A Week Can Go By Without a Single Tourist Showing Up”
“At the Melia San Carlos Hotel in Cienfuegos
In January, during the Cuban tourism high season, the establishment had an occupancy rate of less than 15%.
By Julio Cesar Contreras (14ymedio)
HAVANA TIMES – In the midst of the darkness that fell on Cienfuegos this Sunday, where the blackout lasted more than 20 hours, a bright building stood out at dusk. “I have only managed to collect 250 pesos all day from some Cubans who came into the bar to have a few beers,” says Gabriel, an employee of the Meliá San Carlos hotel. “There are people who come to take refuge here, to have a drink and to be able to at least see their hands,” he explains. Quite a triumph if one takes into account that the fall in tourism has emptied its facilities more than ever.
“There is very little service to external clients. The biggest tips here are always given by the guests, but right now there are very few of them,” the employee adds. During the month of January, the high tourist season in Cuba, the hotel has had an occupancy rate of less than 15%, according to an employee of the administrative area who prefers to remain anonymous. With rooms ranging from 115 to 160 dollars per night, if booked on the company’s official website, the establishment spends its days with a “small number of clients who also come for one or two nights, if that.”
The hotel, originally called just “San Carlos” opened in 1925, was owned by businessman Antonio Mata until, after the triumph of the Revolution, it passed into the hands of the State until its closure in the 1990s. After several years of renovation, the establishment reopened in 2018 with the name of its management company, “Meliá”, inserted. “It’s nice and comfortable, but in the city of Cienfuegos there is not much to do, so few tourists come here, and the ones who do, is because they are making a short stop between the West and the East”, says the employee.
“These days, there is not much difference between working here or in a tourist center in the Islazul chain”, he added, referring to one of the worst-rated state-owned companies dedicated to tourism.
The hotel “is struggling with the number of guests,” he continues. “We have kept almost all the staff, but people are not very enthusiastic about coming to work because what really motivates us here is tips, not wages, and without guests there are no tips in foreign currency.”
At the door of the San Carlos, a security guard looks out into the darkness that stretches beyond the lights on the façade. It is nighttime, he has already completed his shift and has taken off his work uniform to await his replacement, but the employee who is to guard the entrance to the accommodation for the next few hours is late.
The lack of tourists does not help to maintain work discipline, something that is reflected in the details. Several ashtrays with numerous cigarette butts show that no one has been to clean them for hours, or perhaps days, and two employees sitting on a sofa check their mobile phones while waiting for their shift to end.
“We’re like in the Coronavirus era, but without face masks,” says another bar worker. “I’ve counted up to a week without seeing even a single tourist. The staff reduction could come at any time,” explains the man, who is about 50 years old and has worked in the tourism sector for two decades. “I got a second job in a private restaurant and, if this keeps getting worse, I’m going full-time for that business.”
“It’s also difficult to answer questions from customers who want to go out and experience the city’s nightlife. You have to explain to them that there’s a general blackout, and that it’s better not to go out.” Among the latest guests she has served at the bar, she has often heard the phrase that they don’t plan to return to Cuba. “‘The country looks destroyed, I’m going to wait a while to return,’ said a German woman who told me she had come several times since the 1990s.”
According to Meliá’s third-quarter data, its hotels in Cuba had an average occupancy of 39%, well below its facilities in Asia, which is in second to last position, with 52%. The San Carlos is also one of the properties that led the Spanish hotel chain to litigation after the activation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. In 2019, Antonio Mata’s heirs sued the company for profiting from the property, as well as several hotel and tourism search platforms, including Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity.com, Trivago and Booking.com. The Florida judge who handled the case, however, removed Meliá and all intermediaries from the case.
Despite the lack of work, employees do have one motivation to come to San Carlos: “electricity, water and food.” Every day they charge their phones at the hotel, knowing that when they return home there will most likely be no electricity. However, the difficulties that extend from the front door outwards also creep into the accommodation managed by Meliá. “Right now, we have the internet connection down because it seems there are problems with the server,” one of the receptionists tells a guest.
And not all that glitters is gold. Part of the hotel has its lights off in the interior areas. “We have an energy saving plan that we must strictly follow. All the rooms that are not in use are turned off or out of service, including the elevators,” explains the employee. “The management has asked us to remain calm and trust that we will get out of this situation”, stresses the woman, as if repeating a mantra that dissuades her and the other workers from being pessimistic.
Translated by Norma Whiting for Translating Cuba.