Sol Melia prohibits internet use by Cubans in its Cuban Hotels
In an unusual twist right out of a badly written novel, Sol Melia denied access to the internet on camera to two Cuban citizens this past Sunday. In itself a remarkable decision by the Spanish chain with more hotels in Cuba than any other. The video shows a Melia employee alleging that both Etecsa and the Ministry of Tourism had ordered the hotel chain to restrict internet access to Cuban´s, then going on to say that there may be other hotels in the area that have not adopted the exclusion order.
With the internet now being an essential part of everyday life, it’s hard to imagine this situation actually existing at all. Probably the most bizarre issue is that President Castro himself, in a move to liberate Cubans, ordered the opening of all Cuban hotels to Cubans who had previously been prohibited from spending a night in any of them. We must assume that Sol Melia agreed to that order with open arms while millions of Cuban´s abroad booked hotels for close family on the island as a special treat since March 31st of this year when the prohibition was abolished. One must only deduce that all areas of the hotel are in bounds for Cuban´s staying at Melia Hotels: Pools, Restaurants, Lobby Bar, Saunas, Gymnasiums, and Discotheques…but…sorry not the internet café upstairs.
With the cheapest Melia hotel running at over 100 USD per night it’s pretty hard to understand how a Cuban spending that type of money as a guest or even a Cuban willing to pay 10 dollars for 30 mins for a 300K connection could be refused. Furthermore, if it’s all about ideological corruption and all that nonsense they should also remove the New York Times, Financial Times, Toronto Star and other newspapers from the reach of Cuban guests. Or maybe they already are at 5 dollars each in the news stand at each Sol Melia reception…
