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