Cuba Itinerary Hotel Screener

How to Screen a Cuba Itinerary

Paste every hotel, casa particular, and supplier name from your booking directly into the screener, placing each entry on its own line. Use this screening sequence to clear every item on your itinerary:

1. Type or paste each supplier name into the box labelled "Hotels and suppliers, one per line", writing the names as they appear on your booking documents.
2. Select "Screen the list" to run the entries against the State Department lists.
3. Review each line's status tag, opening each listed entry link to view its specific province and section details.
4. Review every line marked "Similar name, review" by hand to confirm whether the supplier matches a listed variant.
5. Screen each supplier name through the OFAC Cuba sanctions checker to check the Treasury Department Specially Designated Nationals list.
6. Use the "Copy as text", "Download CSV", or "Print / save as PDF" buttons to save the final screening record for compliance files.

The screener runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere. The text box comes pre-loaded with a five-line sample list that you can clear before entering your data. You can restore this demonstration itinerary at any point using the "Load example" button, or empty the input box using the "Clear" button.

The Two State Department Lists

Two separate U.S. State Department lists apply to Cuban hotels and suppliers: the Cuba Restricted List (CRL) and the Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List (CPAL).

Under 31 CFR §515.209, the Cuba Restricted List generally prohibits persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction from engaging in direct financial transactions with designated entities and subentities. The section sets out specific regulatory exceptions, which you must review directly in the regulation text. The CRL covers commercial holding entities, governmental ministries, and specific subsidiaries. Entities listed on the CRL include:

• GAESA
• Grupo de Turismo Gaviota (including subentity Gaviota Hoteles Cuba)
• CIMEX
• Habaguanex (including subentity Hoteles Habaguanex)
• FINCIMEX
• MINFAR

Under 31 CFR §515.210, the Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List prohibits persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction from lodging, paying for lodging, or making reservations for or on behalf of a third party to lodge at any property identified on the list. The section sets out specific regulatory exceptions, which you must review directly in the regulation text.

A single hotel can be on both lists: the CRL (§515.209) and the CPAL (§515.210). The Iberostar Grand Packard Hotel and the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski are on both. In other cases, a property appears only on the CPAL, barring accommodation while remaining absent from the CRL direct financial transaction list.

How the Matching Works

The screener compares each line with every name on both published lists.

The screener ignores accents, capitals, spaces and punctuation. Because of this normalization step, "Melia Cohiba" and "Meliá Cohiba" register as the exact same property.

A line matches when it appears inside a listed name. It also matches when a listed name of 8 letters or more appears inside the line. For example, pasting "Iberostar Grand Packard Hotel, Havana" matches the listed record for the Iberostar Grand Packard Hotel because the 8-letter threshold is met.

When nothing matches that way, the screener looks for listed names spelled very similarly and marks the line "Similar name, review". The screener never counts a similar name as a match, so you decide whether it is the same place.

Two more rules apply:

• Any input line shorter than 3 letters is skipped automatically and labelled "Too short to screen".
• Any generic term matching more than 15 separate entries is labelled "Too general, type the full name". Submitting the single word "Hotel" returns this warning because it matches 191 listed names across the databases.

The 5-line sample list, screened on 2026-10-21, returns these results:

• "Iberostar Grand Packard Hotel" returns "On the CRL (§515.209)" and "On the CPAL (§515.210)", appearing under "Hotels in La Habana Province" on the CRL and under Havana on the CPAL.
• "Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski" returns "On the CRL (§515.209)" and "On the CPAL (§515.210)".
• "Hotel Inglaterra" returns "On the CPAL (§515.210)" only. When checking this property using the single-name Cuba Restricted List checker, it is not a CRL match. The closest CRL name is a different property, "Hotel Terral", which that checker displays as a similar name to review rather than an exact match. You can check single properties against lodging restrictions on the Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List checker.
• "Casa particular in Vedado (private home)" returns "Not on either list".
• "Paladar dinner, Old Havana" returns "Not on either list".

The summary counter for this 5-line sample shows 5 lines screened, 3 matching a listed name (2 on the Cuba Restricted List, 3 on the Prohibited Accommodations List), and 2 on neither list. For each match or similar name, the screener lists up to 5 listed names, each linked to its own entry page.

When a Clean Result Is Not Enough

A clean result showing that an itinerary entry is "Not on either list" does not provide a complete regulatory clearance.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) manages the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list entirely separately from the State Department lists. Most entities listed on the Cuba Restricted List do not appear on the SDN list. A name clear on both State Department lists still needs an SDN check. You must verify names separately on the OFAC Cuba sanctions checker.

A listed name can differ from the name on a booking, or the listing can be under a parent company. The screener reads the lists as published on the dates shown under it. Those dates and list sizes change when the State Department updates a list. It compares names and does not decide whether a transaction is authorised.

Records to Keep

Under 31 CFR §501.601, records must be kept for at least 10 years.

The "Copy as text", "Download CSV" and "Print / save as PDF" buttons each produce the screening record. Each exported record includes:

• The date the itinerary was screened
• The effective dates of the active CRL and CPAL databases used
• Every submitted line item paired with its specific status outcome
• A statement clarifying that the result is not legal advice

The printable record is formatted as the "Cuba Itinerary Screening Record" and includes an empty "Trip / client" line for organizational filing. If you need to verify travel categories or plan authorized travel, use the can I travel to Cuba planning guide and the support for the Cuban people itinerary builder. For updates to U.S. measures, consult our sanctions tracker.