honeymoon in August 2005. The hotel itself is great - nice location and fantastic views over Havana. The rooms are well equipped and we were given a free upgrade to a huge suite with a bottle of rum, fruits and water on arrival. One thing to watch out for though are the porters. We had an unfortunate start to the holiday. We had checked in and given all our bags including my rucksack which had my wallet in it to the porter to take up to our room on the 8th floor. He went into a different elevator to us - he guided us into one and he went into another with the luggage and trolley. We got to our room and he arrived a good 5 mins later with our bags. It was not until later on - about 20 mins later that i noticed that £80 was missing from my wallet. I had counted all the notes on the way to the hotel so was sure it was there when we arrived. As i had no way of proving it was him, i didnt make a complaint and kept everything locked in the safety deposit boxes for the time we were in Havana. What made me more suspicious was when i went to take out my wallet to tip him, he quickly started showing us how the jacuzzi in the bathroom worked and how to control the A/C. He then made a quick exit from the door before i could take out my wallet for a tip. Just watch the staff here. I also heard of complaints from other people staying there about being short changed when exchanging money. I know the cubans are not well off but theft from people in what is otherwise a nice hotel is not on!!

I didnt let it spoil our honeymoon and Varadero was great!!!

ADVICE: Keep belongings with you and use the safety deposit box. Dont trust the staff there.

My boyfriend and I stayed at the Melia Cohiba for 3 nights, from April 4 to April 7, as part of an 8-day Havana/Varadero trip from Vancouver, Canada. The hotel is 5-stars by Cuban standards, 4.5-stars by North American standards. Our room was great. We were able to get a room with a king-size bed on the 15th floor (we were initially booked up for two twin-sized beds, but the check-in guy was able to find us a room with a king-size bed instead) and had an excellent view of the ocean and the Malecon.

The location of the hotel was great, only a $4-$5 cab ride to Old Havana, and within 2 blocks of the flea market on the Malecon. There is also a supermarket across the street and another one on the way to the flea market, where you can pick up snacks and bottles of water. The restaurants in the hotel were good but very pricey in comparison to food that you can get elsewhere, like the Jazz Café restaurant in the shopping center across the street, so I strongly advise not to eat at the hotel unless you are starving and do not want to look for a place to eat, which was what happened to us on the flight over from Vancouver. This was because we arrived in Varadero at 6pm, after eating only a light brunch on the flight over, and then had to endure a 2-hour bus ride to Havana. I strongly advise you to bring food with you, lots of snacks and granola bars, because we didn’t end up eating our second meal of the day until 9:30pm and by then, my boyfriend and I had stomach aches due to lack of food. Those just going to Varadero don’t worry because the hotels are only 30 minutes away from the airport.

The complimentary breakfast buffet was good in general, you should be able to find stuff that you like to eat, and there is a pleasant live band that plays there as well during your meal.

Toiletries are available at the hotel, but you might want to bring your own toilet paper because their paper is a bit rough. The hotel room was extremely clean and décor was great. I will definitely come back to the Melia Cohiba if I go back to Havana.

My husband and I traveled to Cuba for our honeymoon during the second week of November. We had a fabulous time and were treated very well. We purchased the combo-vacation, spending 3 days in Havana at the Melia Cohiba and 4 days in Varadero at the Melia Varadero. The flight from Vancouver was just over five hours and jammed packed. The meal was very light and so we suggest bringing some small snacks. The wait to get through customs at the Cuba airport was over one hour and the wait for the luggage was another 90 minutes. Patience is a virtue, but we were prepared for this and didn’t mind it too much. Upon arrival at the Melia Cohiba, we were upgraded to a larger room that had a fruit basket, flowers, rum, cigars and desserts waiting for us. The hotel is older, and not a 5-star by North American standards, but still nice. The food there was so-so, but that encouraged us to get out more and experience Havana’s culture.

On our second day, we went on the Cubanacan five-hour city tour. I’m not a huge fan of bus tours, especially one this long, but this trip was great and a steal at just 15 pesos. Our guide was terrific and she showed us a combination of touristy spots and favorite local hangouts. I’d highly recommend this tour and it gave us a good sense of where to travel on our own.

The Melia Varadero was also a nice hotel and we had no problems there. We couldn’t, however, book any dinners at the specialty restaurants, with the exception of the Trinidad, because they were already booked up. You can have your travel agent book these in advance and in retrospect, I would have preferred to do that. This would also avoid standing in long lines at reception. For our honeymoon, we were also treated to a bottle of rum, fruit basket, breakfast in bed, and special dinner.

The beach at the Varadero was very nice. There is some exposed coral at the beginning of the beach, but if you walk further down, it’s not a problem. It was a little windy while we there and on the last day, the wind was so strong, swimming was not allowed. This made for great storm watching though and the pool was still open for swimmers.

We thought the food at the Varadero was great, especially the dessert. Yes, it was the same stuff every day, but there is enough food that you don’t have to eat everything at once! The staff was also very nice and friendly.

Overall, we had a wonderful time. We enjoyed the city of Havana much more than Varadero, because of it’s culture, friendly locals, and history. Varadero was a beautiful, relaxing beach vacation, but not especially unique from any other beach vacation in the Caribbean.