Mansión Xanadú

Mansión Xanadú Review

The du Pont mansion, Mansión Xanadú, was christened after a verse from the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem Kubla Khan ("In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree"). With six rooms for rent, it's by far Varadero's top lodging choice, though you need to secure reservations many months in advance. The restaurant and top-floor terrace and bar offer a nonpareil place for an evening mojito. Even if you're not staying at the Mansión Xanadú, a visit will help you understand the level of luxury the du Ponts established here. Such is the legend of the du Pont villa that Cubanas celebrating their quinceañera (15th birthday)—the age considered the beginning of young womanhood—still come, sometimes from Havana or even farther away, dressed in antique ball gowns to pose for photographs on the marble stairway.