Introducing the Telegrafo Hotel La Habana
IAN STALKER
Spain’s Axel Hotels has opened a Havana property that it says makes it a pioneer in a city that it says is undergoing a noticeable shift in attitudes.
Axel’s hotels are designed to make LGBTQI+ travellers feel at home and the company now has 18 properties, 16 of them in Europe, another in Miami, and the Telegrafo Hotel La Habana, its first in the Caribbean.
The adults-only, 63-room Havana hotel opened in historic Old Havana in 2022, becoming the first in the city to primarily cater to the LGBTQI+ community.
“We understand that it’s not for everyone,” Telegrafo Axel La Habana front office manager Belen Santana Rodriguez said during May’s FITCuba show, Cuba’s annual tourism event. But she added that Havana residents were curious not hostile when her hotel opened proudly displaying the Gay Pride flag on its exterior, which she said is a reflection of changing attitudes in a Latin destination. “It’s an open-minded place. We are inclusive and we want everyone to enjoy our hotel.”
Indeed, Cuban tourism minister Juan Carlos Garcia Granda said during FITCuba that LGBTQI+ travellers will be welcome in Cuba. “The Cuban population has not been taught to hate.” Cuba is also home to a gay-themed resort on the island of Cayo Guillermo and the country is now courting gay travellers.
Santana Rodriguez — whose FITCuba stand was decorated with the Gay Pride flag — said Havana has limited gay nightlife but her hotel has drag queen shows, which are popular with guests. The hotel will also soon open a Havana-area beach club that will have daily parties, and if demand warrants may add rooms to it.
