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Doña Isabel
"La Giraldilla"
Bed & Breakfast
The B&B Doña Isabel is an intimate boutique hotel, family-run, with five rooms. The cozy rooms combine modern comfort with the antique flavour of the furniture to offer our guests a perfect stay.
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B&B Doña Isabel
La Giraldilla
The B&B Doña Isabel - La Giraldilla is located a few steps from the Piazza del Cristo built in the 18th century, which is one of the five main squares of the historic center and is located near the great Capitolio, in the heart of San Cristobal in Havana. The B&B occupies the main floor of an eclectic style building from the end of the 19th century.
Doña Isabel combines the charm of the characteristic B&B set in the heart of tradition and the intimacy of the family home. In its rooms you can breathe the timeless charm of the traditional Cuban farmhouse. All the rooms have been recently restored: while maintaining the structural originality of the house, the beautiful "vitrales", the original windows, the very high wooden ceilings and the wonderful marble floors and colorful traditional tiles. Large rooms have been created with private sanitary facilities and all modern comforts. Double and triple rooms and an elegant suite with private sitting room are available to guests.
The welcoming internal patio is a relaxing corner in the midst of tropical greenery where you can enjoy a good mojito or a fresh aperitif. Together with the overnight stay, a tasty, healthy and genuine breakfast is offered.
The kind staff of the B&B is available to meet particular needs of guests or for those who need an extra pampering we will serve breakfast in the room.
All rooms have private bathroom, telephone and wi-fi card, hairdryer, safe, air conditioning and fan.
Services
What can you find in Doña Isabel "La Giraldilla"
We offer our kind guests:
• Welcome drink / coffee
• Overnight stay
• Private bathroom in the room with shower, clean towels and hairdryer
• Breakfast with local and international products
• Only for the suite a private minibar and a flat screen television
On request:
• Breakfast service in the room
• Wake-up service
• Typical Cuban or Italian dinner upon reservation
• A selection a variety of movies
Extra Services:
We want our welcome guests to make the most of their time, which is why we provide some extra services that can facilitate their
stay and visit the city, for example:
• Tourist information and guided tours in the historic center
• Booking of routes in classic and historic cars
• Laundry and ironing service
• Guarded parking space for a fee
• Telephone service for local and international calls
• Telephone recharges for local mobile lines and internet.
The staff is always available to advice and give useful information to improve your stay.
Around
The B&B Doña Isabel "La Giraldilla" is located in the center of Old Havana, in a strategic position to quickly reach all the main places of interest that the city offers its visitors. With a short walk you can easily reach:
- Plaza del Cristo
- Plaza Vieja
- Plaza Catedral
- Plaza de Armas
- Plaza San Francisco de Asis
- Capitolio
- Central park
- Gran Theater of Havana "Alicia Alonso"
- Teatro Martì
- Manzana Kempinski (antigua Manzana de Gomez)
- Bellas Artes Museum
- Museums of Old Havana
- Malecòn Habanero
The most famous snack bar in Havana today:
- Floridita bar-restaurant
- La boteguita del Medio
Plaza del Cristo
The Plaza del Cristo, also known as "Parque Bernaza", was the last of the five squares built in the historic center of Havana. It was built next to the ancient chapel of Calvary, wherein the 17th century the processions of the Via Crucis
that departed from "Plaza San Francisco de Asis" along the Amargura road ended.
In 1732 the current church was built, a magnificent example of Baroque colonial architecture, known as “La Iglesia del Santísimo Cristo del buen viaje” (Church of the Holy Christ of the good voyage) which preserves its beautiful vitrines and the colored wooden ceiling. In its architectural surroundings, "La casa del Obispo" and the house of "La Parra" stand out.
This square is very lively in the afternoon and in the evening, where locals gather especially to play the classic "Dominò".
One of the nicest and most characteristic snack bars in Havana, El Chanchullero, overlooks the square. The B&B Doña Isabel - La Girardilla borders the Teniente Rey artery which goes directly to "Plaza Vieja", one of the busiest in Old Havana.
The beaches
Starting from the B&B Doña Isabel, a few minutes by car you can reach the beaches located east of Havana, while about 120 km away is the magnificent and renowned beach of Varadero, which can also be visited in a day. From the nearby Central Park there is a tourist shuttle available for 5 MLC (round trip).
Shopping
In
Old Havana, there are several stalls selling local handicrafts that can become pleasant thoughts for your friends and family to take home. In the Central Park, near the Doña Isabel B&B, are the Manzana Kempinski galleries with a wide range of cigar shops and luxury products.
Be surprised!
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"THE GIRALDILLA"
A
love
story!
It doesn't matter to us Cubans if "La Giraldilla" is just a weather vane! For us, it is the symbol of the San Cristobal of Havana. We like to think that it represents Isabel, the Penelope of the colony, the one who waited a long time for her beloved Hernando de Soto and who died of love. She was our first and most beautiful Governor, her name was Doña Isabel de Bobadilla. Carlos I king of Spain appointed Hernando de Soto, rich Spanish conqueror, "Capitàn General de Cuba y Adelantado de la Florida". Isabel, intelligent and beautiful, a Spanish noble girl, married Hernando de Soto in 1537. She arrived in Cuba in the port of Santiago on 7 June 1538 and then left in August with a splendid fleet of five caravels to go to Havana.
At that time, the villa of San Cristobal housed a few white families, the service staff was formed by the "Indios naborìes", black and Indian slaves, a priest, and a sacristan.
Hernando de Soto was the promoter of the construction of the first fortress of the Villa of San Cristobal. One day, it was 1539, Hernando de Soto had to leave for Florida with nine ships, nine hundred men, and three hundred horses in search of the "Fountain of Youth "on the edge of the Mississippi, where however he died without finding it.
For the next 7 years, young Doña Isa bel served as Governor of the island of Cuba, the first woman in America to hold such an important role.
The legend tells that the beautiful Isabel waited for the return of her beloved, looking out from the window of the lookout tower of the Real Fuerza Castle, which was then the Governor's home, always looking to the horizon while waiting to see the ships that would take her beloved home. She died corroded by bitterness for the vain waiting for the return of her dearest Hernando.
Years later, a local artist, Martìn Pinzon, sculpted a bronze statue inspired by Isabel's fidelity; the Governor of the time called it "La Giraldilla" and had it placed at the highest point of the castle tower.
Even today that is the unparalleled symbol of the Villa of San Cristobal in Havana.
CUBA MAGIC ISLAND
"This is the most beautiful island that human eyes have ever seen". This sentence is reported, dated 28 October 1492, in the navigation diary of Christopher Columbus. "The pearl of the Caribbean", this is how they immediately called this wonderful island.
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