Business Class: Cuba Chic

Discreetly mentioning your trip to Cuba these days is as likely to get you a knowing nod as a raised eyebrow. The U.S. House of Representatives two weeks ago voted to lift restrictions on Americans traveling to Castro's island paradise, but already it seems that half the people I know, from local lawyers to textile execs, either have just returned or are leaving next week for a business trip there. Of course, many of these travelers are really pursuing the business of Cohibas, mojitos and long-lost nieces. But just in case you're one of those who really are meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and you have half a day free before your return flight, here are some tips on the latest divertimientos, based on my recent--and strictly businesslike--research.

La Habana Vieja, an architectural treasury of crumbling Spanish colonial mansions and palaces, is all anyone needs to fill half a day and requires only comfortable shoes and a wad of George Washingtons. While no one openly begs here and Cubans are almost universally polite, they're also hungry. If you ask directions or take a picture of an old woman in flowered headdress smoking a cigar, be prepared to fork over a dollar.

Make the Hotel Parque Central your home base. It's the newest, best-located hotel in Old Havana. Rather than get rooked by street vendors of cigars, you can shop at the hotel's trustworthy walk-in humidor. There is also a rooftop pool and restaurant with spectacular views of the city. Service is languid, but the hotel employees--a collection of former engineers and accountants who can make more money tending bar or toting luggage--speak English, and most are probably better educated than you. Slip the concierge $20, and you can have all the advice, reservations and drivers you need.

But first take a stroll from the hotel through gorgeous, weather-worn Old Havana, where many of the palaces and plazas date from the 16th and 17th centuries. Highlights include the Teatro Nacional and Plaza de la Catedral, with its nearby open-air market for Che berets and other tourist kitsch. For a brush with real Cubans and a sense of the island's emerging private economy, stroll over to Cuatro Caminos, a farmers' market and photographers' paradise full of colorful fruits, flowers and the ever whimsical fly-covered goat heads.

To buy local art--which Cubans are allowed to sell and even Americans are allowed to bring home, assuming your visit is licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department--follow Calle Obispo, which begins about a block from the Parque Central. Here you find dozens of "galleries"--usually the front room of a private home--where artists sell often fine work for low prices. Small oil paintings of Santeria saints go for as little as $25, while some serious larger paintings cost $150 to $300. That's cash. No U.S. credit cards or traveler's checks are accepted in Cuba. Private art galleries disappear overnight, as do the famed paladares (private dining rooms, often in Cuban homes). If you find one you like, don't get attached.