Wow, the last post in this thread was a while ago!

In any case, I had a recent weekend stay at this property. Reading some of the previous posts here - the most recent being a few years ago - I'm pleased to report that some things have improved.


INTRO

To start, this property is located in the Condado Beach district of San Juan. This area is kind of higher end, and has a very visible police presence 24h a day. The hotel has recently gone a significant renovation recently and it shows. The lobby area was bright, happy, and buzzing. The FD manager mentioned that they have been at or near 100% occupancy every night for most of 2013. There was a significant tourist clientele with a fair amount of locals escaping for the weekend.

Part of the renovations also included the pool area which looked really nice! There is a separate and rather large kid-friendly (shallow) pool with several fountains spewing fun streams of water in all directions. There's also an adult pool adjacent to it which has a swim up bar.

The back of the hotel also sits on Condado beach, which had very warm water with a fair amount of decent waves. There were ample beach chairs and umbrellas all around with chair-side food service for those who were interested. Otherwise, there is a poolside bar & grill that was pretty busy as well.

There was an activities board on which they described all the different things available (for free) by hour and by day (beach volleyball, bingo, dance lessons, crafts, etc. They had a couple of Ping-Pong tables set up to the side of pool. There was also a live steel drum band playing on the other end of the pool under a gazebo, with a girl offering free salsa lessons. The main hotel restaurant is on the pool level.

A poolside activities desk offers free towels and rentals for bicycles, water equipment, volleyballs, etc. They also had dispensed water and a tray of cookies for all to enjoy.

The lobby bar / lounge area had a live band playing latin music at night, with a lively crowd dancing salsa and enjoying the evening. It was really a lively atmosphere, and you could tell that everyone was having a great time!


CHECK IN

I had booked an LNF rate, which was probably about 2.5x cheaper than the going rate for a regular room. On checkin, I asked about an upgrade. As plat, they upgraded me to an oceanfront room, but I had to wait about 1 1/2 hr till it was ready, so they activated a keycard to access the concierge lounge. I was offered either points or the old plat arrival gift options (ice cream, water, sodas, etc). Also, a bar waitress comes around offering complimentary rum punches while in line.

The hotel charged a mandatory 17% "resort fee" each night. I tried to opt-out, but there was no way around it. The RF includes internet access, in-room water bottles, use of beach towels/chairs/umbrellas, and also 2hr of Mongoose bicycle rental daily, including helmet and lock, which I thought was very enjoyable.

A new thing I saw was that in an effort to go green, they offered 500 MR points for each night that I declined maid service. I took them up on it.


BREAKFAST

Concierge lounge was closed over the weekend. They did not offer at first, but when I asked about alternative breakfast options for plats, they presented me with 2 vouchers good for a "breakfast combo" for me and a guest at the lobby-level coffee bar, which includes coffee, pastry, and juice. Menu price for this same combo was $6.50. Alternatively, you could use the voucher for $6 towards anything else you want off the menu. I kind of found it funny that they didn't really "offer" this, but only conceded when I asked about other options.


ROOMS

As indicated above, this hotel has undergone significant renovations - except for the rooms, which is expected to commence later this year. I was upgraded to an oceanfront non-suite room on a very high floor with a balcony directly overlooking the water. However, the room was TINY, probably about 250 sq ft. The bathroom was really cramped as well. Not much room to move around. I think this is probably one of the smallest rooms I've ever stayed in my entire life! Carpet was also very dated, but otherwise the room was comfortable.


Overall, it was a nice stay. Between the pool, beach, and bike rental, I really had a relaxing stay.