Santiago de Cuba is building its first hostel

Right in the heart of Santiago de Cuba’s historic core and just a few yards from the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Park, an old mansion is getting a new lease on life to become the city’s first-ever hostel.

The building –an elegant representative of the eclectic architectural style of the early 20th century to be run by tourist company Islazul- is now undergoing a profound refurbishment marked by different interior redesigns to outfit it with housing accommodations, offices and guesthouse conditions.

The hostel stands out for its large windows, fine wrought-iron grates and double-staircase facade featuring a small centerpiece balcony and marked by predominant curve lines.

Even though it’s just a one-story building, the mansion is perched atop tall buttresses way over the level of San Basilio Street, right in the heart of the city.

Alicia Rodriguez, head of the Tourism Service Enterprise (EMPRESTUR) in Santiago de Cuba, pointed out the refurbishment process will not touch the house’s original structures like plaster-decorated high ceilings and ceramic-tiled interior walls.

A team of workers from EMPRESTUR is making over the highly comfy 8-room building to turn it into the very first hostel this tourist circuit in eastern Cuba has ever had.