Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski review: The five-star resort proving Havana has shaken off its communist roots

Five-star luxury has come to Cuba, and it holds no truck with Marxist economics

The Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski is Havana's first truly five-star hotel (Kempinski)

When a statue of Cuba’s Communist Party founder is removed from the grounds of Havana’s first truly five-star hotel, you know there’s been a seismic shift. From the $900-plus price tags elegantly draped on the Giorgio Gucci garments in the ground floor designer shops to the sublime infinity pool with its dazzling rooftop views of the Cuban capital, it seems Marxist economics have been given short shrift. The new Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski is a beauty and a welcome addition to the Havana hotel scene unaccustomed – until now – to glossy spas, glamour and personalised service on demand (through Kempinski’s Ladies in Red).

The former late 19th-century Manzana de Gomez shopping mall – once owned by a sugar baron – has emerged from its formerly decrepit state after a five-year renovation to offer a luxury stay cocooned in the colours of Havana’s bright streets and offering a raft of restaurants, bars and health services to those inclined not to venture out into the city’s heat.

The bronze and teal-toned spa with its cabana beds boasts five-star views of Havana’s stellar art deco Bacardi tower. Meanwhile, the tobacco lounge with its award-winning sommelier, and the lush Gauguin-green tropical ambience that is the Constante Bar where a daiquiri can be enjoyed from the sleek curve of a traditional Cuban tobacco chair, are all designed to encourage you to stay put. The free wi-fi – as rare as snow in Cuba – means you can Insta your poolside pose and mango daiquiris around the clock (the pool is open 24 hours).

The Presidential Suite is price-on-application (Kempinski)

In a world where hotel lobbies are statement pieces, it’s a shame Kempinski has shunned this trend – due to structural limitations, it says. The lobby bar, therefore, is elevated to the second floor where a huge gallery of interior design glamour in magenta, mustard, lavender and stone hues dominates but the snow-cold air conditioning makes the nearby tiled Constante Bar, and the tobacco-toned Evocacion lounge (all parquet flooring, humidors, and bronzed bottles of rum attended by Juan Jesus Machin, one of Cuba’s top cigar sommeliers), a more inviting prospect for a tipple in comfort.

Location

Occupying an entire city block (a manzana in Spanish) the white, columned Kempinski competes with a quartet of architectural beauties on Havana’s skyline. It’s directly opposite the towering 1927 Museum of Fine Arts hanging a collection of Canaletto, Gainsborough, and classical world sculptures, whose facade of carved coats of arms, cherubs and scrolls can be ogled in the golden light of the afternoon sun from the rooftop pool. Also facing the adjacent Central Park are the baroque trumpet-holding angels of the marble-and-frescoed Grand Theater; the Hotel Inglaterra, due to open as a Starwood Luxury Collection Hotel in 2019; and the neoclassical Capitol building, soon to reopen as Cuba’s seat of parliament. The entrance diagonally faces Hemingway’s daiquiri haunt, El Floridita, and is a short walk from the museums, galleries, and shops of lively Unesco-crowned Old Havana.

The spa has views of Havana’s stellar art deco Bacardi tower (Kempinski)

Comfort

There are eight room categories across four middle floors ranging from the Patio room with interior views of the new shopping mall, right up to the price-on-application Presidential suite. The 6.5m-high ceilings of the majority of rooms creates a luxury feel beyond the fabrics and accents in bright palettes of pop-pink, silver and white, Caribbean sea-blue and dove grey. Rooms feature a mix of Swiss, German and Cuban furniture, flat screen TVs, master lighting controls, top-notch lightproof curtains, smart marble bathrooms with mod-cons, Bose speakers, and a bathroom speaker to ensure no TV or music is missed while you bathe. The suites enjoy several more louvred windows (with maximum sound-proofing) than less expensive rooms and come with balconies with fantastic views, walk-in closets, Jacuzzi baths and British-based Elemental Herbology products. The air-con units blast frosty air, but there are a few teething issues with the air-conditioning controls. Floor landings are cavernous, decorated in palettes of silver and grey with framed photographs of Havana’s architectural motifs by Claudia Corrales, the granddaughter of the great Cuban revolution photographer Raul Corrales.

Bedrooms feel luxurious thanks to high ceilings (Kempinski)

Essentials

Calle San Rafael (between Monserrate y Zulueta), Old Havana

0053 786 99100; kempinski.com/en/havana/gran-hotel-kempinski-la-habana

Doubles from CUC$370 (£284), room only.

Wifi: free, accessed via a scratch card

Parking: no

Pets: no

Access: two disabled-adapted rooms

Rooms: ****

Service: ****

Value: ****

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