I can genuinely not say a bad word about this hotel! The staff along with the other guests became not only other people in the hotel, but friends, at the end of my time there we were like a family! The layout is so open and the atmosphere is so friendly... it is a stones throw from the coast and you get all the perks of the hotel nextdoor without the pricy bill at the end!! the rooms are massive and so comfortable! Honestly I would rather be staying there than in my real room!!! If you get the chance make the most of your stay in Havana and go to the spanish speaking school Sprachcaffè that is in partnership with this hotel! I PROMISE you will not regret it! If they can get me salsa dancing and speaking spanish... they can do anything!!! A great way to meet other people in the hotel and make friends for life!

High season in Havana and it is hard to find an accomodation - so we have ended up in this hotel, actually we were pleasently surprised as the rooms were spacious, nicely decorated, clean and equipped with a full kitchen.
The breakfast was served at the neighbour hotel, which had one star more, so also not a bad breakfast at all...
It is far away from down town - you need to take a taxi (which costs 10-12 CUC).
The only thing that really bothered us was that there was an engine or compressor noise in almost everywhere in the hotel - we think, all the compressors of the hotel airconditioning was at the roof of the hotel and it was improssible to have a peaceful stay in the rooms - when we have complained about this, the personnel was very helpful, they have placed us at the farthest end corner of the hotel, which was then OK. I wonder though, how the other guests can stand this...

Don't stay next door at Occidental Miramar, which is a little iffy, because other than the great pool area and outdoor bar which you can use for free, this smaller apartment hotel across the yard, also run apparently by Occidental, is cleaner, more personal and friendlier. The rooms are large and clean, have kingsize beds, a small bar/cafe off the lobby, lots of helpful reception staff, and better security. There were a few small problems to sort out...breakers turned off, low watt lights and bathtub plug missing, but staff fixed these right away. We were also able to check in much earlier than stated after an all night flight from on Sunwing. If you want an $80 a night, good 3 star, in a great location five minutes outside Havana, in formerly tony Mirarmar, close to the famed Tropican.... and next door to a full service sister hotel, we recommend the Occidental Montehabana. We loved the cats in the lobby who helped share our breakfast. You can also rent suites with kitchen and balcony. Please say hello from Marilyn to Alberto and Jacquita who often helped us in the office, Albert the doorman, chef Ernesto and his kitchen staff, If you want an honest and reasonable guide who speaks a little English, ask doorman to call Pedro, who showed us the finest restaurants and sites whenever we asked. Rooms have 220 v which accommodate camera and phone chargers however the office has a 110 plug you can use. Please tip a peso occasionally, drop some gifts with the hard working low paid staff, and they will treat you like Kings and Queens. There is a money exchange and small market in building, and a trade centre, bank, bank machine, mall and market nearby or across the street.

I stayed at the Occidental Montehabana in a one bedroom apartment in mid May 2011. Good sized rooms with floor to ceiling windows in the bedroom and living room. I liked the way the doors opened up half of the living room to the balcony.

The mattresses on the beds are firm which I found comfortable. Air conditioning in the bedroom only did not work well but opening up the place at night let in cool breezes. After a few days we found cockroaches in the kitchen even though we washed up asap and kept food in sealed bags and containers.

We brought dried food, planning to get fresh there - hard to find fruit and vegetables. You can get them at local markets, if you can find them and IF you have Cuban Pesos, otherwise they will charge you in CUCs meaning you pay 24 times what locals pay.

The largest grocery store in Havana (Supermarcado) is nearby but choice is limited. One aisle was full of canned, powdered and tetra pack milk. I don’t eat meat or chicken so there wasn’t much for me - no fish and the only cheese was process cheese slices. Forget about bread, you won’t find it anywhere which makes me wonder why there was a sandwich grill in our kitchen but no kettle.

The grocery store located at the Montehabana was similar with an oversupply of mayonnaise in many varieties but little to eat. They do have water (large bottles that were not stocked in the Supermarcado), alcohol and a lot of cereals.

For cheap meals try the lobby bar where they serve ‘snacks’ of salads, sandwiches, fries, hamburgers. I had the Spanish omelette and ordered fries with it, the omelette came with fries inside it and nothing else - not sure if she misunderstood what I wanted. But, no matter what you order you will get some kind of salad/raw vegetables with it. $1.25CUC for the omelette or a plate of fries, $1.50 for a hamburger.

There are a few cats on the property - probably kept to keep the lizard population down - but they are mostly left to go hungry. One was very thin, so if you are an animal lover please go to the pool area to give them a little food. Management should be ashamed of the way they treat these animals and they should be neutered as we found two kittens with one of the cats.

Most of the staff seemed indifferent, like they had to put up with us, not that they were rude but forget about customer service.

All in all it was a good place if you want more room than your average hotel room. The place would be in the ‘great’ category if they did just a few things: replace the many burnt out light bulbs in the halls, wash the place once in a while, fix the ice machine, kettles in kitchens not cockroaches and ants and take care of those cats.

Anecdote:
Water leaked from our kitchen sink and then the power went out in our apartment. We told the reception and she said the night maid was right there, half an hour later when the night maid had finished talking to one of the many male staff that hang around the lobby (doing what I don’t know as they didn’t help us with our bags or anything else), she appeared at our door.

She seemed to think we were complete idiots sitting there in the dark with the door open (to get some light from the hall) and proceeded to try all of the lights in the livingroom. She couldn’t see the water on the floor as it was too dark and was about to leave when I pointed out where it was. Another staff person got the power working long enough for her to mop with a towel wrapped around an old mop then the power went out again. We gave up and went to sleep as they couldn’t fix anything that night. Air Canada called the next day to see if everything was all right and said they were on the case. When we got back that night everything had been fixed.

And note: if Air Canada phones, get the name and number...we were told an info card for AC was in the apartment but staff had not placed it there so we had no way to call them back.