![]() It was completely unacceptable to be blindsided by this just as we arrived in Cuba after a lengthy overnight flight. But this is not the agreement we signed and not at all what we agreed upon. Layman let us know beforehand that they were changing the way they did things and this is why, they hoped we were ok with the change. However, this information was never communicated prior to our visit and when we booked our package with Cuba Candela, just the opposite. This will give you the best possible dining experience as you can order whatever you like.” Depending on one's point of view that may or may not be reasonable. Our clients in the past have complained about the preset menus…” She also wrote that they provided us with the Cuban pesos to give their clients “full freedom over what they order. Not every restaurant accepts pre payments, and the ones that do offer a limited preset menu. Then, she wrote that “…the best possible way to take care of this is by giving you cash. Molly Layman, their Director of Business Operations, who had just recently provided us with exactly the opposite information. In spite of my appeals, they insisted on this unexpected change in plan. ![]() I protested this, showed documentation where this was absolutely not what we were told, I preferred not to have this enormous stack of Cuban pesos, and expected the agreement and what we had been told previously to hold, namely that all meals be covered and we not have to use Cuban pesos to pay for meals. ![]() To carry all of the Cuban pesos Mario gave us have a required a huge box or briefcase. Then, when we arrived, our Cuban concierge in Havana presented us with a huge stack of Cuban pesos. Otherwise, we were told, there was no need to use Cuban pesos. We were specifically reassured that there would be little if any need to use Cuban pesos-only if we wanted to exchange a small amount of US dollars to cuban pesos for the experience-and to do it with the Cuba Candela team. We had been told previously with written documentation that we had the deluxe, highest end package and all of our meals were covered, breakfast, lunch and dinner. One of the biggest disappointments and surprises came on our arrival to Cuba. To reiterate, he worked very hard and this is not his fault-but it is another example of Cuba Candela overpromising and underdelivering. We liked our guide very much, but he was not fluent in English. We were told that our guide would be bilingual and fluent in both English and Spanish. Also, the communication among Cuba Candela and those it works with is poor and unreliable. We released the 3rd room and were told we would receive a refund for the room by the end of the week of December 20, 2022. Less than a week before our Departure, we were told they could not do this. We signed up for a custom, highest-end deluxe package which included all meals, breakfasts, lunches and dinners. We definitely plan to return to Cuba but would never do so with Cuba Candela. They wanted a 6,600-seat grandstand and they wanted it to cost less than $1 million (roughly $7.7 million today).Ĭandela, then a 27-year-old architect at the Miami firm of Pancoast, Ferendino, Skeels and Burnham, had other ideas.In spite of Cuba Candela's very poor and unreliable customer service, we enjoyed our visit to Cuba and its many wonderful people. Miami’s Department of Public Works-an entity known for erecting practical infrastructure like highway overpasses-wasn’t interested in producing a great work of architecture. When architect Hilario Candela was tasked with designing a boat racing stadium on a small key just off the coast of Miami in 1962, there was one overarching requirement from the city: make it cheap. ![]() ![]() The company plans to launch additional Indiegogo campaigns for select projects later this year. The campaign is part of Heineken's Cities initiative, which aims to help revitalise urban areas in the US. In 2013, the city approved a plan to restore the building, and the city recently allocated $4 million to further the effort. In 2009, the National Trust named the stadium one of America's most-endangered historic places, and the World Monuments Fund placed the building on its "watch list" of threatened sites around the world.Ī group called Friends of Miami Marine Stadium have been working since 2008 to save the structure. Various proposals have been put forth over years, from razing the structure to resurrecting it. The campaign is hosted by the American division of the beer company Heineken and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded US nonprofit group. ![]()
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