U.S. Company Assumes Administration of Hotel in Havana

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 30 (acn) A U.S. company took on, for the first time in over half a century, the management of a hotel in Havana, even though Washington continues to block investment and trade with Cuba.

According to the website of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide the Fifth Avenue Hotel, located in the Havana neighborhood of Miramar, began to be managed by this multinational on Tuesday, the Granma daily reported on Thursday.
The transfer complies with an agreement signed in March with Cuban authorities, just hours before the visit to Havana of U.S. President Barack Obama.
The contract also includes the iconic Inglaterra Hotel, which will be incorporated into the Luxury Collection of Starwood on August 31, according to the company.
The Fifth Avenue, renamed Four Points by Sheraton, is the most recent example of the new chapter of relations between Cuba and the United States, which opened on December 17, 2014.
The Starwood agreement is the first to take advantage in the tourism industry of the limited spaces opened by the executive actions of the current administration, which have transformed the application of some aspects of the blockade.
The American Association of Travel Agents estimated that at least two million U.S. citizens would travel to Cuba in 2018 if the travel restriction is lifted this year.
In addition, analysts agree that this issue, which touches a constitutional right, is one of those most likely to advance in a legislative dominated by Republicans opposed to the Democrat administration.
In fact, a bill to lift the restriction on travel already has a simple majority in the Senate, but hopes to achieve a qualified majority before taking a vote to avoid any kind of maneuver. An amendment with similar purposes was included in a draft budget law for financial services in the Senate and a vote is expected soon in the House of Representatives.