El Bosque Hotel, Havana City Cuba. 3 stars.

Nice
It is the perfect hotel if you want a central accommodation between airport, business centers, city and a peaceful surroundings

“very DIRTY!!!!!”
I would NOT recommend this hotel to anyone!!! Dirty!!!! the room was not cleaned a single time during 3 day stay at this hotel. Everything is falling apart and no one cares....I understand that the country is poor but at least to mop the floor and clean the bathroom IS possible....I am not talking about luxury, this hotel is lacking even basic hygiene standard. Plus it's quite far from the city centre.

“Dump”
This hotel is a dump the service was the worst service ive had in my life and guess what ? they ran out of beers that are made right in Cuba we checked out and went to National hotel.

“Do not stay here, especially if you are a single female it is very unsafe ”
I went here on a trip to Cuba, luck for us we didnt stay at the hotel very long as we were traveling. The first day I lost my wallet on the way to the hotel and the staff at the hotel were not helpful. It took me a very long time to communicate with them regardless of my hand expressions. Finally, they said they would try and call my sunwing travel guide. They told me they called and no one was there. We left the hotel for 4 days in car travelled Cuba (which was great!) Upon arrival back to the hotel they told me that they tried to call but it was busy ... after finally finding someone who spoke english I was able to communicate and asked them for the number, when I called I got ahold of my rep on the first try ?? but it was busy for them for 3 days. Anyways, we decided to go swimming the pool was freezing and we had to get out. The rates for gifts, food and other things were way above what I have traditionally paid at other hotels in the last 3 years that I have been to Cuba. The evenings came and so did the "locals" if you are interested in half decent food and prostitutes this hotel is for you if not dont go. We left my dad for 1 minute and a gorgeous girl approched him for sex. I spoke with another male who came by himself and I who was approched 4-5 times (I saw once when he was eating - scavengers) The second last day that I was there I drank rum by the pool till 4am. A Cuban who worked there approched me and we talked. He wanted to show me something, (should have known then but foggy due to the drinks) he tried to kiss and touch me. I said I had to go to the washroom and ran to my room jumped into bed locked the door of course....if you can believe it all of a sudden I heard a key hoping it was my dad, I sat up .... it was the same cuban who worked there ... and he had gotten a key to my room. I talked to him when he tried to reach for me again. Finally, (I think cause I was getting loud - and my fmailys rooms were close by) I talked to him and lied said I would meet tomorrow -- I said anything to get him to leave... believe me , he left ... I was so scared I didnt sleep a wink., nor did I tell my family (my sister once we were back in Canada) I didint tell my dad.. but I am on here to go to every feedback website to warn people. Cuba is a great place I have been there 4 times now infact, its one of the safest places to travel I think but stay away from this resort if you are young and female staying in a room alone.

“Not the best start to a holiday... ”
Cleanliness and hygiene standard about the worst I have ever experienced... Our room was on the margins at check in, which was just past midnight and was not cleaned at all for our three night stay... Bathroom sink was blocked and shower basin leaked all over the bathroom... The hotel very reluctantly and begrudgingly change our room on the last night after a very protracted and unecessarily long complaint... No apology received, by the way! One wonders how the 3 star rating was attained... Not one I would be recommending in a hurry... On the plus side, we did have an excellent rest of the holiday... Varadero was really good... Trinidad, even better!!... If Trinidad of interest find Hostal Las Margaritas... Excellent for money!!

“Avoid it if you can ”
I stayed at this hotel for a total of 3 nights with my family on an Explore Family tour. The hotel is ok in some ways for a budget hotel. However, it is dirty, the bathrooms were unclean, the room fridges either smelt horrible when they worked & the walls were mouldly. On the plus side the beds were very comfortable & the rooms had air conditioners, which worked to a fashion. The swimming pool & surrounding areas are nice. The water is very cold at this time of year. The main areas of the hotel are fair. There were noticeably a small number of prostitutes walking the hotel each evening, but this was not a problem. Take earplugs. The music in the bar blares out every evening until 1am, even though the bar is invariably almost empty. The next door Italian restaurant/snack bar is cheap & the food edible (with the possible exception of what seemed to be deep fried pizzas!). The hotel breakfast is well documented in other reviews! The hotel s a long way out from Havanna Vieja (30min taxi ride) but the fares are cheap by Western standards. The local area of Kohly is reasonably upmarket & safe. Explore usually make good value choices on their hotels. The rest of the hotels we stayed in were good or excellent. I assume they chose this hotel because of the swimming pool, as there is not much else to recommend it.

“COLD WATER ”
It comes down to how much you paid for your trip. I had a good deal so I took it. I only stayed there for 2 days and used the room as a storage for my luggage. Water is cold, bathroom if filthy. The neighborhood is, you can take taxi pirata from the hotel, around 4-5 CUC to get to Central Havana. The city is full of them, they are cheap and safe just make sure to make deal before and always have exact change to give him. There is one taxi pirata outside all the time, it's a red Lada. He has some one working at the hotel so the allow him to be there but he tends to be more expensive. You can bring outside "visitor" for 20CUC witch you pay to the security. The exchange rate is very bad, better go to the bank or change it at the airport. You can rent a safety box for 2CUC per day. The breakfast is good with large selection. The place is full of regular Cubans that come there to enjoy the pool for small fee. During those 2 days I noticed that night staff (including the night manager) has the tendency to try suck you in to buying them beer, bottle of rum. I don't care about any of that but I just don't like if someone thinks he can take you for a ride. I will not stay there again only because of the water....I hate cold water.

“Not Kohly”
Stayed for 7 days. Pros: As many of the reviews say it is a quiet and pleasant place away from the main city of Havana. The rooms are decent and cleaned every day. I like that the maids take the time to do up the towels into beautiful swans giving that extra touch to make you feel better when you return to the hotel. The hotel lobby is welcoming and staff helpful. Good standard of English spoken. Wifi was mostly reliable although a bit expensive at 3 CUC for 30 minutes especially as the speed was not great. The cons: 1. Nothing to do on site. You have to go to Kohly for that however it is a few kilometres away and you do feel like an outsider when you turn up to use their facilities. 2. The food. You could pretty much expect the same meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Food was bland, rarely hot and very unappealing. Unfortunately there isn't anywhere close to find anything more decent unless as we found out quite late on, if you take a trip to the sister hotel Kohly. We were amazed at the stark difference in the meals on offer. Kohly was 5* standard compared to El Bosque 2*. We did not sample the rooms at Kohly but almost everything advertised as being on offer in El Bosque is in fact at Kohly. Loved Cuba and its people and would visit again. If you can, book the 2 day tour to Trinidad, it is well worth it.

“A perfect 3 stars ”
The position is not far away from the center of havana,it takes about 20 minutes by taxy, the cost for it its from 20 to 25 dollars. the rooms are big and clean, some problem with shower you cant fix the temperature, its switch from very hot to cold by itself, breakfast is poor. very close to the best park of havan, where you can find cubans doing their religious ritual, or celebreating wedings or the adult age. Considering the prices of regular hotel in cuba, you get what you pay

“Pleasant, but out of the way ”
We stayed here for a week and found it quite adequate. The room was comfortable, though with little storage space. If you are expecting a high class US style place, this is not for you. If you are ok with more "native" accomodations, this is fine. The only problem we ran in to was a water shut down our last day (front desk gave out water bottles). This is a fine place to sleep and store your clothes while you see Havana. The breakfast was sufficient, coffee excellent, taken on a lovely veranda. The room was clean, but clearly "shopworn". People who stayed at the Hotel Nationale (very fancy) complained to us that their bathrooms smelled and didn't work. This is Cuba, folks. They are just coming into the tourist business, and everything is still circa 1950 at the latest. Go to Verdado if you want a cheap Miami. Stay here if you want real Cuba.

“Kohly and El Bosque ”
Several of the photos shown for this hotel are actually Hotel Kohly, which is about 10 minutes walk away. In particular, all the pool photos are from Hotel Kohly. Hotel El Bosque does not have a pool of its own, but guests here can use the pool at Club Almendares, a short hike down the hill from Hotel El Bosque.

“A good cheap base if you dont mind paying lots of taxi fares or walking ”
Spent 2 weeks at the kholy in January 2006. The rooms are a good size and clean. Maids visit every day although sheets not changed at all during our stay. The rooms are very noisey, the walls are paper thin. The facilities are good for the price you pay, and by cuban standards. The food is not bad except that you often get served the left overs from the night before at breakfast time. There are 2 nice bars but they are not well stocked. The hotel is located several kms away from the old town, a taxi from the hotel will cost you around 8 CUC but you can walk for 5 minutes then hail a taxi and reduce this to 4 to 6 CUC. A walk of about 20 mins will get you to the nearest decent sized shopping area (23/12) near the cemetary. Not the plushest hotel but good value for money. If the airtours rep (Jose)is still there, have a chat with him, he is fantastic and will give you lots of information.

“Holy Kohly ”
Check in- We arrived after 12am and were escorted to our room on the 2nd floor. The room was fairly spacious- with two double beds, roomy bathroom- and clean. On closer inspection we noticed that one of the pillow cases was dirty (maybe old mascara stains?) and a long dark hair on the bed spread. The wall socket that the fridge was plugged into was also faulty. The following morning we asked for a different room with a better view (we were overlooking the reception roof and a wall) and an operational fridge. We were told that a room was unavailable and that we'd be better off asking the next day. We were told that someone would come up to have a look at the wall socket that day... 'someone' didn't arive. Our room- On our second day we were moved to another double room with a functional fridge & a lovely view of the Kohly area. The maids visited on a daily basis and created swans and flowers with the clean bed linen & towels- our maid Rosabel was very helpful. The cable TV had a lot to offer, with at least 2 MTV stations and other American channels. Breakfast- I've looked at other reviews of the Kohly and what they say about the breakfast being 'interesting' is true! On the upside, you get what you paid for so you shouldn't expect haute cuisine. The range of food was ok- no two days are the same- but it did seem that on occassion we were served leftovers from the night before!! The combinations of foods i.e. scrambled eggs & cabbage/green peas left much to be desired. However, it was all edible and we HAD paid for it so we ate it!! The hotel had a chef who made pancakes & omelettes to order, but he often ran out of ingredients (we DID usually come down to eat at 8am) and was gone for 10-15 minutes getting more ingredients- was he churning/killing the cheese/ham himself?! The omelettes WERE nice though, and my boyfriend filled his plate with them & the pancakes everyday... We only found out on our last day that the hotel served lunch and dinner (at extra cost) in the main dining area!!!! Great (!) The pizzeria located next door was a lifesaver as it was open until 12am, but don't expect all the items on the menu to be available- the selection of desserts was minimal. Poolside area- The pool is open to the locals, so its nice to be able to interact & observe Cubans (especially if you enjoy people-watching). The temperature of the pool was FREEZING!!!! We assumed that this was unavoidable, however, we DID hear it was occassionally heated for the night synchronised swimming peformances. The service was good. Location- Hotel Kohly is about 5 minute cab ride to Miramar, 10 minutes to Vedado and 15 minutes to Old Town/Central Havana. It's worthwhile trying to hail a 'Panataxi' cab on the main road (the Calle 23) as they are cheaper than the 'OK' taxis parked outside the hotel. It's a 5 minute walk from the Almendares river- it's worth taking a stroll down there for the picture opportunities alone, the stream was lovely. The Kohly area is nice, clean & residential, although it would be more convenient to be more centrally located. Cab rides to Old Town averaged 8CUC. My boyfriend was woken up at 2.30am one night by loud music and noises in the car park below- the security guards didn't seem to be fussed about noise control (he believes they were involved!!). Facilities- The hotel has many facilities- gym, massage parlour, shop, bowling alley etc. Overall- We had a choice of 2 hotels (the Deauville, near the Malecon, and Hotel Kohly) when booking our holiday. The Kohly Hotel didn't disappoint, nor exceed our expectations of a 3* hotel in this area. We'd recommend this hotel.

“Clean and decent ”
Not the fanciest hotel, but clean and safe. Its 3 of 5 stars are probably deserved. In a nice residential part of town with short walk to small river-side jungle area. Electronic locks on doors, but our patio door didn't lock. Quiet except if you are above the bar (they moved us at our request). Walls are not sound-proof. Most travellers here are Latin American. Breakfast (included) left something to be desired. Lunch and supper for 10 CUC/person is expensive and not likely to be good, so we went to the adjoining cheap pizzeria (had our camera stolen from there - be careful). Rooms are clean, terrazzo floors throughout. No facecloths. Satellite TV. Safes in rooms for 2 CUC/day. Pool not heated. Two double beds in our rooms. Internet very slow (as in all of Cuba). Most staff speak basic English (bring phrasebook) but they try to be helpful. Taxis always available and drivers generally speak some English. Good drivers at the hotel: Augustine (private owner of green 1948 Chevrolet) Ph:--- after 7pm, email: ---, extremely helpful, cheap, will guide to attractions. Raul at "Taxi OK" also very good. They speak English.

“A quiet and pleasant place to stay ”
We had a pleasant stay at El Bosque. The room was not large but adequate. It was clean and nicely decorated. The entire hotel is recently painted inside and out with warm colors. There is forest behind the hotel and a larger park nearby. I wish we had time to wander the area. I had very little interaction with the staff. Checking in and out went smoothly with nice people. The included breakfast was in a basement area that was not fancy but the food was above average compared to what we experienced on the trip. The coffee was good. While not a fancy place, this is a good base for exploring Habana which met all our needs.

“Great hotel location ”
We stayed here four days during the spring break in march. We enjoyed their delicious food, their choice of fruits, juices and fish. The room was clean and comfortable. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. We enjoyed "Boris" customer service in the reception desk. During the day they have many activities (dancing, dancing swimming pool activities at the Kholy Hotel ( their partner). My teenage sons enjoyed the pool and the gym at the Kohly Hotel. Overall its a great place to stay. The neighborhood area is very save and peaceful.

“Great hotel and close to the main part of town ”
My sister and I stayed at this hotel with trepidation after some of the reviews that were written. Well it was great. Clean/beds very good/breakfast ok. Coffee was good from the bar. Staff very accomodating and helpful. English was very good (as compared to our Spanish). I would recommend this hotel to anyone not expecting 5 star. Ask for a balcony so you can wash and hang clothes out there.

“Quiet Island of Tranquility a short cab ride from Vedado, Centro y Habana Vieja ”
After reading reviews, I reserved and stayed at El Bosque my first two nights in Havana. El Bosque is away from the hurly-burly of Habana Vieja and the Vedado, tucked away in the upscale neighborhood of Kohly, just across the Almendares River from the Vedado. The staff was courteous and knowledgable, the room clean, with nice local views from my balcony, and the on-site restaurant fine for breakfast. I never had to wait to use one of the three computers, each in its own private booth, just off the lobby. Never got to use the pool, as I spent most days at my friends' home out in San Augustin, but it looked inviting. In October, the place was very quiet, with only about half the rooms occupied. Although the hotel is a bit down-at-the-heels and in need of a good rehab, nevertheless, it was fine for me, and up to three-star standards. If not pressed for time, it was a pleasant walk to La Rampa and other centers of action in the Vedado, and only a short walk to catch my bus to the western suburbs. The price was very good--for as much as you'd pay for a second- or thrid-rate motel where I live, here in Vermont.

“Great as an inexpensive base to do siteseeing ”
Very plain and simple... Its clean and its safe. It serves a buffet style breakfast which is average just as other buffet style meals in Cuba... so in other words it will fill the spot, and even though it is mediocre, you wont get sick from eating it. Coffee is bland, but the 24 hour snack bar makes good espresso and cuban coffee... Say hi to the girls sitting at the snack bar, they are quite friendly. There is a pasta/ pizza place right on site which provides decent and inexpensive food. No beach, only a swimming pool. Taxis are at the front which will take you to old Havana within about 10 minutes. On average it costs 8-10 CUC but if you hail a cab from the street (Panataxi) you may get there for 5 CUC. The Pinar del Rio, los Vinales trip is amazing. You can purchase a tour from reception. Overall the staff is outgoing, although you may come across an odd one that seems a little disgruntled. But I didnt come there for them anyways so it doesnt matter really. I like this place because it is in a residential area and it is not your typical tourist trap type of a resort, more like a condo style apartment building.

“Ruminations on hotel and food in Habana ”
For a budget hotel - definitely above average -- We had a room for one week on the 5th floor, Feb 28th - march 6th, 2007. It was clean and neat and the towel and bedspread sculptures everyday were a real treat -along with a small bit of fresh flowers. The show around the pool is impressive (only some nights) and during the day the pool was clean and chairs were great. Bring a large towel, though! The Pizza place on the first floor was fabulous and inexpensive; and the breakfasts in the 2nd floor restuarant were the best meal, usually ,that we had all day. The breakfast was a buffet style with a chef making omlettes and fried eggs, which were great. (i notice that other reviewers complained about breakfast but we found it more palatable than a lot of the food in Havana. Just all bland lland bland which we had heard but just didn;t believe. ) There was French style bread (all white) and a toaster -- butter and cheese at the back of the room by the cereal although maybe all gone if you come late! The coffeee was pretty bad (weak) and the food was really bland, but that pretty much goes for all the food, all the time in Havana, and I assume alll of Cuba, since we were chastised more than once for wanting to add Tobasco and told that it was bad for us! "It will hurt your liver", we were told. Anyway, breakfast had lots of fruit, eggs and mystery meat and sometimes vegetables. . . We were satisfied every day! Anyway, the hotel is fabulous, though a cab ride away from almost everything. It is cheaper to walk to the main street corner by the bridge and get a Havana Taxi or Panataxi but it is only about one - two peso's cheaper to go to Old Havana than using the OK Taxis in front of the hotel. . . . I feell like we are probably the only Canadians to go to Cuba in the winter and not go to the beach! But we had a reallly fabulous time walking around Havana, listening to music, talking to people, drinking Mohitos and Daquiris and talking to Habeneros. We did the museums and really see his as a place that works - without capitalism -- hard to orient yourself if you are a big "consumer" as there is not much to buy! The hotel is only a cheap taxi ride from most things (and is close to the Tropicana though we did not go because it is over $100 Can each to go and beyond our budget!) but it is bit inconvenient to not just be able to "pop back" to the hotel for a rest etc. For us it was worth it for the savings. The best restaurant we ate in was El Ehibe or Ahibe (t is one of the more famous restaurants in Havana, so every cab driver will know it ) in Miramar. They serve a chicken in orange sauce, a great Mohito and actually serve salad with your dinner (if you are used to a lot of vegetables- take fibre - I have no idea how vegetarians eat in Cuba.) Also one day when there were big waves along the Malecon (that's how we knew that there were big waves) we went and sat in the bar in the back, outside (kind of the beach except there is no beach on the waterfront) at the Commodoro Hotel in Mirmar -- the waves were smashing against the cement dock and the sun was shining and the garlic shrimp WERE the best thing that we ate in Havana. Have fun, we plan to go back soon. There is a very big paper shortage in Cuba - take notebooks and pens and also aspirin and tylenol to give away. Lots of papel hygenica (toilet paper) in the hotel, but not much in many other places, or an attendant expecting a peso to provide it. People who were staying at resorts that we met said that they were asked a lot for clothes, hats and T-shirts, although we did not experience that -- people were looking for money for pharmaceuticals and loooking for headache relief - hard to come by!

“By Cuban Standards....... ”
I stayed at this hotel with my family as part of an Explore! Tour in August '06. Our first impressions were confused - bright yellow slightly damp smelling rooms, dodgy water and electric supply, fried pasta for breakfast, bread with rainbow sprinkles and on! After 2 nights at Hotel Kohly we spent 2 weeks travelling all round the most amazing and unique experience that is Cuba and then returned to Kohly with a whole new view. It is a fantastic place! What had previously been viewed through jaundicied western eyes as faults became nothing more than entertaining Cuban idiosyncrasies. At least it never had ferns growing or lizards in the showers as occured elsewhere! Clean and cheerful rooms, safe surroundings, beautiful clear, outdoor pool, great food (if still quirky!) and skillful evening entertainment from a sycro-swim salsa combo made this stay a delight for all the family.

“Kohly....! ”
Myself and my friend stayed in Hotel Kohly for a few nights as a base for some sightseeing around Havana. Im not sure what rating the hotel is but Id say its basic. The hotel rooms were of a good size with 2 double beds, sky tv, air con, and good showers!! The pool, shop, internet and bar facilities are fine, nothing special but clean and pleasent to use. The breakfast left alot to be desired, however in general Havana food seemed to be of poor quality. Often it looked like left over food particularly veg from the night before but it maybe the differences in nationalities as to the choice of breakfast. Ask for a omlette or egg and some toast and cake and there you have half an english breakfast!! Avoid the bar snack food by the pool as not much choice ham and cheese with everything! And always seemed to be very low in stock drink wise- but cheap! There is a little pizza place next door which is edible or a 5 minute taxi ride along the Malecon will take you into the centre of Old Havana. Even though the hotel is not centrally located the taxis are so cheap it doesnt matter where talking a £2 at the most and the drivers will even wait for you sometimes whilst you eat! If you just want somewhere to sleep as a base or sit by the pool this is the place for you. Theres nothing remotely wrong with the hotel just not 4 star!! Havana is great so much to see so do it on a budget and spend more money on rum and cigars!!

“Recommend this place!”
We have recently returned from 2 weeks at the Hotel Kohly and am pleased to say that overall we were pleasantly surprised with the hotel. The hotel itself is clean and is a nice size with an unheated outdoor pool, tennis courts, massage area and gym. The room had 2 double beds and a clean shower room. Friendly maids in every day too. My only complaint would be that the walls are too thin! You can hear everything going on, the phones constantly ringing, the ping of the lift and chairs/tables being moved round in the bar area. The breakfast got to be a very boring affair of scrambled eggs/sausages/fruit/pancakes/leftovers. Such a shame the Cubans aren't very interested in their food, they certainly don't know what flavour and variety are!! It also became a little pricey having to get taxi's into Havana town each night esp. as there were only the 2 of us. Tip - don't get a taxi from outside the hotel. Take a walk and grab a Panataxi - the cheapest fares out there (and they're metered). The hotel is a little out of the way of anything, so taxi's are required to get anywhere. I would recommend staying in Havana, we went to Varadero for the night and would have got bored if we were there for the whole 2 weeks as it's much smaller than we thought, and it's certainly not lively and buzzy like Havana!

“Thumbs up ”
I just got back from havana and all of the hotels downtown were full or too expensive so I stayed out in the burbs at the Kohly for a few nights. The hotel was clean,safe and the food was surprisingly good. Once I found the right road it was only about 10 min. to downtown. It cost 60 cuc's per night for 2 adults including breakfast buffet. I would recommend this hotel

“Best little hotel in Havana ”
Note that several of the reviews on this page are for Hotel Kohly, not for Hotel El Bosque. The two hotels are near each other and owned by the same company. I've never stayed at the Hotel Kohly but I heard that it's not good. I've stayed at the Hotel El Bosque twice, and was pleased both stays. The rooms were clean, the beds comfortable (unusual in Cuba!) and the staff was friendly and helpful. They all spoke English. It's close to the Viazul bus station, the neighborhood is quiet and safe, and you're on the river, which is a big tropical park, so you breathe clean air. The prices are reasonable. Best of all, IMHO, it doesn't feel like you're in Havana. It feels like the countryside. Of course, if you want nightlife and jiniteras, this isn't the hotel for you. My complaints? The outdoor bar had loud music until after midnight, but after that it was as quiet. Also one night the hotel was full and all the phone lines were busy, so I couldn't make a call.

“The staff make all the difference! ”
I stayed at Hotel El Bosque for a month while studying in Cuba. While the hotel itself is rather basic in its design and appearance, the staff were wonderful. Friendly, helpful and very professional. El Bosque is a smaller hotel with less than 100 rooms. All of the rooms were clean, they have internet available and the bar is great. The food is actually very good. I guess the major drawback of the hotel is it's location in Almendares makes it a bit far from downtown Havana but the walks and car rides with locals made up for it. Another interesting aspect of this hotel is it doubles as a 'hospital' for Venezuelans who are in Cuba recieving medical treatment for vision problems. This one one of the only places in Cuba that I didn't feel made an effort to separate the Cubans from the tourists. My Cuban friends happily stayed in the hotel and were able to sit and eat dinner and drink with us.