Hotel Nacional de Cuba - Havana, Cuba
Posted by: 
Torgut
N 23° 08.567 W 082° 22.899
17Q E 358546 N 2559996
The Hotel Nacional de Cuba is one of the most iconic hotels of Cuba, opened in 1930.
Waymark Code: WMPE8N
Location: Cuba
Date Posted: 08/17/2015
Views: 16
This hotel was built in 1930 on a small hill in the neighborhood of Vedado. On the same spot there was a coastal artillery battery, installed there since the 18th Century. Some parts of the military facilities were left, as remnants of the past.
It was designed and built by a New York firm, McKim, Mead and White. Accordingly to Wikipedia (and as a matter of fact):
"In December 1946 it hosted an infamous mob summit run by Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky and attended by Santo Trafficante, Jr., Frank Costello, Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese and many others. Francis Ford Coppola memorably dramatised the conference in his film The Godfather Part II."
(
visit link)
After the Revolution of 1959 the casino was shutdown by the new Government and the hotel became property of the State. Basically the tourism came to a halt and the only guests were diplomatic personnel and a few people coming from former Soviet block.
During the missile crisis of 1962, Fidel Castro installed here the crisis management HQ, and perhaps because of this there is a small private museum in the museum about this delicate moment of History.
In the 90's the hotel was renovated and it's now a great place to stay in Havana. Some of the famous guests:
Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Weissmuller, Buster Keaton, Jorge Negrete, Agustín Lara, Rocky Marciano, Tyrone Power, Rómulo Gallegos, Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, Marlon Brando and Ernest Hemingway.