Hotel Habana Libre's Dulce Habana Bakery Switches to Dollars, Sends Customers Fleeing

The iconic Dulce Habana bakery and ice cream parlor, situated beneath the Hotel Habana Libre in El Vedado, has recently stopped accepting Cuban pesos, opting instead to charge exclusively in U.S. dollars. This abrupt shift has driven away its regular customers.

The change was sudden and its impacts are clear. Until just a few days ago, a dessert at this establishment would cost about 500 Cuban pesos. Now, the bakery has implemented an exchange rate of 750 pesos per dollar, greatly exceeding the current informal rate of 555 pesos per dollar as of last Friday, and the official floating rate of 540. Most Cubans lack access to dollars, or cannot afford to spend them on pastries.

Prices at Dulce Habana are now out of reach for the average Cuban citizen. For example, a continental breakfast is priced at two dollars (1,500 pesos at the bakery's rate), a four-season pizza at three dollars (2,250 pesos), a Cuban sandwich at four dollars (3,000 pesos), and a beef burger at five dollars (3,750 pesos). Although the menu lists prices in the national currency, staff have confirmed that only dollars are accepted, as reported by 14ymedio.

"The clerk was visibly embarrassed," shared a regular customer with the digital newspaper, expressing outrage over what she described as an abusive shift to dollarization. She recalled how the place used to be: "Before, there were people sitting and enjoying sweets, with a constant flow of customers. Now, they peek in and quickly leave."

This customer, who receives remittances from a daughter in Spain, stated that she would never spend those dollars on sweets, opting instead for "essential needs." She posed a question that many in Havana are asking: "Who are these sweets for?"

The answer seems evident given the circumstances. In 2025, the average salary in Cuba was 6,930 pesos, equivalent to roughly 12 to 15 dollars at the informal exchange rate. Independent economists estimate that surviving in Cuba requires at least 35,000 pesos per month per person, more than five times the average salary. In this scenario, spending three or four dollars on a sandwich or pizza is a luxury reserved for those with remittances or access to foreign currency through other means.

A retiree from Marianao who used to visit Dulce Habana described feeling like he was experiencing the Special Period all over again: "Just like when the CUC started circulating in the 90s. Hotel stores were in CUC, and Cubans couldn't access that currency." He found an alternative: "To satisfy my craving for something sweet, I went to the bakery on 23rd, across from Coppelia, and bought an éclair for 120 pesos."

His observations go beyond a thwarted craving. "When you look at it from other angles, the State no longer guarantees anything. What little it has is in dollars, at prohibitive prices, and we survive thanks to the private sector, which is still heavily controlled," he noted to 14ymedio.

The dollarization of Dulce Habana is not an isolated case. It is part of a trend that has accelerated in 2026: nearly thirty state-run gas stations have been selling fuel exclusively in dollars since 2024, and since May, state platforms have sold 10-kilogram liquefied gas cylinders for 29 dollars, equivalent to over 15,000 pesos at the informal rate. The Cuban regime, unable to sustain services in the national currency, shifts the burden onto citizens by demanding foreign currency that the State itself does not produce.

The price of the dollar set a record on the Island's informal market this Friday, reaching 555 pesos, highlighting the depth of the monetary crisis. In this context, the question posed by the Dulce Habana customer — "Who are these sweets for?" — has an increasingly obvious answer: not for Cubans earning a salary in pesos.