Casa Particular Tips

by • Casas Particulares, Travelers

  • If you???re interested, you can arrange a home stay in Cuba consisting of either a private room (often with private bathroom) in a home, or even a small semi-attached apartment. In Havana, costs range between CUC 25 and CUC 40 a night. This is a per room and not a per person cost. Outside the capital they tend to be slightly less expensive.
  • By law, only two adults can stay in one room in a home stay. A third can stay only if s/he is under 16 years of age.
  • If you stay in a home stay, you???ll need to show your passport and Cuban visa to your host, who is responsible for registering you, within one day of your arrival at your home stay, with local immigration authorities. Your Cuban host will only need to note down the essential details of your passport, but will need to take your visa to show to immigration when s/he registers you. This will normally be returned to you quickly.
  • You should be aware that most double beds in Cuba are standard size; queen- and king-size beds are few and far between. As well, a standard single-size bed in Cuba tends to be narrower than in many other countries.
  • If you wish, you can usually arrange to have meals prepared by your host. Costs vary depending on what you wish to eat. Some home stays have menus prepared showing what???s available as well as prices.
  • In most home stays, guests are asked to put toilet paper in the waste basket rather than in the toilet, as Cuba???s older sewage system and smaller pipe sizes can???t easily handle the overload.