Great pictures Sm. I loved the atmosphere in Santiago
I stayed in the Casa Granda right there on the square in 2007 . Grand old hotel though falling apart and in dire need of a renovation, the location though was perfect with great views from the roof and rooms on upper floors.

I've never stayed in the Casa Granda though I'd love to in order to say that I have but everybody does say that it needs work doing on it. I love the roof top bar at the Casa Grande precisely becuase it has such commanding views of the city and across to the Sierra Maestre mountains and after the morning dance classes we invariably end up at the Terrace bar for a much needed drink and snack. Plus these days it's within range of the wifi from the Etecsa office on Parque Cespedes. When I first visited Santiago in 2005 little did I expect that one of these days I would be able to sit there with a mojito in hand, checking HT and OTL on the iPad :-). I knew that things were changing when one afternoon last March I spied from the roof top bar a huge cruise ship berthed in the port! I've stayed in various Casas in the area - including one above the Cubatour office on the corner across Heredia from the Casa Granda with my own balcony to watch the world go by - but my favourite that I'm hoping we'll be able to stay in when we go in September is just up the road from the Casa de Trove on Heredia itself.

Great photos & how clean are those streets!

Glynis, Santiagueros are so proud of their city that it's not unusual first thing in the morning to see people out there scrubbing the pavement outside their front doors. One of my landladies had her washing machne rigged up so that the water from it was pumped out through a hose onto the street and she'd be out there with a deck scrub at the end of a wash! You don't see litterbins in public areas but you don't see litter either - the only time you do is on rubbish collection day when everybody puts their bin bags out for collection.

That's excellent just shows how ignorant I am as never imagined Cuba to be so clean. Puts my town for one, to shame!

Hi Glynis, I can't guarantee that everywhere in Cuba is this clean :-) though in my experience the downtown areas of most towns and cities where most tourists are likely to go are. Out in the countryside you rarely see roadside litter or flytipping but the the infrastructure re rubbish collection is sometimes not as good or as frequent as it is in the towns. And similar to the way we often have problems with the seagulls ripping open bin bags left at the side of the road for collection, in Cuba they have a vulture problem!

I've never been to Goa so cannot directly compare it but I've never encountered the scale of roadside litter in Cuba that I understand from friends who have, is often found there for example. I think that in Cuba it's the result of both a fairly high level of civic pride plus the CDR system which leans on people who don't do their share of keeping a neighbourhood clean and tidy, let alone littering it up. The other noticeable thing is that kids don't discard sweetie wrappers or drinks cans etc on the street but hold on to them and look around them until a convenient nearby adult relieves them of it :-)

Cuba is still on my "to do" list.

Fiona, I'd do it sooner rather than later because it will change over the next few years. If Trump, despite all his bluster, leaves the Obama reforms to the embargo and the relaxation in travel regs for US visitors to Cuba in place then more and more Americans will start to visit and inevitably the atmosphere will begin to change, I've already seen the effect having a big cruise liner in port can have on a city the size of Santiago. Also, those trademark 1940s/1950s cars could start to disappear from the streets because I've heard that US dealers in classic cars have already started to put out feelers about buying them and shipping them over to the US. The sort of prices that are being talked about would be a life changing sum for every Cuban family I know.

On the other hand if he goes in heavy, as much of the rightwing Republican ex-pat Cuban lobby would like him to do, then I think that you can expect to see the re-emergence of shortages and an impoverishment of the standard of living in many Cubans. One of the things many Cubans are worried about is a change in the currency regulations that could once gain restrict how much money families working overseas could remit to family members back home. This will especially effect those with family in the US but not necessarily just them.

We will get there some day!

Looks beautiful. Was actually thinking of visiting sometime next year.

Hi Matt and welcome to HT.
As you can see we have quite a Cuba expert in Sma! She has lots of information on the Cuba forum

Hi Matt, Santiago is well worth a visit and if I can help out with any info, post on the Cuba forum and I'll reply there. Havana of course is well worth a visit too but Havana Vieja has now if anything been over restored whereas the colonial centre of Santiago might be a bit shabby in comparison but it does still feel like a living, working city rather than a theme park :-)