Three Cuban hotels won over their guests more than any other during the last 12 months, whose opinions and comments earned them the Best of the Best award from Travellers Choice 2023.
In the Best New Hotels category, the winners were the Mystique Casa Perla by Royalton and the VOYA Boutique Hotel, after passing Tripadvisor’s “rigorous standards of trust and safety.” Meanwhile, in the All-inclusive section, the Royalton Cayo Santa María was awarded.
The Canadian company Blue Diamond Resorts officially announced the opening of Mystique Casa Perla by Royalton on November 15, 2021. It is located on a stretch of pristine beach near the heart of downtown Varadero. It has 10 spacious and luxurious rooms and “combines the timeless architecture of 1940s Cuba with one of the most emblematic beaches in the world,” reads its official website.
Meanwhile, the VOYA Boutique Hotel, located in the Havana neighborhood of Santos Suárez, is located in a 1925 building with an authentic colonial style.
The 122-room all-inclusive Royalton Cayo Santa María stands as “the jewel in the crown of Blue Diamond Resorts” in that tourist enclave. According to its managers, the hotel has many repeat guests and usually maintains 85% occupancy during the year.
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According to Tripadvisor, less than 1% of the website’s 8 million profiles receive the “Best of the Best” award, meaning they have the highest level of hospitality excellence.
Tourism to Cuba
In total, between January and September of this year, Cuba received 2,373,455 travelers, of which 1,814,150 were tourists, according to official figures published by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
This number of visitors represents an increase of 168.8% compared to the same period in 2022. However, with only three months left to count, it seems practically impossible for the island to reach this year’s 3.5 million expected by the authorities.
Tourism is a key sector of the Cuban economy, which is currently suffering from a severe crisis, aggravated by the effects of the pandemic, United States sanctions, and internal difficulties and inefficiencies. The sector is the second contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the third source of foreign currency, after professional services and remittances, according to estimates cited by the EFE news agency.
