Chateau Blanc: The Perfect Kosher Experience in Havana

Enjoying the calm night at a club in Havana Cuba.
Enjoying the calm night at a club in Havana Cuba.

Chateau Blanc offers Jewish Travelers a Kosher Experience in Havana

By Esther Akinsola

Relaxation area at Hotel Chateau Blanc
Relaxation area at Hotel Chateau Blanc
The spiral staircase at Chateau Blanc
The spiral staircase at Chateau Blanc

The saying “No one ever said, shout from the ground floor” is proved to be true with this beautiful edifice; the view from the Chateau Blanc’s rooftop is breathtaking and allows you to see the miles of sunset and sunrise.

Chateau Blanc is Cuba’s first and only kosher hotel and you can be sure to get a sensory experience that will change how you see the world.

Sarah, who stayed there in 2022, described the casa particular on TripAdvisor as ‘charming and regal for kosher people to bask in the beauty of Cuba.

Judy Berger shared her experience, “My friends and I had a wonderful stay. It was our first time in Havana and Cuba. The staff (Martha and Alfredo) were helpful. The rooms and home were spacious, comfortable, and beautifully decorated”.

Berger also noted how the kosher breakfast served was generously portioned and tailored to their needs.

A graffiti decorated market at Cuba
A graffiti-decorated market in Cuba

Kosher Meals

Chateau Blanc is born out of the desire to serve and enhance community development. This is evident as Cindy White mentioned they became the first kosher facility because “They wanted to be able to offer a place for individuals who couldn’t easily travel to Cuba because of their dietary restrictions”.

Just at the city’s center

The family-owned business is based in the city’s capital and is located in Nuevo Vedado, a suburb in Havana just a short car ride from the city’s center.

The kosher hotel is up the hill from Plaque Alemendares in the Bosque de la Habana.

The large outdoor deck at Chateau Blanc affords sweeping views of the Cuban countryside.
The large outdoor deck at Chateau Blanc affords sweeping views of the Cuban countryside.

Bosque de la Habana is a national park leaving guests the option to immerse and enjoy nature. Renowned for its ‘Jewban’, or Jewish/Cuban practices, a culmination of Jewish flavors, customs, and religious practices on the island.

The Chateau Blanc Story

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Scott Berenthal recounted his late Father’s passion for business and community development.

“Our grandparents fled war-torn Europe in the early 20th century and like many Jews, came to Cuba as the US was not an option.”

Rather than leave at the first opportunity, they elected to stay here until the revolution in 1961.

“In 2008 our father and founder decided to return back home after almost 50 years to explore what Cuba had become.”

Assessing the Landscape

As a successful entrepreneur in the US, he assessed the economic and political landscape and began thinking about how to get a foot in the door in Havana.

The first venture was an open-source tractor company– Oggun— that he co-founded with his former business partner and was eventually granted the first US business license to operate a company in Cuba.

While he remained involved with the tractor venture, he explored other opportunities, which eventually included property ownership. He decided to buy a house in Cuba and eventually purchased another property that became Chateau Blanc. Having seen what Cuba had become and the potential it had, along with its focus on travel as an economic driver, he decided to open up a hotel.

Jewish Cuba Focus

The focus on Jewish Cuba was a homage to his own personal story of having grown up in the community here and what he believed was a viable market. Sadly, he recently passed away, and his sister and I have taken the honor of fulfilling his dreams of evolving Cuba and preserving the Jewish community. and built their lives and families there. Our parents were both born in Havana and lived there in the Jewish community.

Staying at Chateau Blanc is like having four birds with a stride–you get a tour guide, a phenomenal driver, and make meaningful connections to local people.

Chateau Blanc facility
Hotel Chateau Blanc

When to visit Cuba

The beaches in Cuba never change all year round, they are beautiful but the rainy season (May –October) is hotter and more humid. The last weeks of the rainy season are characterized by hurricanes and lots of mosquitoes if the weather is a huge priority for you then the best time to visit Cuba is the dry season. Whenever it is you decide to visit, the country remains true to its sobriquet “Mecca for tourists.”

Havana Cuba
Havana Cuba

Everything you should know

Chateau Blanc partners with top-quality third-party tour operators to complement their services with the best accommodation.

Being a privately owned entity it complies with all OFAC provisions making it a top-of-the-list accommodation for individuals visiting from the United States and all over the world.

Art and Comfort

The high-end kosher stay features high-quality Cuban art in the bar and throughout the bar is the work of Enrique Avila, a renowned sculptor who made the Che and Camilo that adorns the building in the Plaza de la Revolution.

Pirata rum, a brand of Terebelo whiskey
Pirata rum, a brand of Terebelo whiskey

The private house provides airport transportation for guests based on request. While the facility offers meals for individuals it is also on the lookout for sustainable ways to include meat dishes into its recipe.

Access to amenities like Wi-Fi, free breakfast, free airport transportation, banquet room, rooftop terrace, babysitting and business center sets the facility apart from every casa particular in Havana.

Exploring the Island

Issues like delayed pick-up and disappointing local guides are what travelers dread the most but staying in this accommodation gives you easy access to historical sites.

These historical landmarks include Plaza Vieja (3.8miles), San Francisco de Asis square (8.9miles), Palacio De Los Capitanes Generales (3.9miles), and popular attractions such as Praque Almendares (0.3miles) Gran Praque Metropolitano Praque (0.6miles) and S.Borges design (0.6miles).

Visiting Cuba? What you should know

Traveling to Cuba is not just all winging it- it takes proper planning to have a wanderlust. It is never easy to get it together without third-party guidance.

Making the most of your trip requires an itinerary informed by research, for Cuba it could be changing cash or securing travel insurance, local internet access or requesting a tourist card, or maybe your accommodation.

Bosque de la Habana
Bosque de la Habana national park.
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