Not much more you can add to the reviews already mentioned. The hotel's public areas are nicely renovated and charming. The rooms are somewhat of a disaster - hard beds, lumpy pillows, dungeon-like rooms with poor ventilation and bathrooms that are on its last leg in need of a deep clean. A safe that you magically need to pay 2 CUC's per night for the privilege of using despite being in the room. The staff are helpful, which does help with the frustration you will no doubt feel by staying here. Not worth the investment. In fact overpriced is the mantra in Havana, so don't expect any third world bargains galore. Along with unscrupulous restaurants that serve bad food, scamming taxi drivers, and hustling locals who will try sell you everything under the sun with the guise of striking up a friendly conversation. Do yourself a favour and go someplace else instead.

I just returned from Havana and a stay at the Armadores de Santander. During my last and only night at the hotel, my room was robbed WHILE I SLEPT!! A suitcase and small bag were taken as well as a flashlight and alarm clock which were right next to me on a bedside table. The hotel refused to give us a copy of the security report resulting from their interview of us.

We had originally booked to stay for 3 nights in Los Frailes, but upon arrival were sent to the Santander due to "no water" at Los Frailes. We very much appreciated that we were given the main suite at Santander - we had paid for a suite at Los Frailes, and I think Santander is a cheaper hotel, so I guess they were trying to make sure we got our money's worth! The room was huge, with a jacuzzi, seating area etc and large windows overlooking the harbour. It is perhaps not the prettiest of harbour views, but it is in keeping with the history of the hotel which was the offices of the Santander shipping family. It also overlooks quite a busy road, but that is part of experiencing the hustle and bustle of Havana. We enjoyed breakfast and found service good. Be careful however when booking taxis via hotel reception - we were definitely quoted an overly high rate (arranged by the receptionist) going from the hotel to the Viazul bus station (CUC25 when it should be closer to CUC10, we later learned), so it won't hurt to question fares the receptionist may quote you. Otherwise, we really liked the hotel - it has a nice roof terrace, and despite no bar, the waitress was more than happy to fetch us drinks from the downstairs bar. It is on the edge of Habana Vieja, and there is a short walk through a slightly rundown area to reach Plaza de San Francisco, but we would not consider it necessarily dangerous. This is all part of experiencing the wonderful city of Havana!!!

We stayed here as part of a one night stay with Virgin. The rooms had ants, cockroaches and hot water was non existent! I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. It was on our last night of our holiday and I have never been so glad to get on a plane in my life.
The al a carte menu consisted of the rep shouting chicken or pork with a list in the hotel bar while we were waiting to check in. We ve asked Virgin for a refund but suprise suprise they are not interested! The Virgin rep told us they have had dozens of complaints about the hotel but Virgin is not interested.
Don t stay here, you ll regret it!