It was the perfect home base to explore Havanna. The rooms are basic but decorated with gusto and all the facilities are new. The air conditioning units are silent and efficient and, crucially for Cuba and especially Havanna, drinking water is provided free of charge. In general, the couple who runs the place couldn’t have been nicer, more welcoming and more helpful with everything we needed. (That includes laundry, currency exchange, and procurement of the finest cigars.) The neighborhood, like most of the city, looks extremely run-down, but you always feel safe and it really couldn’t be a more “authentic” experience—for lack of a better word. Everything is at a walking distance, the old town, the Malecon, Barrio Chino, La Guarida restaurant and the Vedado, where we got our rental car. You can park on the street outside the building and it’s absolutely safe, and of course free.