Santa Clara - A Monumental Place

Santa Clara’s pistachio-coloured Hotel Libre still bears the bullet marks from the battle that ultimately saw Castro and his rebels seize power from the American-backed Fulciago Batista in 1959. It towers over the city, offering the best view of Santa Clara that money can buy but the plain truth is that the city’s most famous hotel leaves a lot to be desired. I’m reviewing it here under nightlife as I haven’t stayed in the hotel (fortunately we stayed in a lovely casa particular with a wonderful lady) but I’ve visited both the roof top terrace bar and the restaurant. By reading what I think about the bar and restaurant, readers can probably make a judgment about whether to risk the hotel.

The Santa Clara Libre is in the heart of the city on the Plaza and the colour and height mean you really can’t miss it. We entered the reception area and made our way to the lifts but the lift attendant explained that we had to get a piece of paper to allow us to go up to the bar. Down a narrow corridor we found a humourless woman who demanded our passports (and a small fee); we had to leave our passports with her, exchanging them for a piece of paper we should show at the lift.

We crammed into the lift and waited with baited breath while it made hard work of the trip to the top. Actually it wasn’t quite to the top, we had another couple of short flights of stairs to climb before we came out onto the rooftop. Immediately on you right is a small bar but service is at your table and there were a handful of plastic tables and chairs around the "terrace". To be honest "terrace" is pushing the description. This really is just a roof top with a pretty high wall around it. There were no potted plants that might have made the place look a bit more attractive and there were cigarette butts on the ground.

We were excited and wanted to look at the views straightaway which displeased the waiter who came to serve us. A couple of Cuba Libres seemed appropriate and the drinks came after a few minutes which seemed an excessive wait as there was only one other table occupied. The drinks were OK, they tasted vaguely of alcohol but we a bit bland compared to drinks we’d been served in other places. They were also more expensive.

The view is pretty good - but beter for taller people as the wall is a little too high and there are ugly grilles too: you can see right across the city and out as far as the mountains. I don’t know that the view is worth what happened next. I asked where the toilets were and was directed a couple of flights down. I should have guessed by the smell. The door to the single cubicle toilet was open and the most terrible stench of urine was coming from it. However, when I pushed open the door I could make out in the dim light (the light did not work – for this I was thankful on this occasion) that the toilet was full of excrement which either could not or had not been flushed. I tried to flush but nothing happened – it seemed to me that there wasn’t even any water in the cistern – which would not be uncommon in a state-run hotel.

I decided I’d wait until we went somewhere else and made my way back up the stairs. On the way I passed a maid and I tried to tell her the toilet was disgusting – she simply shrugged.

The following evening we were looking for somewhere to eat but hadn’t been able to spot a paladar and nobody had approached us to invite us to one. In the end we decided to try the restaurant at the Santa Clara Libre. There was no-one at the entrance to the dining room so we popped our heads inside and tried to work out if we should just take a table. Suddenly a waiter appeared and looked us up and down. He asked if we had a reservation; we told him we didn’t and he directed us to a smaller room and pointed to a table – one with a dirty crumb-covered cloth. A menu was presented – I’m not sure why as every dish we tried to order was unavailable. We asked what they did have – unfortunately for my partner there was nothing vegetarian although "eggs" were offered. We were about to reluctantly agree to the only things available when the waiter asked if we wanted to go to a paladar; he asked us to wait while he made a phone call and a minute later he told us to wait outside where his brother in law would pick us up in a black Lada. A few minutes later we were enjoying a wonderful evening in a fabulous backstreet (illegal, as there was no sign on the door) paladar we’d never have found ourselves.

Would I recommend the Hotel Santa Clara Libre? Well, it is a national institution but other than the views it doesn’t have much going for it. My advice would be not to bother; there are nicer places to get a drink and to eat. However, if you are looking for a paladar, a discreet word with the waiters in the restaurant might be a good idea!

See the enormous monument to Che Guevara and the underground memorial to the heroes of the Revolution, in particular, those involved in the battle for Santa Clara.

Have a mojito at the roof-top bar of the Hotel Santa Clara Libre and see for miles. Enjoy an ice cream at the Coppelia café, or have one while sitting in the city's very European Parque Vidal, a square with a bandstand!

Walk the short distance the treno blindado to commemorate the site where the rebel soldiers derailed a good’s train carrying government troops.

Go shopping Cuban-style! Santa Clara was the best place for shopping, even if it’s not quite as we know it!

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Santa Clara is just the right size to explore on foot, although you may want to take advantage of a taxi or horse-and-cart if you're arriving at the municipal bus station and need to get to the centre of town with heavy luggage.

Neither of the two guidebooks we had with us really helped us locate El Tren Blindado (The Derailed Train), but with the help of the locals, it was easily found within a 5- to 10-minute walk from the centre of Santa Clara.

Be aware that while the guidebooks all say this sight is free, you will be approached and asked to pay 1 convertible peso, which, given what is here, does not seem unreasonable.

The carriages you see are supposed to be the very ones making up the train that was carrying Batista's troops when it was derailed thanks to a plan masterminded by Che Guevara in 1958. However, they just don't look old enough - I reckon they are purpose-built ones made to look like the originals, but, hey, I'm probably just too cynical.

Inside the carriages is an interesting display of photographs from the time with captions in Spanish and English and a few exhibits of items belonging to the rebel soldiers who were taking part in the sabotage.

Next to the carriages is a small bull dozer-type vehicle that was used to push the train off the tracks, again newly painted and looking very fresh and new.

Keen students of English may approach you here and (for a small donation, of course) give you a more in-depth history of the events surrounding El Tren Blindado.

While there is not much here to keep you more than 30 to 45 minutes, it is interesting enough to make time for and the photographs are worth seeing. It seems a little fresher than many Cuban "museums," somehow without the stuffiness and long-windedness often attached to historic sights in this country.

Across the road there is a small kiosk selling the usual Che-related knickknacks as well as some quite interesting books.

The Che Guevara memorial is the must-see of Santa Clara - an impressive monument bearing a statue of Che in classic military pose atop a series of huge plinths, set in a huge plaza. Opposite the memorial are a series of hoardings, each one bears a typical slogan of the revolution - these ones celebrating the life and ideal of Ernesto Guevara. In front of these is a paved parade ground (marches are held every year here to commemorate the revolution and the death of Guevara) and then - bizarrely - two lanes of traffic cut across the plaza (though the traffic is usually light) and you come to the memorial.

What is great is that you can climb all over the memorial (the steps are high though) and there are inscriptions in various places (in Spanish but with English translations next to many of them). Most poignantly is a black block on which is engraved the words of Guevara's final letter to Fidel Castro in which he re-affirms his beliefs and talks of his admiration for the President. If you move round to the rear of the memorial you can go in to the mausoleum where not only Guevara but other revolutionaries who perished in Bolivia alongside Guevara are buried. The tombs look almost alike - this is a "classless" system after all - but there is a tiny shaft of light glinting about Guevara's tomb. The mood is sombre and reverential - photography is not permitted inside the mausoleum. I saw this as a kind of pilgrimage and was disappointed by those people who were not respecting the atmosphere by talking loudly and having to be asked not to film.

Next door to this is an exhibition space devoted to Che Guevara in particular but with special emphasis on the Bolivian campaigns and on the importance of the battle of Santa Clara to the Revolution in Cuba - however, most key exhibits are housed in Havana. One rather amazing exhibit is the photograph of Guevara disguised as a Peruvian diplomat which was used on fake documents intended to get him to Bolivia. This is a serious though celebratory monument to Cuba's most famous adopted son. it is not a "tourist attraction" which is meant to entertain, nor is it the place to buy souvenirs. It was, perhaps, the most memorable part of my trip to Cuba - a place for Cubans to remember the man who gave so much not just for them but for other peoples in countries where he travelled to continue his work. It is a humbling experience to visit the mausoleum of such a great man. Entrance to the museum and mausoleum is free.