When visiting Cuba, the last thing you’d want to do is go unprepared.
Not gonna lie, we were pretty unprepared, and when I visited back in 2016, internet was still rather scarce and expensive (not sure if things have changed now). I also struggled to find info and recommendations online for some reason and decided to do something I almost never do - buy a lonely planet guide book. It saved my life.
Casa particulars are a kind of government approved BnB, where people are allowed to rent out their home(s) to tourists and run it as a sort of hotel or guest house. It’s actually a great way to see how people live in Cuba and the hosts are often friendly and can give you advice or tell you a bit more about themselves. When booking our trip, I was struggling to find a place for us to stay as all of the recommended ones I found seemed to be full. But the lonely planet guidebook recommended (and featured) Casa Marta, and we were in luck - she had availabilities!
One of the main reasons why Casa Marta was featured, was because of its incredible 360 degree views of the city. It was located in one of the few high rises in the Vedado area of Havana which was calm during the day, but the party hub at night. At 35CUC ($35) a night, it seemed like a great steal for us to stay in such a beautiful apartment. Marta actually has several properties, but since we had two stays in Havana before and after our venture to Cienfuegos, we actually got to stay at one of her other properties as well (which had a less spectacular view, but was a lovely apartment nonetheless). Marta was also a lovely host and was happy to answer any questions or give recommendations when needed.
Not all casa particulars are created equally - we also had a rather sketchy experience at our casa particular in Cienfuegos where our taxi driver who took us on a tour and our casa host seemed to have some dodgy deal to scam us… but that’s a story for another time ;)
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