Review: Four Points By Sheraton Havana

You put your company as SPG?

I'd love to see speed tests (fast.com is a good one) in your future hotel reports.

I bet "the troops" can't wait to visit this hotel on shore leave and gorge themselves on the buffet while the Jamaican people starve in the streets

Hosea; if you'd leave your trailer park you'd know w that the people of Cuba.... are Cubans.

Im sorry, but rooms in Cuba DO NOT spell of Piss. That was a guest that got drunk one night and failed to make it to the toilet. You should have changed our room. I cant believe this review.

1 CUC = 1 USD by definition.

Still, what an incredible waste of money.

@Petter if that's the case then how come the country has such rampant malnutrition and starvation that there isn't even a single Jamaican in the major leagues today? Even "Papa Doc" Castro himself once tried out for the Washington Nationals back in the day, but now the country's proud baseball tradition has been decimated. Meanwhile, "the troops" sit around eating bon bons. Do some research and think for yourself.

So when are you going to North Korea, stay at that hotel that resembles a fake Sheraton, and review it?

@Dan Allen

All of Cuba smells of piss. Especially those terrorist prisoners inside Gitmo.

@Dan Interesting! Was this stay compensated by SPG?

Who would accept a room in this condition even if it was free remember silence is consent I am very surprised SPG would not be checking standards very day ,every room at this hotel to ensure things are right

From the NY Times article "Cuba’s Surge in Tourism Keeps Food Off Residents’ Plates"

"Tourists are quite literally eating Cuba’s lunch. Thanks in part to the United States embargo, but also to poor planning by the island’s government, goods that Cubans have long relied on are going to well-heeled tourists and the hundreds of private restaurants that cater to them, leading to soaring prices and empty shelves.

Without supplies to match the increased appetite, some foods have become so expensive that even basic staples are becoming unaffordable for regular Cubans".

Something to think about if your reason for going is 'Support for the Cuban People'.

I stopped reading after strong smell of urine. how can you review the hitel without checking another room? Makes the review useless.

Please ban Melissa, thanks.

Also, there's no way I'm traveling to Cuba now. What a complete dump, and at those prices, it's an even easier decision.

1 CUC = 1 USD plus the conversion fee. When I traveled there before the CUC was required for tourists, I taxied across town for USD$1-$2 max. I think its still about the same unless you want a ride in the old American cars.

The food looks better than I thought, but I'd be concerned about food safety standards. Even US/international hotels in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, which have had US tourists far longer than Cuba and are, theoretically, developing countries as opposed to third-world communist dictatorships, have issues from time to time. I'd be afraid to drink the water, eat the food -- especially anything I couldn't peel and wash or see was adequately refrigerated. Cheese sitting out in tropical weather is bad.

As for the architecture, while it's not much to look at, the style is pretty similar to what you find in the Virgin Islands, Guam and other places where hurricanes have resulted in pretty much any building since the 1960s being a concrete shell with some arches or facade decoration that pays tribute to colonial architecture. At least the decor inside the rooms is tropical with the Lilly Pulitzer-esque colors.

Haha, the mini-fridge is branded Midea which is a famous Chinese brand.

Also, maybe Gay is prohibited in Cuba, that's why the reception was so shocked to know you accepted one bed for two men in the same room? LOL....

Ben - was the stay comped by SPG? The paperwork suggests your company was SPG?

I visited this hotel last February before it was rebranded. Aside from the beds, it doesn't look like they changed anything -- even the breakfast is still identical.
A couple of tips -- if the Malecon is closed due to high waves (as it was during our stay), it can take longer to get to central Havana, the money change counter never opened on time the entire time we were there, and the guys at the bar at night were very kind.

@ Dan -- That's how they handed the form to me. I suspect it was to indicate that I booked directly through SPG, so was entitled to wifi, etc. As mentioned at the top of my post, I paid for the stay in full.

What good is all your money and this incredible privilege to travel if you waste it on a drab hotel yet again.

You knew that staying in Casa Paticulars was recommended and yet you didn't do that? Pitiful and pathetic.

Lucky this is a fascinating review, and thanks for it, but I am also confused why you didn't change your room if there was a strong smell of piss? Was this smell elsewhere in the hotel? This seems like a major reason for a room change even in a relatively undeveloped country, and a hotel under new management.

Gosh, there is quite a lot of vitriol here for what is a perfectly fair review of a hotel that actually looks ok by Cuban standards (i stayed in the famous Sevilla in 2015 and it was fairly poor even if the staff were friendly and the location great, and in spite of its association with Novotel). Quite useful given the paucity of reviews out there.

This Hosea person is hilarious - seems to think that the native population is Jamaican and Papa Doc used to be the president. What else are we going to find out about Cuba?

Thats it. I've decided that the NEXT time I am in a hotel - which will be next week - Im taking a big hot piss on the floor and rug and then just doing nothing about it. If people can find it perfectly acceptable to life with the smell of urine because its Cuba whatever that means - than they will be happy to live with my contribution to culture.

Did I miss something, or are piss-smelling rooms one of the hot new travel trends of 2017? Is this something millennials prefer, sort of like rooms without desks?