Hotel National responds to criticism over demolition of historic pool with photo of project

The Hotel Nacional de Cuba has responded to criticism over the demolition of the facility’s historic pool with images of a new construction project.

The day before it was revealed that the hotel’s historic pool was demolished this week as part of an investment in the hotel, which was declared a national monument in May 1998.

Art curator Abelardo Mena was alarmed by this fact and shared a picture on Facebook of the state the pool was left in after the demolition.

This Friday, the management of the tourist center posted on its Facebook profile photos of a new project dedicated to “lovers of the Hotel Nacional de Cuba” and captioned “A project created for our pool!!!” That said.

Likewise, he championed the new design as “an image and consolation prize for a worthy hotel”.

While some appreciated the new plan, others did not They questioned the need to construct a new pond In times of crisis.

“If there is already a pond there, it would be appropriate to explain why it should be demolished to build another pond in the same place. Otherwise, it would be difficult to waste these resources in times of crisis. Thank you,” commented one netizen.

Mena recalled on Thursday that in 1989 the Cuban authorities decided to keep the pool as a historical monument because the personalities They stayed at the hostelSo there is confusion in the decision to destroy it completely.

“There is no need for any such action,” he said.

Luis Miguel Díaz Sánchez, director of the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, announced to the official company at the end of last year. Latin PressIt will be an investment process, which includes the aforementioned pool.

“The capital investment of the historic pool and the total remodeling of the buffet restaurant will begin in January 2023 and be completed by May,” the manager said later, without providing further details of the process.

Opened in 1930, the Hotel Nacional de Cuba is an eclectic Spanish-style building rising on Taganana Hill opposite Havana’s Malecon.

Designed by New York architecture studio McKim, Mead and White and funded by the National City Bank of New York, it features an impressive view of the harbor and part of the city.

In its 93 years, it has hosted prominent guests such as Winston Churchill, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Jimmy Carter, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Weissmuller, Buster Keaton, George Negrete, Augustine Lara, Rocky. Marciano, Tyrone Power, Rómulo Gallegos, Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, Marlon Brando, Ernest Hemingway, Yuri Gagarin, Alexander Fleming and part of the entourage that accompanied former US President Barack Obama.