Specific Casa Particular con Familia in Havana Recommendation?

November 26, 2018 9:02 AM

We're going to Havana in February and would like to spend the long weekend in a casa particular. We're looking for two bedrooms in Old Havana or Centro (for two couples) that kinda guarantees lots of interaction with the family or people living at the address. Any recommendations or thoughts?

Airbnb makes you sift through lots of places that tend to seem like no family is present (which I assume many travellers want). I know that many of them actually probably have people living there due to regulations, but reviews make it sound like any old Airbnb (i.e some guide shows up to let you in). Any sites to look at?

I'd like personal recommendations! We're two mid 30s couples with range of spanish abilities but up for whatever.

posted by sandmanwv to Travel & Transportation around Cuba (2 answers total)

When I visited Cuba in 2016, I found casa particulares through Cuba Junky. I don't have a distinct recommendation though, because:
1) Lots of places don't answer their e-mails, and/or their phones listed on the postings
2) Even though I finally booked one, they ended up shuttling us over to a different casa down the street since that one was full. I don't think that's an unusual occurrence (although sample size of 1, here).

The place we stayed at was nice enough (not quite so charming as the photos I've seen elsewhere, but certainly nice), but our host was very kind and chatty. My Spanish is pretty good though so YMMV.

Basically, I would recommend that you be flexible and open to whatever happens (and don't get your hopes set on a certain casa, based on my experience).
posted by Paper rabies at 1:36 PM on November 26, 2018

I stayed here in 2016 and the host was outstanding-we wouldn't have been able to have nearly as interesting or good of a trip without him. He lived on the property and it seemed like you could have as little or as much interaction with him (and his family) as you wanted. The unit we stayed in is too small for your group, but I think he has information about all of his units in one of the photos on that AirBnB page.
posted by mjcon at 6:11 PM on November 26, 2018