Hotel Mercure Sevilla Havane

"Beautiful old hotel but rude front desk staff"

5th May 2012, cherft, Melbourne

Courteous check-in staff on the first day we arrived, personalized visit from hospitality desk w a courtesy large bottle of water (would have preferred the frig to have been stocked, though).Fabulous old style room bedroom. Great view over the old city, towards the lighthouse and the gulf to the north. Overall a really beautiful hotel, albeit quite run down.Minimalistic toiletries - a bar of soap would have been good. Very odd placement of the toilet seat - so close to the right wall one has to sit side-saddle! And need telescopic arms to reach the toilet roll fixed to the far wall.Back to the front desk to ask about WiFi and local tours: they could care less - totally unhelpful. Lied about the availability of Internet passwords, and only after i did the angry bear act, did they unlock the safe to produce one for me; not worth the effort in the end, the PCs were from Gate's teenage period.Looks like our 1st impression was very wrong with repeated incidents of front desk rudeness. Other staff at the Patio Bar, Roof level Habana Bar, maids, etc were very courteous and helpful even if somewhat clueless about customer service norms.The warning "You don't come to Cuba for the food" is certainly true in the hotel, even in the 9th floor VIP restaurant to which we were 'invited' (dunno why - may be my Mercure Silver status). However we did find a number of bars in the old city whose fare was pretty acceptable - particularly after a couple of Mojitos. The Sevilla bars & restaurant have superb musicians playing a superb selection of Afro-Cuban musical styles.So - forget the rude staff and forget the poor food but stay a couple of night ONLY here to experience ancient "Colonial" Cuba

Management responseThe hotel is about to conclude the proccess of renovation of his rooms included bathrooms. Since june 2011 all furniture have been renewed : rooms, restaurants and Lobby.At the same time we proceed to the hotel renovation, about to finish, we keep going training and preparing our staff in order to improve our quality standards of all our services. In that way, we hope to reach the expectations of all our guests with the well knowed Caribbean Hospitality.
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"OK for a Cuban hotel"

18th April 2012, Danielle458, London, United Kingdom

Having stayed in other Cuban hotels and found they are graded above what they deserved I expected this four-star hotel to be about a 3 star which it was. Service was OK - Patio restaurant staff nice enough except the overpriced food we ordered once never actually came and when we asked after it we were told it hadn't been ordered - no apology, but I have found this typical of Cubans. Later in our trip we saw the same thing happen to another family - we didn't get as irrate as they did as we just left and ate the same thing down the road for a third of the price. Reception staff were nice. There is a Cadeca exchange and a Cubanacan tourist bureau on-site which is brill.

Management responseAt the same time we proceed to the hotel renovation, about to finish, we keep going training and preparing our staff in order to improve our quality standards of all our services. In that way, we hope to reach the expectations of all our guests with the well knowed Caribbean Hospitality.
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"Havana"

14th April 2012, London, United Kingdom

We had stayed at an 'airport hotel' for 2 days prior to this due to the Papal visit - so to be in old Havana was very appealing. Originally I had tried to book the Parque Central but, due to the said Papal visit, this was not available. We did dine there however and I have to say that it is a cut above this hotel in, from what I saw, every department - notwithstanding the price premium at the PC compared to this.The Sevilla was OK by Havana standards - that is not a deliberate dig but Havana hotel standards do not generally match those worldwide. Room was very quaint. Biggest bugbear was that the aircon failed for the final two nights (out of 4). We were assured that it would be repaired but it never was - even in March the room became very uncomfortable. Complaint to CEO pending.Second biggest bugbear was the music band looking to sell CD's and to obtain tips - put the band in your pricing for goodness sake!!Food OK, but generally poor throughout Cuba - not interested in the merits of political systems and accountability for that, just stating the bald facts.Generally staff service OK but some do not understand the concept of a 'service industry' - I don't expect people to die for the cause but neither am I there with the sole objective of providing you with employment, do some work (and the tip system is based on level of service - like in the USA, maybe some have misunderstood the concept!)

"one night at Habana"

18th March 2012, Düsseldorf

excellent location, nice old building, rooms very comfortable, nice colonial furniture.Service in the top garden restaurant could be better, no water, wine was served after the starter

Management responseThank you very much ! Your comment makes us happy and motivate us to improve our Service which we will offer to all new guests who will give us the opportunity to welcome them during their next vacations in our hotel.At the same time we proceed to the hotel renovation, about to finish, we keep going training and preparing our staff in order to improve our quality standards of all our services. In that way, we hope to reach the expectations of all our guests with the well knowed Caribbean Hospitality.
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"Acceptable"

19th May 2011, Vancouver

We stayed at the Seville for 4 nights at the end of 2 weeks in Cuba (small group tour of western Cuba, plus time in Cienfuegos). We had stayed in a range of hotels and casas inclucing two nights a the Plaza Hotel in Havana at the beginning of the trip, so I write this review being fully aware of the typical non-resort accommodations Cuba. The good: This was to be the "luxury" portion of our trip but I booked early on line, and paid just under $100 /night Canadian. We had asked for a view and lucked into a room (really a suite) (room 722, I think) with two tvs, a little fridge, great water pressure and a very clear view of the water/fort. The pool downstairs is beautiful, clean, cool, lots of chairs that were not broken. Room was very clean, toilet sort of worked and Accor seems to actually be trying, it was obvious there had been a lot of updates in the last few years. The "meh"/bizarre for a top tier hotel: First room, the in-ceiling AC continually poured water through the DROP ceiling/cupboard. It did only take 4 phone calls and two trips to the front desk before we given a new room (one floor up, with almost as nice a view, but unfortunately perpetually smelled of sewer gas. We mentioned to the front desk and were met with the standard "es Cuba" shrug). Pool had beautiful change rooms, bathrooms, sauna etc, except 80% of the toilets were out of order, the three "working" were like any other public toilet in Cuba (no TP, etc.). Wish the pool bar had been open late enough (no food after 5, no drinks after 6) to take advantage of it after a day of wandering in Havana. Fine for what we paid, but there seems to be a big range of rates.

"Good location, but a few hitches"

12th February 2011, Toronto

Location good. 100-year old historic hotel. Expensive. First room: door did not lock, and toilet did not flush. They gave us another room, where everything worked, but no toilet paper nor tissues. Coffee in the morning buffet was cold, and milk curdled. Evening lobby entertainent good. Staff friendly. For the price ($174 CUC per night) I would have expected things to work a little better.

"Hotel Sevilla"

5th January 2011, claireinlondon1, london

The hotel Sevilla is a beautiful old colonial building in the heart of Havanna, and the service is always fantastic - the staff are so helpful and friendly. It's not always easy to find ingredients in Cuba but you wouldn't know this by staying at the Sevilla - the breakfast spread is fantastic, and dinner was good too.

"Great location and great service"

30th December 2010, Brisbane

The Hotel Sevilla is in a great location - I stayed there at the beginning of my stay and at the end of my stay in Havana. The rooms are large although the water pressure varies from room to room as does the noise factor (try to avoid a room next to the elevator) There is wifi if you have your own laptop which is very fast or you can use the computers in the lobby area. The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful although the meals in the lobby don't offer a lot of variety. It doesn't really matter though as the location means that you are so close to other restaurants. Can recommend breakfast on floor 9 looking over Havana to the sounds of the guitarist.