Hotel Sevilla

for the hotel in Algeciras see Hotel Sevilla (Algeciras)
Hotel Mercure Sevilla Havane
Original 1908 wing of Hotel Sevilla
General information
Location Calle Trocadero #55, Entre Prado y Zulueta
Cuba Havana, Cuba
Opening March 22, 1908
Management AccorHotels
Technical details
Floor count 10
Design and construction
Architect José Troya, Antonio Rodríguez and José Rodríguez, Schultze & Weaver
Other information
Number of rooms 178
The 1924 tower wing of the Hotel Sevilla-Biltmore, 1931

The Hotel Mercure Sevilla Havane is a historic hotel in Havana, Cuba.

History

The Hotel Sevilla opened on March 22, 1908.[1] It was a four-story Moorish Revival structure, designed by architects Arellano y Mendozaon, located on Calle Trocadero, next to the Paseo del Prado, between the Malecón and Parque Central. The Sevilla was bought by John McEntee Bowman and Charles Francis Flynn in 1919 and renamed the Hotel Sevilla-Biltmore. In 1924, Bowman-Biltmore Hotels constructed a huge ten-story tower wing, with a rooftop ballroom, designed by noted New York architects Schultze & Weaver.

In 1939, the hotel was purchased by Italian-Uruguayan mobster Amleto Battisti y Lora.[2] The Sevilla-Biltmore's casino was closely associated with Havana's mafia network, being part-owned by Santo Trafficante, Jr. Mobs destroyed the casino in early January 1959 as Fidel Castro's rebel army overtook Havana, and Amleto Battisti took refuge in the Uruguayan embassy.[3][4]

The hotel was also featured in Graham Greene's novel Our Man in Havana as the location where the protagonist joins the British secret service.

The hotel is owned by the Cuban state-run Gran Caribe hotel group. It has been managed since 1996 by the French Accor chain,[5] first under their Sofitel division as the Hotel Sofitel Sevilla Havana,[6] and more recently under their Mercure Hotels division as the Hotel Mercure Sevilla Havane. Accor announced plans in 2017 to renovate the Sevilla and transfer it to their boutique MGallery by Sofitel division.[7]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.hotelsevillacuba.com/the-hotel-history
  2. ↑ Hotel Sevilla - The Hotel History hotelsevillacuba.com
  3. ↑ Batista and Regime Flee Cuba; Castro Moving to Take Power; Mobs Riot and Loot in Havana New York Times January 2, 1959
  4. ↑ Peter Moruzzi's Mid-Century - Family Feud: Havana vs. Las Vegas in the 1950s. Part 2 petermoruzzi.com December 9, 2011
  5. ↑ https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/travel/havana-staying-it-was
  6. ↑ http://www.ascecuba.org/asce_proceedings/the-role-of-the-united-states-in-the-cuban-economy/
  7. ↑ http://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2017/1/29/cubas-1st-us-standard-based-five-star-hotel-is-about-to-open

Coordinates: 23°08′25″N 82°21′30″W / 23.1404°N 82.3583°W / 23.1404; -82.3583


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