A perfect accommodation to spend some days in Santiago can be found in the colonial style house from Raquel and Pepin. This house is more than hundred years old and located directly in the heart of the historic quarter, the old Tivoli. The street passing is only rarely used by cars but from time to time by Cuban salesmen, who praise their vegetables and fruits in melodious self-composed songs.

To the main square Parque Cespedes you walk only five minutes, the same to the bay of Santiago. From the front porch of the building and from the first floor you see both the sea and the mountains of the Sierra Maestra, where Fidel Castro and his companions (among them Pepin) fought for the Cuban revolution.

Different from many noisy places in town, here you will find a quiet paradise and a guest family that does everything to make you feel at home. Raquel (born in 1938) worked before her pension as head of a primary school and Pepin (born in 1935) studied and worked in the agriculture of the region. If you speak a little Spanish or English, from them you can learn much more about the real Cuba than is written in books.

Part of the family is also Estillita, the more than 90 years aunt of Raquel. The granddaughter Natalia and the daughter Belkis as well as her husband William are also often visiting the spacious house. William and Belkis are dance teachers. Of several salsa-lessons we took in Cuba, William’s great dancing class in the shade of the lemon tree is unbeaten. With him, beginners and advanced dancers learn everything from Salsa over Rumba, Chachacha or the typical Cuban Son.

We are sure you will enjoy your stay as much as we did! As up to now, there is no possibility for E-mail to Raquel and Pepin, you can give them a call. Reservation is useful and besides Spanish Pepin speaks a little English. But you can also try your luck and just knock at their door, there is always someone at home to let you in.