Hotel Habana Riviera

Hotel Habana Riviera
Hotel Riviera (2007)
General information
Location	Paseo y Malecón Havana, Cuba
Opening	December 10, 1957
Owner	Gran Caribe Grupo Hotelero
Technical details
Floor count	21
Design and construction
Architect	Igor B. Polevitzky
Developer	Parvin-Dohrmann Co.
Other information
Number of rooms	352
Website
http://www.habanarivierahotel.cu

The Hotel Habana Riviera, also known as the Gran Caribe Habana Riviera, Hotel Riviera Havana or Havana Rivera, is located on the Malecón waterfront boulevard in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. The hotel, which is managed by the Cuban chain Gran Caribe, was built in 1957 and still maintains its original 1950s style. It has twenty-one floors containing 352 rooms all of which feature views of the water and the Vedado neighborhood.

The hotel was characterized by its large size. The very large color-accented lobby was conceived and designed as an open promenade. From the promenade, bridges over sunken gardens led to the L’Elegante cocktail lounge and the L'Aiglon dining room. There were extensive tropical trees and plants outdoors. The Al Fresco dining terrace fused into the pool, cabana club, and adjacent gardens. The casino's elliptical shape was like a great inverted golden goblet.

The casino had a large sky-colored exterior Malecón-Blue tile roof. From an unusual suspended ceiling once hung seven out-size specially designed crystal fixtures. The gold leaf walls were embellished with large-scale designs reminiscent of Mayan jewelry. The Copa Cabaret Room was similarly embellished. The theater-sized stage was equipped for any maneuver deemed necessary in the production of the spectacular and what used to be known as the "Extravaganza". Lansky arranged for the top orchestras to play in its cabaret, where movie stars mingled with the mob.

In the main dining room known as L'Aiglon, there were tropical murals. The main cocktail lounge was named L'Elegante. There was a dance floor which had continual Latin music and casual entertainment. Behind suits and sports attire were the "formal dress" for the Al Fresco sidewalk café terrace, which overlooked the pool and cabana club. The Riviera also once boasted its own bakery.

The cabana club and pool area was the largest in Havana, surrounded by 75 cabanas, each of which had two dressing rooms and telephones,. Outdoor dining and dancing terraces were also key features. There were private dining and meeting rooms. All corner suites had wide balconies overlooking the Malecón shoreline drive. Other luxuries included a buffet restaurant, an à la carte restaurant, a grill bar, a 24-hour snack bar, room service, medical services, a money exchange, a souvenir shop, a tour desk, and a casino.

The hotel was originally owned by mobster Meyer Lansky who had been inspired to build it after visiting his friend, Moe Dalitz's nine-storey Riviera Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. It was intended to rival the comfort and contemporary luxury of any Las Vegas hotel of the era. The choice to build in Havana was because Lansky simply did not want to be subject to U.S. laws or the scrutiny of the FBI. The hotel was officially operated by the "Riviera de Cuba S.A. company", established in 1956. The original incorporation papers also listed the names of certain "Miami hotel operators", a Canadian textile company and several others. It was built at a cost of US $8 million, most of which was provided by the Bank for Economic and Social Development (BANDES), a state-run development bank set up by then President, Fulgencio Batista.