Casa Hostal Girassol

This hostel is an absolute gem. It is located within walking distance of the old area and surrounded by warm, welcoming people. We often went for nightly walks, as it is very safe and we loved glancing into the homes to peek into the lives of the locals. Many of the locals greeted us with warm smiles and if only we had spoken Spanish, we would have understood their greetings. The hostel has three bedrooms, each that have a locking door. We rented the entire hostel, putting my older parents on the first floor, my older sons in the first room on the second floor and ourselves with our younger boys in the second bedroom on on the second floor. Both my parents' bedroom and ours had a loft with additional beds, plus a large private bathroom for the bedroom and a washroom with a closeline and additional large sink - great for rinsing beach gear or snorkeling equipment (open air). My older sons' bedroom did not have a loft, and we noticed the AC could cool that room to quite cold as a result. (COLD! in Cuba!) Both of the upstairs bedrooms have slats in the windows and this was wonderful to let in cool night air, and to air out the bathrooms instead of using the AC. Each bedroom comes with at least one rotating fan, so wonderful to have. The bathrooms each have very large shower with a bench and powerful water, not a drizzle. Each bedroom had a large "mini" fridge that came stocked with beer, water, sodas for a minimal charge. We requested 5 L bottles of water for refilling our water bottles, to use to brush our teeth, etc and these were quite reasonably priced and delivered to our rooms as needed. (We are from the desert and used to drinking a LOT of water.) The downstairs of the hostel has a table that we used one night for playing cards when the breeze on the deck upstairs kept lifting our cards. We loved sitting out on the deck that overlooks the city and the quiet street below, this is where we would congregate to talk, read, relax. So the building is set up very wisely to allow you quite a bit of private room, but also wonderful areas to be together. With that, what really makes this hostel stand out were the people who ran the building. During our stay we had a wonderful, positive, glowing young woman who spoke some English from 7 pm to 7 am (there is always someone in the hostel) and her name was Dagney. After a few verbal miscommunications we began to use iTranslate to make sure all of the necessary information was being understood and this eliminated our small issues in communication. (When we needed taxis in front of the hostel, if we needed AC, dinner orders, etc.). Each morning Alexis would come and prepare us breakfast to order. Wonderful omelets, bread, fruit, expressos... being with Alexis in the morning was always the best way to start our day. She and I also used iTranslate to communicate. (After I messed up the expresso EVERY morning three mornings in a row, I taught her how my husband and I say that we can't make coffee before we have coffee) Now- normally she or Dagney would make the espresso for the guests, but there were 8 of us and I wanted to help out. (At the time of our visit, there was no American coffee maker, only the espresso maker, but Alexis would heat up a huge beautiful tall pouring pot of cream to add to the expresso for us - I was addicted!) The owner, Alberto, would check in to see to our needs in the morning and often the evenings as well, also making our needs met, a VERY gracious host. We would disappear for the day usually, only to come back to Amarylis, the evening cook, whom I called Madame Chef, and her amazing dinner each night. So MUCH food every night, we tried to order less and less as we just couldn't eat it all! Amarylis' bean soup appetizer was my favorite, but all of my boys prefered her vegetable soup with spaghetti noodles. Both were full of flavor and I miss them still! Then the choices of pork, fish, chicken, lobster.... generous portions of such delicious Cuban entrees. And the prices!! Everything was so reasonable! We would gorge ourselves on dinner, salads, fresh fruit (the sweetest white pineapple!) and out would come ice cream, cookies and espresso. We only ate lunch out, we couldn't see eating anywhere else. Amarylis was another gem in this house - not just a great chef, but such a wonderful person (allowing my boys to sneak into the kitchen to grab the chips of sweet potato or plantains she was frying). This hostel hasn't just invested in the warm inviting walls, but also in the lovely women who host you throughout the day, they made this hostel our home away from home. On our last day, Alberto's son, Adrian joined the group. He had been on vacation during our stay and his English is excellent. He and I had a very honest conversation about health care and I saw where chatting with him would have been more than a glimpse into Cuban life. I cannot suggest staying here strongly enough, this hostel MADE our trip to Cuba. Unless you are a party-ier, then go somewhere else so the rest of us can sit back and enjoy this Cuban gem.