private travel in Cuba

sunset over lake near Holguin

Since I have blogged about Cuba on two previous trips, I will try to tell people’s stories this time around.  We were back in Cuba with a group, ten of us, taking virtually the same itinerary we took in October because we think it showcases the island very well.

cutting sugar cane with machetes in government field

This time, however, we flew American’s newly scheduled flight to Holguin, on the northeastern coast of Cuba, a vast improvement over the charter flights that were always late.  We did a “private” trip this time because the government refused to confirm any hotel reservations for us.  They told us they would guarantee a hotel in each city, but wouldn’t say which ones.  Since there are very few good hotels in Cuba, we were unwilling to leave it up to the government to tell us at the last minute where we’d be staying, which would most likely have been a barely acceptable or unacceptable hotel.

chef in one of the private restaurants (paladar)

So, we decided to take the private route, which means we stayed in private homes, used privately owned vans and the drivers who work for those owners and a private guide hired by our U.S. based travel agent who specializes in private tours.  There were 10 of us, so we had 2 vans.  You can’t get a bus if you travel privately because the government owns all the buses and won’t let you use them unless you are on a “government” tour.  The vans were 10 passenger and 6 passenger models with 2 delightful drivers, so we were very happy with them.

ration card used to by supplies in government store (bodega)

Something we learned after our first 3 nights in Cuba—private providers of accommodations also switch you to other private accommodations (hostals or casas) without telling you.  We had 5 rooms reserved in the best hostal in Santiago de Cuba and 1 in a lesser hostal, since we needed 6 rooms.  But, when we arrived at our reserved hostal, the owner told us she could only provide 3 rooms in her home and had booked 2 rooms in a second (turned out to be less desirable) hostal nearby and 1 room in a third hostal (considerably less desirable). 

Same thing happened to us in Camaguey, where we had a 7 room hostal for one night.  We were not told that we would be in a different hostal from the one we reserved until we arrived.  Our new accommodation was fine, but not as good as the first.  I was peeved, to say the least, particularly when our guide told me the same thing would be happening in Trinidad, where we’re staying 3 nights. 

band of musicians in plaza (private enterprise)

I called the Cuban concierge who was supposed to help us if we had problems on the trip, woke him up, I’m sure (it was Sunday morning), and told him I did not want this to happen again and to please fix the problem immediately.  Though he said he would, I also called our travel agent in Florida, who quickly got us returned to our booked accommodations.  So, if you travel privately in Cuba, be prepared to fight for what you paid for.  I think that these hostal owners share the government view that, provided your itinerary stays the same, you won’t care where you stay.  Wrong!  But, this kind of private business is quite new, so it may take some time to work out the kinks.  I think they overbook and then move the last arrivals to other accommodations.  So, until this becomes a more routine part of Cuban travel,  check and doublecheck and then call again to make sure you are getting what you expected.  One thing to understand about private accommodations in most of Cuba is that they are very basic--generally small rooms, 1 to 3 beds, a towel per person, no amenities except soap (not everywhere), clean, run by families (more about the families and their dreams in another blog).

private family-owned cars in Havana

One other note—we traveled legally to Cuba, so used a U.S. travel agency that is licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department to do business there.  They provided us with our visas and our letters of authorization that prove we are authorized to travel in Cuba.

The rest of our trip was smooth.  We had a gorgeous 7 room villa in Havana with a wonderful staff and lovely rooms.  The location was in Miramar, about 15 minutes from Old Havana, so not as convenient as staying in the center of the city if you want to sightsee on your own or shop—but, then, while the sightseeing is great, the shopping is minimal.  We all loved the villa despite the neighbor’s dog who barked long into the night (our villa owner has been informed and, hopefully, will deal with this significant annoyance).

our villa in Havana

More on the stories we heard in my next blogs.