Hotel Nacional de Cuba
Havana's 1930 landmark hotel where legends once checked in
Opened in 1930 on a rise above Havana's seawall, Hotel Nacional de Cuba has been declared a National Monument and listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register. Its gardens still hold two cannon from the old Santa Clara Battery, part of the coastal defences tied to Old Havana's World Heritage status. Guests have included Winston Churchill, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner and Johnny Weissmüller, and a number of rooms carry their names, kept much as they were. It is the oldest hotel in the city to have had a swimming pool, dating to that first year. The property runs to 426 standard rooms alongside junior and senior suites, a Presidential Suite and a Royal Suite, most recently refreshed. A second, historic pool reopened in 2025 after renovation and sits apart in the garden, reserved for Executive Floor guests. The newer pool, opened in 1992, faces open sea past the Malecón and doubles as a venue for synchronised swimming and live music. Restaurants range from the formal Comedor de Aguiar to the courtyard grill at La Barraca, and the rooftop Capablanca bar looks over the city by night. The Cabaret Parisien still runs its variety show most weekends. You can walk to banks, a currency exchange and shops without leaving the block.