We had the misfortune of staying here for 1 night in January (only because all other hotels were fully booked). This place doesn't seem to know the meaning of maintenance, and would definitely be closed down in other countries. The corridors in the hotel were horrible with stained, stinking carpet, plaster falling off the walls and black mould happily growing on the walls. You could say well this is Havana, but we also stayed at The Nacionale and Parque Central and neither of them had any of these problems. The buffet breakfast was like some kind of frenzy, with people everywhere and very average looking food. As we only stayed one night we only had to use the lift twice, and I felt lucky to escape with my life. The lifts are so slow and old and scary given the obvious lack of maintenance. I certainly would never stay here again.

My wife and l stayed there for only 2 nights and that was enough for us to hate it. It was originally built as Hilton than has been taken over during the revolution and probably has been renovated only a few times. It is very old and it is not being taken care of at all. Food was disaster, l cant describe how horrible my steak was in the fine dining room. We literally starved there! Bed was so annoying, could not sleep at all. Bell boy was asking for money for moving the bags for 1 meter! l would be perfectly fine if l was alone, but l had my wife with me and l insisted on this hotel. We only liked the breakfast, it was kind of ok. But again l got food poisoned as soon as we checked out and had to go to Hospital emergency when we came back to Cayman Islands. In short, Havana is a wonderful place where everyone should see but Havana Libre is definitely not a hotel to stay! Shame that its run by a big Spanish company!

We had 4 nights on a Highlights of Cuba tour ,on 3 days there was no hot water in our room on the 13th floor ,corridors had filthy carpets and smelled. I dont think windows and brasswork has been cleaned for years.This must have been a nice hotel years ago but to say its tired is being kind.

It does seem that regardless of what floor you stay on the corridors do smell of damp but the few seconds you spend in them is really irrelevant to your stay and I am assuming that this is from the humidity in the atmosphere causing this slight damp smell. The hotel is (according to our Cuban guide) only rented from the Government by the Melia group and not mantained by them as that is down to the Government but as the majority of the house on the Malecon are awaiting renovation it is unlikely this will be a high priority on their list! The room itself is kept very clean and has ample space for 2 people, the shower gets hot in an evening but is only tepid first thing in a morning which would suggest it was heated from solar panels. We stayed on the 23rd floor and had amazing views over the whole of Havana including the old town, the Nacional Hotel and the Malecon with a very colourful sunrise the first morning so the view definitely outweighs the couple of minutes enduring the corridors to and from the lifts AND if you are spending that much time in the corridors or even in the hotel itself your time in Havana has been wasted as there is far too much to see and do (especially if you only have a couple of days as most seem to). Breakfast was very good each morning and there was a great variety to suit everyones tastes, plus a chef cooking fresh eggs/omelettes and always plenty of fresh fruit juices and fruit, although you do have to get down early enough to get a table as it does get very busy in a morning as do the lifts from a high up floor. The location is great for exploring the city as the Malecon is just a short walk away and a walk down to the Nacional hotel is a must to see the Hall of Fame from way back to the 30s. A cadillac trip from the hotel and round the old town is well worth doing and it is worth walking back fom the old town to explore the little back streets and street markets for wooden and ceramic handicrafts at bargain prices! Would be happy to stay here again if visiting Havana.