The Hotel Palacio O’Farril is a gorgeous palatial building which was once the house of Don José Ricardo O’Farrill and O’Daly, an irish immigrant who made a fortune on sugar in Cuba and who founded here one of the wealthiest families of the nobility in the colonial times.
Completely and elegantly renovated, the hotel features 38 rooms today, a cozy inner courtyard with a very old well, an underground original “aljibe” (reservoir of water) and a magnificent skylight on top of it enabling the use of this area, which is the core of the mansion, even during rainy days.
There is also a restaurant, and a snack bar decorated with jazz allegories and boasting on one of its walls a hand written thankful note from Arturo O'Farrill, pianist and director of New York’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, who stayed at Palacio O’Farrill during Havana’s Jazz Festival 2010.
Rooms are attractive and very different one from the other; some feature balconies with views and high ceilings, while others have no windows nor views.
In each floor, there is an attractive sitting area with period related furnishing to sit and read, chat or have a drink amidst tropical plants.
Location is excellent to explore Havana since everything is within walking distance, including the Malecon (Havana’s seaside promenade).