Sevilla in Havana

A lot of history: The hotel was built as the Hotel Sevilla in 1908. It consisted of a four-story Moorish Revival structure. In 1939, the hotel was purchased by Italian-Uruguayan mobster Amleto Battisti y Lora. The Sevilla-Biltmore's casino was closely associated with Havana's mafia network, being part-owned by Santo Trafficante Jr. - Mobs destroyed the casino in early January 1959 as Fidel Castro's rebel army overtook Havana, and Amleto Battisti took refuge in the Uruguayan embassy. The hotel was also featured in Graham Greene's novel Our Man in Havana as the location where the protagonist joins the British secret service. - see PiP for ballroom / restaurant.