Havana

[QUOTE=NamasteParis;2120868]And you say also that you spent one week with your novia. I thought local guests were NOT accepted in hotels, and mongers should always sleep in casas. How did you manage this? Did the hotel say anything where you brought your novia in your room? If this hotel is GF, then please tell us which hotel it was.[/QUOTE]My hotel would not allow. Told me I'd have to pay for her for the day just to take her to the pool, didn't bother, did not even ask about the habitacion. She recommended a non descript casa particular, 3 hours for 10 cuc.

[QUOTE=Turgid;2120921]My hotel would not allow. Told me I'd have to pay for her for the day just to take her to the pool, didn't bother, did not even ask about the habitacion. She recommended a non descript casa particular, 3 hours for 10 cuc.[/QUOTE]Thanks for the clarification.

Has anybody been to these bars / clubs in La Habana: Q Bola (coincidentally is the local way of saying "What's up" there), Fusion, Mangos or Sangri-la? I'm about to go back for my 2nd trip in 2 weeks.

[QUOTE=RamoneAustin;2122450]Has anybody been to these bars / clubs in La Habana: Q Bola (coincidentally is the local way of saying "What's up" there), Fusion, Mangos or Sangri-la? I'm about to go back for my 2nd trip in 2 weeks.[/QUOTE]I went to Mango and I think you'd love it. Very much like Don see. But maybe more Chicas. A bit out of the way as its in Miramar. But worth a trip. It was a good option for us the night we went because it stays open later and Don see was so packed that they were no longer letting people in (it was a weekend night) .

[QUOTE=UncleVolodya;2125217]I went to Mango and I think you'd love it. Very much like Don see. But maybe more Chicas. A bit out of the way as its in Miramar. But worth a trip. It was a good option for us the night we went because it stays open later and Don see was so packed that they were no longer letting people in (it was a weekend night) .[/QUOTE]Thanks for the intel Uncle V. Appreciate it. I will make sure to bring more pictures and videos of my upcoming trip to accompany my next trip report.

[QUOTE=UncleVolodya;2125217]I went to Mango and I think you'd love it. Very much like Don see. But maybe more Chicas. A bit out of the way as its in Miramar. But worth a trip. It was a good option for us the night we went because it stays open later and Don see was so packed that they were no longer letting people in (it was a weekend night) .[/QUOTE]What the hell is "don see " ?

[QUOTE=Sammytheman;2125645]What the hell is "don see " ?[/QUOTE]Hey Sam,

I think he meant Don Cangrejo, happens that the program turns the C's into see.

Mondo.

[URL]https://www.google.com/maps/place/Don[/URL]+Cangrejo / at 23.1270999,-82.4223948,15 z / data=!4 m5!3 m4!1 s0 x0:0 xea8 ed1 fa06 e741 ef!8 m2!3 d23.1270999!4 d-82.4223948.

Is it necessary to sig- in a guest when renting a casa particular or to provide information to some authority? I have found several that say guests are okay, but also say they must be recorded. I'm not sure how this works. Can any of you helpful guys out there help me out? Thanks.

[QUOTE=IvyTown;2127299]Is it necessary to sig- in a guest when renting a casa particular or to provide information to some authority? I have found several that say guests are okay, but also say they must be recorded. I'm not sure how this works. Can any of you helpful guys out there help me out? Thanks.[/QUOTE]You answered your own question in the same post that you asked it. Some you do and some you don't. In any place in the world that you rent a room, hotel, apt, condo, house, you follow the rules of that particular place. Or you can always go there and tell them that I said you don't have to sign them in.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2127326]You answered your own question in the same post that you asked it. Some you do and some you don't. In any place in the world that you rent a room, hotel, apt, condo, house, you follow the rules of that particular place. Or you can always go there and tell them that I said you don't have to sign them in.[/QUOTE]Okay, so let me try to ask the question more clearly: Is it unusual for the owner of a casa particular to not ask for the guest of the person who is renting to sign in? I'm trying to separate the exceptional from the general.

Thanks.

[QUOTE]I almost forgot to mention this. An elderly foreigner walking with a young Cuban senorita (20's in my case) will draw attention but not as much as one may expect. I actually saw more foreign women walking with Cuban men. I noticed she was circumspect about entering certain restaurants and was fidgeting with her ID card but there was never a problem. The police were ubiquitous but did not ever pay attention to us.[/QUOTE]The cops are not stupid. They have their regular beat and so do the girls. They know who the regular streetwalkers are and who aren't. They can also pick up clues from how a girl is dressed and how she acts / moves whether she is a regular prostitute or not.

The cops in La Habana knew every girl off La Rampa for e. G. , but several blocks away you could walk around with a girl who wasn't always hanging around there with a cop almost never bothering you. Obviously your mileage may vary, depending on your familiarity with the surroundings, culture and language and certain areas are simply watched/patrolled much more heavily.

Casas:

Unless they have changed the law, any guests entering into your casa is required to be registered. Period. Now, the gap is in the enforcement. The casa may be paying off the inspector or the cops that work the area. From time to time, the government also has a clamp down.

Chicas:

Cops, generally harass the chicas with a gringo whether they are hooking or not. Often they are shaking down the chica. Catire is right in that they are familiar with the barrio chicas but they will stop unfamiliar chicas. A friend of mine was stopped by cops. She bitched them out good and told me after they were looking for a payoff. Same thing happened to a friend and his Cuban wife. In that situation, he found out that some chicas were paying the cops to keep the competition out.

[QUOTE=IvyTown;2127405]Okay, so let me try to ask the question more clearly: Is it unusual for the owner of a casa particular to not ask for the guest of the person who is renting to sign in? I'm trying to separate the exceptional from the general.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]My response is not completely relevant to your question. I will be in Havana next week. That will be the first time staying in Havana. I was on a cruise the only other time I was there. I will be renting an entire apartment in Vedado, near the university. It costs $30 a night. The owner said guests are permitted in the apartment. He did not tell me any restrictions, such as maintaining a list. I prefer an entire apartment because I am a rather private person. When I return, I will write a report with pertinent details. I don't plan to have internet access when I am there.

[QUOTE=FunLuvr;2127541]My response is not completely relevant to your question. I will be in Havana next week. That will be the first time staying in Havana. I was on a cruise the only other time I was there. I will be renting an entire apartment in Vedado, near the university. It costs $30 a night. The owner said guests are permitted in the apartment. He did not tell me any restrictions, such as maintaining a list. I prefer an entire apartment because I am a rather private person. When I return, I will write a report with pertinent details. I don't plan to have internet access when I am there.[/QUOTE]Hey Fun,

Hope you have fun (pun intended) I too will be heading down to La Habana at the end of February. Just want to find out once you come back the contact info for the rental place you'll be staying in.

Let me know via pm if you don't mind if the place passes the test as far as the accommodations and your overall ratings of this apartment, from 1 to 10.

Happens that my usual place is rented on this visit so I'm looking for a place close to La Rampa (23/ L).

TIA.

Mondo.

We should be careful with using terms such as "barrio chica" when this term is not applicable and irrelevant in Cuba.

This isn't East LA.

It's not the Dominican Republic. And not any of the large cities in Latin America.

If you are referring to people from the lower socio economic ladder. Or even a certain neighborhood associated with that socio economic ladder. . this means something different in Cuba than anywhere else.

and the term "chica" to talk about girls is also not often used among Cubans themselves.