Accommodation
in Baracoa
Our experience
at the casa particular of Dennis Rodríguez
Link
a la versión en español
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[Presentation]
[Photo-album] [About
Baracoa] [About
Cuba] [Address]
[Private
entrepreneurship in Cuba]
Dennys Rodriguez: drg.gtm@infomed.sld.cu
or call + 53.21.641.373
Welcome to this
web page. In August 2001 we visited Baracoa, a city in Guantánamo
province
(eastern Cuba), where we stopped for some days. We had a very good time
staying
at Dennis Rodríguez's and have decided to share the experience with
you. Dennis
and his wife Rafaela own a very nice, clean and comfortable house in
the centre
of this genuine cuban town where they rent rooms to the tourists.
Perhaps the
main difference with respect to common "casas particulares" in Cuba
is the privacy and independence that the guest can get. The rooms are
located
on the second floor, with direct access from the street, and they
provide you
with the keys so that you can get in and out at your will. The
Rodríguez couple
are very friendly, generous in hospitality, and always have time to
enrol in an
interesting conversation about Cuba, its history, or the beauty of
Baracoa's
surroundings, while enjoying a fresh beer or a cup of coffee together.
We
strongly recommend this outstanding place if you go to Baracoa. If you
do,
please tell Dennis you knew about them in this page, so that they can
assess
how effective this publicity is. Here's their address and some
highlights:
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Address (see this map): Sr. Dennis
Rodríguez Guilarte Calle Rubén
López # 86 (Between
Limbano Sánchez and Ramón L. Peña) Baracoa Gauntánamo
Province CUBA Telephone:
+53.21.641.373 Look for
Baracoa in the south-east of this Cuba
map. |
Highlights: Clean, nice
and comfortable. Friendly
atmosphere. Two rooms, both with
private bathroom, air conditioning, fan, and television. Refrigerator
full of cold drinks. Car keeping
available. Meals served. Open all
year through. Quiet area,
10 minutes walk from Baracoa's center. |
Following, you'll find commented pictures of the house with some information (for updated pictures and information see this nice website created by Roksolana and Johnny in 2010).
Enjoy your
trip!
Lluís and Núria
(click the
pictures to see them
larger)
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The owners,
Dennis Rodríguez and Rafaela Ferreira, at the main entrance. |
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Top of the
staircase, before the room area. |
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A pleasant hall
in front of the rooms. The big refrigerator -not shown- full of fresh
drinks and an effective fan cooler are of great help to escape from the
hot wheather outside. |
One of the two rooms. Both rooms have private bathroom, air conditioning, fan, and television.
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The beautiful
terrace on the top of the house provides a wide view of Baracoa. |
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Another view of
the terrace. |
And,... the Toa
river. Just ask Dennis for the best swimming places he knows around.
They are beautiful, safe, wild, and very clean. |
Another view of
the Toa river. We don't have a picture of the other river, the Duaba.
Don't miss the Charco de la
Pinya in this second river, with fantastic swimming
surrounded by palm trees! Dennis will show you how to get there. |
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If you come by
car, no problem. Arquímedes Navarro, the friendly neighbour in front,
will take care of it all night long. (He's the second from the right.) |
Like Baracoa,
many medium-sized cities in Cuba have a Casa de la Trova, a cultural
house were you'll find music, performances, poetry reading and so on,
all day long. |
The wonderful
beach of Playa Maguana, 22 km northwest of Baracoa, is one of the
country's most perfect, palm-fringed white sand beaches. |
Private
entrepreneurship in Cuba
Since 1993, when
it became legal for Cubans to have dollars, a booming market in private
accommodations has emerged, and visitors now have the option of renting
rooms in
Cuban homes in most towns and some beach areas. This has become one of
the most
popular forms of private entrepreneurship in Cuba and, also, one of the
few
permitted. Despite the amount of tourism in the island, homeowners have
considerable difficulties in pushing such a business forward. They must
pay a
monthly licensing fee of between US$100 and US$250 per room depending
on the
area, whether they have guests or not. It costs the operator another
US$45 per
month to post a sign outside the house advertising the availability of
rooms,
and an additional fee must be paid if off-street parking is provided.
To have
an idea of the quantities, just consider that the average salary of a
cuban
lies between US$10 to US$13.
Finally,
if the owner decides to suspend the license temporarily, there are
extra costs
and various bureaucratic barriers to starting up again.
Disclaimer:
This page expresses the opinion of their authors and is not official
publicity
of the house it describes. The information is given as, hopefully, an
aid to
the traveller, but the private house owners have no responsibility
neither on
the information given herein nor on the opinions expressed by the
authors of
this page. Moreover, although the authors have tried to make the
information on
this web page as accurate as possible, please note it is provided 'as
is' and
they accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience
sustained
by anyone resulting from this information.
Last updated
on March 2010
Please
contact Lluís and Núria for any comments on this page.