There are two Meliá hotels - the Meliá Cohiba (in Vedado on the oceanfront not far from downtown)and the Meliá Habana (in Miramar, on the waterfront and adjacent to the Centro de Convenciones La Habana, farther out of town). The links are to Google Maps.

Now, here's the deal: Cuban hotels are a bit like a property ultimately run by Basil Fawlty - something will go wrong; the probability increases as the price gets lower and the lesser the hotel category (Cuba "stars" rating are IMO inflated - knock off a star, on occasion two, for the actual rating). E.g. the two mentioned properties: The Meliá Cohiba has elevators broken down - and there's no indication when they might be repaired, as they have no idea. The Meliá Habana has two of four elevators broken currently - they have an idea when they will be repaired, but are apparently awaiting elevator parts from Sweden. So, any property will require a tad of flexibility and some of the better hotels will still experience problems.

These are also historical - the Hotel Nacional room 211 was the site of a major Mafia / Mob meeting where those present basically agreed how to carve up La Habana and Cuba for gambling and the like, hoping to create a haven for illegal activities once the government could be bought (hint: it was when they helped put Batista into power - read Havana Nocturne by T. J. English for insight).

IMO, the Hotel Parque Central (managed by Iberostar) has a brilliant location, a nice eighth floor restaurant and pool - and crowds of jineteros (shills) badgering you as you go in and out at times. Also see www.hotelparquecentral.com for photos and some history.

The Hotel Nacional has some refurbished, well done floors - but these are often filled with diplomáticos, and when they are lowly guests like us will be unceremoniously turfed out and find ourselves in rooms not so large or brilliantly done. The Hilton was going to be the biggest thing for the Mob - but barely opened when the revolution occurred.