Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana

The Manzana de Gómez was Cuba's first European-style shopping arcade, a full city block of early twentieth-century grandeur between Parque Central and the streets of Old Havana. Its conversion into the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski, opened in 2017, gave the capital something it had lacked for decades: an international luxury hotel operating to contemporary standards behind a genuinely historic façade. The location could hardly be better—the Gran Teatro, the Capitolio and the beginning of Calle Obispo are all within a couple of minutes on foot.

Rooms occupy the upper floors of the restored block, high-ceilinged and classically contemporary in style, many looking over the Capitolio dome or the rooftops of Habana Vieja. Service and housekeeping run to Kempinski's European template, which by Havana standards is a meaningful distinction, though guests should still expect the occasional supply-side quirk that comes with operating in Cuba.

The rooftop is the hotel's trump card: a terrace pool and bar with a panorama across the old city towards the sea, at its best at sunset with the Capitolio glowing beside you. A cigar lounge, a spa with an indoor wellness circuit and arcade-level boutiques round out the offer. For first-time visitors who want Old Havana on the doorstep with a reliable retreat to return to, this is the city's benchmark address.