We stayed here for a week at the begining of January. We travelled with our 4 year old son. We arrived quite late at night and while the check in itself was uneventful what followed was probably the most unpleasant thing we have encountered on holiday in a long time. The night porter literally wrenched our bags out of our hands and took them off to our room. Room 1 (important for later). He more or less threw the bags into the room and then stuck out his hand and said "tip". At this point we had no cuban money at all. My husband explained, in Spanish that we had no local currency. He then said "Sterling or Euro". I was trying to put our son to bed at this time. My husband said no please leave. He just stared at my husband very agressively and said "No". If we had not been so jet lagged I'm sure I could have come and diffused the situation but just to make the man leave (who was a big and fit guy) my husband dug around in my purse to find some english change (which is completely useless in cuba). The porter put it in his pocket, sneered at my husband and left. We really felt quite shaken as this was our welcome to Cuba. Other than that the hotel was reasonable unremarkable except 2 things. The phantom night club! Anywhere (completly unpredictable) between 9.30 pm and 4am nightclub music would suddenly start up from what sounded like the wardrobe. It was so loud literally the bed would shake and our son would wake up screaming. Bizarre. Secondly the breakfast. While there is plenty of food you never quite know what is going to come out of the kitchen as it is largely made up from what wasnt eaten by the large tour groups that visit the day before. Its perfectly edible but just a little strange in choice. The room was not clean by european standards (the same piece of dental floss left by a previous resident was there all week and if you lifted the rug you found where they had swept the rubbish)! but it was OK. The sheets were clean and there was a matress protector on the bed. The public areas are very pleasant and you are in a great spot. Would I stay here again - possibly but I would not stay in room 1 and I would be ready for the night porter!

We stayed here for several days in late December and early January, the extremely high season.
The hotel location was perfect; although a short walk to Parque Central and more expensive hotels, the hustlers were not at our hotel. There was major hustling near the central hotels.
Breakfast was good, service excellent and the room was perfect!
Reading some reviews makes me wonder whether we were at the same place. Rude receptionist? Not a one. On the contrary, they were courteous and helpful.
Requests were promptly responded to. They do overbook as does every hotel in Cuba; it is the system and one needs to adjust to it and even find it part of learning about a different culture.
We plan on returning to Cuba in June and will stay here when in Havana. Our major time will be a beach outside of Trinidad.

We stayed four nights at the Hotel Florida in November. We traveled with a 9 month old baby. The hotel is beautiful, romantic and has a great location. We upgraded to a gorgeous suite (#107). Good service and friendly, helpful staff. Good atmosphere and live music during lunch hours.

When you go to Cuba, don´t expect new, modern facilities. Accept the standard for what it is, and enjoy the magical atmosphere of the beautiful city.

Don't believe the hype - this is no boutique hotel… It is a tired shadow of some former glory and not worth the money!

From the moment we attempted to check in, the fiasco started. We were told there were no rooms by a rude and disinterested receptionist (despite booking the hotel weeks previously) and sent to another hotel in the group on the edge of the docks. We were told that there would be a room the next day and after a night in a windowless, dirty room with no hot water (steer clear of the Santander hotel) and a breakfast that you wouldn't feed a dog, we walked back with our bags (no offer of a cab) to hopefully secure what we paid for - a beautiful room in a historic, restored hotel…

When we returned the next day - the same routine - a rude receptionist who made us feel like we were an annoyance. Eventually we were led to another room in an adjoining but different hotel once again with no window (and low ceiling despite a claim of high ceilings and charming original features) and single beds (we requested a double for what it's worth). We spent the next two nights here, avoided an equally awful breakfast and checked out regretting the money we'd spent on this disaster of a hotel.

And to top it all off, the bell-boy (having already been told how disappointed we were) demanded a tip for seeing us to our room even though we insisted carrying our one backpack.

So, where did they go so wrong? Maybe a smile or some useful and accurate information would be good. The hotel couldn't even provide us with a basic map of the historic area. Internet was impossible. Forget a wake up call (a fellow guest tried requesting one of these mysterious events to a completely blank expression on the face of the staff). I really can't think of anything to recommend about this hotel.

As for the location - yes, it's ok but so is the location of a plethora of other much more worthy establishments. Steer clear, save your money and enjoy Cuba - it's amazing!