Bidspirit auction | Hotel Nacional de Cuba Room

Hotel Nacional de Cuba Room Key, Key Ring, Havana - 1940s / 50s Havana, Cuba Hotel Nacional de Cuba key and key ring for room 734. The Hotel Nacional de Cuba was owned by Arnold Kirkeby 1943 - 1955, and still stands as a national monument. Per Wikipedia: In 1956, singer Nat King Cole was contracted to perform in Cuba and wanted to stay at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, but was not allowed to because the hotel was segregated. The hotel had earlier turned away black celebrities including Joe Louis, Marian Anderson, Jackie Robinson and Josephine Baker. Cole honored his contract, and the concert at the Tropicana was a huge success. The following year, he returned to Cuba for another concert, singing many songs in Spanish. There is now a tribute to him in the form of a statue and a jukebox in the Hotel Nacional. Jean-Paul Sartre stayed at the hotel just after the Revolution in 1960, with his wife, the philosopher, Simone de Beauvoir. The couple interviewed Che Guevara, and Sartre wrote 'Sartre visits Cuba', which was published in Havana in 1961, narrating his