Cuba - Lonely Planet [309]
Forty-five-minute horse & cart tours can be arranged at the Cubanacán desk in the Hotel Royalton for CUC$4 per person.
Festivals & Events
Bayamo’s quintessential nighttime attraction is its weekly Fiesta de la Cubanía on Saturday at 8pm. This ebullient and long-standing street party is like nothing else in Cuba. Set up willy-nilly along Calle Saco, it includes the locally famous pipe organs, whole roast pig, a local oyster drink called ostiones and – incongruously in the middle of it all – rows of tables laid out diligently with chess sets. Dancing is, of course, de rigueur.
Sleeping
CASAS PARTICULARES
Rooms are spread around, but Calle Pío Rosada a good place to start looking.
Villa Rose Mary ( 42-39-84; reas61@gmail.com; Pío Rosado No 22 btwn Ramirez & Av Aguilera; r CUC$25; ) Don’t be fooled by the name, Ramón’s the man in charge here and his house is kitted out like a mini hotel with two bedrooms, big baths, safe security boxes, and a patio/roof terrace ripe for a spot of afternoon R and R. Get Ramón to brew you up a cafecito and quiz him on his excellent local knowledge.
Dolores Masán Sosa ( 42-29-74; Pío Rosado No 171 btwn Parada & William Soler; r CUC$25; ) The freshly painted mint-green facade lures you toward Dolores Sosa’s house on Pío Rosado. Proceed up the outside staircase, past the well-polished relic of Detroit in the car port, to where two rooms with an independent entrance and an interconnecting door (if required) enjoy pride of place above the street action below. If it’s full, try Frank Licea Milan ( 42-58-16) at No 73 or Juan Valdes ( 42-33-24) at No 64.
HOTELS
Hotel Escuela Telégrafo (Formatur; 42-55-10; Saco No 108; s/d CUC$15/20; ) Always a good bet for budget travelers, the Telégrafo is one of Cuba’s best hotel escuelas (hotel schools) staffed by students learning the ropes in the tourist trade. This one is housed in a beautiful old colonial building on busy Calle Saco where big shuttered windows open out onto the street. Rooms are basic but clean, service is suitably perky, and there’s a decent restaurant adjacent to the bustling lobby downstairs. Ask here about the possibility of taking Spanish lessons.
Hotel Royalton (Islazul; 42-22-90; Maceo No 53; s/d CUC$26/33; ) Melting in with the colonial ambience of Parque Céspedes, the Royalton is Bayamo’s best hotel – and best bargain. The 33 rooms, though small, are cozy and well maintained with the four at the front opening out over the leafy central square. Downstairs there’s an attractive sidewalk terrace and the Plaza restaurant, and you can sunbathe in private on the roof. Handy water machines furnish the corridors.
Villa Bayamo (Islazul; 42-31-02; s/d CUC$30/35; ) This out-of-town option (it’s 3km southwest of the center on the road to Manzanillo) has a definitive rural feel and a rather pleasant swimming pool overlooking fields at the back. Well-appointed rooms are in a larger main block or detached cabins off to the side. There’s a reasonable restaurant on-site.
Hotel Sierra Maestra (Islazul; 42-79-70; Carretera Central; s/d CUC$36/41; ) Check before you jump in the pool here – there may be no water in it. With a ring of the Soviet ’70s about the place, the Sierra Maestra hardly merits the three stars it professes, although the rooms have had some much-needed attention in the last three years and the coffee and TV reception are better. Three kilometers from the town center, it’s OK for an overnighter.
Eating
There’s some unique street food in Bayamo, sold from the stores along Calle Saco and in Plaza Céspedes. Aside from the places reviewed here, you’ll find decent comida criolla (Creole food) in the two city-center hotels, the Royalton (left) and the Telégrafo (left), both of which have atmospheric restaurants.