Both us our friends booked, or tried to book there because it was listed in the Lonely Planet guide. I'm not happy with that guide either as there is only a small line later on in one of the self-guided walking tours that talks about not going south past certain streets. This casa is in that area they said was not safe to be around at night!

We called multiple times with no answer. It was difficult booking over the phone - we called them 2 weeks before from Canada then my friend who is fluent in Spanish called to reconfirm our reservation just before we left (about 1 week before we arrived). They kept her on the phone for 20 minutes and said yes we were confimed. They later denied getting this call even though in their own book they noted that we had changed our date (from an earlier call) because it had been erased.

Our wonderful casa hosts in Trinidad (Cuba) offered to call to confirm the day before we arrived there. They said none of us had reservations.

Our friends were arriving separately from us ( a couple days apart). They said we could have a room but our friends couldn't.

We got there the taxi driver from Trinidad who didn't even speak English, was warning us about the area.

It was quite a shock. This area has some of the poorest people in Havana living there (I find out later). It's not a safe area. It looks like a bombed out neighbourhood. Giant holes in the ground, very desperate looking people around.

The rooms: There are 3 rooms though only 2 are allowed by rule to be rented.We were given the room with the ensuite with shower. Where to start! The casa is on the second floor. There is a door to a tiny balcony (you can only look out) and there are two large windows. The door and one of the windows wouldn't close and therefore doesn't lock! Also there are no security bars on them like everybody else has in Cuba.

The bathroom was a closet. The major problem - no toilet seats - in any of the bathrooms. Also the sink was right in front of the toilet - you actually had to step in to get to the toilet. I'm 5'3' and petite and I had problems.

The bed - the worst during our 2 weeks in Cuba. You sunk in the middle. We ended up moving to the other room with a shared bathroom. Same issues with room - windows don't close.

We stayed 1 night (told her we were leaving the next morning). It was a horrible experience. Wasted night as I didn't feel safe going out after dark.

Our friends ended up arriving and ended up staying for a bit. They were really sick and weren't up looking for a new place. The casa owner actually asked them if they wanted to sell their old clothes. They just wanted them to give them clothes to resell. She did give them some unfortunately and then made them move to her friend's casa for the last night and who also asked for their old clothes.

None of the casas we stayed at did that.

By the way, she's not poor. Her family lives in Italy. She has a computer and internet access in her home (her use only). She spent all evening smoking and playing computer games (not answering phone calls!)

I recommend staying in Vedado - actually good places to eat (where Cubans eat) not just the expensive tourist crap they have in Habana Vieja.

By the way, I looked in the kitchen - I wouldn't eat there unless you like ants crawling around rotten fruit, etc.

Thumbs up for this Bed and breakfast (casa particular) in Old Havana. Migdalia, the owner of the house, keeps this beautiful appartment full of Art Deco antiques spotless clean and is extremely helpful at giving advise to tourists and is always happy to assist, book a taxi, find you cigars, or anything else you need at reasonable prices.

The rooms at her house are spacious, one has a private bathroom and the other two share a bathroom between them.

The rooms are well appointed athough they could do with more hanging space and maybe some more furniture.

At $30 per night for the room (regardless of how many people sleep in them) Migdalia's house provides extraordinary value for money.

The only downside is the noise coming from the street but this is not unique to Migdalia's B&B, this happened wherever we went to in Cuba, you get woken up by all kind of things, ranging from marital fights in the street to singing cockerels, bakers announcing their merchandise, dogs barking, pigs, sheep, horses... the lot...