Hotel Habana Libre - Biography Of A Giant

By:. What Country Liborio Havana visitor can ignore the presence of the Hotel Habana Libre in the face of the city?. His imposing figure, built on top of a hill, commands one of the most representative of the Cuban capital.: La Rampa capital. Its location is perhaps what most distinguishes him, but should not go unnoticed for a good observer also some subtle details like the lights emanating from the structure when it receives sunlight and the peculiar way that used to represent some of the best of Cuban pictograph. Although not considered the flagship hotel of Cuba, a condition which holds the Hotel Nacional, if it's one of the best known among the hotels in Cuba. Hotel Habana Libre today was inaugurated on March 19, 1958 after three years of construction, the cost of 24 million dollars. Was in its infancy with 630 rooms on 30 floors, making it at the time one of the tallest buildings in Latin America. On the opening day, the U.S. company to which Hilton had been entrusted for the next twenty years the administration of the institution, endeavored to dazzle the crowd. At the main entrance of the hotel, the luxury cars of the guests were received by senior goalkeepers, clean-shaven to the bottom of pin, adorned with a stunning dress lined hull composed of colored fabrics ending in feathers suggestive, elegant ties tight to the neck band of colored cloth wrapped around his waist and shiny shoes, all of which enhanced the royal and personality of the young men chosen for their distinctive stamp to make that work.

The owners of the Hilton wanted to win the race of the competition starting to do things right from the beginning. By granting the famous Hilton Hotels Corporation, the owners wanted to secure the services of the institution with the presence of American tourism, which they did for just a few months. The Havana Hilton was an old project of Dr. Mario Lazo, a successful lawyer of Havana society of that time. Lazo stimulated by the Hilton contract signed in 1948 with the government of Puerto Rico to build a hotel in San Juan and the Puerto Rican government would guarantee two-thirds of the profits of the hotel, tried to do business with U.S. company but found receptive ears among the mighty Cubans in the late 40. He tried with the government, autonomous bodies and even the Retirement Fund Sugar but could not specify the business. The project fell asleep for a while, but as expected with the position he was taking the Cuban tourist destination in the North American market, expecting revived the financial interest of the Retirement Fund and Workers' Welfare Gourmet.

At first they thought to build on a different site it occupies today. The initial project would materialize in the municipality of Centro Habana, a little closer to the old part of town, but luckily the owners noticed the phenomenon that had been given as to shift the center of the city to the region known the Vedado and decided to locate precisely in its commercial heart, La Rampa. The first stone was laid in 1955 in an uninhabited area of ​​the coveted curiously area, which already has shops, offices of major companies, several banks, the main television and radio broadcast network in the nation and some other hotels like the St. Johns, the Capri and Nacional. The Havana Hilton Hotel started excellently placed in the preference of the tourists who were interested in spending your holidays in Cuba, but did not last long their good times for only 10 months after being opened, won the revolutionary process that had been brewing in parallel on the island and almost in unison conflict began with the U.S. government and businesses on the island related to the American nation.

In these early years of the Cuban Revolution Hilton entrepreneurs had been making claims dismissed in masses and the revolutionary government money under the pretext that the Hotel was in bankruptcy, so were constant problems of cost and wages of workers, threatening a staff reduction and blocking the entry of tourists in the country. The latter was a latent possibility, due to the influence of the hotel company in the world. The figure required by the revolutionary government Hilton was two million dollars as he can to cover costs and keep the hotel open. The Revolutionary Government, in order to avoid conflict and firing workers a lot of credit granted to the company. Since the days of triumph and for three months, in-room continental Suite 2324, was used by Fidel Castro as the command post of the revolution, where press conferences and attracted to the facilities of the hotel to many international personalities who wanted talk and learn about the Cuban leader. Another fast links between the building and the revolutionary process was the presence on two floors of the hotel's first diplomatic mission of the Soviet Union in the island's location between the Hilton and the Revolutionary Government was becoming every day more difficult, arrived to check even the participation of persons connected with the hotel management to plan attacks against the figure of Fidel Castro.

Finally, on June 11, 1960 was seized from the hotel to be called then and until today, Hotel Habana Libre. Since its nationalization, and by the change of direction that took the country, drifting among other things, eliminate the hotels casinos and gambling in general, the institution had to face the sudden loss of tourist interest which began to grow steadily until the mid 70's with the presence of tourists from Canada and the former socialist countries especially. Its facilities were some changes and name changes, among which we mention the conversion of the luxury casino gambling in the Hall of the Ambassadors and the restaurant Trader Vick's Polynesian and renamed. During that time until he returned to profit by the year 1974 the tourist flow, the Hotel Habana Libre given its excellent facilities served as the seat of the most important national and international events to which Cuba was hostess. Long is the list of outstanding figures who have gone through the hotel since its opening, regardless of which relate directly to the Cuban government in the times we stayed at top revolutionary leadership, it should be mentioned in addition to visiting chief executives the island Tereskova Valentina, the first woman cosmonaut in the world, Elizabeth (Liz) Taylor, Terry Moore, Sara Montiel, the Spanish popular singer, film artists and Dolores del Rio Mexican Arturo Cordova, who joined Mario Moreno, widely known as Cantinflas, Pedro Rico, the Spanish singer formidable, and more time over here and Naomy Matt Damon Campbell among many glamorous American figures almost universal furtively visited the hotel premises, in violation of U.S. government regulations related with the economic embargo on Cuba.

In the nineties, due to the boom that has seen tourism in Cuba, you create three hotel groups: Greater Caribbean and Island Blue Horizon Hotel, the latter of domestic tourism. The Habana Libre hotel group then moves to the wider Caribbean and mixed administration occurs with Spain through Guitar Hotels Group, and later co-administration agreed with the Spanish hotel group Tryp Hotels dealing with a renovation of its facilities to adapt appropriately to the requirements of the current tourism market. The new Tryp Habana Libre Hotel opened in December 1997 with the most representative works of plastic arts and crafts Cuban, totally refreshed like Alfredo Sosabravo, located at the entrance of the Restaurant Buffet, to which he adds in the hall the beautiful hourglass, the work of the renowned Cuban artist Rita Longa. Today as yesterday, still the flagship hotel of the city, five hundred fifty rooms, seven suites and thirty-one junior suites and rooms for smokers. Among their offerings include three restaurants, Polynesian, Caribbean and The Barracks, two fast food restaurants, cafe and restaurant La Rampa Buffet.

Three bars: El Patio, Siboney and the Antilles. The hotel offers other services: Business center, modern shopping center in the lobby, conference rooms with capacity for two thousand people, hairdresser and barber shop, bank, pool, parking for two hundred beds, laundry. On the 25th floor is located the Sierra Maestra Panoramic Lounge and Nightclub Cabaret Turquino, equipped with a retractable roof opens from where a splendid view over the Caribbean in Cuba. The Habana Libre hotel, the giant national hotel awaits you if you decide the fate Cuba on their trips to the Caribbean.