Ciqala Suites Hotel — Attraction in San Juan

First the nice things about this hotel. The made to order free breakfast is fresh and delicious. We had loaded omelets every morning with a fruit cup and fresh orange juice. They have a full breakfast menu to select from. The outside eating area is lovely. The restaurant staff are on point. The breakfast is the best thing about staying here. The location of the property is convenient to go anywhere. When you step inside it feels luxurious, small but luxurious.The neighborhood looks rough but it isn't. The store next to the hotel seems to be a local hangout for drinkers. But they are friendly and seem harmless. They didn't bother me. But if you aren't use to an urban environment it could be intimidating I suppose. The neighborhood has some run down areas and graffiti. But you step inside the hotel and it feels like a luxury spa hotel. Small luxury spa hotel. All the staff is super polite. Checking in is easy and fast. Yavid pronounced Javid was super helpful in everything and even in booking our ATV tour. He was the most helpful staff there. When he was on duty everything got done. The rooms are a nice size. The bed was comfortable. The shower water nice and hot. The food here is absolutely delicious. Dinner is expensive and breakfast is free. Now some of the issues. The T.V. had an annoying glitch that they couldn't fix. The smoke alarm flashes and at night it seems so bright. Like someone constantly taking pictures. The fire alarm went off for no reason in the middle of the night once. It's loud and flashes and totally disorienting. No explanation or apology given for that. The room is clean but smelled of mildew. A strong mildew smell. Maybe it was the mop they use on the floors when housekeeping. We couldn't figure it out. Opening the windows and balcony door cleared it out each day. The place is staffed by young 20 something year olds. Only one mature adult he seemed about 40 and he works in the restaurant. I didn't get his name. He was great. The hotel staff tries but the inexperience shows up when you have an issue out of the ordinary. The maintenance guy looked to be 19 years old. He couldn't fix the T.V. He did fix the flashing on the telephone after a half hour of messing with it. He also didn't speak english. It's hard to say negative things because most of these kids really tried and are so stinking polite. The vallet service is a nice touch but the staff would gladly let you park and retrieve your own car. I was carrying two bags and the vallet kid stood next to the door and did not budge to open it or hold it open for me. The vallet kids really didn't want to work unlike the other staff. The roof top pool is too small to actually swim across. It's the size of a square hotub not a lap pool. Maybe 6 people could stand in it if they all stayed still. The fire alarm went off in the middle of the night once. It flashed and was so loud. It made me very disoriented. Thank God it was a false alarm. No apology or explanation was given. I will post a picture of the pop up that was on the T.V. that appeared every few seconds and you had to hit the remote to bring it off the screen again and again. I would recommend this hotel if you are on a budget. It wasn't a bad stay. You get more than you pay for in some ways. In other ways you get what you pay for. We felt like we had quite a few strange things we had to put up with that we wouldn't have in a regular hotel. We also wouldn't have had free parking and free delicious hot breakfast every morning. We wouldn't go back but we also don't...

Anything But Luxury!

CIQALA Luxury Suites presents itself as an upscale property in San Juan but falls short of true luxury standards. While the building has a modern exterior and some attractive design elements, the overall experience feels more like a mid-range apartment hotel than a luxury property. The hotel seems to have declined in maintenance and service quality over time. Also, they are far from being qualified to be a long-term stay option or even to be categorized as an Apart-Hotel. Most of the basic things were missing in the room - No cutting board, no knife, No exhaust fans to cook flavorful food, a limited set of utensils - the list goes on and on! They are barely a suite or studio, let alone being tagged “Luxury Suites”

LOCATION: The location is a double-edged sword. While technically in Condado, it's on the outskirts and the immediate surroundings feel more residential than tourist-friendly. The walk to the main Condado strip takes 15-20 minutes, which can be uncomfortable in the Puerto Rican heat. The neighborhood, while safe during the day, becomes notably quiet after dark, and some guests report feeling uneasy walking back at night. The beach is a considerable 15-minute walk away, and the route isn't particularly scenic.

DINE + DRINK: The hotel's dining options are severely limited. The rooftop restaurant is often closed or operating on unpredictable hours, and when open, the menu is basic and overpriced. The complimentary breakfast is disappointing, with a limited selection of continental items that rarely change. The rooftop bar, while offering decent views, is understaffed and frequently runs out of basic ingredients. Room service is inconsistent and sometimes unavailable entirely.

ROOM: We stayed in Room 202, so this review is based on that; While reasonably spacious, the room showed strong signs of wear and tear that shouldn't be present in a luxury property. Some of the issues were: Worn furniture and dated decor, missing cooking apparatus, etc. SIZE: Spacious enough for 2 adults and simple baggage; VIEW: random views of the street; AIR-CON: Perfectly functioning cooler that helped in setting the perfect room temperature; BED: Comfortable bed that played the expected part of putting us to sleep; BATHROOM: Good sized bathroom with a Stand-in shower; TOILETRIES: Ok quality toiletries

FACILITIES: No Gym on site, and the rooftop pool is a joke!

SERVICE: The only saving grace of this place - the Friendly staff that cared for all our needs with a smile and made us feel at home and well taken care of. Special Shout-out to KEYSHALA, GENESIS, and LILIANA from the front desk for attending to our special requirements

HOW WIRED YOU WILL BE: Free Wi-Fi that works well all over the property, and the speed is decent! Small Smart TV dishing out a wide variety of channels spanning sports, news, music, movies, and entertainment in...

I booked this hotel thru Orbitz. First of all I wasn't told about the $10 discount of the mini bar as a benefit of the VIP treatment. I got to the hotel early in the afternoon because I was aiming to get to room to chill and relax and even study a little before my kids arrived. But they told me that the check in was at 3pm but it was a matter of time until the room was ready and they were going to called me as soon it was ready. I got there at 1:30pm, I park myself because the valet parking guy told me that he didn’t work there, he was into the phone more than the job. After I receive the news that I had to wait I went to the rooftop to do something, enjoy the view, I got down at 3pm, because nobody called me. Luckily my room was ready. Second of all, my first morning in the hotel, when I first told about the problem of the bathroom, at that time I specifically told to the very nice girl in the counter, that I didn’t need new towels but I wanted both beds fixed by the time I got back. That didn’t happen also. But then, the bathtub broke down, I told about the first problem of the bathtub at 6p-7pm. And nothing happen, imagine my disappointment. The girl from housekeeping, very friendly also, told us that, that problem was something to be fixed in the morning, AGAIN, another disappointment, how do I take a shower? But being tired, and not wanting to make a big fuss, I trust myself again with the bathtub and the jets, and then again the black things appeared, it was dirty again, after I was assured that it was clean. Again I called, and nothing happen. I got down to the first floor to see if anyone was able to help me and after everything that I was put through In less than 4 hours, with the problem of the bathroom, and nobody been able to know which room I was going to use, the attitude of the girl in the counter, at almost 9:00 of the evening you guys decided to give a new room. But then the hotel failed me again, I ask for new towels and sheets for the beds, because the room was prepared for only two people and we were four. But guess what? Nobody came! So, noticed that I was still with the keys from the previous room I got myself up, and took towels, the sheets and the pillows just to make the night.

The room was on a very loud floor, people were screaming, and obviously having a good time, too well that I could get much sleep. But you guys didn’t care about that at all. But it was good, I didn’t want to bother any more, I wanted to take a bath and try to sleep.

For us it wasent a...