Archipelago International adds to its stars in Cuba

By Daily Pérez Guillén

Archipelago International is planning to open a sixth hotel in Cuba, the Aston Panorama Havana, now undergoing a total renovation. The chain’s Commercial Director for the Americas, Sergio Álvarez, made the announcement at the Grand Aston Havana’s second anniversary celebration.

The Indonesian company manages five hotel facilities in the main tourist areas of the Cuban archipelago, the first of the Aston brand outside the Asian region. In the last four years, Archipelago International has secured contracts to operate hotels in Cayo Las Brujas, Havana, Cayo Paredón and Guardalavaca. At present, the total number of rooms under its management in Cuba is 3,500.

During the most recent of its openings in December 2023 – the Grand Aston Varadero Beach, a 531-room five-star hotel – the company’s Vice President for this region, José Luis Leonardo, pointed out that statistics show that the brand is one of the most popular in Cuba. According to ReviewPro, the Grand Aston La Habana was the hotel that received the most guests in the capital last year; the Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas stands out as the preference of those who vacation in that sun and beach destination; and the most popular and most visited hotel in Cayo Coco is the Grand Aston Cayo Paredón. The Aston Costa Verde in Holguín also stands out for its customer service and its high rate of repeat visits.

The executive also commented that, “This wonderful island welcomes us and has allowed Archipelago to use it as a springboard for its development in the Americas.”

According to Leonardo, 12,000 rooms are in the pipeline to be managed by the Asian company, spread between Mexico and the Dominican Republic. In this regard, the commercial director said that “Archipelago International’s objective today is to look toward Latin America. We have several projects in the making, both in Santo Domingo and Punta Cana; the Mexican Caribbean, Cancun, Rivera Maya, Tulum; Cartagena de Indias in Colombia and Costa Rica.”

Archipelago International has more than 350 hotels, mostly in Southwest Asia, specifically in Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.