When the Velasco held on to its charm

Workers at the Encanto Velasco Hotel, in the city of Matanzas, were tasked with the care of relatives of those missing in the fire that broke out on August 5 at the local Supertanker Base.

Arian Castillo Ponce, an employee of this tourist facility, assures that empathy and humanism prevailed all along since the very beginning as the staff strived to offer its support to the mourners. “We let them know that we were sensitive to their pain, and they felt protected despite their loss.”

For days they worked around the clock, aware of the mostly silent and somber mood in the building crowded with the families of the firefighters who were stuck to the TV sets in the hope that everything would end soon without any more loss of life.

“Unlike people in many other countries, we Cubans are noted for our feelings of solidarity. In times of misfortune we cry, feel and take a step forward as one, so we feel these people’s loss as our own, and that's why the hotel staff gave ourselves to them,” he stresses.

Arian holds that every employee, together with the professional support group based at the hotel for the duration, fulfilled the objective of giving support to their guests in what was likely to be the worst moments in their lives.

“They appreciate our service and our attempts to cheer them up because of how confident we made them feel just by asking, ‘Is there anything you need?’ or ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’

Each family that the Hotel Encanto Velasco took in went back home, where there is now an unoccupied space, but the memories will surely live on in their minds of the hospitality they received from a city in mourning, in a country where they always knew that everyone offered them their hand.