Hotel Terral opens as Cuba’s latest Havana hotel

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During the past few months while leading 10-day ‘Cuba: Discover its People & Culture’ programs for National Geographic Expeditions, I noticed a new building being completed along Havana’s seafront Malecón boulevard.

It was striking for its stylish contemporary look—a counterpoint to the venerable well-worn Art Nouveau and Beaux Art facades adjoining.

Then two weeks ago a new sign appeared outside the building, announcing it as the Hotel Terral.

On Monday May 7, 2012, I walked along the Malecón to check it out.

Good timing! I arrived just hours after its official opening to the public.

This avant-garde newcomer is the latest hotel opened by Habaguanex, the commercial entity created by the Office of the City of Havana Historian that operates all commercial outlets in renovated structures in Habana Vieja (Old Havana).

The three-story Terral is also the first hotel along the Centro Habana section of the seafront Malecón.

Not least, it offers the purest oceanview accommodation in the city, as each of the 14 rooms looks directly over the boulevard and the Atlantic Ocean. All rooms have balconies (especially the two corner Junior Suites with lounge chairs) offering vast vistas west towards the Vedado district and east toward the Morro Castle.

A nice touch… the balconies are enclosed by eye-pleasing wooden hurricane shutters that can be folded back by day for full-on views and shut at night for total privacy. From outside, when the shutters are closed, you don’t see any windows, as they’re floor to ceiling and cover the hotel’s façade completely except for the ground floor bar, with its wall of glass.

The minimalist hotel is built around a newly erected steel frame on the site of a building that had collapsed. It makes stylish use of travertine clad walls and terrazzo floors. Each of the three floors is themed (green for earth; blue for water, etc.), with chocolate brown contemporary furnishings and contemporary art and oversize photo-prints to match.

All rooms have flat-screen TVs with international cable channels, plus a minibar and safe. And the 21st-century bathrooms are fitted with spa shower-tubs.

Meals are served at the narrow bar, but the restaurant is primarily geared up to offer room service.

Prices begin at CUC70 single, CUC110 double low season; CUC88 single, CUC145 double high season.

Terral? The hotel is named for a wind that blows in southern Spain.

Hotel Terral, Malecón at the corner of Lealtad, Centro Habana
Tel + 53 7 860 2100
reserve [at] terral [dot] cu

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Disclosure: I occasionally accept free or discounted travel when it coincides with my editorial goals. However, my opinion is never for sale. The opinions you see in Cuba & Costa Rica Journal are my unbiased reflection of the good, the bad, and the ugly

Copyright © Christopher P. Baker