Hotel Nacional de Cuba
| Hotel Nacional de Cuba | |
|---|---|
Main entrance to the Hotel Nacional de Cuba. Poster reads "Welcome to FIT Cuba 2007 (International Tourism Fair)."
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| General information | |
| Location | Calle 21 y O Havana, Cuba
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| Opening | December 30, 1930 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 8 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | McKim, Mead and White |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 457 |
| Number of suites | 16 |
| Website | |
| http://www.hotelnacionaldecuba.com | |
Coordinates: 23°8′35″N 82°22′50″W / 23.14306°N 82.38056°W
The Hotel Nacional de Cuba is a historic luxury hotel located on the Malecón in the middle of Vedado, Havana, Cuba. It stands on Taganana hill a few metres from the sea, and offers a view of Havana Harbour, the seawall and the city.
The New York architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White designed the hotel, which features a mix of styles. It opened in 1930, when Cuba was a prime travel destination for Americans, long before the United States embargo against Cuba. In its 80+ years of existence, the hotel has had many important guests.
The hotel was built on the site of the Santa Clara Battery, which dates back to 1797. Part of the battery has been preserved in the hotel's gardens, including two large coastal guns dating from the late 19th Century. There is also a small museum there featuring the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. During the crisis, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara set up their headquarters there to prepare the defence of Havana from aerial attack.
Among its first illustrious guests were artists, actors, athletes and writers such as Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Weissmuller, Buster Keaton, Jorge Negrete, Agustín Lara, Rocky Marciano, Tyrone Power, Alberto Simões, Rómulo Gallegos, Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, Marlon Brando, Ernest Hemingway and Jean-Paul Sartre. The hotel's reputation is backed by patrons such as Winston Churchill, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, scientist Alexander Fleming, and innumerable Ibero-American Heads of State and European monarchs. Minnesota (United States) Governor Jesse Ventura stayed at the hotel while visiting Cuba on a trade mission in 2002. .
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