Havana’s hotels, between splendor and ruins

Havana’s former hotels are a portrait of what the city is today. They all had their years of glory, their time of sequins and brilliance, but for many of them, those times are just a remote memory.

Others, on the other hand, have persevered or even been reborn after being struck by oblivion and apathy.

The famous Telégrafo Hotel was owned by Guillermo del Toro and Pilar Somohano, also owners of the Miramar Hotel. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Havana’s former hotels have witnessed decades and decades of changes and storms, literal and metaphorical. And many have not emerged well from those shocks.

Some, not a few, no longer exist. They are a hole in the landscape, a crack in memory. They became lots or parking lots, vacant lots, and some, for the good of the city, into other buildings.

Place where the Pasaje Hotel was located; it was the first to be built for the Havana hotel industry. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

In this place was the Hotel Regina, which was one of the most luxurious and tallest in the capital during 1920. It was demolished in 2013. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Where there is a parking lot today, the San Carlos Hotel was formerly located. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Some are still standing, miraculously. They are weak, uninhabited ruins, or, in more than one case, they should be, although brave and needy people defy fate within their ruined walls.

Abandoned building where the Alamac Hotel was located, which was one of the most luxurious, located on Galiano Street. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Deplorable state of the building where the Surf Hotel was, people are still living there. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Several struggle to maintain their usefulness, even when there is little left to show for the splendor of yesteryear. Thus, even propped up, they house families and even private, official or furtive businesses.

People walk around the Coppelia ice cream parlor and 23rd Street, in Vedado. Behind, the Habana Libre Hotel. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

The more fortunate are still hotels. Even having gone through dark times, they have managed to continue receiving guests and even to be heritage symbols of Havana.

The famous and colorful classic cars are parked outside, waiting for tourists, and in its bars, mojitos and traditional son reign supreme.

Inglaterra Hotel, one of the oldest hotels in Cuba. In addition, it is a National Monument. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Before the Plaza Hotel was built and expanded, the headquarters of the Diario de la Marina newspaper was located here. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Such are the contrasts of the Cuban capital, with its former hotels as protagonists. Theirs is a story of flourishing times and metamorphosis, of collapse and rebirth, which we approach this Sunday through the lens of Otmaro Rodríguez.