Havana House Concierge House Concierge Services

Let us help you enjoy the perfect vacation in Havana and beyond. From reservations at the top restaurants (and secret spots), to private car hire, guides and local experiences; our management is there to make your stay as memorable and magical as possible.

Stay at our owner suite or have us help you choose the perfect hotel room or private home. Events

We host a wide variety of events at the Havana House. Art Shows and Talks, Rum Tasting, Havana Nights and Music Nights featuring local and International Stars. Or maybe you would like for us to help you create your very own magical night!

Art, Art and more Art

Check out our One Line Room by Daniel Dugan or our Crown Yourself Art Wall by Karen Bystedt Contemporary Art by Kadar Lopez Lounge by our pool and catch up on emails and news (Yes! We have Wi-Fi) Things to do in and around Havana

• Beach Outing • Cigar and Rum Factory Tour (We will escort you to different stops to learn about cigars and the three drinks invented in : Mojito, Daiquiri and the Cuba Libre. Each drink has its own story to tell) • Santeria ritual (We will take you to the home of a Santeria Priestess to learn about the different deities of the religion and experience a cleansing to rid you of any negative vibes. The cleansing uses herbs, flowers, Holy Water from the Catholic Church and other ingredients) • Day trip to the beach in a vintage American Car (great for photo shoots) • Visit the Taquechel Pharmacy Museum on Calle Obispo No.155 • Baseball Game • Capitol guided tour • Private Dance Lessons • Gay Havana Tour Walking Tours

• Walking tour of the 5 plazas of . Gain insights into life present and past as we tour five centuries in Old Havana. Added stops include the Taller de Grafica. The Taller is more than a workshop, it is a studio, a school and most importantly, an art institution that preserves and develops the sophisticated art of print making with freedom of spirit and form. While at the center you will see artworks produced there and have a conversation with the artists present about their works, and about life as an artist in Havana. Learn the long history of printmaking and the studio established by Che. There are over 40 artists working in the studio and the leading artists of Cuba work here to make their prints. There is also and art gallery here with prints for purchase. The artists will be waiting for us to display their art and give demonstrations. Half day or full day which includes a guided tour through the Museum of Fine Arts Cuban collection spanning 500 years or the Museum of the Revolution for Cuba’s version of history.

• Art Tours to many of the home/studios of the leading artists and curators of Havana can be combined with the tour of modern Havana or a personalized tour to fit your taste. Walking Tour

• Follow the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway: includes Bar , Bodeguita del Medio, Hotel Ambos Mundos (where he lived for 7 years), and his home of 21 years, Finca Vigia. The home is located approximately 25 minutes from Old Havana. You can also visit the fishing town of Cojimar, where Hemingway kept his fishing boat Pilar, and where the local fishermen later erected a bust of him. Finish the day at the , run by the Mafia and a favorite of Hemingway. • Tour of Modern Havana: Plaza de la Revolucion, Fusterlandia (a fishing village transformed Gaudi-like, with colorful tiles ), Park and 5th avenue where the Embassies are located. Included is a stop at Callejon de Hamel, a short street dedicated to images from the Santeria religion, the Afro-Cuban religion that influences Cuban culture. Our last stop is the Hotel Nacional, the 1930s landmark where the Mafia held there big meeting in 1946. Trip outside Havana

Day trip outside of Havana to La Moka/Las Terrazas, UNESCO Biosphere

Las Terrazas, an eco-village that is part of a UNESCO biosphere reserve established in 1985. Situated in a valley amid low mountains (the Sierra del Rosario range), this reforested area was the former site of over 50 coffee plantations. The restored area helps protect close to 850 endemic plant species and 98 bird species, including 11 of Cuba’s 24 endemic bird species. The approximately 1000 residents live in whitewashed houses with colorful shutters and clay tile roofs. We will the narrow roads of the terraced village and visit several houses and resident artisans. Also within the UNESCO reserve are the restored buildings and ruins of the Buena Vista coffee plantation, which was built in 1801 by French refugees from Haiti. The ruins are beautiful yet haunting, evoking as they do the former slave labor that made the farmers rich. Among the ruins are stone terraces where coffee beans were laid out to dry, a huge ox-powered grindstone used to extract coffee beans from their husks, and the remains of former slave quarters. The master’s house, with a westward view of the valley beyond, has been restored and now houses a restaurant. We can also organize a lunch at a local farmer’s home where the food is cooked over an open fire. Overnight tours

Vinales

The 132 km ² (51 sq. miles) Vinales Valley boasts the most spectacular scenery in the whole of Cuba. It is, geologically speaking, the oldest region on the island dating back to the Jurassic period when the ocean floor rose, giving way to limestone formations commonly called Mogotes: steep-sided, flat- topped outcrops that seem to rise dramatically from the ground reaching a height that ranges from 140 to 400 meters ((between 460 and 1,312 feet). The valley was declared a National Monument and UNESCO added it as a Natural Landscape and as a World Heritage Site in the late 1990s.

One of the largest cave systems in the American continent is to be found here, making the interior of many of those water-wearable-limestone rocky formations navigable. The 1607 town of Vinales is deservedly a national monument, a rural charmer where time has seemed to come to a halt. Attractions abound in this heavenly place that is a must-see if you have an extended stay in Cuba. It is also the best tobacco growing region in Cuba and we will visit a local tobacco farm and if you like you can enjoy or take home a freshly rolled cigar.

Vinales is 3 hours by car from Havana and an overnight stay is suggested to fully enjoy the region. Other Destinations in Cuba

Trinidad On the Caribbean coast, Trinidad is the best preserved colonial city in the Western Hemisphere. The first direct road was built to it in the 1960s. In the past Trinidad was the center for sugar cane production and the wealthy sugar barons left a legacy behind. It was the home of Hernan Cortez until he left to conquer Mexico. Music and dance abounds on every corner of town. It also is a great place for scuba diving and water sports. (4 hours by car from Havana and we suggest a 2 night stay). Other Destinations in Cuba

Cienfuegos The city is dubbed La Perla del Sur (Pearl of the South). In 2005, UNESCO inscribed the Historic Center of Cienfuegos on the World Heritage List, citing Cienfuegos as the best extant example of early 19th century Spanish Enlightenment implementation in urban planning. There is no other place in the Caribbean which contains such a remarkable cluster of Neoclassical structures. Suggested Maps & Guides of Havana and Cuba Films about Cuba

• The Buena Vista Social Club – the documentary about Ry Cooder’s visit to Havana in the 1990s that piqued American interest in Cuba and its traditional music • Strawberry & Chocolate – wonderful film about a Communist young man who befriends a gay man who is against Communism (partially filmed at La Guarida paladar in Havana, where you will be going for dinner, one of the best restaurants in Havana) • Guantanamera – watch this after Strawberry & Chocolate – same actors and director – it is a satire about life in Cuba • Havana – a revamp of Casablanca but it unfolds on the eve of the revolution in 1958 and stars Robert Redford, who is never hard to watch • Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights – a young American woman falls for a young Cuban man while in Havana and learns how to dance as only a Cuban can, with full heart and soul – very sweet film • The Motorcycle Diaries – chronicle of Che Guevara’s pre-revolution motorcycle trip across South America as a young man -- with beautiful scenery • Our Man in Havana – Graham Greene penned this cynical comedy about a vacuum cleaner salesman whose territory is pre-revolutionary Cuba