Hotel Tryp Habana Libre | |
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Hotel Tryp Habana Libre. The three balconies which are not glassed in on the left, near the top of the building, are part of the historic Castellana Suite.
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Hotel chain | Tryp Hotels |
General information | |
Location | Havana, Cuba |
Address | Calle L e/ 23 y 25, Vedado |
Opening | March 22, 1958 |
Owner | Gran Caribe Hotels |
Management | Meliá Hotels International |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 25 |
Design and construction | |
Architect | Welton Becket |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 572 |
Number of restaurants | 4 |
Hotel Tryp Habana Libre is one of the larger hotels in Cuba, situated in Vedado, Havana. The hotel has 572 rooms in a 25 floor tower at Calle 23 ("La Rampa") and Calle L.
The hotel was built as the Habana Hilton, at a cost of $24 million, under the personal auspices of President Fulgencio Batista. It was constructed as an investment by the Caja de Retiro y Asistencia Social de los Trabajadores Gastronomicos, the pension plan of the Cuban catering workers union, with additional financing from the Banco de Fomento Agricola e Industrial de Cuba (BANFAIC). It was operated by the American Hilton Hotels International group and was designed by the well-known Los Angeles architect Welton Becket, who had previously designed the Beverly Hilton for the chain. Becket designed the 27-story Habana Hilton in collaboration with the Havana-based architects Lin Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez. Arroyo was the Minister of Public Works under Batista. The hotel was constructed by the Frederick Snare Corporation.
The Habana Hilton opened with five days of festivities, from March 18-22, 1958, with Conrad Hilton himself in attendance, accompanied his companion, actress Ann Miller. Hilton was joined by 300 invited guests, including socialite Virginia Warren, daughter of Chief Justice Earl Warren; renowned Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, actress Terry Moore, married radio hosts Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg, actress Linda Cristal, dancer Vera-Ellen, actor Don Murray, actress Dolores Hart, ABC network President Leonard Goldenson, and journalist Leonard Lyons. A huge Inaugural Banquet was held on March 19, 1958, attended by Cuba's First Lady, Marta Fernandez de Batista, José Suárez Rivas, Minister of Labor, and other dignitaries. The Habana Hilton was Latin America's tallest and largest hotel. It boasted 630 guest rooms, including 42 suites; an elegant casino; six restaurants and bars, including a Trader Vic's and a rooftop bar; a huge supper club; extensive convention facilities; a shopping arcade; an outdoor pool surrounded by cabanas; and two underground garages with a capacity of 500 cars. The hotel also featured artwork commissioned from some of the most important Cuban modern artists of the day, including an enormous mosaic mural by Amelia Peláez over the main entrance and a tiled wall mural by in the second-floor Antilles Bar overlooking the pool terrace.