Casa Tips (How to Get Along With Your Hosts)

Source: ttjpdo on The Thorn Tree

Find more excellent advice from ttjpdo on how to locate a casa and deal with the hosts here:
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=14&threadid=1486085&messid=13138659&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=1

Be VERY CLEAR on the cost of the casa room, and also on the cost of meals, if you are going to have your meals made for you by your casa host. This is a good idea, because they're usually cheaper, and almost always better, than what you'll find in Cuban restaurants, except the very most expensive ones. A breakfast should not be over 3 CUC, and dinner between 5 and 9 CUC (5 if you're vegetarian, 6,7, if it includes chicken or fish, maybe 8 or 9 if it's shrimp or lobster.) This meal price should include homemade beverages like coffee and tea, but not bottled drinks. Bottled drinks, including water, you can expect to pay 1 CUC each for. (possibly less, but count on that).

I personally think it is uncool, not to mention obnoxious, for comparatively well-off travelers to bargain and try to knock the price down for people who are so much less well off. BUT it is a good idea to be clear on the price--not for bargaining purposes, but just to avoid misunderstandings, which could cause you to feel ripped off. Often, sometimes the homeowners will feel that they can voluntarily lower the price--maybe because you plan to stay a week, or because you plan to take all your meals there--something like that. Other times not.

Don't, by the way, promise to stay a week or take all your meals there until you have first had a night and a meal, just to make sure you want to do that. Don't say you will and then regret it, or go back on your promise and move on when the host is expecting you to stay. Street food is dirt cheap and not as tasty as in other Latin American countries, but much safer. I always eat street food lunches in Cuba, spending under US $2. It's hard to find breakfast anywhere outside your casa, especially if you get up early so you can enjoy a walkabout in the cool of the morning (which is DEFINITELY the way to see Havana!)