A stay at the San Miguel Hotel will probably feel like a privileged sojourn at someone’s private mansion, a treat for those who prefer small, intimate settings.

As in many of the Old Town’s properties now operating as hotels, restoration efforts here have been guided by taste and fidelity to historical fact: most of the San Miguel’s furniture and décor is original, and the discrete, modern-day fittings blend imperceptibly with these. Some furnishings, such as the upholstered arm-chairs and sofa in the seating-area-turned-lobby-bar next to the reception show worn, faded patterns, signs of use which add to the feeling of authenticity and intimacy.

With only 10 rooms, the San Miguel is the kind of cozy establishment where you can reasonably expect to make friends with the staff and be on a first-name basis with them. Despite the aristocratic elegance of the interiors, there’s no stuffy etiquette or protocol here: guests will find hotel spaces welcoming and feel at home as they to take their meals in the sunny 2nd-floor restaurant and hall, the adjacent Sevillana terrace or the roof terrace, which has a killer view of the harbour and the Morro complex lighthouse, across the bay.

Off the Malecón, the San Miguel is also an excellent starting point for any sightseeing venture into Havana’s Old Town and its historic sites.