Kholy Hotel, Havana City Cuba. 3 stars,

“No charm and lousy location - avoid at all costs ”
Had the misfortune to stay here for a night after we were 'bumped' by our hotel (Nacional) due to overbooking on their part. It's a horrible and souless place and I can never forgive Hotel Nacional for trying to pass this off as a suitable subsitute for its guests. Nasty slimy pool, grim views and so far out of town that anyone staying here is not only missing out on the atmosphere of this great city, but will also spend a fortune on taxis. I'm posting this review rather late in the day, because I've now seen Hotel Kohly advertised as a Havana short break hotel on The Holiday Place ? just seeing the pictures made me shudder. Please avoid at all costs.

“Worst vacation and hotel ever!!!! ”
This place should not even be advertised on any vacation website!! This is the absolute worst hotel I have ever stayed in. Havana itself is a dump of a city, but this is as ghetto as it gets!! The service and amenties in a slum hostel are better than here, I'm just thankful I didn't bring my family with me, save them from the nightmares. Okay now that my rant is out of the way I will get down to the review, which I am somewhat surprised there isn't more of, warnings to fellow travellers to avoid this place at all costs, I'm serious!! This hotel should be condemned in my opinion, and I'm guessing it will be in the next 5-10 years. Upon check-in I am greeted sternly by a very grumpy looking woman, I'm guessing by here accent and skin complexion she is Russian, but am not 100% sure. I get up to my room and it is old looking, probably built and modelled in the 40's or 50's, with orange shag carpet and a closet sized washroom. I go to put my valuables in my safe, because the area this hotel is looks poorer than poor, and I would feel better if my valuables are locked up. I find out that Cuban business is about exploiting foreigners wealth by making them pay maximum or whatever they can get out of them, to a point of almost being criminal. I have a story at the end of this review that will validate this remark. The safe costs money of course I think it was $2 a day, which I thought was pretty petty compared to every other place I've ever been it was free. After locking my valuables up I do a check of my room, to make sure everything is functional and secure, and after a quick sweep, realize the lock on my sliding glass door doesn't work, and even though I'm on the second floor this is an unacceptable risk and concern to me. So I go down to the grumpy lady and tell her that my sliding glass door doesn't lock and want a new room, and she denies me saying the hotel is full and I have to stay where I am. I tell her that I'm not leaving the front until I see a manager and let them know my dissatisfaction and concern, then she tells me she is the manager. Then she calls security over, and he assures me that even though I can't lock my sliding glass door that everything is fine because he is security....what a joke!! This was the first of a few encounters with the front desk lady/manager that left a sour taste in my mouth. This is also my first vacation to Cuba, and the first time I've been to the Carribean and not have an all-inclusive package. A breakfast is included in the stay at this hotel, which is the only decent part of this place. Everything else you pay for, but for a relatively good price. There is a pool in the middle of the hotel area, which is where I spent most of my time, tanning and swimming. If you want to go to the beach it's about 5km through the city. And then there aren't any sandy beaches in Havana, it's all lava rock, but the snorkelling is good. On about the third day I make a call to my wife, and all international phone calls need to be dialed at the front desk where the grumpy hag is, she dials the call and then you pick up a phone in a little waiting area with no privacy. When I am done with what was no more than 5 minutes of phone time I hang up and she says I was on there for 15 min and charges me like $25 usd, straight-faced she says it again you owe $25. I was like screw that I was only on there for 4-5 minutes. She repeated herself multiple times until finally I did pay it, wanting to curse in my disgust at her, but knowing that if I didn't pay it I could be arrested in a Communist country. From that point on I tried to avoid any staff at this place if possible, It was very unsettling to me that everyone here did not care about service or hospitalliy to guests but rather there money!! Including that grumpy lady at the front desk who was supposedly the manager!?! Anyway I met another group of people from Canada and they gave me some tips about how not to get swindelled in this place and I thanked them. I started hanging out with another guy from Vancouver, he rented a car from the concierge at the hotel. One thing I noticed everywhere in Havana was that foreigner paid way more than locals and that you had to watch not being scammed for items you buy. My friend who rented the car was in for a shock on the day he was leaving - he had left a $300 cash deposit for the car he had rented, but on the day of his departure the concierge/car rental attendant didn't show up!! Now this is below the lowest of any scams I have ever seen throughout any tourist industy in any country I have ever been in. My friend was livid, I had to stop him from vandelizing the property or going ballistic, because I didn't want him to go to jail in this communist country. Needless to say my first impression of Cuba is not the greatest thanks to Hotel Kohly, I don't know how it has three stars on TripAdvisor, or any other site. It should have a negative star rating for horrible service and non-existant hospitality. You've been warned, do not stay in this dump!!!

“Don't stay here unless you are a Venezuelan soldier or a prostitute! ”
I stayed at the Kohly with a group of parents and high school students. It is located about 15 minutes' from central Havana with a large pool and garden area in the grounds. However, unbeknown to us it is used as an R and R hotel for Venezuelan soldiers and every night turns into a combination disco/brothel with loud music going sometimes all night. If the music stops in the bar, the parties continue in individual rooms with men and prostitutes roaming the hotel. Men in our group were often approached by the hookers, even when in the company of their own wives! The staff appear unable or reluctant to act on complaints from other hotel guests. The soldiers obviously bring in a lot of revenue to the hotel. The hotel maintenance is poor. No one in a group of 60 people had a bathroom where everything worked. There was no hot water and some rooms had overflowing toilets for days.

“staying can seriously damage your health!”
hygiene - if you dont mind cockroaches which are symptomatic of poor standards of hygiene this is the place for you. still suffereing from food poisoning 3 weeks later which may well have come from this hotel. this place is disgusting. health and safety - dirty filthy beyond the pale. just look at green slime in the vents in the swimming pool. possibly never been cleaned. need i say more? brothel - looking for adult fun or a place to stay with your family ?. if the former fine. all adult males are propositioned in the bar and all guests rung in their rooms in early hours of the morning to see if they need some 'fun'. procedings watched by pimps in the bar. location - miles away from havanna. costa round £30 return taxi. dont let your tour dump you here!

“Watch out for beadbugs!!! ”
I stayed at the Kohly hotel for one week and was disappointed to have problems there. Here's a list; 1.the beds that my friend and I slept in were infested with bead bugs! My friend and I woke up with bite marks and we couldn't figure out from where they were coming from until he actually saw a brown (mini cockroach like) bug slowly moving on the sheets of his side of the bed . He looked it up on the internet later and found that it resembled almost perfectly a fully gorged bed bug parasite. But he didn't think much of it at the moment he saw it. 2.Showers were cold and lukewarm at best. The floor was filthy "black" in the shower and those stains weren't washing off with detergent. There was a lot of mold on the walls of our room. 3.Horrible food and service (ex: 1/2hr wait for one hamburger that was pink in the middle) at the main bar of the hotel but just a few steps further in the hotel was a pizzeria(called Mi Patio) that made the best pizza we had in a long time with great service and prices. 4.A warning there will be extra charges that you will not expect like for example a 2 C.U.C. charge per day for access to the security safe already in your room so it cost us an extra 12 $ to use the safe. 1 C.U.C. charge for leaving your luggage at the front desk at check out to wait for your bus per room. And we had to call our Sunwing airline representative 1 day in advance to reserve our bus back to the airport and they charged us 3 C.U.C. for that call. But no one ever warns you about these charges not even the airline representative and there will be no airline rep at the hotel. 5.The taxi service at the hotel is almost twice the price of the taxis on the main road so please don't waste your money and take a taxi for 4-5 C.U.C to go to beautiful Old Havana from the hotel.

“Not Bad, Not Great ”
My experience was similar to beentherebeforeu minus the bed bugs, thank god. First thing to note -- if you want a resort holiday at the beach/pool this is not the place for you. This is a good base for people who want to check out Havana and don't mind either some very long walks (10km+ into old Havana) or possibly some expensive cab rides (4-8 dollars to Old Havana or the Capitol). There was apparently an all-day shuttle for 3 CUC but I was told that it was permanently cancelled on my second day there. A cab to the beach will cost you minimum of 50 CUC -- not bad if you have a group of people, but even then it's going to be a long ride so you're best of staying at the beach. First thing to note - if you're flying into Varadero you have a long (and punishing) shuttle ride ahead of you and you're going to be at the end of the line as the bus will drop people off at all the Playa Del Este hotels first, then the downtown Havana hotels, then finally bring you out to Playa. In the daytime this could be a nice bit of sightseeing but seeing as I arrived at about 4am I just wanted to get to bed. The upper floors actually seem to have a similar design to the Tropicoco - although this is a bit nicer hotel, but still has that Soviet austerity that makes you feel more like you are in a hospital or prison than a tropical resort, despite the fact that there are nice green areas and a relatively appealing pool, etc . There are obnoxious (although I must admit they were very attractive) hookers working the pool bar, since the hotel tolerates it they are presumably getting a cut of the money one way or another. That bar has an open air PA system that can get rather loud although I think they do turn it down at a reasonable hour. The hotel bars and pizza restaurant, etc seem to be a hangout for local people at night. My room was pleasant enough by Cuban standards, although the bed was absolutely horrible - extremely uncomfortable with painful springs poking up into you all over the place. A patio looking out over the forest and the city. Did not take as many showers as I would have liked due to a total lack of hot water -- also I had a strange feeling there were some sort of wormy bugs living in the walls of the shower that seemed to get washed out when water hit them. Terrible (ie complete lack of ) soundproofing as is usually the case in Cuba. The mini-fridge was broken and stowed away. This is not an all-inclusive, and they make a point of milking guests with lots of extra charges: My in-room safe was locked before I got there (nice little scam they have going with those) - so I was forced to pay 12 CUC to have some guy open it for me (once it's open you can key in your own code to lock and re-open). I was also obligated to pay 1 CUC for luggage storage on my last day (the clerk actually wanted me to pay 20 CUC for a late checkout since I was leaving that night but I declined). I also had to pay 2 CUC to make a 30-second call to the Sunwing representative to confirm shuttle pickup. Also worth noting is that the hotel will do money exchange but as far as I can tell they charge you an additional fee: Canadian money was worth about 71 cents CUC according to the Cuban banks (ain?t that ridiculous!) but the hotel only gave me 67 cents, so it might be a good idea to visit a bank or Cadeca to exchange money. I found the hotel food ok -- they offer a free breakfast with omelettes, bread, cheese if you get there in time, fresh fruit (oranges, sometimes grapefruit, sometimes pineapple, watermelon), etc. Typical 2-star Cuban hotel buffet food, although the juices were the worst I've encountered yet -- just sweet drink mixes. The pizzeria was really good by Cuban standards and very cheap. I had passable cappucinos in the pool bar. The hotel is in a nice, upscale area, near a forest and civic park. There's a good restaurant with gourmet pretensions (nice atmosphere) called El Lugar just down the hill from the Kohly's sister hotel the Bosque. I had the spaghetti with garlic and oil a few times and enjoyed it. The hotel is also within short walking distance of Casa De Musica Miramar, and also close to El Aljibe, Dos Gardenias, pan.com etc. Although can be a bit of a confusing walk due to the crazy shifting grid systems and highly confusing street naming in place in Havana. Most days I walked into Old Havana -- a long walk but an interesting one. At the foot of the hill from the hotel, you can cross the bridge over the river and walk straight down 23, passing by a Fresas y Chocolate and a nice mall with food and drinks in Moneda Nacional (I had a 5 cent ice cream, and what I think was a 5 cent CUC cappucino although I paid 25 cents for it). From there you're just steps away from the beautiful cemetery which is an excellent tourist stop. From there you can continue on 23 down La Rampa and hang out in Vedado -- there are lots of nice tourist-friendly things to do and see in that area like the G-Cafe, the Hotel Nacional, Coppelia ice cream, Zorra Y El Cuervo jazz club, the Huron Azul for music, the Malecon sea wall, etc etc. Also some good paladar restaurants -- I can recommend El Gringo Viejo. Or you can follow along by the cemetary out to Paseo and then head down to the Revolution Square which is another good tourist spot, and also home to a few great music clubs -- Mi Habana and Delirio. Like the Casa de Musica's these clubs have both a cheaper matinee (4 or 5pm) and a late show and they offer the best in Cuban music (salsa, timba, rumba) -- bands like Pachito Alonso, Pupy Y Los Que Son Son, Haila, etc etc. From the square you can head over to Salvador Allende and walk straight down to the Capitol and then into old Havana. But like I said, it is a fair walk, although not so bad if you take breaks along the way. If you try to hail a cab from the hotel, they will rip you off. They were asking 8 bucks when I was there, whereas a metered cab from the capitol costs 4.60. So if you have the energy, you're better off walking away from the hotel and hailing one of the less touristy rip-off cabs at your first opportunity. Overall, I found the Kohly was not a terrible place, although I found all of the extra charges irritating and the bed almost unbearable, and it is still fairly removed from Havana, so you will either spend a fortune in cab fares or walk yourself to exhaustion (like I did). If you want to check out Havana you're better off spending the extra cash to stay at a hotel in Vedado, or if you want the mix of beach and Havana you're going to be far better off at a beach-side resort like the Club Atlantico or (dare I say it?!) the Blau Arenal or the dismal Tropicoco.

“Good Value & Location”
We stayed for 4 days in early Feb, 2013. It was a great place to see Havana from. There's a full buffet breakfast included and it's only $10 to old Havana by taxi. The hotel was in good condition and our room faced West with a great view of the sunset. The hotel is located in a nicer neighbourhood in new Havana. There's plenty of shops, restaurants and a bank nearby. I would suggest taking the Old Havana Tour by bus ($19/per) and staying behind at the last stop. This way you get to see Revolution Square, The Capital and major sites and then stay in Old Havana. Be sure to bring lots of cash and if you have an early morning flight to make sure that you book a taxt the day before. (Taxi to airport, $25) We didn't have any problems during our stay it's a lovely 3 star hotel. There's lots of stray cats, they'll eat your scraps but bite you if you try to pet them.

“Value Hotel for short stay ”
This hotel is located in what appears to be one of the better neighbourhoods in Havana. Friendly front desk staff and cleaning staff. Breakfast buffet choices are limited if you are there for more than one week but the items are quite tasty and satisfying! There was a synchronized water show one night - a pleasant surprise! The restaurant by the pool serves large tasty meals really cheap! Great hot showers! Comfortable stay, although maybe a 3 star hotel.

“good hotel bad security staff ”
This is a hotel for military people, if you are not you will stand out and not enjoy the other guest. food is average, drinks are ok male reception staff are great lots of customer service, female staff at front desk cain of dry when talking to people. bar restaurant staff are ok but if you look foreign meaning blond blue eyes the will run to you but if you look cuban prepare to wait and wait. there is lot of military personal at the hotel supper time is like a military unit where every one run with the plate on the hands to get the food. room are average 5 and 4 floor no water pressure, tv is ok AC ok beds ok balcony ok. safety box works fine. taxi service slow. If you need a place to sleep is ok that is it.

“Removed from the hustle and bustle ”
I'd generally agree with the comments about the facility itself - its an older place but its clean and basic. Breakfasts are decent, the pool is inviting on a hot day, and the pizza place downstairs is good. I thought the coffee was pretty good compared to the tea-like drivel in some places. The AC works and the only time that the hot water was only luke warm was in the morning when everyone has been using it up. The location is really what makes or breaks it. If you want to be right downtown near the sights, Kohly isn't for you. If you want someplace quiet to sleep at night, it is for you. Personally, I found the 5km walk to Havana Vieja really interesting, perhaps as interesting as the tourist stuff, but its a long walk. On the other hand, Kohly happens to be quite close to the Neuvo Vedado bus station so its convenient for day-trips. Usually when I got back to the hotel, I was happy to get a good rest and recharge for the next day. I didn't notice any prostitutes. Oh, and I purposely left some small bills out and the maids never touched it.

“Basic and not very convenient for experiencing Havana ”
We have stayed here twice. Lower your expectations and you will be ok. It is a very basic hotel in a military zone, taxi to everything except the CasaBlanca restaurant down the street and El Bosque hotel. Food is the basic stuff that all the hotels have, served over and over on the buffet until it sometimes turns bad (cucumbers and tomatoes). Basic ingredients like vinegar, not available. In the morning, there could be butter for your white roll, or it might be a mayonnaise day... Coffee SUCKS so bring your own instant booster, French press, or plan on buying espressos at the pool side bar. Rooms are not dirty, but not exactly sparkling. No bug problems. No rodents because of the cats on the property, but don't even think about getting cuddly with these mangy looking things... Very hard bed. When you are sweaty, take a shower right away because you just don't know if the water will be there next time you turn on the tap! Pool is nice, clean enough, although the endless reggaeton blasted every afternoon gets tiresome. EAR PLUGS a must. The water ballet show every Friday is a Cuban wonder not to miss. The last couple of reviewers praised the staff but I don't really get it. Neutral service at best. The a/c works.

“Good Value for the price ”
First I should thank all people left a review before me, All are adequate and correct. They helped me to have an idea where I am going 1) Stay here if you do not want to spend that much on accomodation.(60cuc/night) 2) Take passing Taxis from 41 Av. (1 cuc) to downtown instead of hotel's cabs 3) Do not expect anything luxury here 4) Breakfast buffet is pretty basic (Bring your own bread if you are really into that, poor quality bread) 5) You might see some bugs around but I did not see any in my room 6) You should expect extra charges for Safe, phone calls (25 cents/min even local) 7) Try Gaviotta Tours to Trinidad and Vinialles, I did both and they are both good 8) swimming pool is good however I did not use it. AND Becareful about people come to you when you are walking in downtown, They seem very friendly but it is JUST for 1 reason : Money. They will try to show you something or explain things but will end up with asking money or selling Cigars or something else... I bought Cigar from one of them because it was pretty expensive in shops, It was OK for the price. If you are taking Vinialles tour you will have a stop in a Tobacco farm, Farmers are REALLY friendly and they make their own cigars with no logo pr brand but I (Personally) liked their quality and price so if you want just to try it buy 10Cigars from them in the farm for 10CUC and enjoy.

“Great price, clean, well-kept and in a nice neighbourhood! ”
This hotel is great for the price! It is in a quiet neighbourhood that is about a 15-20 minute ride into central Havana. Clean, well-kept and quiet. Room: Basic standard room: warm water, television with international channels, balcony, two twin beds. Bring a hair-dryer if you use one. Safe in the room. Clean and well-kept. No complaints at all! Pool: Nice pool, clean and has lots of chairs for suntanning! Restaurant: The food is typically Cuban - they are working with scarce resources so lots of repetition, but for the price it is great. Lots of starch/carbs! Pool bar: Pool bar has a menu with snacks & light meals - you can find better if you take a walk around the neighbourhood. But it is great for a few drinks by the pool! Pizza restaurant: People really liked this restaurant, good prices, pasta & pizza. The only downside to this hotel is a certain number of clients who are visiting the hotel for a different type of tourism. It is sad to see and these old, gross men should just stay home and save themselves the embarrassment! If you walk down to the Avenida 41, you can take a cuban collective car to the center of Havana for 1cuc!

“Good value”
Simple room but clean. Locate in residential area at about 1h walk of downtown (taxi: 6-13 cuc). Maybe not the best place for people on party but make nice place to take the beat of Habana life. Breakfast are by Cuban standard (ie nothing really good but nothing to be sick). Good gym with old but fully funtionnal machine. Pool is really clean but we didn't try since it wasn't really warm when we were there. Internet access available at 3cuc/30mntes; but is infrequent. Hotel store, as usual, sell at tourist price but there's a small grocery (for water, rhum, cigarette, cola & chips; otherwise not much more) at 10mntes walk. There's also a nice local restaurant at the corner of the street. They just changed the air conditionned when we were there; so the new one are quiet.

“Good value for the price ”
We went there about a year ago. We were 4 ladies of 25- 30-35-50... all ages mixed up! We had a really good time. The location allow us to feel a bit more what is Cuban life is all about. As it is in a residencial area, it is quite quiet. The hotel is clean, okay nothing special to talk about, very average... but for the price we paid we were more than happy. Staff is very respectful, the maids are amazing... they would do anything to make you feel good. The hotel is pretty secure, guardian at the lobby. The snack bar and the pizzeria are okay, cuban food not much to say. The breakfast were very good, lots of fruits and eggs station. Yes, we saw couple of soldier but only at breakfast time before they leave for their work. At night time (don't forget we were 4 ladies, went to bed late almost every night...) the music was low, I saw a few prostitute, but when you are in Havana, it's unfortunately part of the panorama... they didn't make anynoise, neither their 'client' and were very quiet doing their things... I would not recommend the hotel for a family trip, but friend, solo and business: It's a really good value. Taxi to get to old habana is about 8 CAD, and you now get a chance to use the old american car, which was an 'excursion' for us everyday. We tried all kinds of transportations from Bicycle to old cars, but don't do the ride in 'COCO' it is freezing and really long drive!! We had a blast although! Well, overall price-value very good. Pool: good size and clean Food: Breakfast and pizza are good, okay food (Cuba) Situation: Okay not too far, not to close - Quiet in a residential area service: good Cleaning: smell javel all over the place! Beds: okay

“Simple yet clean, good concierge and security, pool, workout room, great value ”
I'll keep this simple, as the hotel itself is fairly simple. First off, this review is for the Hotel Kohly, NOT the Bosque, which is a 5 minute walk away, yet owned by the same group. They are different hotels. I didn't go by the Bosque, but it looked newer and nicer. We got a fantastic flight/hotel package through RedTag at under five hundred per person including taxes. We went on December 9-16, 2011. For the price, it was an unbeatable value. It's about a 12 minute cab ride to the old city of Habana Viejo, and you could pay between 5-10 pesos, depending on your negotiation skills for a cab. 5-6 pesos is pretty good though. There's nothing to do within walking distance except for the Alemendes River park, which is pretty. The hotel gets a lot of local traffic; people that live in the neighbourhood go there for the bar/cafe and on weekends gets pretty lively. The room was clean, water pressure good, the AC worked, although it was very noisy. Would I stay there again? If I got another deal like I did, I would surely consider it. I was there with a buddy, so it suited us fine. If I was with a gf or wife, I'd probably stay in Viejo downtown instead of on the outskirts like we did.

“Simple and clean rooms ”
the hotel was fine, with a good size swimming pool, generous breakfast and fantastic sport masseur. The downside it that it was far away from the centre of Havana, approx 20 min. drive by car. The hotel is in a residential area. I met a group of Danish salsa dancers on their one week course there.

“Adequate hotel ”
I stayed three nights in Feb.2011. The room was clean, the bathroom was clean and I had hot water. There were no bed bugs (as has been stated in other reviews). I ate at restaurants downtown so I can't speak about the food ( I even missed the free breakfast everyday....out too late night before). I did hear the music from the poolside 24 hour Bar, but with the air conditioner running I easily went to sleep. The television worked well. For people wanting to eat out, you can go down the street about 1200ft to the sister hotel El Bosque and continue walking down the hill and around the small bend. Immediately walk in first driveway up to the pizzeria or to the Restaurant El Luger. If you want to go downtown from Kohly hotel you can take taxi for 6-8 CUC . The area near the pool contained many shops that sell everything you may need. There is a gym with free weights and some machines, and treadmill..There is a cost for this use. massages also available.

“Update of Feb 2009 review (see below) ”
Back at Hotel Kohly again, and things are not quite as good as last year, but nowhere near as dire as the two reviews posted since my review last year. Stayed here two weeks with my wife, and only once did I have a hooker speak to me. Certainly no middle of the night phone calls to the rooms offering fun. The music at the bar always went off at midnight (and from our 5th floor room upstairs from the bar, it wasn't too loud to go to sleep), and no sound of any after hours parties in rooms. The Venezuelan guests were usually in ther bar playing dominos at night, but hardly drinking anything at all. Didn't see a single cockroach in our stay. Smell of bleach after room service is done is to be expected. And the first two days we were here the pool was closed and empty for a full clean. Kohly appears to be less of a western tourist hotel than a year ago. Only a few Europeans and Canadians here for the occassional night ot two during our two weeks here. Mainly Venezuelan giovernment workers and some Mexicans as guests, plus some out-of-town Cubans on business. On the weekends, the pool was busy (but not crowded) with well-to-do Cuban families paying for day use. But little things had slipped: leaves that blew into the pool on some wind-storm days took days to get cleaned up. More shortages of things than last year (such as the bar having no fruit juice for a few days). But this could be as much related to the worldwide economic downturn (which affects Cuba too) as the hotel intentionally dropping its standards. We saw more issues with shortages of things elsewhere in Havana this year than last year. The standard of the breakfast buffet has also dropped a bit, but the fresh made-to-order omlettes/eggs are still a great breakfast option. Food at the bar and pizza restaurant were as good as last year - maybe even a bit better. The buses mentioned in my previous review are still a good option for getting around Havana from the Kohly. However, I have marked down location this time because the buses are not quite as frequent and are more crowded than last year. So, a taxi might be required more than in the past. (That said, it now seems that private taxis are much more willing to pick up foreigners, and 3 CUC seems to be the going rate for 2 people.) Overall, we expect to be back again, and will choose the Kohly again.

“stay away from kohly and bosque until the resolve the problem ”
I've been to hotel kohly and bosque many many time over the last 7 years and it was great but now, since a few month the have military kid's from Angola, south africa staying there and these kid's have no respect for others. I spend the month of December 2012 there and it was terrible. they party all night so forget about sleeping, they take control of the pool and the music, they yell in the corridor at any time of the night. my girlfriend went downstair at night for a sandwich and they corner here, she was real scare. i did complain to the staff but apparently nothing they can do about that and these kid's will keep coming there for many months to come. my advise to you, stay away from these hotel until they resolve the problem.

“Come for the bread.”
The Hotel Kohly is tucked in a backwater of eastern Miramar above a park that runs along the Rio Almendares. I would never have come here except they have a pizza cafe and friends in Playa brought me here one afternoon. The ambiance is Cuban/Russian whatever and the pizza is ok....... ...but they have a great bakery. Not fancy stuff with crusts and such that we are spoiled with in Canada and Europe. They make the simple bun that is used for sandwiches all over Cuba but they do it right. Chewy and yeasty. Shopping for anything in Cuba, you usually have to go here for this and there for that. If you need buns, this is the place.

“nIce, clean hotel with great staff and amenities ”
I've stayed at the Hotel Kohly 3 times in the last 4 years. Excellent staff, very good basic hotel stay. Clean and neat. Food is good and basic, after a few days you've seen and tasted all that they have in thier buffet but it's good, straight forward food groups. Taxis are plentiful. Very easy to get downtown. Nice neighborhood to walk around and there is a store and bank close by. I will certainly stay there again when I go down to Cuba the next time.

“Must be 4 stars ”
This is the first time staying at Hotel Kohly while visiting family. From the check in to all other services there are an excellent attention , I was there with 2 friend and they agree with me, the staff are always please to you in giving the best of their services. Compared to other hotels more expensive in Havana, Kohly is an example of quality and services You are in a warm place and you are part of a big family in there. For that reason MUST BE 4 STARS! Lucila, Stella and Maria.

“A great Little Hotel ”
This is my second time staying at Hotel Kohly while visiting family in Cuba and I have to say that it is the most pleasant place I have been in Cuba , even compared to a lot much more expensive Hotels. One big plus: They do not make differences between cubans and foreigners!!. They always treated me, and my Cuban family who visited me at the Hotel, with great respect and kindness. I find the service very efficient, rooms are clean and the Hotel is very well kept. The price is unbeatable!!. And even thou the included breakfast maybe is not the more sophisticated, they have eggs, in any way you want them, bread, and "cafe con leche" .... some fruit and other little things that you can have if you want. I love the place! and I really appreciate a lot the kindness of all the employees. My only complaint ( and I can live with it) is the phone service. Sometimes you just can not get anybody on the phone!.. but the Hotel is not big.. you can definitely go downstairs and call from the desk!.

No good
Located next to the Havana Forest, in a spot blessed with privacy and natural beauty.