A Cuban identified as Leuryz Garcia posted a video on Facebook showcasing her day experience at the Miravana Terrace, of the Iberostar Parque Central Hotel in Havana, where the cover charge for entry to the pool costs 10,000 Cuban pesos, of which 7,000 can be spent on food and drinks.
"The best day pass in Havana right now is this hotel, and I won't debate that with anyone," the author stated in the video, describing the pool located on the top floor of the hotel as "super clean, a very family-friendly place, and very peaceful."
The Terraza Miravana opens at ten in the morning and closes at six in the evening.
Payment can be made by card or in national currency, and the author notes that if managed well, the 7,000 CUP for consumption is sufficient: "So far, everything we had ordered, and I still have 1,800 pesos left from the cover charge."
Garcia especially highlighted the culinary offerings: "The pizzas stole the show. It’s been a while since I had such delicious ones. They have great quality, generous portions, and very fair prices."
He also recommended the sangria and warned that the pool water is cold this season.
However, the price of the cover highlights the brutal economic gap that exists in Cuba.
The 10,000 CUP is equivalent to about 19 dollars at the official informal exchange rate in April 2026, set at 525 pesos per dollar.
But in terms of the real purchasing power of Cubans, the figure is devastating.
The average state salary in Cuba was around 6,830 Cuban pesos in November 2025, while the minimum wage remains at 2,100 pesos per month.
This means that a single entry to the pool at the Iberostar Parque Central costs between 1.5 and almost five times what a Cuban worker earns in a month.
Independent economists estimate that the actual cost of living in Cuba exceeds 50,000 pesos per month per person, including food, transportation, and basic services, making this type of outing an absolute luxury well beyond the reach of most of the population.
The phenomenon is neither new nor isolated. In 2023, Iberostar Parque Central itself offered nights in national currency at prices of up to 33,000 CUP, equivalent to more than ten times the monthly minimum wage.
The three-star Palma Real Hotel in Varadero charged 16,500 CUP per night in 2025.
And GAESA hotels such as the Palacio de los Corredores have been reported for not accepting Cuban pesos or cards in freely convertible currency, requiring only foreign currency.
The trend reflects an increasingly pronounced duality in Cuban tourism: facilities that nominally accept Cuban pesos, but at prices that the vast majority of Cubans cannot afford, while the peso continues its accelerated devaluation against the dollar, which went from 24 pesos in 2021 to 525 in April 2026.
"Miravana Terrace is a place you can't miss visiting," concludes Garcia in his video, although that recommendation is only accessible to those with incomes well above the average state salary.
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