Hotels - Raquel

About  Raquel

Located in a wonderfully idiosyncratic building with a neo-Churrigueresque façade and tendrils of Art Nouveau wrought iron decoration, the Hotel Raquel contains further delightful design eccentricities including a vast stained glass canopy roof and a watchtower from which one can look out over the streets and squares of Old Havana. Many of the rooms have biblical names and besides the hotel being called The Rachel there are decorative references to the Bible and to the Jewish faith throughout the building, which was restored.
It is now run by the Office of the City Historian of Havana, so all its profits are reinvested in the restoration of the city’s historical centre.
It stands very near Plaza Vieja and the Plaza de San Francisco, and is only a few minutes’ walk from all the other main attractions in Old Havana.

 

Tacon e/ Obispo y O'Relly, Habana Vieja

Arms Square

Plaza de Armas surrounds a statue of the patriot Céspedes and is ringed by shaded marble benches and second-hand bookstalls. This square, founding in 1519, was the city's first open space, around which the most important political, military, religious and civil institutions were located. The palaces that surrounded it during the 18th century are worthy exponents of Cuban Baroque architecture. On the square’s eastern side a small neoclassical temple, El Templete, marks the spot where the first Catholic mass was celebrated in 1519. Next door is one of the city’s most luxurious hotels, Hotel Santa Isabel. To the north, the squat but angular and moated Castillo de la Real Fuerza (Fort of the Royal Forces) is one of the oldest forts in the Americas.  

Calle Industria No. 520, e/ Barcelona y Dragones, Centro Habana, La Habana

Real Fábrica de Tabacos Partagás

The Real Fábrica de Tabacos Partagás (Partagás Royal Tobacco Factory), located in the north of Fraternidad Park, one of the oldest and more famous tobacco factories in Havana. It was founded in 1845 by the Spanish Jaime Partagás. Partagas was at the same time, owner of some tobacco plantations in the region of Vuelta Abajo. This is the most visited factory in the country. When you visit it in group you’ll discover how they do separate and classify the leaves in the ground floor; and how they do roll, press, adorn, and wrap the cigars in the upper floors. Currently there are around 500 workers on it, rolling cigars for well-known brands like Montecristo or Cohíba. The factory also houses a sales room, where you’ll be able to choose among a great variety of Havana cigars, and a bar.

Calle Mercaderes No. 114, Habana Vieja, La Habana

Maqueta Museum of Old Havana (Scale Model Museum)

The Museo Maqueta de La Habana Vieja (Maqueta Museum of Old Havana) (Scale Model Museum) hosts a 1:500 scale model of Old Havana, one of the most important of these models in all of Cuba, and is considered as a place of great interest, knowledge and entertainment by its inhabitants. It is continuously updated and is rather impressive due to the incredible attention to detail in its works in regards to some of the most important buildings of Old Havana. This is one of Old Havana’s must-visit museums, as it allows you to imagine what the historical center of Havana is like as a whole, and therefore being able to get a better look at it when walking its streets.

San Ignacio y Empedrado, Habana Vieja

The Cathedral Of Havana

The Cathedral of Havana is an iconic work of what is known as Cuban Baroque and the most remarkable of our colonial churches. The glorious baroque facade and asymmetrical bell-towers of the late 18th-century cathedral are the square’s top attraction. Its interior is surprisingly plain, but it once held the remains­ of Christopher Columbus. Religious services are held here. It has been declared a National Monument.

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