What a PITA! And definitely not in keeping with the "Libre" part of the name...
As it's illegal to use US dollars in Cuba, I take Euros - no 15% fees and smoother transactions at the desks for payment. And as I don't like being scammed, I always ask
"por favor, deme un recibo" (Please give me a receipt") - that can often result in a "we'll forgive it this time".
(I may use a terrible accent with a cop in Mexico, say, so it comes out "oon ray-SEE-bow, pour fav-ore?".)
Originally Posted by
ajamieson
Agreed. The other benefit of the all-inclusive property is that it eliminates the need for transactions.
Each transaction at the Habana Libre took at least 45 minutes and seemed destined to end in frustration. For example, the room safe key did not work, so I returned to the front desk where they told me I would need to bay $2 in cash in order to get the key validated. (Genuine fee or a scam? I have no idea.) Inevitably, the key still did not work. When I returned to the front desk a second time, the same worker insisted we had never met and I would need to pay another $2. On the second day, the key stopped working again. "Ah, the charge is per day. You need to pay another $2". Repeat this for every interaction with every hotel employee, every day and it becomes very time-consuming and tiresome.