HOTEL NACIONAL
So we get to the hotel and check in at the front desk.
Courtesy of Cheryl's arrangements, our rooms are VIP rooms.
MAFIA - 211
And while our rooms were deluxe, they weren't any of the
Looking from the entry
Looking back at the entry from near the butler.
The bathroom
Dresser/TV
The grounds beyond the main entrance
The pool area
Where we ate our lunch and had our first libation:
Boy. that water looked inviting, BUT we had a six-hour tour to do.
A TOUR OF OLD HABANA BEGINS HERE
28 AUGUST
No, no, no, no, NO!
We have to go to the Sixth Floor VIP Desk to check in.
Some famous people stayed at the Nacional before the embargo of 1961
and you can arrange to stay in an "Historic" room:
In December 1946, the hotel hosted the Havana Conference,
an infamous mob summit run by Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky
and attended by Santo Trafficante, Jr., Frank Costello, Albert Anastasia,
Vito Genovese and many others.
Francis Ford Coppola memorably dramatised the conference in his film
The Godfather Part II.
Meyer Lansky arranged with Battista to open a casino.
FRANK SINATRA - 214
NAT KING COLE - 218
BOLA DE NIEVE - 221
GARY COOPER - 223
COMPAY SEGUNDO - 224
AVA GARDNER & FRANK SINATRA - 225
FRED ASTAIRE - 228
MARêA FéLIX - 230
JOHNNY WEISSM†LLER (TARZçN) - 232
ERROL FLYNN - 235
PEDRO VARGAS - 236
PAUL CASAL - 244
STAN MUSIAL - 245
RITA HAYWORTH - 246
MARIO MORENO (CANTINFLAS) - 255
TYRONE POWER - 259
JOSE RAUL CAPABLANCA - 305
LOLA FLORES - 324
JORGE NEGRETE - 416
BUSTER KEATON - 421
WALT DISNEY - 445
ALEXANDER FLEMING - 529
JEAN PAUL SARTRE - 539
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS - 570
BARON HANS HEINRICH THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA - 739
(NOTE THAT NONE OF THE ABOVE WERE ON THE VIP FLOOR)
also: Ernest Hemingway, John Wayne, Mickey Mantle, Tom Mix,
Rocky Marciano, Nelson Rockefeller, Spencer Tracy,
Winston Churchill (also in 1946), Pablo Casals, Edward VIII
(later the Duke of Windsor), the Duchess of Windsor,
Marlene Dietrich, Marlon Brando and, in 2002, Minessota Governor Jesse Ventura.
For a more extensive list of well-known guests, visit HERE
"historic" rooms, but they were large and very nice.
Cuba Libré, of course!
Also a authentic Cuban Sandwich in Habana, Cuba!
