[lavidaloca]

It doesn't surprise me... perhaps its a response to "zun zuneo." It will be interesting to see what happens to the many Americans who will go back with stamped passports. I'd ask them to stamp your visa instead as Gringuito alluded to.

Here are the places I found which have internet that are not a hotel. (In order of price.)

1. http://www.cubaccommhttp://www.cubaccommodation.com/properties_details.asp?id_hotel=9odation.com/properties_details.asp?id_hotel=2152 (http://www.cubaccommodation.com/properti...hotel=2152) - This is in Vedado situated near Salon Rojo and Hotel Nacional. About 10 minutes from 23rd avenue) (3 bedrooms / $250 a night)

2. http://www.cubaccommodation.com/properti...hotel=2280 (Atlantic Building 4 bedroom...I believe it's on the 11th floor. Should be about 3500 square feet. 4 bedrooms / $700 / night. (The units in this building are owned by foreigners and is on the malecon in Vedado area right beside 3D cafe and a 5-10 minute walk from the Melia Cohiba.)

3. http://www.cubaccommodation.com/properti...id_hotel=9 (Atlantic Building 4 bedroom... 22nd / 23rd floor penthouse facing the ocean. I think it's about 560 square meters based on the floor plans I've seen of the building. $1000 / night)

4. http://www.cubaccommodation.com/properti...hotel=2046 (Same as above except this is the South penthouse. It faces the city.... $1000 / night)

5. http://www.cubaccommodation.com/properti..._hotel=867 (Old tobacco baron's mansion that was previously owned by a Rothschild...supposedly sits on 13,000 square meters of land) $2000/ night. (I believe this has internet but am not sure. The government owns this place at the moment.) - Cubanacan area.

As you can see, good internet in a casa is not going to come cheap. But if you are with a group of buddies there are some pretty exceptional properties available. I'd love to rent La Mansion sometime in the future just for the history/ beauty of it.

The cheapest unit listed would be a Cuban owned property. I suspect though they are listed as having internet but that it will be dial up whereas in the atlantico you probably will have better internet. For any of the 4 places over $700 / night I'd ask in advance to make sure they are female-friendly.

[InternationPlayboy]

My tourist visa came in the mail today. I'll be in Havana in about a week and a half.

[lavidaloca]

You'll have a blast Internation. Not sure where you are locating yourself but I'd recommend avoiding Havana Vieja or Centro Havana unless you want to be dealing with the barrio types and for money types.

Make sure to take advantage of Cuban Pesos. You can buy stuff from the market for ridiculously cheap..i.e. beef steak, lobster, turtle etc.

Avoid the typical tourist traps, the Tropicana for example is tremendously overpriced. A night there will run you $100 easy. You can go see a cabaret show at any number of places for a far more friendlier price with far less tourists surrounding you.

Museums I don't know much about as they aren't places I attend or really have any interest in. Check out local gyms if you are into working out. Price should be 1CUC a day or so in Havana...some places charge 5 CUP per day.(20 cents) There are some exceptions which are far pricier but you'll know if you stumble upon one of these as it will be exceptionally nice compared to all the other gyms.

Don't let Cubans take you to places. If you ask where something is and the guy says I'll show you or tags along hes looking to get a commission generally speaking.

If guys tell you about some cool party and suggest you go with them..they are probably just making it up and looking to make money off a gringo by taking him to a hooker place, scammer place, etc.

Eat outside of your casa except take advantage of breakfast. For 3 or 4 dollars you should get a good breakfast complete with eggs, fresh fruit, fresh fruit juice, coffee, sometimes even chopped potatoes.

Explore, I walk everywhere in Havana and it pays dividends. I find all kinds of cool places doing it. Girls I take on dates are always shocked by the knowledge I have of where everything is, and having been to many places.

When a girl is over aggressively looking at you, keep in mind it probably is monetary orientated despite if you are good looking.

Non-hookers will not approach you. Okay, I lied. I've got one lay in my years in Cuba from a girl who approached me. She said she recognized me from Holguin while I was buying a bottle of rum in a store and she was with her gay friend.

Don't rent a car. While some guys will tell you they are great for chicas they are also a serious liability if you have an accident. If you are to have an accident and its a more serious one theres a very good chance you will be held in Cuba until the completion of your trial which could be 6+ months from the date of the accident.

When you go out a night don't bring your full bank roll. Pickpockets do widely exist. They are non-aggressive. It's not as if you will be held at knife point but you may very well be short a few bills without knowing. It's happened to me more than a few times. Flashing your phone is generally fine. I've never had anyone steal a phone from me although it's rare for me to get very drunk.

When you use taxis tell them the price before you get in the car in spanish. So for example I'd say this.. "Papi, voy por 23, tengo 4 fula, esta bien?" Fula is cuban slang for dollars. They won't run a meter, heck most of the cars don't have a meter so you will basically be at their mercy unless you tell them the price ahead of time. Another word you will hear often is "Asere" - it means buddy but is used very frequently amongst Habaneros. Moreso amongst street people though.

If the menus are in English only you should be concerned. It's very atypical. There are many menus with spanish + english but english only should set your radar off. When you see 10% added to your bill it isn't them trying to extort a tip from you. The 10% is typically shared amongst the cooks. If you want to tip the individual server you can do it above that. I typically will but many of my Cuban friends living abroad won't.

Try using taxi collectivos for a bit more authentic experience rather than taxi official. You'll see how Cubans wave them down and then they will say what route they are going on. The taxi driver will nod yes or no and then you enter. So for example someone going to 3ra in miramar will say tercera. Someone going to the capitolio will say capitolio etc.

The pools at most hotels can be used by non guests. You just pay a certain amount and receive a fixed amount of consumption. I.e Hotel Nacional was pay 15/ drink / eat 10 or 12.

The malecon at night at the corner of 23 and 1ra is very gay-centric.

Airport --> Havana (wherever) should be no more than 25 CUC.

Havana --> Airport (maximum 20 CUC)

A bottle of Anejo Blanco should never cost more than $30 CUC inside a disco in Havana. (Ask for the carta before buying bottle service would generally be the smartest idea. Some places simply will refuse to provide you a table unless you pay above the price. It's considered a table price above the alcohol price.)

It's going to be pretty damn hot I will warn you and you picked a great time to go in my opinion as its low season which personally I love. I think Midwest is in Havana at roughly the same time as you.

Havana can seem exceedingly small if you stay in a small area..i.e. 23, parque central, guanabo but if you explore you'll find there are a whole bunch of different barrios all with very distinct vibes to them.

Typically the further west you go the more well off people are. Habana Vieja --> Cerro --> Centro Havana --> Vedado --> Nuevo Vedado --> Miramar --> Flores, Nautico --> Siboney

Although much of the wealth from Miramar onwards is less liquid wealth. It's moreso people who were at one time were rich and have big homes to show for it which they have inherited. But they may very well not have more cash flow than their neighbors in poorer districts.

Book a casa before arriving for 1 or 2 nights as you won't want to run around with your luggage or have a taxi driver take you to one he knows of as then he will have leverage over commission, and taxi fare especially if the place he takes you is occupied.

Don't go anywhere with females under 18 even if they are just your friends. Its extremely common for police to stop girls and ask to see their id's. From there they radio it in and see if she has any priors (not necessarily criminal but warnings). If the cop finds out she has a warning for hanging out with tourists you may be on the unlucky side of an assumption about what you and her were doing and if shes under 18 it may very well be a problem.

I've been stopped a number of times with girls. Especially in Havana. Heck, I can't think of a longer term girlfriend (more than 2 weeks) who I wasn't at some point stopped with.

Most Cubans may be poor monetary wise but they are friendly and caring people in spirit.

[InternationPlayboy]

Again, great info. Do you have any advice on exchanging my money? A friend of mine said she exchanged hers at a hotel. Is that the fairest trade rate?

She was also telling me about a nice casa particular close to Hotel Nacional. Would that be a good area to set up base? We'd end up venturing out of that area often as well.

I just got a friend to join up with me last minute, his flight get in 4 hours later than mine. I'm thinking hotel nacional would've a good place to have him meet me.

Another friend was telling me veñales is fun, and gave me the name of a good family to stay with. Do you have any experience in this town? It seems to be about 3 hours from Havana.

[lavidaloca]

I haven't been to Vinales to my understanding its a small town. Two of my buddies went this summer and didn't like it.

Yea a casa particular near hotel nacional is fine. The Nacional is located about 1-2 blocks west of 23rd avenue and close to linea which is great for taxi collectivos.

23rd avenue is not a great place as a night time spot to be honest. Although I could see a backpacker type really liking it. With that said it's very centrally located which is great and the reason why I recommend it.

If you are going to have him meet you at the nacional be clear where in the nacional. (outside the gates, by the pickup area, at the pool, at the park area with a small bar (overlooking the malecon) with a small bar.

How much is the casa on a per room basis? Heres a site I recommend for booking casas. I used it in January. Osmany, the guy who runs the site is a great guy and often will pick you up at the airport for a very fair price ($20 is what I last paid in January). One of the issues with a direct casa recommendation is even if you pre-book with that person who your friend recommends if another tourist goes the day before they will not honour your reservation. That is true in 99% of cases. With that said you have the benefit of having 2 people which makes people way more likely to honour your reservation as most 2 bedroom casas will often rent to 1 person and just close the other bedroom but when they rent to two people they get double the rate.

http://www.destinohabana.com/index.html (Site I recommend, Osmany is the guy who runs it. Lots of great casas which are fairly priced.) You have the advantage with a site like that in that if the one Osmany books you in cancels the reservation last minute he has a stable of quality casas. Whereas if you just book with the recommendation of your friend, in the case they cancel the reservation last minute they will just take you to a nearby casa which may or may not be of good quality and collect a commission in doing so. The advantage of direct booking is that you can negotiate a lower price but in a short stay like yours we are talking about negligible amounts and honestly if you don't know the person who you are booking with from prior experience getting a discount thats worth it is hardly likely. Osmany made sure the casa owners knew to not let my girlfriend see my visa (as I entered the country about 2.5 weeks before I saw her which I appreciated.) Also, all the casas I've stayed in have been of good quality, never ended up in a place that made me scratch my head. I can send you pictures of the last place I stayed if you'd like.

When I've gone via recommendation I've ended up at some pretty grungy places...julio can probably attest to the place I moved into during his trip which he passed a couple nights in which was about as shitty as it gets. Great people but the rooms in Canada would go for about $2 a night not 20-25.

Get your friend to send you pictures before you book anything because different people will have very different ideas of what a nice casa is. Nothing will be at the standard you are accustomed to in the US until you get into $XXX per room range. But at $35 a night you'll get a decent place.

As to Vinales if you do go make it a day trip, maybe an overnight one. I'd be surprised if you really like it. Thats a pretty small town from what I've heard. Although that does appeal to some people.

As to changing money, change at the hotels as a last option. The rates will be the worst you will get.

Heres the order

Banco Metropolitano(or other bank honestly I forget the names) > Cadeca > Airport > Hotel (So Hotels as a last option)

If you are in need of money late one night try the Melia Cohiba, easiest way to get there on the cheap is go to linea and say "linea y paseo" when the driver temporarily stops. Tell him to drop you off at paseo and walk 3.5 blocks to the melia cohiba. That will cost 40 cents per person. Otherwise you could get a private taxi for roughly $4. Personally I like going in taxi collectivos as I'm accustomed to it and it's less about the money than principle. I'd prefer to help those in Cuba who need it rather than taxi officials who make bank off tourists.

With that said typically the rates aren't that much worse at hotels. I believe the spread will typically be about 0.01 worse than the Bank rate. With that said All Inclusive Resorts in Varadero, Santa Lucia etc, the spread can be far worse. Varadero they charge some type of tax on changing your money. I don't remember the amount. I'm not sure whether they actually do or it's a little scam they had going when I went. I was pretty adamant about being upset with it as it's by no means standard practice and never has occurred to me except in my stay at a 5* in Varadero. They quickly gave me the money they skimmed off the top although they were adamant that it's a rule in Varadero.

When you change money always count it and request a receipt. Also, count the money even after they count it infront of you. One of the biggest little tricks in Cuba is miscounting. It's especially bad when you change large amounts. I've been out $50 one time and $100 another time. (These were on transactions of a few thousand)

[InternationPlayboy]

You're the man lavidaloca, thanks again for all the great info. I met a cuban guy here in Jamaica and he gave me a friends number to link up with. He said once I link up with her shell introduce me to one of their mutual friends who's a driver and hell show us some good local stuff. He was telling me when I hang out with her, well get a lot of shit from the cops, and to insist that she's our friend and not a prostitute, and if they try and arrest her, to tell the police they have to arrest us too lol! Pretty wild, but sounds about right from what I've heard from other friends as well that have traveled to cuba. My buddy said they police don't mess with tourists unless you really fuck up. Does this sound about right?

[nomadicdude]

Just wanted to add that I managed to book tickets to Cuba online using an American credit card. First flight is from Mexico City to Havana on Interjet. Booked using their website one-way for around $220. This was one week in advance. I believe it goes for a little under $200 if you book it a few weeks in advance depending on the season. Second flight is from Havana to Nassau, Bahamas on BahamasAir. Booked for around $160 on their website using my AMEX card (I tried Visa and MC but it did not work even though it said it accepted those). So total flight price is only $380 so I'm pretty content with that.

Don't know if this is not a surprise to others but at least for me I was pretty amazed it was so easy to book flights into Cuba using an American CC via the web. I really expected that I would have to use a Mexican travel agent or go to the Cubana Air office in Polanco in Mexico City and pay cash.

[InternationPlayboy]

Interesting. When you headed there? I'm getting real excited for Havana. Even more so now that I have a buddy coming with me and he's definitely my kind of traveler. My friends I'm going to the DR with just want to chill on the beach and don't speak Spanish. The guy I'm going to cuba with speaks and is all about hanging with the locals and experiencing the real cuba.

[nomadicdude]

I'm going for one week next week. I think I'm just going to stay in Havana in a casa particular. Not even going to bother gaming chicks as it sounds fucking too complicated and everything is prepago. I love mestico chicks though so I may go insane. I am bringing $800 bucks and don't want to run out of cash on my last days so will just take it easy with the chicks and drinking. I'm really interested in politics and history so this is going to be insane. Been wanting to go to Cuba for years but never made it happen and last week I basically just put this all together in 24 hours: bought my tics online, bought the LP Cuba chapter PDF, and figured out how to bring in the money. Right now I'm trying to figure out where to stay.

[InternationPlayboy]

Nice! I head there Friday for 13 days. I'm bringing $1500, so sounds like we have a similar budget, I'm hoping that will cut it. I would say we should link up, but shit, I won't have a phone and there is no wireless. From what I understand using the Internet sucks, but I may check my mail a few times. Shoot me a pm if you want to link up. I'm actually in the process of booking a casa particular through a friend. Gaming will also be kind of lower on my list of things to do for the same reason, but it's possible this girl I'm linking up with will have some friends who aren't about the pre pago or hooker thing. I lived in Miami for over 2 years and still don't have my cuban flag, a little disappointing.

Regarding where to stay, let me know if you need a casa booked close to hotel nacional in the center of town. I just emailed this guy this evening and haven't heard a response yet. He's actually a friend of a friend but the girl (my friend) is 100% legit and has been to cuba before (plus really well traveled at over 50 countries). Her friend is supposedly an expert and goes all the time. He's the one who told her about the agency I booked my flight through.

[E Irizarry R-N-B Singer]

(04-10-2014 06:23 AM)Wayout Wrote:  

Your best bet is to stay away from any resort - especially Varadero! You simply can't bring girls to a resort without paying bribes.
Fly to Havana,find an apartment ( don't have to pre-book it),make sure bringing girls is OK with the owner.
You can find all info from Cubans once you there as the situation in Cuba changes almost monthly.

Back in 2009, I had royally screwed up: I was two-timing two chicks while I was teaching English down in Colombia, and la dueña didn't like the fact I was roosh-v'ing (i.e. banging) the livid shit out of the girls all night long like the Mary Jane Girls so much that it had kept her and everybody else up downstairs whom had to work the next morning.

Yup she had given me my eviction notice allotting me a week and a half to break out like #SwingOutSister

Vale la pena! It sure was worth it: taking breaks through out the night and resume banging. I need to revert back to that lifestyle again. Damn U.S. of Gay! Tired of the puritanical undercurrent of this country!!

[InternationPlayboy]

In Cuba is if easy to find a place to wash my clothes and is it expensive?

[Tigre]

(05-08-2014 11:43 AM)InternationPlayboy Wrote:  

In Cuba is if easy to find a place to wash my clothes and is it expensive?

Yeah, it's easy. Just hook it up at your casa particular.

Price varies. It might be offered for free. Or they might give it to the maid and you give her whatever you decide.

Sometimes it depends on how many things need ironing after the wash.

[Orson]

(04-25-2014 03:48 AM)lavidaloca Wrote:  

I'm of the impression it's chill as well. Somewhat surprisingly quite a lot of American celebrities visit. It's a good place for them as no one has a clue who they are unless they are mega latin stars (daddy yankee, pitbull, marc anthony, don omar, j-lo, enrique iglesias) or Brad Pitt. Even many extremely popular latin musicians are virtually unknown on the island. When Jay-Z was there with Beyonce no one had a clue who Jay-Z was. None of my girlfriends have had a clue who J. Balvin is for example (and these are dancers) people who are around music night and day. Those are the people I think who would be most at risk of being fined as they are setting an example for the public.
_ _ _

For Newbies to Cuba, here is a first hand account of a first visit to Havana.

The writer compares Cuba to the movie "Elysium," which projects one future LA of the grindingly poor masses, with a space-based paradise people swoon to.

Cuba isn't a developing country. It is a nation that was once developed now made poor by its government. Tourists typically see its upper-tier, privileged ruling class Elysium. The world of the poor and oppressed masses is another. Celebrities "enjoy" it because it is a cocoon like Eylsium. And they don't have to have their prejudices challenged by reality.

Quote:

Initially, I found Havana pleasant, partly because I wasn’t supposed to be there and partly because I felt as though I had journeyed backward in time. But the city wasn’t pleasant for long, and it certainly isn’t pleasant for the people living there. It hasn’t been so for decades.

Outside its small tourist sector, the rest of the city looks as though it suffered a catastrophe on the scale of Hurricane Katrina or the Indonesian tsunami. Roofs have collapsed. Walls are splitting apart. Window glass is missing. Paint has long vanished. It’s eerily dark at night, almost entirely free of automobile traffic. I walked for miles through an enormous swath of destruction without seeing a single tourist. Most foreigners don’t know that this other Havana exists, though it makes up most of the city—tourist buses avoid it, as do taxis arriving from the airport. It is filled with people struggling to eke out a life in the ruins.

http://www.city-journal.org/2014/24_2_havana.html

[nomadicdude]

Just got back from a week in Havana. It was an epic experience just seeing the place. It's like time stopped in 1959 when Castro took power. The city must have been an INSANE place in the 50's. Now it has all fallen apart but that's the appeal I guess. You can see what a great city it once was just from the buildings, architecture, lay out, etc.

I did not game or even mess around with chicks. A few things I noticed about chicks though: (1) The chicks overall did not impress. I think this is because Cubans don't have much disposable income so girls cannot spend lots of money on making themselves look good. I have no doubt that if Cuba becomes richer and develops more of a middle class the chicks will improve; (2) I expected whores all over but it was nothing like Thailand etc. Maybe the police have cracked down recently but it was tame. The whores I did see looked diseased. It wasn't pretty (3) I really don't buy the idea that all Cuban woman will bang for a buck. It really seemed like most were just normal chicks pretty close to their family so I question this. No one is rich in Cuba but at the same time no one is really poor. Definitely there are girls who just bang tourists but those chicks are all straight freaking whores. Again though I didn't game so really shouldn't even speak about this;; (4) I think some other poster mentioned that staying in Habana Viejo sucks for nightlife and that's true. There are no proper clubs or even good bars around there. Stay in Vedado if you want to game.

Other observations:

- It was not as expensive as advertised but maybe that was just me. I stayed in a really cool casa for 30 USD a night. The owner spoke some English and it was in a great location with a balcony that I smoked Cuban cigars on every night (2 USD a cigar only). The food sucks since commie societies just never develop a good food culture and the tourist places can be really expensive but even there you can find a meal for 6-7 USD so it was not killing me. Beer is 1.50 USD for tourists everywhere and Rum is cheap at around 5 USD for a good sized bottle.

- I took a day trip to the nearby beach, Playa Del Este. It is only 20 minutes away and Jesus Christ it was a nice beach. I expected a typical half decent city beach but this was a tropical beach with nice soft sand and blue water with basically no commercialization on the beach. It was pretty sweet.

- It is cool just hanging out all night people watching in the Malecon or in the squares around town. Cubans literally just chill even up to midnight or later on weekdays outside. It is pretty cool and different. I never felt unsafe. This place has no gangs, guns, drug problems. It is not like America where the bottom 20% of society is pretty fucked up. Here everyone seemed to have enough to survive, just not enough to be rich. And there are cops all over the place. So it was incredibly safe. I felt like you could walk around with a $100 bill pasted to your forehead and no one would bother you.

- Cubans are decent but I would not say they are as happy as other Latin Americans like Mexicans, Costa Ricans, Colombians, or Brazilians. They reminded me of Venezuelans. They are down and out because of their government and living situations. As others have posted they want your money but I did not find them to be overly aggressive hustlers so it did not really bother me. I have seen worse in the Middle East, Thailand, parts of Africa, etc.

- This place will be absolutely destroyed if and when the American embargo is limited. Literally 2 million fat as fuck Americans will descend on Havana and just completely obliterate the place. Prices will go through the roof. The entire place will get renovated and look like Disneyland. It will become horrible so I suggest going there now before it's too late.

[puckerman]

(04-17-2014 11:29 PM)lavidaloca Wrote:  

I'm in Holguin on May 4 for a month.

I have heard really good things about Holguin. How do you like it?