Priceline's Booking.com subsidiary will soon become the first U.S.-accessible agency to book—and pay for—hotel rooms in Cuba directly on-line. The instant booking service, which will start in a few weeks, will start with Havana and then expand.
Previously, Americans looking for hotels in Havana have had to go either through licensed tour groups, or work through authorized non-U.S. travel agencies. Booking.com now has the OK from U.S. and Cuban governments, and is signing up hotel operators on the island, including France's Accor and Spain's Melia and NH groups, which operate numbers of properties in Cuba. They'll also be working out deals with the state-run Cuban chains.
Booking.com, whose deal came on the first day of Pres. Obama's visit to Cuba, is not the first American company to take on Cuba, however. Airbnb, which deals in apartments, rooms and shared spaces, but not hotels, began booking in Cuba last year.
Because some travel restrictions are still in place for U.S. residents, Booking.com will ask travelers to certify that they fit one of the Treasury's approved categories, but will not require verification. But they will keep travelers' records available if Treasury later requests verification.
Photo: Habana Libre Hotel, once the Havana Hilton, and later Castro's temporary headquarters, can soon be booked on Booking.com
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