Schönes Haus in Vedado, Plaza de la

Viviana and Eldier were wonderful hosts. They provided us with a great breakfast at a very reasonable price, and were very flexible with when we would eat. We had a fantastic view of the water, the accommodations were clean and comfortable. We asked Eldier where we could buy beer and he went out and bought us a case of 24 beer that is not easy to find in Cuba-over and above service! The location was great, close to restaurants, a bank, sights, and a main street to hail a cab if necessary. I would definitely recommend a stay there.

Viviana and Eldier were fabulous hosts, so hospitable, social and friendly together with their 2 children and a helper that assists them with miscellaneous things. They rent out 3 rooms, one in the main floor and 2 on the 3rd floor. Their place occupies the 2nd and 3rd floors and has very warm and cozy colors and is very clean and comfortable. He’s a doctor but is the best bed-maker ever. He leaves the bed looking like a 5 star hotel bed. The room is cleaned daily and sheets and towels are changed daily as well. She’s the decorator, the social butterfly and does many other things. The room has an A/C, a nice size refrigerator and all water and electrical connections are clean and updated. We only needed to use the fan since it was February. Our double bed-room had two wooden windows that opened up completely with a park view. There is plenty of space to hang and fold clothes and to stow away luggage. There is a dining room right outside the room with a prep kitchen. The room we stayed on the 3rd floor was accessed from a lovely spiral staircase with a beautiful view. Eldier uses a cool pulley system to get the luggage up in no time flat. When you get up there the water view is spectacular. There is a huge covered patio with 3 rocking chairs and the railing columns are cement seahorses. The patio is shared but we never saw the other guests from the room next door only on the last day when they were waiting to be picked up. The main street, Linea, is downhill 2 blocks away and the famous ocean wall. El Malecon (now also with Wi-fi) is 4 blocks away in the same direction. There are many restaurants and theatres in walking distance. We also went to this awesome place about 5 blocks away called Fabrica de Arte Cubano (http://www.fac.cu) and old factory with a tower - all the arts in one place – note: get there before 8pm otherwise the lines are very long. It’s a large complex of connecting rooms and large containers with different venues for art exhibitions, there’s a record room with a stage for a band, a theater, another venue for dance classes, video art installations, a dance floor, a design store (no idea what they do there) also a smaller venue with a stage and their restaurant called Tierra - Arte Culinario (reservations highly recommended). There is also this cool castle-like restaurant 4 blocks away right on the water called Chorrera something. The Colon Cemetary (greatest historical cemetery in the Caribbean and Latin America – Wikipedia) is 4 blocks away from the house and the corner park (with Wi-fi) has a sculpture – a tribute to famous Cuban artist Wilfredo Lam. A 10-12 minute taxi ride on Calle Linea will take you to the historic downtown area (El Casco Historical) which is chock full of things to do. What else? Oh, all this information came from our personal tour guide, Yasmani, a young psychologist who lives across the street from the house who is working on his doctorate degree and does this on his spare time. So, reservations are important. He speaks English and answered all our questions and curiosities about the island and it’s history. He took us to all these places. He also took us to John Lennon Park a few blocks from the house and in the same corner a delicious French bakery. $1CUC for any delicious pastry. Take a picture with JL on the park bench. Yasmani is very knowledgable about all things Havana/Cuba and has also lived in Spain. The house also provides airport pick-up and drop-off. This was the best choice for our stay in Havana and Viviana, Eldier and Yasmani made it even better! No TV in the bedroom.