Hotel Moka, Las Terrazas In this rural area 45 minutes west of Havana, you1ll find the charming Hotel Moka. Cubans give four stars to the hotel, built on a hill overlooking a lake, around an immense tree that shoots upward through the lobby.

The brainchild of Osmany Cienfuegos, Castro's tourism strategist, and the brother of the martyred revolutionary hero, Camilo Cienfuegos, the Hotel Moka is supposed to be an "ecotourism" resort, which in Cuba means that it is in a bucolic, uncommercialized setting. Year-round doubles from from $72 53-7-33-55-16 Facilities: 26 rooms, 1 restaurant, 1 tennis court , horses for rent

Meliš Cohiba, Havana The new talk of the town is the Meliš Cohiba, next door to the Riviera along the Malec n. Its new discotheque, Ache, in a fashion reminiscent of pre-Castro Cuba, jumps all night long. Year-round doubles from from $170 53-7-33-36-36 Facilities: 452 rooms, 2 restaurants , wheelchair accessible

The Comodoro, Havana The Comodoro has comfortable duplex bungalows as well as regular rooms. Year-round doubles from $90 53-7-33-55-51 Facilities: 115 rooms, 1 restaurant , 1 pool

The Nacional, Havana The Nacional is one, if not the best, of the Havana hotels doing brisk, lucrative trade with foreign businessmen, including Americans who operate through third parties or shell corporations. The Nacional, which has faxes, Xerox machines, and cellular phones, arranges travel and guides. "After a $15 million face-lift, the NacionalĪbuilt by the same architect who designed The Breakers in Palm Beach has been restored to its full Spanish colonial glory. Its awesome lobby, with marbled floor, exquisite Moorish arches, and wraparound veranda overlooking the Caribbean, is the unoffcial clubhouse for the jet set, VIPs, and American travelers. At any given time, one can bump into top Cuban government offcials, novelist Gabriel GarcĮa Marquez, director Stephen Frears, actor Maximilian Schell, most of the visiting foreign press corps, assorted relatives of Fidel Castro's, and the occasional American tycoon pretending he's not doing business in Cuba." --Ann Louise Bardach, "Cuba" November 1995 Year-round doubles from from $152 to $179 53-7-33-35-64 Facilities: 83 rooms, 1 restaurant , 2 pools

The Riviera, Havana Meyer Lansky1s old haunt. Year-round doubles from $90 53-7-33-37-33 Facilities: 125 rooms, 1 restaurant , 1 pool , wheelchair accessible

The Victoria, Havana A small but exceptionally well run hotel in Vedado, the Victoria is favored by businessmen. Built 68 years ago, it is in the center of Havana, 20 meters from the beach. Year-round doubles from $100 53-7-33-3510 Facilities: 31 rooms, 1 restaurant