After years and years in which Cuban travelers inside the country were forced to sleep over at friends, the Castro government has finally decided to allow the island’s citizens to check into Cuba’s hotels, which were previously reserved only for foreign travelers.

The hotels employees confirmed that from now on, Cubans wishing to stay at any type of hotel will be allowed to reserve rooms as long as they have an ID and will pay in hard currency, the same as foreign guests.

The new decision is the latest in a row of liberal moves made by the government of the Communist country, now run by the new President Raul Castro, Fidel Castro’s younger and more open- minded brother.

Recently, Cubans welcomed the end of bans on buying mobile phones, computers or DVD players, which were considered as symbols of capitalism by the popular dictator Fidel Castro.

Up to this date, the only Cubans that could have checked into hotels were those that were recently married and were on their honeymoon, along with distinguished workers and students, who were allowed to stay in hotels as a prize for their activity.

Until 2006, 750.000 Cubans had checked into hotels, pouring around 57 million dollars into the country’s economy. Nacional, Victoria, President and Melia-Habana hotels have already announced their availability for Cuban citizens.


The reform is a part of Raul Castro’s attempt to renounce at “excessive” bans and rules that ran the country for almost 50 years. The 76- year- old brother of Dictator Fidel Castro took over the lead of the country at the end of the previous year, being voted by the majority of Cubans.