Guest reviews Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski

by geniusmouse Hong Kong, China

Travel in Style in Havana

It is an expensive hotel but it is the hotel you would want to be if travel in style is what you have in mind. It is centrally located, with walking distance to both Old Havana and Central Havana. Services are good. I booked an early morning tour on one of the days, they actually offered me in-room dining for breakfast as the restaurant was not open yet. Having a mojito at its rooftop poolside bar during sunset was certainly a one-of-a-life-time experience. Not too many options for breakfast and the lobby looks a bit simple comparing to the rest of the hotel, free wifi definitely made it all up (although you do need to type an extremely complicated password every time you got logged out). In short, it is definitely one of the very best hotels in Havana.

by traveler1235 ct

You will get scammed here. Avoid at all costs!

Beware: the entire establishment is scamming tourists. They tend to overwrite the prices in the bill vs actual menu prices, staff kept charging us extra dollars here and there for spa, rooftop pool service and room service. Some room service staff asked for more tips even though everything includes a 10% service charge which we didn’t know at the time, and they wouldn’t show us the actual bill. If you don’t end up keeping an eye on your receipts, you will pay even more than quoted. Unfortunately I found HAIR in my $19 pasta, and a size of a cheesecake is $12, which is half the size of my finger, but that’s not even the worst part. Important tip #1: Avoid the hotel tour agency at all costs on the second floor for anything tour or transportation related, the agents barely speak English. They’re not even affiliated with the hotel, so the hotel won’t take any responsibility for their mistakes. They sold us bus tickets and gave the wrong time instructions — agent told us 5pm which in fact was 5am, the actual ticket was handwritten/barely legible which caused us to miss our bus time and wouldn’t honor a refund even though on the phone they PROMISED they would. The manager of the hotel wouldn’t help us — sent one of her minions who didn’t offer us much help other than wasting our time. Not one thing the staff told us was reliable information, so please fact check before making any plans based on what Kempinski employees say. The whole thing ruined our rest of the trip plan. Tip #2: Avoid the currency conversion office as the hotel conversion rates are significantly higher than CADECA or even the airports. I’m not even going to start on the fact that we had no towels when we checked into our hotel room or toilet wasn’t working and it got FLOODED in the bathroom overnight, and we had to contact the hotel multiple times to speak to a manager to get another room.
 Tip #3: Overall the spa was the most overrated part of the stay, the massages aren’t actually what they’re advertised to be. And no mention of 10% charge again so we tipped even more for a service that wasn’t good at all. Only highlight was the bar on the second floor, great views and service, and they have happy hour specials. For the rest, save your money and go elsewhere. I personally wish we stayed at casa particulars instead, as they are 100x less expensive and our interactions with the local Cuban community was much more friendly and hospitable than Kempinski employees. Lack of honesty and integrity in the establishment is disappointing, and makes you wonder how this is a 5 star hotel and if they want people to ever come back here or recommend it. In the end, the Kempinski management could only offer lip service instead of making it right when we shared our concerns. First and last time we’ll be ever staying at a Kempinski.
 Hope these tips will help future travelers avoid similar problems and Kempinski Havana in general.

by tpaptraveler Oia, Greece

Wonderful hotel!

Amazing hotel! Great wifi a rare thing to find in beautiful Havana but you do not come here for that! Great location and an amazing staff always ready to help! Amazing location close to everything you need when it comes to the old city and the port.

by russgibson1764 Edinburgh, United Kingdom

One of the very best

We stayed here for four nights earlier this month and cannot praise it highly enough, from the concierge who booked our restaurants and organised a car tour at short notice, the hotel and it’s staff ooze class. Worth every penny and ideally located for getting sround

by rseg99

horrible hotel policy

had a friend visit my room for 4 minutes at 2pm in afternoon. hotel staff called police because of the friend visited. apparently it is against law for a friend to visit room even if for only a few minutes. the hotel staff had nazi style controls on the hotel. besides this the restaurant on roof has a nice view but horrible slow service.