The Palace

It is a lovely room, in the heart of it all... The hosts are familial, respectful and cool. Santiago is, Holy, and... a negotiation. As is day-to-day life for Cubanos - todo la vida.

As pictured, the room is situated over a restaurant. This is prevalent in Cuba due to the land use policy. (In other cases, one walks pass, la abuela sitting watching TV... while on your way to, la terraza.

The establishment is open for lunch & dinner everyday (I presume: oficial.) The aromas are... lusty and prevalent. The bathroom for patrons is adjacent to the room and, while there is appropriate signage asking for quietness - humans are often disobedient - and Cubans are humans.

Again, the room is lovely. Though small it has a magical spaciousness due first to it's original architecture of high ceilings and a wider-angled far corner, creating a diamond and not a square. There's characteristic Spanish tiles from the 1920's, and! Enabled brick tiles still in the renovated bathroom!! The plaster walls are gently stylized in earth tones. There is terrifically rhythmic iron work on the sky light in the room. The other window faces east and provided incredible moon rises. The room does get considerable sun all day. (Though I avoided using it, the A/C is worthy.)

With no TV etc. it was the perfect accommodation for me to focus. I was allowed access to, la terraza; this made the difference, en todo! The building is one of the tallest in the area and the view is, caracteristica...!!! (I laid on my back while, la luna - total eclipsed - stood directly over Santiago.)

This was my fourth visit to Cuba, my first visit to Santiago de Cuba, and my first full 30 day visa. in my opinion, Santiago is not quite as accustomed to international tourism as La Habana. Mi pobre espanol was not as well... tolerated here; y tal vez los santiagueros son más provinciales en su identidad. And perhaps they have good cause to be.

Perhaps I will expand on many of the above declarations in the blog section. Of course there is always a lot to say about Cuba...

Until then, I will close by saying that, I would give this listing, 5 Estrelas... aun para el restaurante.

Paz a la gente, paz a la tierra.

Lovely family to stay with. Cooked delicious breakfast every morning. Great location, close to main shopping street and the port. We got to experience a carnival while in Santiago- definitely worth the trip down. Room facilities were good and bathroom was clean. There is a wifi spot across the street so we were able to access wifi connection in the room. Family were helpful ringing a taxi for us when we were leaving as the weather was very bad. Would highly recommend this homestay.