Hotels with Rooftop Pools in Havana: Top 8 Picks Reviewed

The Kempinski sits inside a meticulously restored 1910 building that was originally Havana’s first shopping gallery — the Manzana de Gómez — and was reopened as a hotel in 2017 after years of renovation. The rooftop pool sits on the sixth floor with unobstructed views across to the Capitolio dome, down Obispo’s colonial streetscape, and out toward the harbor. It’s an extraordinary urban panorama, and the pool deck is genuinely beautiful — Kempinski hasn’t cut corners on the pool furniture, the bar setup, or the tile work underfoot.

The pool itself isn’t enormous — it’s a compact rectangular design with a shallow lounging shelf at one end — but the depth of water and the edge positioning are engineered to maximize the view rather than maximize laps. Lounge chairs fill up by late morning in peak season; arriving at the pool deck before 9 AM gives you the pick of positions. The rooftop bar serves the full Havana Club premium range, proper cocktails, and a food menu that holds up to comparison with the best paladares in the city.

The Iberostar Parque Central is one of the most established international hotels in Havana, and its rooftop pool has been drawing guests up to the seventh floor since the property was first renovated in the late 1990s. The pool looks directly over Parque Central — that iconic square at the intersection of Old Havana and Centro Habana — with the Capitolio dome rising behind it and the Hotel Inglaterra’s terrace at eye level across the street. The view is framed rather than panoramic, but what’s framed is exceptional.

The pool is a proper size — large enough that you’re not squeezing past other guests during the busier late-morning hours — and the surrounding terrace has ample lounger space. Iberostar manages pool access well; it rarely feels overcrowded even at peak times. The rooftop bar is good but not exceptional — drinks are competently made and the menu covers the classics, though it lacks the craft cocktail ambition of the Kempinski’s offering. Rooms in the tower extension have better views than those in the original historic wing; worth specifying when booking.

The Hotel Saratoga occupies a position on Paseo del Prado that’s been drawing admiring looks since the early twentieth century — a corner building with decorative ironwork balconies and a commanding height above the boulevard. The hotel was famously damaged by a catastrophic gas explosion in May 2022 that killed over 40 people, and spent a period closed for substantial reconstruction. As of 2026, Saratoga has reopened, though availability and operational status should be confirmed directly before booking.

The rooftop pool area was always one of the most visually striking in Havana — a plunge-style pool rather than a lap pool, positioned to frame the Capitolio dome almost perfectly in the sightline. It’s a small pool by any measure, but the sun deck is generous, the service has historically been the most attentive in the city, and the overall aesthetic of this hotel — intimate, genuinely stylish rather than just expensive-looking — sets it apart from the larger chain properties. The Saratoga at its best is one of the most personally managed luxury experiences Havana offers.

The NH Capri occupies a Modernist tower in Vedado that was built in 1957 and has spent the last several decades as one of Havana’s more iconic mid-century silhouettes. The George Raft connection — the American actor was famously involved in the casino here during Batista’s era — gives the place an extra layer of Havana mythology, and the NH renovation has kept the Modernist bones of the building while updating everything inside. The rooftop pool is a proper-sized rectangular pool on the upper floors, with views that stretch from the Vedado residential grid across to the sea and, on clear days, east toward Old Havana’s towers.

This is the best-value rooftop pool hotel in Havana for guests who want genuinely good views without paying luxury hotel prices. At roughly half the Kempinski’s rate, you get a pool that’s larger, a deck that rarely feels crowded, and a view that most guests find more than satisfying. The rooftop bar is honest rather than exceptional — cocktails are made correctly, the rum selection is good, and service is attentive — but it’s not trying to compete with the Kempinski’s fine dining. Vedado’s restaurant scene is excellent and starts within five minutes’ walk.

The Hotel Packard sits at one of Havana’s most cinematic intersections — where Paseo del Prado meets the Malecón at the northwestern tip of Old Havana. The building is named after the American Packard Motor Company, whose cars have become synonymous with Cuba’s vintage street life, and the hotel’s design references that mid-century automotive golden age with some restraint. The rooftop pool here offers something the Old Havana interior hotels can’t: an unobstructed view of the Malecón and the Straits of Florida stretching north, with the sunset directly in front of you on clear evenings.

Watching the Malecón from the pool deck at around 6 PM — when the light turns amber, the promenade begins filling up with locals, and the sea catches the last of the sun — is one of those Havana experiences that stays with you. The pool itself is mid-sized, the bar service is good, and the hotel overall sits in a comfortable middle band: not the Kempinski’s level of refinement, but genuinely well managed and with a location that many guests prefer to the deep-Old-Havana alternatives. Rooms on the upper floors facing the Malecón are worth specifying.

The Meliá Habana is the largest and most comprehensively equipped hotel on this list, located in Miramar — the residential-meets-diplomatic neighborhood west of Vedado that runs along the sea. It’s a business-hotel property at heart, which means the facilities list is extensive: multiple restaurants, multiple bars, a gym, a spa, and a pool complex that’s among the biggest in Havana, with an elevated sea-facing terrace pool that qualifies it for this guide. The view is open ocean rather than colonial cityscape — a different kind of spectacular.

The pool complex gets genuinely warm afternoon sun and is large enough that even at capacity — which usually means conference groups — you can find a quiet corner. Meliá’s all-inclusive options are available here and represent reasonable value if you’re planning to eat and drink primarily at the hotel. The distance from Old Havana is the main trade-off — it’s a 15-20 minute taxi ride — which makes it better suited to guests who want a proper resort experience with easy Havana day trips, rather than those who want to be in the heart of the city. The Embassy row and diplomatic buildings of Miramar are an interesting walk in themselves.

The Meliá Cohíba is named after Cuba’s most famous cigar brand and positioned at the Malecón end of Paseo in Vedado — the wide, tree-lined boulevard that runs south from the seafront. It’s one of Cuba’s tallest hotels, which means the upper-floor sea views are exceptional, and the elevated pool deck catches the sea breeze that keeps Vedado bearable in peak-summer heat. The property attracts a mix of business travelers and tourists, manages its pool area better than many Havana hotels, and has the most professionally run poolside bar service of any property in this price bracket.

Unlike the Meliá Habana across town, the Cohíba feels urban rather than resort — it’s walking distance from Vedado’s restaurant strip along Calle 23 (La Rampa), the Copelia ice cream park, and the national theater complex. That makes the Cohíba a strong choice for guests who want a large-hotel quality pool experience but also want to be genuinely embedded in a Havana neighborhood rather than on the resort periphery. A 15-minute walk or $5 cab takes you to Old Havana.

No hotel in Cuba carries more history per square metre than the Nacional. Built in 1930 in a Spanish-Moorish style on a clifftop site overlooking the Malecón, it has hosted Churchill, Hemingway, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Marlon Brando, and the most infamous mob summit in American organized crime history (1946). The famous guests’ portraits line the bar corridor. The cannon emplacements in the garden date to the nineteenth century. It is, genuinely, one of the most storied hotels in the Western Hemisphere.

The pool here is technically an elevated garden-terrace pool rather than a rooftop pool in the conventional sense — it sits in the landscaped grounds rather than on top of the building — but its clifftop position above the Malecón gives it sea views that are hard to match, and the setting, surrounded by palm trees and colonial architecture with the ocean directly below, is unlike any other pool situation in Havana. The Nacional’s pool does get crowded — it’s one of the most photographed spots in the city — and the poolside service has been inconsistent in recent years. But you’re swimming in a National Monument with a sea view and a mojito, which earns its place on any list of extraordinary places to spend an afternoon.