Hotel Sevilla Habana Affiliated by Meliá

Rooms and decor

Picture a 9-floor building on Paseo del Prado that looks like a Moorish palace rising out of old Havana — that is Hotel Sevilla Habana. It was completed in 1908 in a Moorish-Mudejar style that blends medieval Muslim and Spanish art. Step into the lobby and you meet blue-and-yellow Andalusian mosaic tile catching the light, horseshoe arches in the Alhambra manner, and a central courtyard whose wrought-iron glass ceiling drops daylight in like an old Vienna hotel lobby. All 178 rooms are spread through the building the way historic hotels do — some have wrought-iron French balconies looking out over Prado, its big shade trees, and the pastel buildings of Habana Vieja across the way. Rooms run warm cream and beige, with colonial-style wood furniture that suits the building's old charm, high ceilings and tall windows. Wake up, open the balcony for the breeze, and you catch the smell of espresso from the cafe below — the atmosphere that has so many reviewers saying staying here feels like being a character in a novel. Graham Greene stayed and wrote it into Our Man in Havana, while Enrico Caruso, Josephine Baker and 1930s mob figures like Al Capone walked this same lobby — every room here has a story in its walls.

Food and amenities

The heart of a stay here is the 9th-floor rooftop, with a small pool and a Roof Garden bar that opens onto a wide view of the golden Capitolio Nacional dome, the centerpiece of the scene. Beyond it the pastel-tiled rooftops of Habana Vieja run down to Havana bay, with Castillo del Morro standing at the far end. Sunset up here is the moment reviewers unanimously call the most romantic in Havana — the golden dome shifts to orange and then to deep red, while soft Cuban music drifts up from the bar as you sip a mojito or daiquiri in the Caribbean breeze. Breakfast is served in the glass-ceilinged courtyard room, the thing many reviewers rate as the hotel's best feature — tropical fresh fruit, eggs cooked to order, pastries, hot toasted Cuban bread, fresh-pressed juices including pineapple and guava, ham, cheese, and local Cuban dishes like congrí (black beans and rice) and frijoles negros that are hard to find in other hotels. The quality and range are clearly a step above many places in the area. Down in the lobby, the Patio Sevillano often has live Cuban music in the evenings for a classic colonial mood, and there is a spa and fitness in the building.

Location and getting there

Hotel Sevilla's location is a dream for anyone who loves old Cuba. It sits on Paseo del Prado, the prettiest colonial avenue in Havana, lined with big shade trees and marble benches where locals sit and talk. Step out the door and Museo de la Revolución is right next door; turn left a few steps and you reach the Granma Memorial, which displays the yacht Castro and Che Guevara used to land in 1956. Capitolio Nacional — the old golden-domed parliament built to echo the U.S. Capitol — is about a 3-minute walk away, and from there it is another 2 minutes to El Floridita, Ernest Hemingway's legendary daiquiri bar, open since 1817, and 7 more to Bodeguita del Medio, his other mojito bar in the Catedral district. An 8-minute walk from the hotel is Plaza de la Catedral with its baroque San Cristóbal cathedral, and 12 minutes gets you to Plaza Vieja, full of pastel buildings and legendary paladares. The short version: nearly every Habana Vieja landmark is within walking distance, no taxi needed. José Martí international airport (HAV) is a 25-30 minute drive.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The thing reviewers raise most is the age of some rooms. Since the building dates to 1908 and Cuba has long faced material shortages from the embargo, some rooms are kept less crisply than a 4-star international standard — reviewers report loose bathroom tiles, noisy air-con, uneven water pressure or a faint musty smell. If you get a room that is not right, tell staff straight away and ask to switch, because quality varies room to room; the Prado side and recently refurbished rooms are better than the back. Second, Cuban Wi-Fi is slow and limited nationwide, not the hotel's fault — Cuba only opened the internet to ordinary citizens a few years ago, you buy an ETECSA card and log in by the hour, and the speed suits checking messages or light browsing. Anyone who needs to work or stream should set expectations low. Third, food and drinks in the hotel run high versus places outside, especially lunch and dinner — eat breakfast at the hotel (great value), then head out to a paladar (private restaurant) in the neighborhood for authentic Cuban flavor at friendly prices, and keep CUC, USD or EUR cash on you, because credit cards from American banks (and some other countries) do not work in Cuba.

Our take

From reading through plenty of real reviews, Hotel Sevilla Habana Affiliated by Meliá sells the charm of a historic Moorish-Mudejar building, a central Habana Vieja address, a rooftop Capitolio view and a top-of-the-neighborhood breakfast buffet so distinctively that it is hard to match anywhere in this city. If your trip picture is a morning stroll along Prado, an afternoon daiquiri at El Floridita in Hemingway's footsteps, and going up to the Roof Garden bar to watch the sun set behind the golden Capitolio dome with soft Cuban music drifting by, this is about as good a fit as it gets. But if you expect brand-new rooms from an international chain and fast Wi-Fi, the uneven room quality and Cuba's own limits may leave you disappointed. Overall we give it 8.2/10 — best for couples and history-minded travelers who value a building's story and the charm of the old town more than the newness and convenience of a global chain.