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Cuba: A Decade of the Park View Hotel
Date: MAR 05, 2012 |
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The Cuban capital, a tourist destination par excellence in Cuba, has a wide chain of hotels that guarantee the necessary capacities to meet the accommodation demands of visitors.
Big hotels coexist with smaller renovated facilities thus shaping an offer characterized by its diversity, quality and excellent service.
Many of these facilities are located in the very historical center of the city with about 140 of them dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries, 200 to the 18th and more than 460 were built in the 19th century.
The company Habaguanex S.A. has renovated many of them for lodging in order to provide an original option for urban tourism in Cuba.
Added to the above there are dozens of commercial and gastronomic facilities that complement the services offered by the lodging facilities in Havana.
Precisely, the Park View Hotel, among the recently renovated facilities, was regarded during the first half of last century as one of the most exclusive hotels in Havana and was characterized by its American style, modernity and economical prices.
The abovementioned hotel dates back to 1928, and was owned by the Ecomides brothers –of Greek origin– who also owned the Café Zaserac behind the Inglaterra hotel.
It is important to point out that it was one of the first hotels to operate with American capital and benefited from the periodic and stable arrival of middle class Americans which led it to be compared with classic hotels like Vedado, Bristol and Plaza.
The hotel has been operational for ten years after being reopened in 2002 with 55 rooms equipped with all the comforts of modern life, including gastronomic options at a restaurant that can accommodate 50 persons and is specialized on the international and typical cuisine; also, the lobby bar offers Cuban cocktails and light meals.
Several versions about the hotel history suggest a possible connection with the American mafia, apart from having among its regular guests some representative personalities of the then Cuban bourgeoisie.
Also, the Park View hotel is supported by the existence of privileged neighbors in Havana such as: the National Museum of Fine Arts, the famous Paseo del Prado and the facilities of the former Presidential Palace.
In fact, the atmosphere and location were always the main attractions in the commercialization of the hotel that was highly appreciated by many notorious persons at that time due to its privacy and friendly environment, especially with places like the bar Coctel Launge and the Roof Garden.
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