A 1928 house that is still a home

The guesthouse

Hostal Familiar Rivalta is a colonial residence built in 1928 on Colón Street, one of the main streets of Santa Clara. It is not an adapted hotel: it is a family home with two rooms ready to welcome guests, with everything that implies in terms of closeness and also of real comfort.

A charming colonial residence built in 1928, on one of the main streets of Santa Clara, just 400 m from Parque Vidal. Enjoy a comfortable, authentic stay in a house equipped with a photovoltaic system, solar panels and backup batteries that guarantee a continuous power supply.

The house keeps its original structure: high ceilings, plaster mouldings, grilles with stained glass on the facade and an interior patio that runs from side to side. That patio is the life of the house — the plants, the wooden chairs, the washing line — and it is where we serve breakfast in the mornings. We have been restoring and modernising without changing what makes it special: the emerald green of the facade is the original colour, and so are the chequered floors of the corridor.

Who welcomes you

The Rivalta family runs the house. We have been hosting guests for over a decade, and in that time we have learned that most people are not looking for an impersonal service, but for someone who explains how the city works, answers a question at eleven at night or stores their luggage on the last day. That is what we do. We are available at all times to meet needs and answer questions, and to give tourist information.

Where we are

Right in the centre of Santa Clara, about 400 metres from Parque Vidal. You can walk to practically everything worth seeing:

Parque Vidal and Teatro La Caridad: 5 minutes on foot
Cathedral and El Mejunje: 8 minutes on foot
Armoured Train monument: 12 minutes on foot
Cigar Factory: 10 minutes on foot
Che Guevara memorial: 2 km (30 minutes on foot or a short taxi ride)
The cay beaches: under 2 hours by car

Our greatest difference

Guaranteed electricity 24 hours a day

In Cuba blackouts are frequent and can last many hours. When that happens, most accommodation is left without light, without ventilation and with food thawing in the fridge.

We installed a complete photovoltaic system — solar panels on the roof and a bank of backup batteries — so the house keeps running normally during outages, day and night.

The system powers the lighting, the fans, the air conditioning and the room sockets, so you can sleep cool and charge your devices without worrying about the grid.

Solar panels installed on the roof of the house
Backup batteries that cover the whole night
Uninterrupted lighting and ventilation
Sockets available to charge phones, cameras and laptops
The room fridge keeps working

The house

Common areas

The corridor with turquoise columns and the interior patio are the spaces guests like most. They are perfect for reading, chatting or simply resting in the shade among the plants.