A big task considering was a beautiful city now mostly in ruins unless Unesco has provided some funds, This is my native capital City, the city where I spent a great part of my very early life until 10 years old, For family or business was lucky to visit it in 1984, 1998, and 2012 , This City is Havana or La Habana or the full name San Cristobal de La Habana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. This is my Habana and would like to share some of the emblematic hotels which visited with my parents as a boy and later visits, This is the Hotel Riviera, Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The Hotel Riviera is located at corner of Avenida Paseo de Marti (old del Prado) y Malecon ,Centro district, Overlooking the sea, The hotel was built in 1957 and still retains its original 1950s style. It has 21 floors and 352 rooms. It is currently operated by the Spanish chain Iberostar and the dictatorship..
A twenty-storys modernist building, curved so that all the rooms have a view of the sea. At the foot of the twenty floors with turquoise reflections, the entrance to the hotel is marked by a daring duo in love with a human and a seahorse. The reception desk of the Hotel Riviera is surmounted by three magnificent gilded bronze clocks, in local, European and American time, The staircase unfolds like in a musical, in the middle of turquoise and gold scrolls, under a dome lit by a very graphic bronze suspension. In the first three years of its founding, the following stayed and performed there: Fred Astaire’s dance partner, artists such as Jean Stewart and 1950s heartthrob William Holden. World boxing champions Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Cuban boxer Kid Chocolate, actors such as César Romero (Cuban-Spanish born in NYC) , and American film noir gangster George Raft were also hosted.
As this was my dear late father Elio hangout when young ,and I was taken there by my mother very early and later visited in 1998,and 2012. Let me give you a brief description of this wonderful Hotel Riviera !
The 1st Salon, has massive stone tables, the elegant metal sideboards and the gold mosaics serve as pedestals and settings for the marble sculptures, The 2nd Salon between a palm tree and a partition with motifs freely inspired by the art of the Taïnos Indians, relaxation and daïquiri in original furniture in ivory and gold lacquered wood.
The restaurant L’Aiglon offers dinner dances a tribute to the brief passage in these waters of the forces of the Emperor Napoleon. The paintings are inspired by a theatrical set by Valentine Hugo, The old cabaret In the old Copa Room, a cabaret (the copacabana song by Barry Manilow) inaugurated by Ginger Rogers, now the Palacio de la Salsa, huge birds of paradise fly on the walls, as spangled as the naked dancers.
From the top of the three-story diving board overlooking a more than Olympic swimming pool, Johnny Weismuller, swimming champion and incarnation of Tarzan in Hollywood, paraded for starlets and wealthy clients. The swimming pool restaurant has on the walls the Al Fresco, fish and starfish dance in front of surviving furniture signed Saarinen.
The official ibercuba on the Hotel Riviera : https://www.ibercuba.com/en/hotels/la-habana/habana-riviera-by-iberostar/
The pictures all date from 1998 and 2012, when I made a business and pleasure trips to introduce to my family there to my French wife Martine and boys, which they enjoy much (1998). One more post down memory lane, many moments spent with the family now almost all gone from there. One of them was the Hotel Riviera. I was the first one out 52 years ago !!, Havana is a city to fall in love for no matter what period of time in history you may choose to visit. Enjoy the ride into nostalgia land. Again, hope you enjoy the post as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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