Casa Luis Miguel: Travelers Reviews

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: August 7 2009
Author: Penina
Country: New Zealand

I would recommend this casa to all!
Arriving in Habana with luggage lost it was Luis Miguel who helped us finally get our things.  He has a beautiful home and family.  The room and bathroom were spotless! Good air-con and fans if needed. Very pleased there was a safe and fridge in our room. The patio is ab-fab and true to the 1930's era as was most of the casa. 
We had wonderful breakfasts everyday and the dinner our first night there was lovely.  The chef makes the best cafe I have ever had.
This was our honeymoon and our stay with Luis Miguel was the highlight!!!
Many thanks to Luis and his family for such a great home to stay in.

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: August 4 2009
Author: Louise
Country: England

We stayed at this Casa for 3 nights from the 1st July 2009. After we had booked the casa through Cuba Junky the bad reviews about the upstairs rooms and booking problems starting appearing on this website. I contacted Pototo to ensure that this would not be a problem and when we arrived, our correct room downstairs was ready and waiting for us. I think that the owner Luis is now very aware of the reviews and is keen to ensure that he doesn't have anymore problems.

The casa is very nice and is in a good location, only 10 minutes walk from Old Havana and about 1 minutes walk from the Malecon. The room we had was clean with a private bathroom and had a fan, air con, tv, safety deposit box and fridge. The meals are very good and huge and taken in a nice room.

Luis is very friendly and helpful and can provide good advice for your stay in Havana.

We would definately recommend the casa.

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: August 1 2009
Author: Ursula
Country: Australia

We stayed with Luis Miguel and his family for 8 nights in May 2009. Highly recommended. Our host Luis was very helpful and generous. Nothing was too much trouble for him. We felt so comfortable there. The rooms are very clean and have all the facilities one would need. The food is absolutely amazing. Exceptional meals in a very lovely dinning room. We had all our breakfasts and dinners at the casa, because there is no comparison to the food in restaurants. It was very special indeed. We had some bad experiences with our attempts to eat out.Our stay in the casa was very pleasant and memorable. We have great memories of our stay in this casa. Thank you Luis for sharing your home with us.
Ursula
Melbourne, Australia

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: July 26 2009
Author: Peter Rayer
Country: Netherlands

We stayed at Louis' place for three days and we liked it very much. Louis was a very warm and friendly host who was very proud of his beautifull house from the 1930's and told us a lot about his family.
We had a nice room with a private bathroom and we had very tastfull breakfast's and dinner's.
The casa is only a block away from the Malacon and about 20 minutes walk from Habana Veija.
We really recommand this Casa Particular for a stay in Habana.
Pototo, the Habana connection for Cuba Junky, appearred to be a very friendly person who helped us reserving the several Casas during our trip in Cuba.

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: July 6 2009
Author: Ron ande Sue Cartmale
Country: England

We booked Casa Luis Miguel through Cuba Junky for three nights from the 9th June 2009.  On arrival there seemed to be some confusion around our arrival and booking.  Luis arrived a short time later, apologised for not being there on our arrival and told us we would be staying upstairs for the first night and then would move downstairs the next day.  On seeing the Casa upstairs, then trying to have a cold shower in the shared bathroom we said we would not continue our stay if we were not moved downstairs the following day.

We did move down the next day and from then on everything was fine. 

The friendliness, room, food and attention was second to none. If you are staying at the Casa, be sure to eat at least one dinner here.  We had dinner hear all three nights and the food was plentiful and extremely good. Luis even made a special meal on one night when he found it was our wedding anniversary.  I defy anybody to eat the breakfast,there is so much of it!!

Apart from the hiccup at the beginning of our stay this is a wonderful Casa and well worth a recommendation.  It is central for exploring, Vieja, Centro and the Malecon.  We were able to walk everywhere from here.

The only thing I would add is that perhaps Luis should take more care of how he takes his bookings to ensure you do stay there as you expect and do not have to go upstairs,which is nowhere near the standard of Luis' casa.

* Comment Pototo: We are working hard about the overbooking, we have had this problem several times in the last few weeks but at the moment the problem is solved.

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: June 28 2009
Author: Hans Dieter and Evelyn Gänsslen
Country: Germany

We stayed three nights from 11/04/2009 to 14/04/2009 at Luis Miguel, but like Neill (see comment from June 13 2009)we were placed the first two nights in another casa particular in the first floor of the same house. First for the third night we could move in the real casa Luis Miguel downstairs. At Luis everything was perfect, but upstairs a few stars less (shared bathroom a.s.o). What should we say, if you stay really at friendly and helpful everything is perfect, but the above !!!!

If you read the other comments, that happened several times. By the way we booked through Cuba-Junky.

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: June 13 2009
Author: Neil
Country: United Kingdom

We booked this Casa through this website, Cuba-Junky. For the first 3 nights of our stay, Luis Miguel sent us to the Casa Particular upstairs (Alina y Vicente), without telling us that it was a different Casa Particular. Moreover, I suspect that Luis intended for us to believe it was the same one. This is not at all obvious, as they share the same entrance-way. I remember being quite surprised that our room didn't match the expectation I had from trip advisor and other reviews. On the 1st morning Luis said we were to move downstairs after the 3rd day, which we thought odd at the time, and then it dawned on us what had happened. Come the 3rd day, we reminded Luis that we'd like to move downstairs, but oddly Luis now persuaded us not to! I don't know why he suddenly changed his mind, maybe the owners of the upstairs Casa persuaded Luis that they wanted to keep our custom. We insisted though, and we were then moved downstairs, into Luis's Casa. What a difference! The problem is, for the next few days we sensed some distance from Luis, and also a bit of tension, which we thought was a shame. Maybe he was just embarrassed, or worried we were annoyed with him, which we weren't. However, the last day he relaxed, and we left on good terms. He gave us a hug when we left, and said he hoped we would leave good comments for him! Cheeky!

I have to say, Luis's casa is very good, and I agree with all previous comments about it. I regret that we stayed in a different casa for the 1st 3 nights, as it didn't come close to matching the quality of Luis's casa, yet we paid the same amount for it. Also, we spent many hours researching and reading reviews of Casas before we left, so we feel some of that time was wasted really.

I would like to make another point. On the main website there are some inaccuracies. On our 1st 3 nights we didn't have a private bathroom (although that was a different Casa). Luis's Casa doesn't have an independent entrance - you have to ring the bell to get in. Once the bell didn't work, and another time we pressed it repeatedly and had to wait about 5 minutes before being let in. There is a fridge, but no mini-bar. There are no double beds.

My advice to any future guest - if you're booked to stay with Luis Miguel, his casa is on the ground floor only, so make sure you stay on the ground floor! The Casa upstairs looks like what you might expect from the exterior. Luis's Casa is in a different league.

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: 26-05-2009
Author:  Nikola
Country: Serbia

Jelena, my girlfriend and I stayed at Luis casa and it was really, really nice, we were there in May 2009. Everything you read in other posts about Luis, his nice family and especially about great chef is true. You will not make a mistake if you stay at Luis and try at least one meal.

If you have time to read this Luis:
Thank you Luis for making us feel so relaxed as we are at home.
How is Javier\'s leg?
I didn't take your email address so I could stay in touch with you, I was thinking what is the best way to sen you some rakija Sljivovica I made myself.

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: 09-05-2009
Author: Malu
Country: Australia

Casa Luis Miguel was a home away from home. Our host Luis Miguel was very accommodating, hospitable and friendly.
Our flight from Cancun was delayed for nearly 2 hours and our arrival in Havana was quite late already. My son Miguel and I were grateful and quite relieved that our room at Casa Luis Miguel was still waiting for us. Thank you, Luis ...
Thank you also for waking up with us at 3 o'clock in the morning to make sure we had a taxi for our early morning flight to Mexico city. Regards to your mother too.
Breakfast and dinner were full-course delicious meals that it felt like we were still on a cruise ( we just ended a 10-day cruise to Panama on the Island Princess where there was no room to get hungry ).
Luis' pride and love for his Cuban heritage shows in how his home is decorated and preserved. There was nothing more a tourist could ask for in terms of comfort and facilities. I recommend his casa very highly ...

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: 28-04-2009
Author: TrekkingYogi
Country: US

I stayed at Casa Luis Miguel (aka Casa 1932 ) for three nights during my second visit to Havana. Luis Miguel was a very warm, friendly and accommodating host. He took so much pride in his casa and loved sharing the history of the house and his family. The casa retains a lot of its charming colonial details. Luis Miguel is also an avid antique collector and his collection adds a lot of charm to the colonial ambiance of the casa. During our stay, Luis Miguel was working on some improvements to the house which showed how much he cared for it. Our room was spacious, with an air conditioning in good condition. Our private bathroom had modern plumbing with good water pressure and hot water. The breakfasts were plentiful. We didn’t get to try the dinner but other guest swore they were excellent. Luis Miguel offered us a glass of wine when we returned to the casa one night and chat with us. We thought it was a nice, civilized gesture. He gave us a lot of good information about Habana, bus info, etc. After we depart the casa to go to Trinidad, he called our casa particular in Trinidad to let them know that we were on our way. 

The casa is in convenient location. We walked everywhere we went. The only time we took a taxi was when we came home from dinner in Old Havana on our first night because we finished very late and we were very tired. The casa is a block away from Malecon, where there were several good accessible restaurants. Don’t be turned off by the worn out façade of the buildings in the neighborhood. Once you’re inside Casa 1932, you will feel you’re in a safe and comfortable haven in Centro Habana. The street may look rough, but the neighbors were actually very nice and friendly. 

Being in Casa 1932 is like staying at a friend’s house. 

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: 27-03-2009
Author: marie
Country: Netherlands

We made a reservation with Luis Miguel, but when we arrived he had a lame excuse why we couldn't stay there. He send us to another, less nice, casa elsewhere. Subsequently, he did offer us to eat as his place a few days later, which, we found out later, he is not allowed to. 

I have talked to another couple who have had excactly the same experience: he confirms your reservation even though his casa is full. Subsequently he just earns money by sending you to another casa. He came accross unreliable. 

Note from Cuba-Junky:
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. We asked Pototo our man in Havana about what exactly happened and it seemed you didn't make the reservation for Luis Miguel through our website. Cuba-Junky can not be responsible for bookings made directly by telephone to the casa or through other websites.
The fact that Luis Miguel invited you for a (probably free)dinner is a very nice gesture I think. By the way, this is not forbidden.

Best regards,
CJ

Casa Luis Miguel

Date: 03-03-2009
Author: Jane
Country: Australia

I am a little late with my posting, but my friend and I stayed with Luis in early October 2008. It was the highlight of our Cuban stay. The accommodation was first rate, the food divine and the hospitality impeccable. And Luis is a natural 'people person'. While I used as much of my Spanish as I could with Cubans, it is priceless to be able to return home to speak with Luis in English (his English being far superior to my Spanish!) and get the local knowledge! If you are headed to Havana book early to secure a spot here, it will make your stay that bit more memorable. The quality of this Casa Particular is very high, and is the result of Luis love and talent for decor and being welcoming. Also while you are there, pop around the corner to Pablo Neruda Cafe on the Malecon - sea views and icy cold beer and mojitos. Oh and definitely say yes when Luis offers dinner - as another guest said, tastiest meal on the island! We're headed back and will be ringing Luis for sure! Very highly recommended. (some other casas charge same price and provide nowhere near the quality of accommodation or service).