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An hour of privacy in Matanzas costs 5,000 pesos, 14ymedio reports

With the old state-run by-the-hour inns gone and homes where three generations live together, a discreet network of private rooms rented by the hour is thriving in Matanzas, at 5,000 pesos an hour and 1,000 for a night, according to 14ymedio.

In the El Naranjal neighbourhood, a former chemistry teacher the report calls Héctor offers couples a room at the back of his home: "The room has everything, a good bed, air conditioning, beer in the minibar in case you want a drink, and even a mirror on the ceiling." An hour costs 5,000 pesos and includes a private bathroom, air conditioning and power backed by a generator and solar panels, a commercial advantage in a city with blackouts, according to 14ymedio.

The old state-run inns, which rented rooms by the hour, have vanished from the Cuban landscape: some closed and others were turned into collective shelters for hurricane victims. Conventional hotels charge rates beyond a worker's reach. In that gap a discreet network of private rooms has thrived, almost never advertised with signs: a barred window, a half-open door or the grocer's recommendation is enough, and when customers are scarce the offer goes to Facebook groups.

Héctor, who spent 21 years teaching at a high school, has no rental licence: he says legalising the lodging would leave him little profit after taxes and expenses. "This is not about getting rich, it is about making a daily living," he told 14ymedio. He and his wife run the business themselves to keep prying eyes off those who come and go; discretion, the report says, protects the visitor from gossip and the owner from an inspection.

On Compostela street, Abel sells meat products and rents out his mother-in-law's former room by the hour, with a rechargeable fan and walls that do not always stop the neighbours' conversations. He closes the service at three in the afternoon, before his daughter comes home from school. He also takes in people who need to spend the night near the children's hospital and cannot return to their municipalities: for 1,000 pesos he lets them sleep from ten at night until six in the morning. "I do not like to take advantage of other people's need either," he said.

The rules vary from house to house: some admit only two people, ban alcohol or demand complete silence; others offer a minibar and comforts that raise the price. The report describes the two vulnerable sides of the business: the person renting needs the money to survive and the person paying is looking for privacy they do not have at home, and informality leaves both without guarantees if anything goes wrong.

Sources: 14ymedio · Serie Yamacoa: Dólar en el mercado informal (elTOQUE (tasa representativa))

Data updated: 2026-11-07T16:15:00.000Z

An hour of privacy in Matanzas costs 5,000 pesos, 14ymedio reports | Yamacoa Observatory