djjaguar64

When in Cuba I travel with a roach spray, believe me you will need it and it'll come in handy.

djjaguar64

Yes, that mildew moldy smell is inevitable I bring with me a Lysol Spray and spray the washroom and sleeping area. I also carry a plug in the wall deodorizer.
The there is a building across the Habana Libre hotel, its in the corner above a music store. If you walk in there, you will find multiple apartments for rent. What I like is that its quiet in these apartments and the building is secure with a main gate locked.

number_6

La Guarida is the best (also hardest to get into, reservations in advance are a must which can be done via email); this would get 1 Michelin star if rated, has a massive investment in kitchen equipment (think SubZero) and nouvelle cuisine such as watermelon gazpacho (which is actually quite good and doesn't taste of watermelon). I ate at 11 Madison in NYC the following week and would compare it favourably

La Coccina de Lilliam is a thoroughly delightful restaurant, basically cuban home cooking as James Beard would have done it, great value ... location is 20 CUC ride away in a gorgeous old mansion, interesting neighbourhood.

Terrace (top floor of Oasis, so a stealth restaurant within a restaurant) just behind Parque Central hotel, good meat (which is rarity in Cuba) and massive portions.

Dona Eutimia ... great food and cheap for the quality, very well run and great location in Old Havana. Again hard to get into (and there are 3 or 4 restaurants next to it which basically live on the people who cannot get into Dona Eutimia). Well worth the effort.

I also tried the highly-rated 301 O'Reilly which was the most disappointing meal. Barely edible food. Great gin & tonic though (as seems to be everywhere in Havana). In classic tripadvisor fashion this is the highest rated of all the restaurants that I ate at, and the worst.

number_6

I guess I book into a different class of accomodation ... there was no mildew smell in either my hotel room or my apartment (or any sign of mold, cockroaches or even mosquitos). This was in late Oct 2016. So inevitable at a certain price point, I suppose, but not endemic to Havana.

calville

Jaguar- I love hearing about your cockroach spray. Thank you- it made me laugh on a terrible morning.

Number 6- thanks so much for the restaurant list! I was a bit surprised to see La Guarida on it since "luxury mom" claimed in 2014 that her husband got sick there:
http://www.luxurytravelmom.com/just-back-from-cuba/

Our kids are grown- not sure how I came across that article..

Also, I've read the source of food poisoning is hard to determine- most people associate it with the food they ate most recently but it can take several days for symptoms to appear (?)

Number 6- did you ask your hotel concierge to make reservations for you or did you call before arriving in Cuba? Thanks for the warning on O' Reilly 304- I see this is one the host of our casa likes to recommend to his guests!

I wonder what will happen now with Cuba relations once Trump takes office
- does anyone have thoughts? Can American travel be curtailed again?

ksandness

I don't know now much it cost, since this was a group trip with people from my church, but we stayed in Hostal Santa Brigida, which is a working convent near the Plaza Vieja.

The rooms were spotless, spacious, and air-conditioned. The breakfasts, the only meals included, were just OK, but that was true of all the food we had in Cuba. The nuns are from all over the world, and most of them speak English.

No religious obligations are placed on guests.

Food poisoning? Yes, one member of our group was incapacitated for two days after eating some shrimp dish in a state-owned restaurant.

Our final dinner was held at an outdoor restaurant that was off the beaten tourist path, and I (as it turned out) foolishly decided to have a mojito. The digestive problems struck in the form of sudden onset vomiting in the middle of the night, so I'm assuming it was the ice in the mojito, since the woman who sat next to me ordered exactly the same meal but had beer for her beverage instead.

calville

We are just back from Havana and unfortunately, I can't give a wholehearted recommendation for our Vieja casa. The hosts who lived on site were very nice and helpful but there were multiple issues such as lack of hot water (the water heater might have been 30 gal at most)- and there was only enough for one person at a time, then wait awhile for it to heat up again- also, noisy neighborhood etc but all part of the Cuban experience.

As far as restaurants, one in our group reports Ivan Justo was outstanding but he went alone since the rest of us were too sick with food poisoning to go.

I think Jaguar is right about Vedado being a better neighborhood. Our guide recommended two apts near the Melia Cohiba hotel on the 4th and 11th floors with water views as being very nice (and an elevator!) They are listed on airbnb.

Also, re: availability of fresh fish- have you ever seen such a large body of water without boats? Our guide explained there are no fishing boats!!
Something about before the breakup of the USSR there was a fleet outside of Havana- now the fishing is done quite a distance from Havana.. and I'm wondering about the availability of ice.

VidaNaPraia

"Also, re: availability of fresh fish- have you ever seen such a large body of water without boats? Our guide explained there are no fishing boats!!"

Boy, tourists will swallow any "fish story". Of course there are fishing boats. You see the small local ones (as in anyplace that has ocean access) out in the water if you get anywhere close to it. (The huge "factory ships" I can't comment on.)

calville

I still maintain I didn't see any boats- pleasure or fishing from the air or from the Malecon. I know there are some private fishing boats at Santy restaurant near Fusterlandia.

Considering Cuba is surrounded by water, the fish should've been fresher! Our guide told us that the fish are brought in from a distance- further down the coast.

We went to CUC markets and saw lots of rum and bottled water for sale as well as giant bright pink tubes of processed meat that they call "ham." At the CUP farmers market for fresh produce (a good selection of fruit and vegetables) unrefrigerated raw pork was suspended on hooks. I didn't see ice there although the CUC warehouse "grocery store" had freezers.

My husband reports the fish at Ivan Justo restaurant in Havana was fresh- apparently a few are able to get it but at other "top twenty" paladores frequented by tourists the seafood was very mediocre and not fresh tasting.

VidaNaPraia

So if you didn't see something in the 5 minutes you spent in a limited area of Cuba, it doesn't exist? Come on.
But it's a joke among the guides apparently about tourists swallowing anything they say and not knowing the difference. )

For example, though:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=
These fisherman live about 6 miles from downtown.
Did you happen to see fishermen on the Malecon wall, catching for their own tables or to sell in the local market?
It would be nice (and logical) to have fresh fish on a tropical island. But the tourists pay equally for a bad meal with cheaper frozen product from China.

I'll let you know what fish I find available to cook, in a couple of weeks, with local friends.
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btw a good bit of the world does not get its meat wrapped in plastic on an eco-unfriendly foam tray sitting in a refrigerated case. But they tend to cook it well; no rare or medium. :-) Poor immigrants who find jobs stocking US supermarket shelves remark about the amount of "perfectly good" food they are instructed to throw away in the dumpster.

CokeandTaco

I agree with calville in regard to the water going vessels in Havana. Other than a few larger commercial ships (cruises/oil tankers/military-coastguard) I have only seen about 4-5 boats on the water in my 2 visits to Havana. It is surprising (but understandable?) to see so few on an island nation.

If you want walking distance Old Havana is the place to stay. Vedado area is a bit further out but good. Miramar is also very nice but even further out from the city center.

VidaNaPraia

How many fishing boats do you see in Boston harbor or New York harbor? Not many, if any at all. Some of this has to do with the "larger commercial ships" taking up dock space and/or making navigating the harbor more difficult. But go a few miles away--Gloucester or Long Island-- and there they are, just like in Havana.

CokeandTaco

Next time you visit Havana ask your local friends (or tour guides) about a boat tour around Havana harbor to see the sunset. Tell your friends (Cuban citizens) you also want them to join you on the cruise. Let me know what they tell you.

*and I am not talking about a ferry trip to Regal...

VidaNaPraia

Talking about what the Cuban government might think of as a permanent cruise into the sunset of the Straights of Florida?
Cubans did tell me that fishing boats were allowed. For exactly whom and under what circumstances, they did not elaborate, and at the time, I did not ask.