A Cuban woman who recently stayed at the Deauville Hotel in Havana reported the presence of bedbugs in the room where she tried to spend the night, which sparked a wave of reactions on social media and reignited concerns about sanitary conditions in the country’s tourist and state facilities.
“They weren't mosquitoes, they were bedbugs,” recounted the Cuban influencer known as Esperanzita DC, who shared a video of her experience on Instagram in the early hours of August 29, which was later picked up by the feminist platform Alas Tensas (OGAT).
In the recording, filmed at 1:56 a.m., the woman shows the insects moving on the mattress while recounting that she had already felt bites, but she thought they were from mosquitoes.
“How is it possible for a hotel to sell you a room with bedbugs?”, she asked while focusing her phone on the bugs she had managed to crush.
Esperanzita DC stated that she could not stay to sleep in a place like that. “I’m leaving. I can't sleep in a place that has bedbugs… where it’s not clean.”
The Deauville Hotel, a historic 14-story building located at the corner of Galiano and Malecón, had reopened its doors in March 2024 after being closed since 2020.
The facility, managed by the state chain Gran Caribe, only opened 100 of its 144 rooms and promised to enhance its level of service as part of a comprehensive renovation. However, the experience of this guest reflects a reality that is very different from what is portrayed in the official tourism campaigns.
Migraines, clothes in hot water, and a promise to "resolve"
Hours after the initial report, the content creator posted an update in her stories. She thanked her supporters, informed that she washed all her clothes in hot water, as her followers recommended to prevent an infestation, and stated that she was feeling unwell physically. “I have a migraine, I don't know if it's from lack of sleep or from the discomfort of what happened,” she commented.
She also revealed that representatives from the hotel contacted her and proposed to have a conversation. “I am completely willing to talk to them. I'm not refusing, it has just been difficult to coordinate the time. But they want to resolve this, and I also want to solve it,” she said in a conciliatory tone, though still affected.
A problem that is neither new nor isolated
Although the case has drawn attention due to the hotel being recently reopened and having international prospects, bedbug infestations have become a recurring problem in various provinces of the country, affecting not only tourist facilities but also hospitals, schools, and private residences.
In Santiago de Cuba, reports of infestations at the Gustavo Machín Psychiatric Hospital and at schools like the Raúl Gómez García boarding school have sparked alarms among parents and health professionals. In Camagüey, Pueblo Príncipe Hotel was recently closed due to a similar infestation that spread several blocks around, according to neighborhood reports.
Citizens are reporting that the fumigation efforts are ineffective and that the issue exceeds the response capabilities of local authorities, who, in many cases, choose to downplay or silence the complaints.
Facade tourism, underlying unsanitariness
This new case once again exposes the contradiction between the official propaganda that promotes Cuba as a premier tourist destination and the precarious conditions faced by both Cubans and visitors within their hotels, hospitals, and educational centers.
While the regime continues to bet on building and reopening hotels amid a collapse in tourism and an unprecedented economic crisis, public health and basic hygiene continue to be postponed, even in places that should be showcases of the country.
The experience of Esperanzita DC is not just the story of a ruined night; it is a reflection of the structural neglect that thousands of Cubans endure every day. A bedbug on a mattress may seem like a minor issue, until it becomes a symptom of a country that is crumbling, even at its most fundamental level.
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