Hotel Inglaterra

Hotel Inglaterra – Historic Charm, But Poor Service and Tasteless Food Hotel Inglaterra has a rich history and a prime location in the heart of Havana, but unfortunately, the experience doesn't match the expectations. While the building itself is beautiful and full of character, the service is noticeably lacking — slow, inattentive, and at times indifferent. The biggest letdown was the food. Despite the elegant setting, meals were bland, lacking seasoning and flavor, and offered little variety. Even simple dishes failed to impress. It’s a shame, because the hotel has great potential. With better staff training and improved kitchen quality, it could truly shine. As it stands, the charm of the place isn’t enough to make up for the poor service and forgettable food.

Location: Situated in the heart of downtown Havana, facing Parque Central and near the Capitolio. History: Operating since 1875, it is the oldest hotel in Havana and one of the most classic hotels in the city. Features: This four-star hotel boasts a rooftop terrace with a bar and grill, offering views of the downtown area. Its rooms are fully air-conditioned and feature modern decor.

The hotel is in a great location in old Havana, and staff were quite friendly, especially the cleaning services. The room was clean but pretty dated, and the washroom had a step leading from the room, which was unusual and quite the trip hazard. The taps failed the first morning we were there and it took couple of hours to fix. The duty manager was quite curt when we mentioned we needed to use the mineral water in the room but agreed to not charge us. The windows would not close, which meant the street noise was quite loud. Breakfast was quite the decent spread and drinks from the bar was quite nice. But the redeemed feature would be the location, quite close to local restaurants and a 15min walk from the old fort and the waterfront.

I stayed at Hotel Inglaterra in Havana for a week through Sunwing, and unfortunately, the experience was disappointing. The hotel is very old, with outdated furniture and poor service. Despite requesting batteries for the TV remote, they were never provided. The room’s hairdryer didn’t work, and there was no hot water throughout my stay. The mini-bar prices were listed in pesos, but at checkout, I was required to pay by card at an unfavorable exchange rate of 120 to 1 USD, resulting in $20 for four cans of beer—an outrageous price, even compared to Canada. The hotel’s location near the noisy Boulevard street made it impossible to sleep until 3 a.m. due to constant noise. Additionally, while sitting on the veranda, I was frequently approached by beggars, which disrupted any chance to enjoy the atmosphere. The food was monotonous and of very low quality. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to anyone seeking a comfortable and enjoyable stay.

This hotel was a wonderful experience. Located in the heart of the city. Nice park across from the street. Concierge and hotel staff were very attentive to guests needs. My room, overlooking the main square, it could be a little noisy at night, especially on weekends. But that is understandable. Bring air plugs. Breakfast was quite interesting, several selections. This is my second stay at this hotel. Colonial style. Comfortable lounge style area in the lobby area, worth the experience to stay at this classic hotel.

Good bits - Right on the edge of the old town so location is spot on. Staff really friendly in the main and the room was spotlessly clean and very comfortable. Food was pretty good (breakfast mainly for us although we did have a couple of very good club sandwiches), and the drinks weren't expensive. Old colonial style hotel so if you want an authentic Cuban experience, rather than a chain where you could be anywhere in the world, this is the one.|Not so good bits - Noise! Our room was over looking the square and there was quite loud live music downstairs outside until midnight. We also seemed to be right by some sort of ventilation shaft that carried the music down from the rooftop bar and made our bathroom sound like a full blown disco! Again, if you want the Cuban experience well this is it. It wasn't too bad for us but some people may not appreciate it. The plumbing didn't always work as you would expect in the UK although they did send staff up to try and improve it for us. Only other issue was the drinks - the beer (imported) was fine but the local cocktails, particularly the Cuba Libre was really quite poor.|Be prepared to be badgered as soon as you leave the hotel to go on classic car rides, restaurants, bars or to change money. |Overall a good stay and would recommend it if you want that authentic Cuban experience.

If the peace and quite, and comfortable sleep is important for you, avoid staying in this hotel. The hotel is the oldest functioning hotel in Havana and has surely its vintage glory. It is interesting to go there and experience the interior of the hotel, but that is just about it. There is no comfort with the stay and noise penetrates to your room no matter what. The rooms are cramped. There is literally no space for yourself. While the room service is very nicely done everyday, when you cannot have a proper rest, everything cones under that shadow. There is a road on the left side of the hotel where there are cafés and they play very loud music till the very early hours of the morning. Even after that the street is frequented by some vagabonds who talk loudly and at times, scream in a brawl. All the niuse is write in your room. Another thing to consider is the attitude of the staff to intimidate guests to milk more money out of them. When I arrived after a long flight, the first thing the receptionist said was "outside is very very very dangerous!". Not a very nice thing to hear on your first day of vacations. What they refer to is that you should not exchange money on the street. They offered 330 pesos for 1 USD, which in fact was 385 per USD outside in July 2025. When you submit to their intimidating comments about outside, they take you inside a room and do the transaction there, as if it is something illegal. Do not exchange money in the hotel. Outside is just ok, you just need to make sure that the person offering you exchange has cash on sight. I did it outside the second time and I was totally fine. The breakfast was fine though more is expected of a hotel of this standard. Overall, I would not stay in this hotel again. PS to hotel management: train your staff not to make derogatory comments or gestures about the guest's country of origin. It's a sign of utter unprofessionalism.

The hotel has no parking on its own, though I wrote them a message previously about the availability of a parking space for their guests and I was told that there was no problem with that, when I arrived I had to park in some other place where some guys told me they will take care of my car for a tip, and later in the night I had to fight with the taxi drivers that use the whole place to get a space in front of the hotel that was marked with a sign of HOTEL. When I asked inside they said they don't have a guaranteed parking for their guests. The staff is friendly, in general. The room that was supposed to be Blue Diamond was un updated small room, with no street view (window couldn't be opened) in the first floor (room 101), air-conditioning was very weak, i spent the night sweating, to get hot water in the tube you should open and leave open the hot faucet for at least 8 minutes, the safe did not work. They have some drinks above the mini fridge, not included, price is in Cuban pesos, and you can't pay wit Cuban cash, it has to be through a card that you can purchase with dollars in cash in some boots called CADECA (casa de cambio), there are several in the city. I did have Cuban cash but I couldn't purchase any of the drinks because I did not carried those cards. Good things are the location, which is excellent, right there in front of the Parque Central and at walking distance of the main attractions in Old Havana, hotel is a beautiful old building, more or less well preserved, which is nice. Breakfast was good, attentive personnel , nice tropical fruits, and in general enjoyable. All in all, i would choose another hotel with a better room next time, but the location was excellent.