Cuba's Casas Particulares

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Cuba's Casas Particulares Melanie Furlong
Heat things up like the natives by spending Spring Break at one of Cuba's Casa Particulares.

While buying an all-inclusive package may be the easiest way to organize a beach break in Cuba, others may feel they are not able to experience the real Cuba in the tourist-only resort areas.

Staying at a casa particular is the answer for tourists around the world who wish to learn more about Cuba and its people.

A casa particular is a Cuban bed and breakfast and there are thousands of them around the island.

Suzana Sanchez, an elderly widow in Havana, has been renting out four bedrooms in her Nuevo Vedado home to tourists since 1995.

Clean and bright, the rooms offer air conditioning, ceiling fans, separate bathrooms, double beds, hot water, telephones, security boxes and refrigerators.

She also employs two maids and a night guard for the gated parking area at the front of the house.

Receiving sub-standard services in the hotel creates an image of uneducated and uncaring people. Staying at a casa particular will show you that the Cubans are actually the opposite.

Paul Lamot, a Belgian citizen who lives near Antwerp with his Cuban wife, began running www.casaparticular.info, in 2000 to support exactly this kind of business venture in Cuba. The Web site is a portal to casa particular sites and provides a list of casas around the country.

"Casa owners that operate legally are allowed to advertise their place using little fliers that are mostly given to arriving tourists by young people," says Lamot. "Often when you enter a city suddenly motorbikes will appear and they will try to guide you to a casa. That is about the extent that advertising is allowed."

Independent travellers hungry for information about the casas in Cuba have been flocking to Lamot's site.

"By the end of 2001 I had 8500 visitors to the site. Last year we had 29,000 and by the end of this year I estimate 40,000 people will have visited the site."

There are no government statistics about how many tourists stay in casas particulares each year, but Lamot estimates tens of thousands choose to see Cuba this way.

"It is the only viable (and cheap) alternative lodging in Cuba. A casa will cost you half of a cheap hotel and will provide a better room and better meals."

Prices for the casas range from 25 pesos convertibles and up in Havana and are usually around 20 pesos convertibles to 25 pesos convertibles in smaller cities. The value of the peso convertible is equivalent to one U.S. dollar.

"Beyond the low prices though," says Lamot, "there is an overwhelming desire with most people to experience Cuba. The 'tourism apartheid' of the government has made the resorts sterile and ghetto-like. People that stay at a hotel in Varadero have not seen Cuba."

Lamot also says that many of the tourists who visit Cuba and stay in anything less than a five-star resort are appalled by the service and food they receive.

"Receiving sub-standard services in the hotel creates an image of uneducated and uncaring people. Staying at a casa particular will show you that the Cubans are actually the opposite. The service and care you will receive in a good casa will only create and reinforce the image of the Cubans as an open and helpful people."

The best casas Lamot has seen are in Havana. "I found the most luxurious casas in Havana, but there are some great casas in every town. Santiago can surprise you and Trinidad with its historical buildings has some stunning casas."

His Web site, www.casaparticular.info connects to 173 casa particular sites in Havana and over 1000 sites in total.

In most cases, staying at a casa includes the room and breakfast. Some casas will charge separately for breakfast and any other meals are always to be paid for separately. Lamot says it is advisable to eat at your casa or a paladar, a private restaurant, as the quality of the food is much better than it is in state restaurants and the prices are lower. In a standard casa 8-12 pesos convertibles will buy you a good meal.

If you still want to get to the beach, rent a car or hire a car and driver for the duration of your stay. If you choose the latter option, the owner of your casa can help you find a driver and it will be cheaper than renting your own car. Either way, staying at a casa particular will give you more freedom to explore the island and find the Cuba of your imagination.

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