Raquel Boutique Hotel

“ Whilst this hotel has everything going for it in looks wise, that it is! On first arrival to Hotel Raquel it looked lovely with its tall ceilings, furniture and amazing old style lift, the initial contact with reception was shocking.

The receptionist was not very welcoming at all, very short and spoke to other staff around us whilst in the middle of checking us in, handed us our keys and said breakfast was from 7.30 till 10, that was it.

When we got to our room it was amazing, old furniture, high ceilings and wooden beams and very tasty decoration. Very big and spacious but their was one problem, two single beds for a couple. But we decided to bare it out.

Breakfast was plenty full but cold and unprotected from any flies and the staff stood around at the food picking at it. But it was included so we made the most.

On our first night we ate dinner in the restaurant, there was a choice of 6/7 starters but only two available and they were not as described on the menu. Mains was nice we had a choice and it was lovely. For desert, we had only two choices, fruit salad or ice cream. Little did we know it was going to be the same fruit salad we would be having for breakfast.

Over the next few days we came in contact with other staff, nothing to be desired at all. We understand the customs in the country but there is being rude and down right ignorance.

The bar staff were extremely rude and slow, on the one night we choose to have drinks it took ten minutes to get two mojitos, when we ordered two more I was told they would be dropped up to the roof in 15 mins. I had to call down to the bar 40 mins later and when I questioned why they never arrived, I was told they couldn't drop them up cause of the weather, we were in dooors!!!!! then it took another ten minutes to get them whilst the barman spoke to another customer over me.

We were give a meal voucher on the hotel and choose to use it on our last day. What a bad mistake. We sat down at 2.30, after having to chase the waiter, after ten minutes he took our order. Out of the 7 options, there was only one, chicken soup, more like watery tea, we opted out. Then we ordered our mains, only two options available. It took over 40 mins for our food to arrive and no apology was made only a joke at our expense when it arrived. It was ok. However, the highlight of the meal was the demolition work being undertaken in the hall right beside the dinning area. Banging and drilling was all that could be heard. No apology for this also or note from hotel to advise.

Over all the only thing we enjoyed about this hotel was its features, nothing else.

Staff were rude, management were nothing to be desired and food was poor.

We would definitely not be recommending this hotel.

“ Reception areas, room and roof top garden were lovely. Breakfast wasn't of a very good quality. Although self serve and a variety on offer - some of the choices wouldn't appeal to Brits or Americans - offerings were on small plates or very liitle left on plates so you felt like you were really raiding what was there to feel full and I'm not a big eater. With the exception of the restaurant staff we found all of the other staff very friendly and very helpful.

“ excellent location in the heart of down town, its like living in a museum, the only prob was that we asked for a nice double room as it was the start of our honeymoon and we got two single beds, we were too tired to ask to change so prob didnt matter either way. it was a nice starting off point but a bit expensive but it was our honeymoon.

“ Whilst staying at the hotel work was being carried out one evening to revarnish the bar area. However this caused strong fumes to be present in the hotel and work carried on until about 21:30. The fumes became so bad we had to put towels at the bottom of the door to the hotel to prevent the smell coming into the room.
I'm pretty sure these fumes were not good for your health and as my girlfriend is pregenant I was less than happy.
At no point were we warned that this was going to happen and no apology was made after. For the money I would expect a lot better and unfortunatley this tainted our stay in this beuatiful hotel

“ Top Tip: very close to the center and Plaza Vieja is great, go to the coffee shop there for the best coffee in Havana