{"id":123651,"date":"2016-03-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/starwood-hotels-resorts-worldwide-the-first-hotel-company-to-enter-the-cuban-market\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T17:56:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T15:56:50","slug":"starwood-hotels-resorts-worldwide-the-first-hotel-company-to-enter-the-cuban-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/starwood-hotels-resorts-worldwide-the-first-hotel-company-to-enter-the-cuban-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Starwood Hotels &amp; Resorts Worldwide: The First Hotel Company to Enter the Cuban Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Starwood Hotels &amp; Resorts Worldwide has become the first American company to sign a hotel agreement with Cuba since the 1959 revolution, announcing a multi-million dollar investment to renovate and operate three hotels in Havana.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Such agreements are prohibited under the economic embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba, but Starwood obtained special approval from the U.S. Treasury.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Starwood thus becomes the first American company to invest a large sum of money in Cuba since the revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro overthrew a pro-American government on January 1, 1959.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Starwood will operate the Hotel Quinta Avenida under the Four Points by Sheraton brand, and the state-owned Gran Caribe Inglaterra Hotel under the Luxury Collection brand.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>At the same time, the company signed a letter of intent to transform the renowned Santa Isabel hotel into a member of the Luxury Collection.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Cuban tourism industry has grown strongly since December 2014, following the opening shown by the American government. The number of foreign visitors increased by 17% in 2015, reaching a record level of 3.5 million.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>U.S. President Barack Obama has taken new measures to ease restrictions imposed on Cuba. Thus, Americans no longer need special approvals to travel to Cuba, but they must self-censor their activities and keep travel-related evidence for 5 years.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>President Obama has asked Congress to lift the embargo, but has faced opposition from the Republicans, who hold the majority.<\/div>\n<h3>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Which Havana hotels will Starwood operate?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Starwood will operate the Hotel Quinta Avenida (as Four Points by Sheraton), the Gran Caribe Inglaterra Hotel, and the Santa Isabel (both under the Luxury Collection brand).<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did Starwood manage to invest in Cuba despite the U.S. embargo?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The company obtained special approval from the U.S. Treasury Department, allowing it to bypass standard economic restrictions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What impact did the easing of diplomatic relations have on Cuban tourism?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tourism saw a record 17% increase in 2015, reaching 3.5 million foreign visitors, following the relaxation of travel restrictions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Starwood Hotels &amp; Resorts Worldwide has become the first American company to sign a hotel agreement with Cuba since the 1959 revolution, announcing a multi-million dollar investment to renovate and operate three hotels in Havana. Such agreements are prohibited under the economic embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba, but Starwood obtained special approval&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":66003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2859],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-123651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stirea-editiei-en"],"article_style_override":"","post-style":"","post_via":"","post-top-image":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/topstory.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123651"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=123651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}