Located in Old Havana, the Hotel Saratoga was at times frequented by international celebrities and foreign businessmen visiting the island. Its neoclassical architecture stood out at Paseo del Prado in the country’s capital, where it long stood as a city landmark.
But the five-story building wasn’t always a destination for foreigners visiting Cuba. It was originally built in 1880 to serve as a warehouse before it was converted into a fashionable hotel in 1933 and turned into a tenement building during the turbulent revolution of the 1960s. In 2005 it, was remodeled once again to become a luxury lodging amid the country’s efforts to lure foreign tourists.
On Friday, however, much of the iconic hotel was destroyed by an explosion that left at least nine dead and 30 injured.
A gas leak appears to have been the cause of the massive explosion, according to the Cuban Presidential Office. The hotel had been closed at the time of the explosion due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
With rates at times nearing $700 a night, the five-star hotel had been pampering the rich and famous wanting to visit the socialist island and stay in one of its 96 rooms and suites, with U.S. celebrities such as Beyonce, Jay Z and Madonna staying there.
First commissioned by wealthy Spanish merchant Gregorio Palacios in 1879, the Saratoga was initially a three-story building with the ground floor serving as a tobacco warehouse and the second floor used as a guest house with 43 rooms and a dining room.
By the 1930s the Saratoga had become a fashionable hotel, described at times as one of the most important hotels in Havana thanks to its colonnade, where prominent Cuban musicians performed local music.
The building ceased to be a hotel rather abruptly after the triumph of Fidel Castro’s revolution.
During the early 1960s the building was taken over by the revolutionary government and turned into a tenement building with multiple subdivisions. It fell into disrepair and was eventually abandoned until it was renovated in the early 2000s.
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