Casa Particular vs Hotel – Advantages Explained

There are countless advantages to staying in a casa particular versus staying in a hotel. Let’s look at the most significant ones:

Casa Particular vs Hotel – Advantages

• Price – Casas Particulares are cheaper per night than hotels. Unless you look at extremes, aka the pushiest casa particular in Cuba versus the crapiest hotel in Cuba. Then it could actually work out in favor of a hotel. As a general rule, average hotel room prices range from CUC$ 50 – CUC$ 200 per night. Average casa particular prices range from CUC$ 20 – CUC$ 35 per night.
• Food – when staying in a casa particular, you can pay extra to have the family cook for you. This type of home made food is often times far more delicious and portions more generous than anything you’d get in a hotel (Cuba is not exactly famous for the best food in the Caribbean)
• Advice – if you opt for staying in a casa particular, you will be staying with normal people who live in the area. They’ll be happy to recommend places to visit and restaurants to eat in when you go exploring. Unlike hotel staff who will simply handle you a tour guide brochure or recommend the most touristy spots, casa particular owners could tell you where Cubans go to shop and eat so you can get regular price service and product. Touristy establishments price their services so as to make as much off of an unaware tourist as possible.
• Friendship – as a guest to a Casa Particular, you can develop a very nice friendship with the family as well as their relatives and friends. Staying in a hotel, all you will meet are hotel staff and other tourists – you won’t make many local friends that way.
• No Restrictions – hotels have many restrictions in place plus one of government regulations prohibits local Cubans from visiting tourists in hotels. Cubans are genuinely nice people and you could easily make awesome new friends out in the street or on a beach. If you’re staying in a Casa particular, you can invite them over without problems. It would be impossible if you were staying in a hotel.
• Support – by staying in a Casa particular you will be directly supporting a Cuban family, not an international multi million dollar company that’s there solely to make money on you. Hotel employees are paid very little by those multi million dollar international corporations that own hotels. You will get service equal to tips you leave. When staying in a Casa Particular, you are already directly supporting the family whose house you’re staying in. You will be treated like king by them; you will truly feel like your stay with them is appreciated. The inner feeling of putting your money to a really good cause can not be beat.

Even though I highlighted several advantages to staying in a Casa Particular, this type of lodging is not for everyone. Depending on your personal preferences, staying at home (even though somebody else’s) may not exactly feel like an ideal vacation to you. More visitors who take vacation in Cuba stay in a hotel than in a Casa Particular. Hotels are often located right on the beach with only a few meters to go to get to the sea; they have private pools and evening entertainment. There are advantage and disadvantage to each of the options. It is up to you to carefully evaluate what exactly you expect from your vacation to Cuba and decide based on your personal preferences. This guide to Casas Particulares is meant to help you with additional options that you may not have been told by about by your travel agent.

Casa Particular vs Hotel – Disadvantages

To be fair, I will list the biggest disadvantage of staying in a Casa Particular – the only method of payment accepted is cash. While many hotels are owned by international corporations, they have the means to offer credit card processing, Casas Particulares are owned by regular Cubans who have limited access to financial institutions and such things as credit cards or travelers checks are a big unknown to them.