NH Hotel Group adds a new destination - Cuba.

NH Hotel Group adds a new destination: Cuba.

Wednesday, 2nd July 2014

Source : NH Hotel Group



NH Hotel Group brings back the emblematic Hotel Capri in collaboration

with the Gran Caribe Hotel Group; With this addition, NH Hotel Group is

reinforcing its presence in Latin America, a core target market, and

delivering on its pledge to offer quality properties in first-class

destinations.



With its era-depicting 1950s style, long considered one of the finest

hotel properties in Havana, NH Hotel Group is proud to add the iconic

Hotel Capri to its portfolio under a joint management agreement with the

hotel group Gran Caribe. Recently refurbished to reflect contemporary

trends without losing its original style, the NH Capri is without a

doubt one of the island's landmark hotels, offering deluxe quality and

service.



The official opening was held on May 9th with the traditional ribbon

cutting by NH Hotel Group CEO, Federico Gonzalez Tejera, and Cuban Vice

Minister of Tourism, D. Alexis Trujillo. Other dignitaries that attended

the Grand Opening were the President of Gran Caribe and the Spanish

Ambassador in Havana, as well as media, tourism stakeholders and

personalities from the cultural, arts and sciences spheres, among others.



NH Hotel Group attaches great significance to this development not only

because it establishes a bond with Cuba, a strategic tourist

destination, and the Gran Caribe hotel group, but also on account of the

growth it delivers to the group's Latin American portfolio.



In the words of Federico González Tejera, CEO of NH Hotel Group: "Cuba

is a strategic market with which we wanted to strengthen relationships

as part of our commitment with Latin America. That is why we are so

pleased about adding the NH Capri to our portfolio and having Gran

Caribe as our partner in this venture. This is not a simple management

agreement, it´s a project that goes beyond that and it involves

preserving the hotel and passing it on cared for and well-kept to the

next generation. And we eagerly accept this challenge."



According to Eduardo Costa de Arriba, President of Gran Caribe: "The

Gran Caribe hotel group, on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, is

pleased to reintroduce to the operation the magnificent Hotel Capri,

this time under the management of prestigious hotel chain NH as part of

an arrangement that will combine the best of both companies to give rise

to the new NH Capri".



Gilles Gonzalez, Managing Director of America Business Unit of NH Hotel

Group also added: "After 15 years in Latin America, with a presence in

10 destinations and solid future projects for the region, we are very

pleased to add the NH Capri hotel to our portfolio, something we know

will be greatly appreciated by consumers. Contributing to the tourism

development of Cuba is something of much importance for us and that we

support with enthusiasm."



The hotel is a 19-storey building with 220 exquisitely elegant yet

simple rooms and is located in the central Vedado district, just a

stone's throw from the popular boardwalk and right in the political and

administrative heart of the Cuban capital. The interior design is

painstaking - the rooms are spacious and boast sea views and views over

the Malecón esplanade, while the furniture and colour scheme evoke the

mood of the second half of the last century - enabling the NH Capri to

conserve its status as Havana's 50's icon.



There are 10 duplexes on the executive floor, as well as a business

centre and an exclusive check-in service, not to mention 2 deluxe

suites, 4 junior suites, 6 superior rooms and a spectacular rooftop pool

on the 18th floor, making it the only hotel on the island to offer these

features. Welcoming, comfortable and functional, the NH Capri is just as

ideally suited to business, events and incentive travel as it is to

leisure trips.



Particular attention has been paid to the gastronomic offering, one of

the hallmarks of NH Hotel Group, in order to guarantee a unique, vibrant

and premium dining experience. Under the steady hand of one of the

city's best known executive chefs, Jesús Rivero, the NH Capri will offer

guests an innovative fusion of Spanish, Mexican and Cuban cuisine.



The hotel has three restaurants which offer dining options that cater to

all tastes. La Florentina provides Italian and international dishes, El

Dorado offers breakfast service for the executive floor as well as a

snack and bar service in the afternoons, while the Anacapri offers a

day-long buffet service. It also has a prestigious in-house bakery and

patisserie run by Olga Lidia Sanchez Arsuaga, one snack-bar, two bars

and 24-hour room service.



On the environmental front, the hotel has worked hard to introduce

sustainable solutions by using technology designed to deliver energy

savings such as water-saving devices in the hotel's baths and showers,

LED lighting and energy-saving bulbs. It is wheelchair-friendly, offers

building-wide Wi-Fi and a spacious gym with large windows looking out

over the Malecón, not to mention a sauna, Turkish bath, massage room,

beauty salon and pharmacy.



The extraordinary level of guest service and its unrivalled location in

the heart of the city coupled with the best value for money, the

strategic pillars of the NH Hotel Group offering, complete what this

iconic hotel, a landmark in Havana and Cuba, has to offer.



Architectural heritage



The Hotel Capri is one of Havana's three emblematic hotels. On account

of its history and faithful representation of a bygone era, it shares

the honour with the Hotel Nacional and Hotel Riviera, already declared

national monuments.



The restoration of an emblematic hotel such as the Capri to its former

glory embodies the philosophy of both managers, Gran Caribe and NH Hotel

Group, of respecting and preserving architectural heritage in order to

clearly link tourism to local culture to create a mutually enriching

guest-city experience.



Pieces such as the chandeliers in the lobby, appliqués and the statue of

Aphrodite, also declared national heritage features, make this building

uniquely rich in cultural value.



In parallel, extending the commitment to promote local culture, the

hotel has been acquiring contemporary works of art by Cuban artists

which are on display at the hotel.



History of Hotel Capri



Built in late 1957, it was managed until the revolution by Charles

Tourine (The Blade), who ran the nightclub, and Nicholas di Costanzo

(The Fat Butcher), who managed the casino.



The hotel was inaugurated in high style on Thanksgiving Day in 1957, an

event attended by Hollywood star George Raft, the ambassador for the

casino and cabaret, who personally greeted guests at the main entrance.



Hotel Capri quickly became an icon in Havana, even to the point of

becoming a playground for American gangsters and other renowned

personalities. The hotel was even mentioned in the Godfather, the famous

film inspired by the Mario Puzo book.



Other stars of the silver screen, such as Errol Flynn, were regular

guests at the hotel and well-known movies such as Carol Reed's Our Man

in Havana and Mikhail Kalatozov's I am Cuba shot several scenes at the

hotel, specifically by the rooftop pool.



In its heyday, the Capri was one of the great hotel and casinos. Today

it is one of the three most architecturally important hotels in Havana.



Source: "NH Hotel Group adds a new destination: Cuba. ~ Wednesday, 2nd

July 2014 from 4Hoteliers" - http://www.4hoteliers.com/news/story/12762