Valencia Hotel

Stumbled across this beautiful colonial style inn slap bang in the centre of Havana. Room was massive and service excellent. Brilliant to sit in the window boxes watching the pedestrianised streets below. Only complaint would be that they share the breakfast room with the hotel next door which was full of flies and the choice of breakfast was pretty poor. Worth the price (just about) for the location, decor and rooms

This hotel is just worth its price... and more than this! As we arrived, we got greated by our own names!!! And all of a sudden appeared a "mojito". After 10 hours sitting in a plane, what else could you wish? (So far about friendliness) The room itself was very big, the bed more than just big and confortable and the furniture great. It all spotless. The employees seemed to be on a wet trying to be the friendliest all over. I am not able to say who won, but Ari at the reception and Janet at the turism board were just a delight and eager to help at any time. If you get the chance to stay at "hostal Valencia" do not hesitate and take it. I am sure you won't regret it at all -just the oposite! And for all those who enjoys architecture, I am sure they will love the three(!!!) patios. And they seem to be like in a garden, with wonderful flowers and plants all around. Whenever I go again to La Habana I will definetely do my very best to stay at Hostal Valencia. I do not wonder at all why it is always booked up.

This is a great hotel, right in the heart of Old Havana- an ideal location for exploring. Staff are friendly and very helpful. The room had good air conditioning, a safe and a great shower with hot water. The bed was not so comfortable, but after a few mojitos you can sleep anywhere! The breakfast was OK and sitting at one of the tables on the street, watching Havana come to life is a perfect way to start the day. The food in the couryard restaurant was some of the best we had in Cuba and the regular band was fantastic.

Excellent location in Havana. Central to all the "old Havana" sites and just sitting in the room balcony one could pass their time. Staff are friendly and the restaurant downstairs was very convenient. Enjoyed the daily inclusive breakfast in the courtyard....with the musicians playing on occassions ! Am going back there in May 2007

The best hotel I've ever stayed in. We ended up in a suite as there was problem with our booking. The place was palatial and I felt like a film star. The restaturant was OK and after reading the conflicting reviews on here we had to try the Paella. It was good but not as good as I've had in Spain before.

After researching this website and some travel guides, we chose the Hostal Valencia. It was beautiful, charming, and had a lot of character. We were happy to see that we made the right choice! Ask for a room on the top floor with a balcony if you can get it....we had the top floor corner room (the "Alzira") with the L-shaped balcony. The balcony wraps around the building and gives you a great view of what's going on in the city around you. You can people watch forever. The front desk staff were very friendly, helpful and always made good recommendations. The location is perfect, right in Habana Vieja. I will stay here again when I come back to Havana, and would recommend it to everyone!

well loved this hotel all period features - magnificent ast iron cbath ! quirky, interesting, clean just marvellous really our room was excellent bargain price too - we paid 77 euro - would pay double that in europe excellent location too recommended in all the guide books and we see why now wouldnt stay anywhere else in havana

I went with a friend to Hostal Valencia on a larger trip around Cuba (also went to Varadero and Trinidad - see other reviews). We were more than impressed with the hotel. The location is central and exactly where we wanted to be. The hotel rooms were beautiful (although we did not have a window) the room had 2 cast iron beds with ceilings about 15 foot tall and roll top bath. Really lovely. The hotel (hostal) was also beautiful. lots of plants and very antiquated. the bad point we had was that we seemed to have friends in our beds. My friend and I seemed to get lots of little flea bites - at last count we had over 100 each! (very itchy) but even still we had a great time. I would recommend going to Dos Hermanos (next door Havana Club Museum) for Mojitos - probably the best we had! was recommended by a tour guide. You won't be dissapointed Also a great market round the corner from the hotel, other than tourist presents they have some GREAT art. (nb - not open on sundays)

Being an avid reader of Trip Advisor I was overwhelmingly happy to discover that I had made the right informed decision. Hostal Valencia is majestically beautiful, and its staff - from the gardener to the maid to the reception staff - were courteous, efficient, and best of all after we became a little more familiar, downright fun! I think the mistake that some reviewers have made here has been to compare the food to the British and American tourist food available in many parts of the world. In fact the westernised Cuban food available at Hostal Valencia is much better quality than even the average Cuban could expect to find in their local restaurant. The hotel made the perfect base for us as we checked out Havana Vieja's incredible sites, and the perfect refuge after nights out at its crazy bars and clubs! And if this is budget I need never upgrade. If I had any criticism at all its that the new lifelong friends we made in Cuba - who were neither criminals nor jinteros - were not allowed to join us in the hotel. We thought this was the case for all visitors, however, an Australian friend of ours who coincidentally was travelling through Cuba at the same time we were there was permitted to join us on several occasions. Cubans are used to this kind of tourist apartheid but I must admit the Brit in me feels quite adamant that the only person that should be allowed to discriminate between these friends is me. Anyway, the smallest of gripes outweighed by a memorable experience - I will never forget my stay in this beautiful hotel.

Just got back from two weeks in Cuba. We stayed all inclusive in Cayo Coco but couldn't resist the temptation to hire a car for a look round. Spent three days in Havana and stayed two nights in the Hostal Valencia as it was recommended in our Lonely Planet guidebook. The guidebook was two years old and the hotel had since joined the next door Hotel Comendador (and increased it's prices considerably!). Apart from that, it was even better than the guidebook said. When we enquired about rooms, we were shown two huge double rooms, one with bath & one with shower, both for 120 pesos per night. We chose the one with shower that was on the front corner and had an "L" shaped balcony over two streets. It had a partition between the bed and the lounge area and really felt like being in Havana in the thirties (apart from the TV & aircon). I used to work for Hilton Hotels and have stayed in numerous Hiltons (and other hotels) around the world and this is now my favorite hotel room! The hotel is set around a wonderful courtyard that has open air eating and drinking for guests. The staff were all really friendly and it is amazingly convenient for all of the sights. We tried the paella and it was really good and, despite what our guidebook had said, big portions. The bar is nice (but small) with glazed tiles signed by everyone famous whos stayed in the last 10 years and there's also a small picture gallery there. I would REALLY recommend this hotel for anyone visiting Havana! All of the staff