Villa Parguera Hotel — Hotel in Lajas

This is not a luxury resort. It does not purport to be one – and there are none in the area. If you are coming to the town of La Parguera to snorkel the reef or the bioluminescent bay, dive the famous Wall, hike or bird the nearby forests and reserves, explore the mangroves, or enjoy the lively music scene, this is a beautifully located, attractive and comfortable seaside inn. Chief among its virtues is its wonderful position right on the water, nestled among the shore mangroves, with well-tended grounds affording stunning views of palm trees, mangrove islands, and sea. There is no beach or direct water access, but no local inns have that. With regard to the rooms – and you will see many negative comments about them on TripAdvisor – I can only speak to ours, Room 2001, a second (top) floor Ocean View room in a recently renovated section of the hotel near the entrance lobby. The room, with two double beds and a patio, was not large but was attractively furnished, clean and comfortable, and provided a knockout view over the back grounds to the sea. The lobby and public areas were similarly attractive. The main drawback to the hotel is the loud thumping music emanating from the bar/restaurant across the street and some downtown bars until 11, 12, or beyond on many nights. Our iPhone white noise app received heavy usage to enable us to counter the music and get to sleep. While the booming music is likely beyond the hotel’s control, it seems they could do a better job of soundproofing – conversations from the hallway and the outdoor grounds also carry quite loudly into the rooms. Another drawback is that for some reason the hotel’s restaurant is only open for any meals – including breakfast – on the weekends. Also it would be great if (a) the inn offered kayak rentals from its little closed off pier and (b) the front desk staff were better equipped to give helpful recommendations including where to get coffee or breakfast on weekdays, top local restaurants (we strongly recommend El Karacol), best kayak rentals, best dive shops (we strongly recommend Paradise Scuba & Snorkeling), and best bioluminescent bay tour (again, Pardise Scuba & Snorkeling). A positive is convenient free parking. All in all I have no hesitation in recommending the hotel – at least the Ocean View rooms - to visitors to this interesting corner of...

DO NOT SPEND YOUR MONEY HERE UNLESS ALL YOU WANT IS A VIEW and a short walk to town, because that's about all you get. For such an expensive hotel, they have very few amenities - they advertise several, but read on..... The staff were less than accommodating, sitting behind their plexiglass staring at their computers, barely acknowledging our presence except to tell us no - there are no refrigerators, or no - there are no coffee pots, or no - there are no microwaves in any of the rooms. Oh, and NO, they cannot give quarters for the laundromat up the street, not even from the bar. Had to wear a wrist band like a 10 year old at an amusement park to WAIT to get buckets of ice, had to turn in tickets to get pool towels. The pool bar? WHAT POOL BAR? The bar was boarded up, the bar patio is covered in orange construction fencing blocking part of the view, and there was no music playing for the first two days. Absolutely NO vibe at all, just a pool with a couple chairs around it. The rooms were clean (thanks to the helpful housekeeping staff) and the landscaping is well done, but the place is LITERALLY falling apart. Holes in the decking, peeling paint, shabby exterior. The rooms are old and tired, the doors are very loud, with the aluminum shades banging every time and the door didn't close right so had to slam it. The little patios/deck outside the room are nice, but the AC units blow HOT AIR which makes sitting on the patio almost impossible in the PR afternoon heat. The best thing that could happen to this hotel is if it were bought out by the hotel across the street, Parguera Plaza. Now that's a hotel! Went there for dinner twice and were treated like royalty from the front desk staff, the wait staff and the bartender. We got a tour of THEIR rooms and they are BEAUTIFUL, several with a view overtop the dilapidated Parador Villa Parguera. I would NEVER stay at Parador Villa Parguera again and certainly wouldn't recommend it to any of my friends and family who visit PR often. It made me sick to see our final bill knowing that we DID NOT get our...

This place has been through a lot. Earthquakes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and more hurricanes. They are barely there but rising again little by little. And I am truly happy about it. So, you might notice right away that it needs an 80 percent renovation and improvements ( I mean, we are in 2023 after all!!) But I'll leave the most and less important. Right now, I think you need to know that there is no fridge or coffee or hair drier in the room. Also, the privacy and safety in the room needs to improve. It's hard to know if I am being seen through the blinds in the front door. And the lock to the balcony was barely hanging in there. Now, for the good part. This is the only hotel in the area that's actually in front of the water. It has a long enough pool for swimming, even 9' deep. A nice hidden garden. You could easily miss it if you are staying in the east wing. It's behind the pool. Everything was super clean. I think they really went beyond with the cleaning, especially the rooms and towels. Wow!. As for the food, I only tried breakfast. I dislike the fact that I scanned the menu from a QR code in the room, but then at the table, the prices differ for about $3 at some plates. The taste was good.

I got to say the staff did a great job. Friendly and helpful. That's what makes the difference.

Price wise, there are a lot better places to stay in PR in terms of commodity and what's included in the price. However, let me tell you this: driving here from San Juan through the south is a lot more enjoyable than going through the north. It is also more enjoyable than reaching other places in PR because sometimes you get to relax until you get to drive some parts on the island. There are a lot of animals on wheels. Anyways, do you want to enjoy the oceanview and some of what La Parguera has to offer? Do you have money to spare eating out? Do you want to swim in a long pool? This place is top on these ( in this area) if you don't mind the cost. Hope...