We arrived at this hotel after a long and arduos journey to be told (along with others) that they had no rooms available due to overbooking even though we had booked the room three months earlier.

We were told that we would be taken to another five star hotel which was " very close by". (What a liar she was)

In fact the hotel we were taken to was 8 miles away which completely ruined all of our sight seeing plans which were based on being in a central location.

Who wants to visit London and stay at Heathrow airport

So my advice is: IF YOU WANT TO ENSURE A ROOM IS AVAILABLE WHEN YOU ARRIVE BOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE

The debate about accommodation in Havana - do you stay in a deluxe 5 star hotel or do you seek something "authentic and Cuban" ? Being first timers to Cuba and having worked in Eastern bloc countries when they too were under communist regimes we elected to play safe and go down the 5 star route.(Too many memories of decaying hotels and lousy service).

The tripadvisor reviews certainly helped as well.

The Parque Central more than meet our needs. It is just so well located for the key Havana attractions. Most things are within a few minutes walk. Having booked an afternoon (orientation) tour of Havana, and gone on a tour of 10 other Havana hotels we were of the view that this was just so well located relative to most others. What they were like inside....

The hotel appears to be "colonial", but it isn't - it was build probably 10 or so years ago to look colonial. They did a good job. The rooms were large, comfortable and above all functional. The rooftop terrace has wonderful views - day and night. The restaurant food was very good - the breakfast buffet was the best we experienced in Cuba.

Hotel staff - they were obliging and particularly caring - our guide for a walking tour proved to be a "no show" and we received excellent service in the attempt to track down the missing guide. Post that incident, the conceirge staff went out of there way to assist on a number of other matters. (Sometimes you can attribute this attention to expectations of monetary reward, but we didn't receive those vibes - it was a genuine desire to help).

The reason my rating wasn't excellent largely can be attributed to minor niggles - some rooms have coffee makers - others don't - and if you want coffee the price is high.
We requested assistance in unlocking a safe that the previous room occupant left locked. it took 4 calls to get someone to the room. Service in the restaurants was erratic - generally great, but on a few occasions that "walk straight past" syndome, to be fair mainly at breakfast.

There is a little (state owned and operated) travel service in the foyer. The queues always seemed long and the 2 times that we joined the queue the staff at the end of the line gave the level of service you would expect from stressed and pressured people - gruff. Interestly in our whole week or more in Cuba this was our only exposure to this less than helpful attitude. However, I should note this has nothing to do with the hotel.

Anyway, would I recommend the Parque Central - yes I would - it worked and we were pleased with iur stay.

....a little "real Havana" goes a long way. I know nothing about 5 star, 3 star, etc., but this was a perfectly agreeable hotel, everything went fine - only the slow internet service (wow!) was a problem, but that is endemic. Room clean, nothing worn, nice "modern" bathroom, probably 1-2 years old. We had outside rooms on the Parque, 3rd (oops, no view, window cut off!), and 5th floor (nice view!). I know what people say when they say "soulless" - which is a bit tough. And the next time I will probably stay at a private house, or at least try one. But this seemed to me to be a completely well-run, professional place. Plus ... toilet paper! Even ... toilet seats! That the xerox machine was out for a week was ... well, it's Cuba.

Christopher Gray, New York City

We stayed at the Parque central hotel for three nights we were not disappointed. Our room was very good with a view over the central square and very quiet. We ate in the hotel restaurant on our first night and were very happy with the menu and choices.

The rooftop terrace has wonderful views to the capital building and beyond and the restuarant serves great lunches and cocktails and the service is very good.

Highly recommend this hotel.