Gallivanting Isadora: Return to Havana.......to the Hotel Ambos Mundos

We had intended to stay in a Casa Particular, the Casa Blanca, when we returned to Havana. The place looked delightful online and I am sure it would have been.....however after we passed it a few times on the Malecon we weren't sure about staying there...........

It says there are sea views from two bedrooms....but as there was only one window on the side wall and the front ones would be the living room space.... it looked as though the bedrooms were on the floor above and we were going to have to climb up 2 floors ...... quite a climb, with suitcases.
We had not appreciated before being in Havana how high the ceilings of most buildings are......first floor meant usually going up to a height of 20+ feet......
So we cancelled! But only after having a definite booking at a hotel in Old Havana.....which was difficult as all were sold out!
Apparently, since the beginning of the year, hotel bookings there are up 250%, as tourists want to see Havana before it changes!
We would have been happy to return to our first hotel the Palacio San Felipe..... however it was fully booked and therefore not a possibility!
Our only choice, because of last minute cancellations, ended up being either a Junior suite at the Saratoga.....very, very expensive...or the Ambos Mundos.
We knew exactly where the Ambos Mundos was located and it was half the price, 1CUC=$1

..... so we elected to take that reservation. And when we saw the location of the Saratoga, which is not centrally located in Old Havana,we were happy with our decision!
The Hotel Ambos Mundos was where Ernest Hemingway stayed while he started writing 'For whom the bell tolls'....... he actually stayed there for 7 years!

We were in the room next door......

...the room was quite nice, if a little tight! But that may have been because we had been in a huge room the prior two nights!

However the room Hemingway had occupied was on the tourist route.....
so getting on the very old 90 year Otis elevator was a challenge......

mitigated by the tour guides who persuaded their tourists to walk up 5 floors......and presumably end up in the roof bar for a mojito!

Judging by the crowd in the downstairs bar they needed one also when they got back to the ground floor.......

The bar area was delightful after the day tours finished.....

... with music......

The room in the hotel was absolutely fine......and the roof area for breakfast was great....... an outdoor room with a view....

On our last day, when we woke up in the morning, we had no water...absolutely none!
We thought we would have some water after breakfast.......NADA!
And by the time 'check out' arrived still no water to the hotel! We felt sorry for the people checking in.......
But we did see a delivery of water just down the street in the afternoon......

The delivery was to the Paladar Los Mercaderes, where we had eaten twice...... definitely to be recommended!
Apparently the lack of water affected the whole of Old Havana and it is not an unusual occurence to have water delivered.......

Around the corner from the hotel we found a delightful coffee place.....

Those of you who know me will realise why we found it interesting! I mentioned to the waiter why we were enticed to come in and his response was...'Is that a real name'!!!