Many visitors to Cuba chose to spend time in the isolated all-inclusive resorts in Varadero or other “cayos”. They can enjoy sunshine, beaches, turquoise sea and good service. No jineteros, poverty and daily challenges the Cubans must face. The Cubans are not allowed to enter the all-inclusive areas unless they work there. This is the Castro’s pride of having 2 Cubas: one for Cubans and one for visitors. Fortunately, spending vacation in the hermetic resorts is not the only option of visiting the island.

Considering the whole tourist industry (hotels and infrastructure)  is more or less controlled by the regime the most attractive and fair accommodation is in casas particulares. Those homestays are pretty reliable and popular. The standard differs of course however, all casas must meet the minimum conditions (so there is no sense asking if there is hot water or electricity etc). Casas provides with opportunity to meet local people and see a bit of their daily life.  Those are private family houses so the money (net of taxes of course) goes directly to the owner. The casas are everywhere in the touristic places. They are clearly marked with a blue anchor-like shape with the name (be careful if you are a daltonist as a red anchor marks the places where you can rent a room for hours). The usual price for a room is around 25 CUC plus 5 CUC breakfast for 1 person.

Staying at casas particulares facilitates the arrangements of any local activities. The host will be happy to organise a collectivo to your next destination, rent a bike or arrange a walking tour. Logically, the guy will be happy to calculate a comission which will be included in the final price. However, despite the fact it is easy to arrange all of this on your own (directly in the street) the recommendation from the host reinforces a sense of reliability somehow. For instance the region of Vinales (2hrs drive West from Havana) is very attractive for different outdoor activities. One of popular options is 2-3 hours horse ridding. The supply of this service is quite extensive however, the quality may differ and the recommendations from the casa may be attractive. Otherwise most of the tour will be spent on”friends'” farms (shops) on the unique and unusual presentations of the local farming methods (read: the pre-sale marketing low quality show performed everywhere the same way) followed by the “only today” opportunity to buy a local staff like cigars, rum or honey (read: all products are heavily overpriced and not necessarily of the highest quality). Contrary, the reliable guide can offer you a higher dose of elasticity and thus allow to spend more time enjoying the magnificent views on magotes from the saddle.

Well, arriving by plane to Havana at midnight is not the best kick off if you do not have an accomodation booked in advance. Staying 2-3 first nights in Havana Vieja is an ideal way of acclimatization. It is also the best option to explore the iconic spots of Havana, mostly by foot or colectivos.

The following stays may be easily arranged on place. If your host seems trustworthy you can rely on his recommendation- for sure he will be able to recommend a casa in your next destination. Also especially at the beginning you may have a short list of previewed accommodation and just check them on arrival. Unfortunately this way did not pay off in Vinales when we decided for a preselected house having the feeling of some shortage of accommodation. Later on when taking a walk we have found plenty of beautiful and vacant casas.

This experience has been taken in consideration in Playa Larga where we have decided to look for an accommodation without any preparation. We did not give up after 15 minutes of hearing there was absolutely no vacancy. And of course we found a lovely place just on the beach at good price. By the way if you want to go to Playa Larga because of the visit to Ciénaga de Zapata just skip it. This adventure has nothing to do with a natural park visit you would normally expect.

We have also used the site www. Cubacasas.net. This is not a regular booking site but rather a catalogue of casas by region with reviews and direct contacts to the hosts. It is then easy to directly book the place by email. We did that in Trinidad as well as in Santa Clara and never had any issue. Good to know that it is heard in some cases the accommodation may be already rented out when you arrive. So be in contact with your host and reconfirm your arrival. The booking obviously is not prepaid and not all visitors are fair enough to cancel the booking in advance. Thus the owners sometimes give the room to somebody knocking the door instead of keeping the reservation. Fortunately that was not our experience.