Paseo 206

Paseo 206 is a 1933 family house in Havana's Vedado neighbourhood, renovated in 2016 and reopened as a ten-suite hotel. The restoration kept the original architectural details rather than replacing them, so cornices, proportions and the bones of the house survive under a lighter, contemporary decor. It is run by a Cuban-Italian family, and that mix shows up in small ways: Frette linen on the beds, Marshall speakers in the rooms, and an Italian restaurant, Eclectico, serving homemade pasta and gelato under Cuban chef Alejandro González. Junior rooms run 25 square metres; rooftop suites stretch to 55 to 60 square metres with private terraces. All rooms have marble bathrooms, a writing desk and a king bed. The hotel works with the Galleria Continua to show contemporary art, and can connect guests directly with the artists on display. Outside the house, the hotel arranges the rest of Havana: a 1950s convertible tour past the Malecón, sunset Prosecco runs to the Morro Castle, deep-sea fishing out of Marina Hemingway, and salsa lessons before a night out. Thursdays bring live Latin jazz in the garden. It is a compact stay, ten rooms in a converted home rather than a hotel built as one, and that scale is the point: staff know names, and the itinerary bends around the guest rather than the other way round.