After Frequent Price Hikes, Cost of Visiting Cuba Is Finally Coming Down Mimi Whitefield - Miami Herald
go to original February 26, 2017

NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Amy Guttman looks at the growing hospitality industry in Cuba (PBS NewsHour)

Travelers checking into Cuban hotels and dining at Havana’s more upscale private restaurants since the U.S. rapprochement with Cuba have experienced more than a bit of sticker shock.

Since the Obama administration’s opening to Cuba allowed more Americans to travel to the island most travel-related costs have jumped 100 to 400 percent, said Tom Popper, president of insightCuba, which organizes tours to Cuba.

But what goes up usually comes down.

Mandated prices for state agencies and hotels are scheduled to drop for the spring and summer seasons, said Popper. Different tour operators receive their rates from the Cuban government at different times, but Popper said the new prices quoted to insightCuba will result on average in a $250 savings per traveler on a six- or seven-day trip this spring and summer.

“The question was for how long were prices going to increase or stay at artificially inflated levels,” he said. “This is the first time we’ve seen costs come down, instead of up, in three years.”

The trend had been up, up, up.

Rates for standard rooms, which averaged around $150 a night at some popular Havana hotels before the Obama opening, climbed to more than $600 last year. A junior suite at the Hotel Saratoga is listed at $605 a night during the first week of March. And the new Kempinski luxury hotel, which is slated to open in Havana later this year, recently announced that rates at the Gran Hotel Manzana would start at $600 during the November to March high season and at $400 from April to October.

Though bargains exist for the traveler willing to seek them out, many visitors are surprised to find North American prices when they dine at some of Havana’s better paladares, or private restaurants.

“Prices are still incredibly high, given the quality of the offerings. However, they have come down about 25 percent for March/April/May compared to November/December of last year,” said Collin Laverty, president of Cuban Educational Travel, which organizes group travel to Cuba.

Read the rest at Miami Herald

Related: Airlines Downsizing Service to Cuba Due to Low Demand (GrindTV)

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