The mansion restored and converted by the Office of the City Historian of Havana into the Hotel Beltrán de Santa Cruz is only a moment’s walk down San Ignacio Street from one of Old Havana’s most beautiful squares, the Plaza Vieja. The Plaza is the old city’s only purely residential square. It was laid out in the late sixteenth century by the disgruntled citizenry after the commander of the Fuerza Castle had appropriated the Plaza de Armas for military exercises, thus depriving the habaneros of their public promenade-ground.

Plaza Vieja is surrounded by pretty colonial palaces and the Hotel Beltrán de Santa Cruz dates from the same period. It was built by the parents of Gabriel Beltrán de Santa Cruz y Aranda, who in 1770 received the title of Count of Jaruco and set up house nearby in the beautiful palace still known as the Casa de los Condes de Jaruco.

The mansion which was to become the Hotel Beltrán de Santa Cruz subsequently passed to the descendants of one of Havana’s most illustrious citizens, the Marquis of Cárdenas de Monte Hermoso. His guests over the years included the eminent German scientist Baron Alexander von Humboldt and three French princes: the Count of Beaujolais, the Duke of Montpensier and the Duke of Orleans, who later became Louis Philippe I of France.

Hotel Beltrán de Santa Cruz's gracious colonial architecture and interior design, and its proximity to the heart of the city’s historical centre, make it an extremely attractive option for aficionados of history and architecture.

Hotel is currently closed for repairs.

Perhaps the most attractive element of the 10 standard rooms at the Hotel Beltran de Santa Cruz are the wonderful floors, whose irregular terracotta tiles are so evocative of Havana’s colonial past. The heat of the day is kept at bay by wooden shutters on windows overlooking the street or the pretty, plant-filled courtyard. The walls are hung with sketches of recurring decorative elements in Havana’s famous mural paintings and the furnishings and upholstery are cream-coloured. Bathrooms are simple, clean and functional. Some of the walls have a tendency to be rather damp, but somehow one accepts that as part of the historical experience. Many rooms are reached by their own private staircases. Only 2 of the rooms have matrimonial bed. The other 8 rooms are twin bedded.

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The Junior Suite at the Hotel Beltran de Santa Cruz is marvellously grand with a very high decorated wooden ceiling. The furniture is similarly impressive and the decorative style is echoed in the nearby drawing room which almost defies description for Colonial grandeur. This is one of Cubaism’s greatest Old Havana favourites.

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