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Reviews Casa Santana | Trinidad | Cuba

Casa Santana
Address: Maceo #425
e/ Fco.J Zerquera y Colon
Trinidad
Tel: +53 41 994372

Casa Santana Trinidad: Travelers reviews

September 14 2010
Name: Ian
Country: uk
I stayed here at: 04/16/2010

Casa Santana

Hello All,
Casa Santana is situated across the post office in Trinidad, we stayed there for a few nights after picking up a business card in Havana through a relative of theirs.
The rooms are tidy and clean and has a very colonial feel to it, though dated as mentioned by a previous reviewer, It feels very Cuban, and while there are no controls on the air con it does a great job. The strong points of Casa Santana is it beautiful garden, where the breakfast and dinners are served, or have a quiet beer. The service is fairly good, Isabel will provide breakfast and dinners on request but you'll have to arrange in advance with her, she speaks English very well. The food is average, but hey remember "this is Cuba", people try to do their best with what they have to provide a service, the casa menus are restricted to pork/poultry and limited vegetables. While in restaurants a few metres away you'll have a wider variety of meats and larger choices for the same price. So choose wisely before committing yourself to dinners/ breakfast, Trinidad is full of good cafes and restaurants.

This is where my praises stop for this place:
Casa Santana's landlord is a business man, and he wants to squeeze everything out of you, and does not care how uncomfortable you feel about his comments.

1 - On bill settlement date, he lost control and went mad at us, shouting and swearing "What is in it for him?", even his wife and other guests at the casa looked worried. He was not happy that we only had dinner/drinks for 2 nights at his place, had breakfast everyday and apparently did not consumed enough of his overpriced water and beer or wanted his overpriced ham and cheese sandwiches as packed lunch during the day...So what we want to sample other things Trinidad has to offer.

2 - I think the reaction to 1 was also fuelled by the fact that one night after spending a day at Playa Ancon we brought back left over beers and water and chilled out in the garden. On checking it was made very clear that we could do so, and Isabel even added that we were free to use the minibar fridge to store our own stuff.
Also that we walk 10 metres from the house to a restaurant for dinner...I badly needed a change from Pork and chicken...

3 - We paid 25CUC a night (low season) for this casa including breakfast, after my experience in cuba, I found out that this is the monthly average monthly salary. Trinidad is full of better casas for 8-10CUC a night. I regret not considering them.

4 - I would not trust the first 2 reviews, they have been there for years and sound very much like the landlady speaking, and besides they are very similar. I have seen similar reviews on other sites.

Casa specifics: Colonial
Amenities: Garden
How was your room?: Average
How was the food they offer?: Food was OK but much better variety in restaurants for the same price.
Other comments: Do not upset the landlord

Date: October 17 2009
Author: Rodger
Country: UK

Casa Santana

We stayed two extra nights and really enjoyed it. Great location and food. Thanks Isabel and Julian