Cuban woman stays at the Capri Hotel: "This felt more like a motel."

Hotel CapriPhoto © Cubanet/Ernesto García

The Cuban content creator Cyntia Garcia posted a video on Facebook in which she describes her stay at the Hotel Capri in Havana as the worst experience she has had in a Cuban hotel, featuring images of walls stained with humidity, a dilapidated gym, and a restaurant without soft drinks.

"I stayed at the worst hotel in Havana, and the worst part is that no one forced me; I went there of my own accord," says the author at the beginning of the video, which has garnered thousands of views and hundreds of comments.

The room, as he reports, had only sheets, two towels, and basic toiletries. "We literally had the sheets, two towels, and the basic hygiene products they usually provide; they didn't even leave us a bottle of water," he points out, concluding that the room "looked more like a motel than a hotel room."

The walls showed various stains of humidity, a detail that the author documents with images taken on the second day of her stay.

The gym was the image that impacted her the most. "The ceiling had a lot of mold, and there were even some holes. When I entered the gym, I was left speechless. The equipment looked quite neglected, and in my opinion, both the structure and the ceiling were in very poor condition," she describes in the video.

The basement restaurant, where lunch and breakfast are served in buffet format, also fell short of expectations: no soft drinks—only lemonade—limited variety, and food that, in the author's words, "didn't seem like much to me." The pool on the 18th floor, although offering a view, felt "rather small" and expensive for what it provides: around 20 dollars per day with three dollars of consumption included.

The comments from other users on the post reinforce the testimony. "That hotel is awful, terrible food, the ceilings in bad condition, the rooms are horrible. As you said, not even a motel," wrote one. Another was more concise: "I had the same experience at that hotel. No words."

El Capri is one of the most emblematic hotels in the capital. Inaugurated in 1957 in El Vedado, it reopened in 2014 under the management of NH Hotels —a subsidiary of Minor Hotels— with 200 rooms and a four-star rating. However, in February 2026, Minor Hotels confirmed its departure from Cuba, leaving the management of Capri and NH Collection Victoria amid the collapse of tourism on the island.

The establishment had previously been involved in other controversies. In October 2025, neighbors reported that the hotel was hosting a party with loud music at its pool while the surrounding neighborhoods experienced blackouts lasting over 12 hours. In 2022 and 2023, it was criticized for denying entry to Cubans or making them wait for breakfast until foreign guests had been served.

The video by Cyntia Garcia is set against an unprecedented tourism crisis. The regime acknowledged in July 2026 that 73% of the country's hotel facilities are closed and that about 25,000 workers are on standby. Between January and April of this year, Cuba welcomed 328,608 international tourists, which is a 55.8% decrease compared to the same period in 2025, with a hotel occupancy rate of 21.5%.

"Without a doubt, of all the times I have stayed in hotels in Cuba, this has been my worst experience," concludes the author, inviting her followers to draw their own conclusions.

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CiberCuba Editorial Team

A team of journalists committed to reporting on Cuban current affairs and topics of global interest. At CiberCuba, we work to deliver truthful news and critical analysis.