Have You Ever Seen A Cuban LOVE HOTEL?

In 1990 my team got the job from Ted Turner Broadcasting (and from Ted Turner himself) to make a two-hour television special on Cuba. The wall in Berlin had come down and the Soviet Union, now becoming Russia, was teetering. At the time, Cuba was dependent upon the Soviet Union for most of its supplies as a embargo was (and still is) placed on it by the USA. For a variety of reasons and just plain luck, we got access to film in all kinds of locations in Havana and around the country – locations that folks outside Cuba had not seen before. The hosts of the special and voiceover narrator is actor James Earl Jones. In 1990 Cuba was experiencing a severe economic downturn due to the collapse of the Soviet Union which was its major economic ally. Love hotels were simple, catering to local needs more than tourist amenities. They offered 24 hour affordable accommodations for couples seeking privacy, given the common practice of multi-generational families living together in relatively small dwellings due to housing shortages. These hotels were state-run under the auspices of the Cuban government. This was a particularly challenging time for Cuba as it marked the beginning of the “Special Period,“ a severe economic crisis following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which had been a significant financial supporter of Cuba. As a result, resources were scarce, and the standard of living dropped significantly for many Cubans. Under the Castro regime, housing shortages and multi-generational families living together in relatively small dwellings were common. Because of this, the government reportedly created the “24-hour hotels,“ also known as “posadas“ or “love hotels,“ to provide couples some private time away from crowded homes. These establishments would rent rooms by the hour or day, providing a space for intimacy that might have been difficult to achieve in a crowded home. Given the economic challenges that Cuba faced during this period, these hotels were modest and functional rather than luxurious.