CubaPLUS Magazine

This December 28 marks 95 years since the legendary Hotel Presidente of Havana was founded , located on Calzada Street No. 110, corner of Avenida de los Presidentes, in the heart of the central neighborhood of El Vedado and a few meters from the famous seafront avenue Malecón. But the old hotel, today renamed Roc Presidente due to its current manager, the Spanish chain Roc Hotels, in the middle of Havana is simply the Hotel Presidente for the national passerby, accustomed to seeing it almost as part of the landscape for a long time.

It was born and is there, it seems, until eternity, the construction of a building initially called Gato - after the surname of its owner, Don Francisco Hidalgo Gato- built between 1925 and 1927, with a height of 10 floors. With 158 rooms, including two suites, the beautiful building of eclectic architecture, painted many years ago from the vermillion and cream colors, conceived by the architects Eduardo Tella and Son, and belongs to the Cuban Chain Great Caribbean.

They say that at the time of its opening it was the tallest building in Havana or the city's first skyscraper urbanized towards the west with great speed. They also say that its baptism ceremony was attended by the sadly famous president Gerardo Machado, who opened symbolically the main door using a golden key, a gesture very much in tune with the lavish style of the Cuban dictator.

Since its opening, the Hotel Presidente impressed everyone for the quality of its service and the elegant style of its decorations, treatment of the service staff and know-how. It had elevators, a swimming pool, a majestic lobby at the entrance, very neat rooms, the services of the Chez Merito restaurant and a staff attentive to demands and customer requests.

After several renovations, necessary before the passing of time and due to the requirements of modernity, the Roc President maintains the line of elegance and quality, of comfort, in the service of a clientele, mainly in the fundamental lover of what is stable, of what is beautiful and eternal, what we understand by classic.

Congratulations to this representative of good taste and distinction, endowed with a labor collective and a regency that has known how to inspire you, to celebrate this beautiful anniversary with a cultural and recreational program worthy of its name and trajectory.