Casa particular

Last updated
A typical room in a casa particular in Old Havana, Havana, Cuba Cuba-casa-particular-room-old-havana.jpg
A typical room in a casa particular in Old Havana, Havana, Cuba
The patio in a colonial casa particular in Old Havana, in Havana, Cuba Cuba-casa-particular-old-havana-patio.jpg
The patio in a colonial casa particular in Old Havana, in Havana, Cuba
The terrace in a casa particular in Old Havana, Cuba Cuba-casa-particular-old-havana-terrace.jpg
The terrace in a casa particular in Old Havana, Cuba
Part of the roof terrace of a casa particular in Santiago de Cuba DirkvdM cuba roof terrace.jpg
Part of the roof terrace of a casa particular in Santiago de Cuba
A casa particular in Trinidad, Cuba. Note the sign on the door. Cuba yank tank.jpg
A casa particular in Trinidad, Cuba. Note the sign on the door.
Hallway of a casa particular in Havana in 2023 Apartment hallway in Havana.jpg
Hallway of a casa particular in Havana in 2023

Casa particular (Spanish for "private house"; plural casas particulares) is a phrase meaning private accommodation or private homestays in Cuba, very similar to a bed and breakfast, although it can also take the form of a vacation rental. [1] [2] When the meaning is clear, the term is often shortened to simply casa. Today, many casas particulares are rented through online agencies, some specifically Cuban, and others that work worldwide.

Contents

Varieties

A casa particular is basically a private family establishment that provides paid lodging, usually on a short-term basis. This term applies to full apartments and houses, rooms inside people's homes, mini-apartments or rooms with separate entrance (studio or efficiency type rooms). [1]

It is also considered a type of boarding house typically operated out of a single family residence where guests can be accommodated at night in private bedrooms (which may or may not be equipped with private baths) and where breakfast, sometimes continental and sometimes the full English variety, is served in the morning. The business may be operated either as a primary occupation or as a secondary source of income, and the staff often consists of the house's owner(s) and members of their family who live there. [2]

Because they are usually small, rarely with room for more than about 5–6 guests, it is advisable for anyone wanting to stay at a particular casa particular during high season (Nov-Apr) to make advance reservations. However, outside the season there is no need because there are often many such casas, causing competition and opening opportunities to strike a deal. Prices can then drop to 15 euro or even less for longer stays. During high season they can rise to over 30 euro.

Many casas belong to associations and are described in various books and travel guides. Moreover, in spite of the lack of reliable and cost effective internet access on the island, many casas have some sort of web presence. Some casa owners have built their own website. Others uploaded the description of their casa in small directories and websites that manage casas booking on the behalf of tourists. Very recently, following the new course in Cuba–US relations, big online players of the sharing economy and tourism business (such as Airbnb) have started including casas particulares in their offering (exclusively for US users at the moment). All this should make it easier for tourists to make reliable bookings, whereas in the past the typical go-to-market strategy of casa owners used to rely almost exclusively on the intermediation of local street hustlers, known as jineteros.

Casas particulares can be recognised by a small sign on the door, with two blue triangles ("roofs") against a white background, which the owners obtain after paying a fixed per-room annual tax.

In some Cuban cities and tourist resorts, like Varadero, Playa Santa Lucia and Guardalavaca, the local municipal assemblies determined that casas particulares would represent a threat to the hotel industry, and passed some legislation placing regulations and limits on the industry forbidding the operation of these establishments.

Origins of the term

"Casa particular" literally means "private house" but it started to be used to mean "private accommodation" in 1997, when the Cuban government allowed Cubans to rent out rooms in their houses or apartments to tourists, providing Cuban families with new sources of income.[ citation needed ] As any other type of accommodation in Cuba such as hotels, camping and motels were owned by the government, the term "casa particular" stated that this kind of paid lodging was privately operated.

Services and facilities

Rooms are generally clean and upgraded to tourist standards. It ranges from basic accommodation of a room with a bed, a closet, a small table to full furnished independent apartments upgraded to western standards. Other features found may be a telephone, an alarm clock, and a TV. Food and drink may be supplied by a mini-bar (which often includes a small refrigerator) containing snacks and drinks (to be paid for on departure).

In keeping with the similarity to B&Bs, breakfast is usually included in the price, although one should ask first. Dinner is often also served, but not included in the price. However, if it becomes clear that one plans to generally eat out, the price may go up because this is an important second source of income. The owners will usually offer extra services like laundry service, breakfast & meals or even cigars.

Classification

The cost and quality of casas particulares are usually indicative of the accommodation type and type of services available. Most of the casas particulares are rented for short term to travellers. Long-term accommodation is also provided by some casas, especially for foreign students. In Havana, the casas particulares are usually family apartments and a smaller number of them are houses. In other cities, private accommodation is provided mainly in family houses.

Types of casas particulares rentals:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apartment</span> Self-contained housing unit occupying part of a building

An apartment, flat, or unit is a self-contained housing unit that occupies part of a building, generally on a single storey. There are many names for these overall buildings. The housing tenure of apartments also varies considerably, from large-scale public housing, to owner occupancy within what is legally a condominium, to tenants renting from a private landlord.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dormitory</span> Residential student building

A dormitory, also known as a hall of residence or a residence hall, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university students. In some countries, it can also refer to a room containing several beds accommodating people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boarding house</span> Type of rental lodging

A boarding house is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms on a nightly basis, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months, and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "room and board", that is, some meals as well as accommodation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Studio apartment</span> Type of apartment

A studio apartment, or studio condo also known as a studio flat (UK), self-contained apartment (Nigeria), efficiency apartment, bed-sitter (Kenya), or bachelor apartment, is a small dwelling in which the normal functions of a number of rooms – often the living room, bedroom, and kitchen – are combined into a single room.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drawing room</span> Room in a house where visitors may be entertained

A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th century, and made their first written appearance in 1642. In a large 16th- to early 18th-century English house, a withdrawing room was a room to which the owner of the house, his wife, or a distinguished guest who was occupying one of the main apartments in the house could "withdraw" for more privacy. It was often off the great chamber and usually led to a formal, or "state" bedroom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State room</span> Suite of rooms designed for use when entertaining royalty

A state room in a large European mansion is usually one of a suite of very grand rooms which were designed for use when entertaining royalty. The term was most widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were the most lavishly decorated in the house and contained the finest works of art. State rooms were usually only found in the houses of the upper echelons of the aristocracy, those who were likely to entertain a head of state. They were generally to accommodate and entertain distinguished guests, especially a monarch and/or a royal consort, or other high-ranking aristocrats and state officials, hence the name. In their original form a set of state rooms made up a state apartment, which always included a bedroom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedsit</span> Type of accommodation: a room in a shared house

A bedsit, bedsitter, or bed-sitting room is a form of accommodation common in some parts of the United Kingdom which consists of a single room per occupant with all occupants typically sharing a bathroom. Bedsits are included in a legal category of dwellings referred to as houses in multiple occupation (HMO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communal apartment</span> Type of living in Russia

Communal apartments are apartments in which several unrelated persons or families live in isolated living rooms and share common areas such a kitchen, shower, and toilet. They generally lack privacy. Up until the dissolution of the Soviet Union, all communal apartments were state-owned public housing. With the start of privatization in Russia, such apartments started to gain ownership, often parts of it being privatized by different persons, which often led to litigations and abuse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gîte</span> French holiday rental home

A gîte or gite is, typically, a holiday rental home in France, but there are many interpretations of the term 'gîte'. They range from a gîtes d'etape — a hostel, for walkers and cyclists — to a gîte rural, a holiday home in the country available for rent, often an accessory dwelling unit. The term gîte originally meant quite simply a form of shelter. Gîtes d'etape, which resemble mountain huts or youth hostel, usually provide meals and have dormitory accommodation. They are found along Grande Randonnée long distance trails. The holiday homes type are fully furnished and equipped for self-catering. Some owners may also provide meals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single-room occupancy</span> Type of low-cost housing

Single-room occupancy (SRO) is a type of low-cost housing typically aimed at residents with low or minimal incomes, or single adults who like a minimalist lifestyle, who rent small, furnished single rooms with a bed, chair, and sometimes a small desk. SRO units are rented out as permanent residence and/or primary residence to individuals, within a multi-tenant building where tenants share a kitchen, toilets or bathrooms. SRO units range from 7 to 13 square metres. In some instances, contemporary units may have a small refrigerator, microwave, or sink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Housing in Japan</span> Overview of housing in Japan

Housing in Japan includes modern and traditional styles. Two patterns of residences are predominant in contemporary Japan: the single-family detached house and the multiple-unit building, either owned by an individual or corporation and rented as apartments to tenants, or owned by occupants. Additional kinds of housing, especially for unmarried people, include boarding houses, dormitories, and barracks.

Housing in Portugal is generally similar to housing in the rest of Europe. However, some specificities exist. Portugal has the highest rate of rural population in Western Europe, which means that roughly a third of the Portuguese families live in farms or properties outside urban areas. Another characteristic is that most of the urban population is actually suburban. The metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto each have over 2 million inhabitants. In these areas, families live in apartment blocs, each apartment usually having two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and one or two bathrooms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rooming house</span> Dwelling with multiple rented rooms

A rooming house, also called a "multi-tenant house", is a "dwelling with multiple rooms rented out individually", in which the tenants share kitchen and often bathroom facilities. Rooming houses are often used as housing for low-income people, as rooming houses are the least expensive housing for single adults. Rooming houses are usually owned and operated by private landlords. Rooming houses are better described as a "living arrangement" rather than a specially "built form" of housing; rooming houses involve people who are not related living together, often in an existing house, and sharing a kitchen, bathroom, and a living room or dining room. Rooming houses in this way are similar to group homes and other roommate situations. While there are purpose-built rooming houses, these are rare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apartment hotel</span> Type of serviced apartment complex

An apartment hotel or aparthotel is a serviced apartment complex that uses a hotel-style booking system. It is similar to renting an apartment, but with no fixed contracts and occupants can "check out" whenever they wish, subject to the applicable minimum length of stay imposed by the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multifamily residential</span> Type of housing development that emphasizes density and proximity of many neighbors

Multifamily residential, also known as multidwelling unit (MDU)) is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. Units can be next to each other (side-by-side units), or stacked on top of each other (top and bottom units). Common forms include apartment building and condominium, where typically the units are owned individually rather than leased from a single building owner. Many intentional communities incorporate multifamily residences, such as in cohousing projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Room</span> Distinguishable space within a building or other structure

In a building or a ship, a room is any enclosed space within a number of walls to which entry is possible only via a door or other dividing structure. The entrance connects it to either a passageway, another room, or the outdoors. The space is typically large enough for several people to move about. The size, fixtures, furnishings, and sometimes placement of the room within the building or ship support the activity to be conducted in it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitchenette</span> Small cooking area

A kitchenette is a small cooking area, which usually has a refrigerator and a microwave, but may have other appliances - for example a sink. They are found in studio apartments, some motel and hotel rooms, college dormitories, office buildings, furnished basements, or bedrooms in shared houses. New York City building code defines a kitchenette as a kitchen of less than 7.4 m2 (80 ft2) of floor space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Residential architecture in Poland</span> Overview of Polish residential architecture

Residential buildings in Poland are fundamentally divided into two main categories: single-family buildings (houses), and multi-family buildings. The former are meant to house only a small number of people, either one or a few families, while the latter are built with larger amounts of people living in their own separate areas of the same building in mind. There are also a few sub-categories, like multi-family houses, which can house multiple families, but don't have separate flats inside, and don't usually have separate entrances to the building. According to a 2010 survey: 41% of Poles live in single-family detached houses, 40% live in multi-family blocks of flats, 9% live in multi-family tenements, 7% live in multi-family houses, 3% live in single-family terraced houses, and 1% live in other types of buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microapartment</span> Type of house

A microapartment, also known as a microflat, micro-condo, or micro-unit is a one-room, self-contained living space, usually purpose built, designed to accommodate a sitting space, sleeping space, bathroom and kitchenette with 14–32 square metres.

<i>Hasukjib</i> Small apartments in South Korea

A hasukjib is a type of housing in South Korea that is commonly used by working adults but more popular among university students. Typically, hasukjib take the form of a small room with a single bed, desk and a mini fridge. There are several rooms on each floor of the building and usually has a restroom, shower and laundry room shared by the tenants. Meals are also often provided by the landlord or more commonly a landlady and included in the rent. The rent varies by the size of the rooms and quality of the facilities, but it's generally considered cheap and affordable. Hasukjib are often compared to gosiwon, a similar form of single-room housing in Korea.

References

  1. 1 2 "Cuban home comforts". www.theaustralian.com.au. 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  2. 1 2 "New Cuba regulations for private enterprise on the island have a long list of don'ts". miamiherald. Retrieved 2019-01-22.