Originally Posted by
pbiflyer
Planning on heading to Cuba in November. Hotels are now outrageously priced (SPG wants 25k in points a night for the Four Points).
I see that I can book it on Airbnb, but not sure how I would get payment to them.
Is there a way for US folks to book casa particulars directly?
I just got back yesterday from a week in Varadero and Havana, first trip.
For casas particulares, you can use the site CubaJunky to choose. Most casas have e-mail to use to book. Pay in cash there in Cuba before check-out. Confirm the booking by e-mail a couple of days before arrival.
Do note that conditions are likely NOT what you used to (if you are mentioning hotels in the same breath). More basic than Mexico for what you get at about 500-1000 pesos MX there. Conditions are for young, resilient backpacker types IMO. There is ac, but no screens on windows or doors. (I attract any bug within miles radius and was besieged by some no-see-um type insect and a few mosquitos.) In certain casas, the water pressure is low, and there is usually no hot water at all.
I was told pricing of a few hotels and they did not seem expensive at all. The Hotel International in Havana, for example, where all the mobsters stayed in the old days, seemed from the lobby to be 5*, and was quoted to me as $150/night. Hotels at the beach in Varadero also did not seem expensive. (But I live in a US city where $150/night is sometimes not even possible, and a hostel bunk bed sometimes goes for $60/night.)
Any more questions, just post.