When in Cuba

When you land at José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, it’s like traveling back in time. To a time without any particular security measures. It seems that all the security measures we had to go through in Paris before we boarded the plane that was to take us here have also been forgotten by the flight crew. Here, arrival and departure are mixed in such a way that you can easily join the outbound departure of the plane you arrived on if you are not careful. At least it felt that way. I’m pretty sure I saw a goat in the departure hall. The air is hot and quivering as we board a taxi that will take us to the hotel. The taxi is a Lada and not at all an old American car from the 50’s, which I had almost expected. The taxi takes us along the coastal road Malecon to Hotel Nacional De Cuba. The car windows are down and the fresh sea breeze and some of the saltwater hit both the car and us in the back seat.

I can smell palm trees, cigars and cedar as we exit the taxi. Inside the reception it is crowded. Not that there are that many people, but they abound in such a way you see in anthills. Some carry trays of drinks, some push trolleys with luggage while others are on their way in, out or up the room, out to the garden. The whole entrance area with reception and crowded area is quite impressive with its at least 8 meters to the ceiling. The ceiling appears as massive dark wooden beams and all the interior such as cabinets, furniture and reception desk captures and enhances the feeling of being inside a huge humidor. With my interest in architecture, I am, as usual, staring up at the massive wooden ceilings that I eventually think must be painted on for dramatic effect, and it works!

Hotel Nacional De Cuba opened on December 30, 1930, and thus managed to celebrate New Year’s Eve and the arrival of 1931. The layout of the Hotel Nacional is based on two Greek crosses, giving the majority of the rooms a view of the ocean.

Our room on the 8th floor consisted of two rooms; a bedroom with bathroom and a living room and another bathroom. From the garden flowed delicious Cuban rhythms from a band playing on the terrace facing the sea. Although it was relatively calm, the waves crashing over the Malecon created a wonderful atmosphere along with the smells, the music and a newly opened bottle of Champagne. The sheer curtains moved slowly with the wind and the rhythms and created a cool effect after a relatively long and humid journey.

On the way out to the terrace we stopped by the cigar shop. We bought a pair of Cohiba Esplendidos. When in Cuba… We got a lovely table on the edge of the patio and ordered two Mojitos. The combination of Cohiba, Mojitos, the music, the waves and the cool breeze made me think of the stories that have been told here and about this hotel throughout its history. Back in the heydays from the 1930s to the 1950s, Cuba was a playground for the rich and famous. Politicians, writers, actors, and all sorts of artists. Johnny Weissmuller, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Hemingway, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Walt Disney, Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper and my old hero Marlon Brando to name a few. What a party that must have been!

I loved Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in The Godfather – and there is an episode in Godfather II where Michael Corleone attends a conference that actually took place at the Hotel Nacional De Cuba on December 20, 1946. The Havana Conference was a meeting between the American mafia families, the Cosa Nostra, or our cause. The conference was organised by Charles “Lucky” Luciano and the purpose was to discuss common mob policies, rules, and business interests.

I can hear Hyman Roth´’s monotone voice as I close my eyes and take in the music and humming on the patio; There was this kid I grew up with – he was younger than me. Sorta looked up to me – you know. We did our first work together – worked our way out of the street. Things were good, we made the most of it.

This was a great man – a man of vision and guts. And there isn’t even a plaque – or a signpost – or a statue of him in that town! Someone put a bullet through his eye. No one knows who gave the order – when I heard it, I was not angry; I knew Moe – I knew he was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead – I let it go. And I said to myself, this is the business we’ve chosen – I did not ask who gave the order – because it had nothing to do with business!

Everything was business when the 1946 conference laid the groundwork for organised crime in the United States for several decades to come. An interesting piece of information is that when WWII started, Luciano was serving a 30-50-year prison sentence for pandering. He was pardoned at the end of the war due to a deal with the government: if Luciano and his family were able to protect docks and other shipping facilities in New York and other East Coast ports from Nazi sabotage during the war he would be pardoned. And the rest is history as they say.

Anyways, as I sit here enjoying my Cohiba and Mojitos, the atmosphere mixes with all the stories I have read and heard about this hotel. Now it’s my turn to enjoy this historic place and create new stories here.

As mentioned, the hotel opened just before New Year’s Eve in 1931, and the day after tomorrow we will celebrate New Year’s Eve here. We have tickets for a cabaret show that will be even better than the Moulin Rouge!

Cuba is a magical place where new stories are created every minute!