The Old Havana was surrounded by city walls for the safety reasons during the second half of the 18th century, but by passage of time the city grew, particularly in the direction of north, and the intramural public spaces were not sufficient anymore for the recreation and social life of the habeneros, so that it became necessary to overcome the limits imposed by the walls. According to the urbanization program, the first goal was to build a great extramural promenade like in Paris that would be one kilometer long, extending between two doors of the city walls.

Thus, the construction of the current Paseo de Martí, the first avenue located outside the old city walls, began in 1772, but the Captain General Miguel Tacón y Rosique (1834-1838), the first great urban planner of the city, converted the mall into an avenue with two rows of trees in its beginnings, and extended it to the coast (to that what is Malecón today). Soon it became the promenade of the Havana society of the time that was eager to have a place for leisure and walking, particularly at dusk. The Governor Tacón, inspired by the Las Ramblas in Barcelona, changed the rural character of the Alameda de Extramuros by widening the road and favoring the construction of a series of public buildings nearby, such as the Teatro Tacón and the Real Cárcel. With the inauguration of the Teatro Tacón in 1838, nowadays Gran Teatro de la Habana Alicia Alanso, and some cafés, such as the Café Escauriza (opened in 1843) with El Louvre ice cream shop in its upper floors, the Alameda de Extramuros (current Paseo de Martí) increased in importance among the Havana society and it became the center of the social life of Havana of the time.

In 1836 a new coffee shop with the name of Café de Argel (Coffee of Algiers) was inaugurated on the Amistad street that runs parallel to the Paseo de Martí. The name of the coffee shop was inspired by the Arab fashion, existing in Havana in those days. The owner of the large building was Francisco del Campo that sold it to Juan López del Barrio in 1845. When Juan López died, the property was inherited by his nephew Alejandro López. Before Alejandro López came to the conclusion to transform the building into a modern hotel, an ice cream shop, Los Helados de París, had been opened on the ground floor of the building.

The new hotel was founded in 1860 (1858-1863) and received the name of Hotel Telégrafo. It got this name, because it served as the country’s first telegraph station. In 1888 it moved to its current building at the beginning of the Paseo de Isable II (current Paseo de Martí). When Alejandro López died in 1886, he left all his property including the hotel to his son Román Carlos López y Hoyos, but the hotel flourished during the time of Pilar Samoana and Guillermo del Toro, a merchant couple that was very well known in the hotel industry. When Pilar Samoana bought the hotel in 1895, she charged his husband with the administration of the hotel. They completely renovated the hotel, adding another story to the original building. They set new standards in the hotel management that converted the Hotel Telégrafo into one of eleven best hotels in Latin America. The hotel with its facilities became the meeting point of the Havana aristocracy during the first decades of the 20th century. The telephones in the rooms and on the tables in the restaurant on request, made the hotel a favorite place for politicians and the businessmen. The hotel owned the only telegraph line of the island; the hotel took its name from this feature.

Even though Pilar Samoana had of Spanish origin, she was a fervent supporter of the separation of Cuba from Spain. Furthermore, she helped to the imprisoned mambises. Her sympathy for Liberal Party of Cuba, turned the hotel to the popular place for José Miguel Gómez and the party members. José Miguel Gómez is a Major General that took part in the Liberation Army as high officer and fought for the independence of Cuba. He was the President of Cuba from 1909 to 1913, succeeding in a lot of works in the modernisation of the country.

In due course, the splendor of the hotel ceased, so that a complete restoration became necessary in 1911.  Gradually the former baroque and colonial style buildings were replaced by the large and lavish neoclassical buildings on either side throughout the Paseo de Martí that made the localization of the hotel more appealing.

In 1964 the hotel suffered a collapse due to the great deterioration the original building. Subsequently, the metal structure was reinforced to add two floors more to the building. It became also possible to rescue a part of the building, so that it was used in the reconstruction. The new Hotel Telégrafo opened its doors in 2001.

The façade of hotel demonstrates the evolution of the building from one floor to four floors. It has 63 spacious and modernised rooms with view over the whole Paseo de Martí. In the main central patio where the snack-bar is located, one can encounter big half arcades without plaster that reveal bricks and masonry; they are the preserved ruines of the original building. The sprouting water from the surrounding fountain and the ceramic mural in the form of a collage, showing elements of colonial architecture of Havana, create a fascinating game of lights and shades on the walls, resembling the movement of the waves of the sea.

The restaurant of the hotel, specialized in Cuban and international cousine, gives access to the Acera del Louvre (Sidewalk of the Louvre). The part of the Paseo de Martí between the San Rafael and the San Miguel streets that runs along the hotel was called so, and particularly the corner of Paseo de Prado and the San Rafael street was a meeting place of the young native people with ideals of independence in 1890’s. The sidewalk received its name from El Louvre coffee shop (current Grand Cafe el Louvre) and the young people that had high cultural level in the majority, was called as “Boys of the Sidewalk of Louvre”. In the lobby you can see several pieces of ancient telegraphs and a section of the first underwater cable that was used to establish telegraph communication between Florida and Havana in 1880s.

The Hotel Telégrafo is the oldest hotel in Cuba. It had also prestigious guests, such as Chin Lan Pin (Chinese Mandarin), Heinrich Schliemann (German archeologist that worked in the excavations of the ancient city Troy in Turkey), Alfredo Sosabravo (Cuban painter, ceramist, engraver), Conchita Supervia (Spanish lyric mezzo-soprano) and El Caballero de París (the Knight of Paris; street person well known in Havana in 1950’s).

The Hotel Telégrafo is managed by Habaguanex SA.