Cuba in mid-2025 is sharply divided between luxurious enclaves and widespread hardship. A new 41-story K Tower hotel in Havana offers dollar-only services, uninterrupted power, and amenities for tourists and elites while the rest of the island endures frequent blackouts. The state invested $200 million despite declining tourism and the worst economic crisis since the Soviet collapse. Street begging has increased, garbage accumulates because of fuel shortages that halted regular truck service, and many workers earn salaries that cannot cover basic needs. Visible urban landmarks coexist with crumbling buildings and rising inequality that many Cubans can only observe from afar.
From the observation deck on the skyscraper's 32nd floor terrace which features a huge restaurant and pool that were both empty on a late-July afternoon one can see the beauty of a city where time seems to stand still: the legendary Yara cinema, the Coppelia ice cream parlor, the Habana Libre and Nacional hotels. And, in the background amidst the historic downtown, filled with crumbling buildings the National Capitol building and the immense Caribbean Sea.
Drinks at the hotel can only be paid for in U.S. dollars. And unlike the rest of the island accustomed to living with blackouts the power and air conditioning don't go out. This is a reality that only a few tourists and the growing but still-tiny Cuban oligarchy can afford. For many citizens who cross paths every day with this building, it's like a mirage.
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