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What is a casa particular?
Your best accommodation option in Cuba is the casa particular, which is basically a private home licensed to let out rooms – and sometimes entire apartments – to tourists in return for a fee, which the homeowner gets to pocket as private income. Of course, to be able to let out his rooms in the first place (legally, only up to two although some casas breaks the rules), the homeowner has to pay the government tax, which varies according to district – anything from 150 to 300 CUC (comparable to the $USD) – which is payable whether or not he receives guests.

How did this bit of private profiteering come to find its place in Cuba’s communist landscape?
Because foreign tourists had to find a way out of the government’s restrictions on having Cuban guests over in their state hotel rooms, and there are no privately-owned hotels in Cuba.

And why were there restrictions on tourists having Cubans in their hotel room? Now that’s due to the phenomenon called jiniteras in Cuba. The word jinitera comes from the jineta, which means horsewoman or jockey, and I suppose people regard jiniteras as sort of like ‘prostitutes’ but with a softer sell. They are women who are looking for foreign sugar-daddies with dollars, willing to trade their favours not so much for money per se but a piece of the high life – and if it leads to a marriage proposal and a flight to the United States or Europe, even better. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge though – I don’t agree with it but to be fair we don’t know how hard it is to live in Cuba (having a holiday, or even living there as a tourist expat, is different). Also this jinitera phenomenon is not particular only to Cuba, but appears in many underdeveloped and developing nations where women look for richer foreign men to marry them and whisk them away to a better life. And if you think about it, it’s not so very different from the average woman who marries for money. The only difference, I suppose, is that Cuba is a sexually permissive country, much more than any other. After all, there’s the old Cuban joke that sex is the only thing el jefe can’t ration. And the phenomenon might have started out with a female emphasis, but equally, jiniteros exist – so girls, don’t be too ready to fall in love.

This state of things eventually led to Cuba’s reputation as a hot spot for sex tourism, which incited a backlash from the Cuban government ain 1996 Cubans were barred from tourist hotels to prevent sexual relations between Cubans and foreigners. That was when the demand for casa particulares began. Christopher P. Baker, author of Moon Guidebook Cuba, noted that if a Cuban guest stayed over at your casa particular your Cuban host was obliged to record your guest’s name and ID details and send it to the Ministry of The Interior (MININT), which is responsible for the country’s internal security. The ministry would then run your Cuban partner’s name through a computer database, and if her name appeared three times with a different man, she was arrested as a ‘prostitute’ and imprisoned. It is not clear if these draconian rules (and others that police relations between Cubans and foreigners) are still in place but to play it safe, if you happen to meet a Cuban that you fancy and something develops, tread cautiously so you don’t get your partner or your hosts into trouble.

And now?
Two years ago Raul Castro lifted the ban on Cubans staying in hotels but it took time for the Cubans to be able to afford them – until now when the economic slump meant that the government had to look to local tourists to keep things going. The casa particular, however, remains the choice of accommodation for most travellers as it works like homestay and you get a closer, more intimate view of the daily lives of the Cubans you live with if you take the time to talk to them.

List of recommended casas particulares:
So after that long definition of casas particulares and how they came into existence, here are some casas I stayed in while I was in Cuba, and one or two more I would have liked to stay in which seem to come highly recommended. All rooms costs between 15 and 35 CUC per night but there is usually room for negotiation (-/+ 5 CUC). Parking is sometimes available (though not necessarily free) and meals can be prepared for you by your host. Breakfast is sometimes included in the price but if you want dinner you’ll have to pay extra. Laundry can also be done for you for a fee.

Some things you should take care of when reserving casas particulares:

• If you have reserved a casa in advanced, make sure you check with them a day or two before to confirm that they still have your reservation. Sometimes they give it away.

• If you haven’t got places reserved in advanced and are travelling freely and only finding a place to live when you come to it, the easiest way is to use your phone (yes phones roam in Cuba!) and call for availabilities while you’re having lunch or on the way on the bus, but during high season in popular places (Havana, Trinidad, Santiago) you run the risk that a lot might be full, and calling will also run up your phone bill (A LOT). But if you’re going to do it anyway, using your roaming mobile dial 011 + 53 + Area Code + Tel. More help at howtocallabroad.com/cuba/. Note: telephone numbers listed below already include area codes.

• The other way is just to meander about looking for houses with a blue sign like an inverted anchor on the front door – they are licensed casas particulares. Not all casas post up this sign though so if you don’t find any or they’re all full, ask around for others. However, note that if you arrive at a casa with a guide in tow, it might be that s/he gets a commission off what you’re paying – which means you end up paying more than you would without him.

• In some places, once you get off the bus upon your arrival you will be overwhelmed by Cubans touting their casas descending upon you like a big suffocating wave– it does really feel like that. Trinidad is a prime example because it’s got about 300 casas and competition is high. Trust me, it is very difficult to ignore them, and if you let slip who you are looking for or which house you are trying to find, they will tell you they are the person you’re looking for or that they’ll be able to direct you to the house you want, and it might be that you believe them and end up some place completely different. This can be very tiring and extremely invasive (don’t overestimate yourself or underestimate them thinking you can just ignore them), but try to keep your good humour anyway.

Note about reading the listings below:
‘e/’ stands for ‘between’, ‘y’ for ‘and’ and ‘esq’ for ‘corner of’

Havana – Old Habana

Casa Particular Eugenio & Fabio
San Ignacio  #656, e/ Jesus Maria y Merced
tel. 07/862-9877
Highly recommended. Great breakfasts. And you will be amazed by the abundance of antique collections.

Casa de Luis Batista
Amargura #255, e/ Habana y Compostela
tel. 07/863-0622

Havana – Vedado District

Casa de Fifi
Calzada #508, e/ D y E
tel. 07/832-3133, email: fifiacosta@yahoo.com

Casa de Jorge Coalla Potts
Calle I #456, Apto. 11, e/ 21 y 23
tel. 07/832-9032; cell 5283-1237; email: jorgepotts@correodecuba.cu
www.havanaroomrental.com

Cienfuegos

Casa de Andrés Ranero
Av. 10 #3707, e/ 37 y 39
tel. 043/51-7993

Santa Clara

Case de José Ramón
Máximo Gómez #208 altos, e/ Berenguer y Yanes
tel. 0422/20-7239; email: joseleys7@webcorreo.co.cu

Trinidad

Casa de Isabela Irarragorri
Juan Manuel Márquez #32B
tel. 0419/3918

Casa Colonial Muñoz
Calle Martí #401 esq. Santiago Escobar
tel. 4199/3673
http://casa.trinidadphoto.com/

Holguin

Casa de Rosa Libertad #35, esq. 24
tel. 024/42-4630; email: rosama@aldia.cu

Santiago de Cuba

Casa de Arlex Rojas
San Francisco #303, e/ Hartmann y San Bartolomé
tel. 022/62-2517; email: arlexjorge@yahoo.com
Run by two gay owners who are very sociable.

Casa de Abel y Milagros
Jagüey #164, e/ Padre Pico y Corona
tel. 022/65-9320
This is highly highly recommended. Great food, great host. Kate is an English woman and she runs the place and is very knowledgeable about many aspects of Cuban life. Ask her a question and she will tell you plenty.

Piñar del Rio

Villa Las Vegas
I don’t have an address for this as we found it spontaneously. As you enter Piñar del Rio from the east, keep walking on the main road Martí westwards until you reach the end of it where it leads into a more rural setting. Go along a little more and you will see the casa. What I loved about the casa was that they welcomed us with cool refreshing fruit juice and kept asking us if we wanted more. And the women are great cooks – best yucca I’ve ever had!

Matanzas

Casa Evelio
Calle 79 #28201, e/ 282 y 288
tel. 45/24-3090; cell 5281 4966; email evelioisel@yahoo.es
http://casaevelio.awardspace.com/
Highly highly recommended. Great cooking, but more than that. The host is absolutely delightful – a booming, welcoming man with a penchant for jokes.

Online Directories

And finally, here are some casas directories to help you search for more:
http://www.casaparticular.info/ **
http://www.cubaparticular.com/
http://www.bedincuba.com/
http://www.casaparticularcuba.org/

If you’d like to recommend casa particulares you’ve stayed in or alert travellers to other issues they should know about, leave a comment please.