The Ponce St. Augustine Hotel — Hotel in Saint Augustine

I'll start off by slating we booked through a third party website. I'm not entirely sure if that might have had to do with our rooms location, but we did book in advance. I understand that other factors go into how they assign rooms to guests, but I will caution first by saying that they are right on a railroad, which is located to the rear of the property. With the exception of showing a map, their is no mention of it on the third party website, nor on theirs. I would also argue if you are not from there or fantastic at reading maps (like myself) I can see why the railroad wasn't immediately obvious. That said, there are other rooms on the property that face away from the railroad, of which I'm sure if we stayed in one of them we may have had a very different experience. I'm normally not someone bothered by noise. My spouse will tell you I can sleep through a lot of things. However, the room we had (second floor, corner unit on a hall in the direct rear of the property) had the sound so amplified we couldn't sleep through the night. I understand the hotel has absolutely no control of the noise, nor the trains schedule, but on a Friday night into early Saturday morning, several trains went by. Saturday night has less, but with longer and louder trains. Again, I know the hotel can't control this. I had to sign a waiver initializing that I acknowledged the hotel was on a train track when I checked in, disappointed to see that I sadly had no choice, my money was spent. If I had known before, I would have never booked this hotel just to save the hassle and disappointment. This is where it would have helped to read reviews on both the third party website (which not one person mentioned), as well as Google, where several people mention it. The room was small, but worked for us. It was very clean and tidy and I really loved the bed, pillows and towels. There was something in the room that we didn't know how to use or if it was operable, but the microwave and fridge were super clean and perfect for us. The TV though, worked terribly. The pool area was cute, we didn't go in the Jacuzzi since we went in the middle of an august afternoon. We did appreciate the free hot coffee in the lobby every morning, as well as the free cookies at check in. The staff seemed to be very helpful and cheerful. There is no free breakfast, but we prepared and brought our own groceries. We didn't eat at the restaurant or bar but it always smelled great and looked good. I do believe this property can benefit from better security. We saw they have cameras and claim to have 24 hours security. I'm not fully sure what all they do to monitor and maintain safety on the property, but I think it would be nice to have someone present on the property. On Friday night, (during the time where we weren't getting any sleep due to all the trains) someone first loudly knocked on our window and then at our door. When it became obvious the person wasn't leaving, we asked who it was and a male voice asked for Bobby?? We told him he had the wrong room and he eventually left. We didn't open our curtains, and we couldn't see him through the peep hole because our room door had it blacked out. We ended up being fine, but after not having a great night sleep already, it was jarring to have that happen at 5am. This all said, I never once asked for our room to be changed, because we booked on a very busy summer weekend and judging by the overflow of cars in the parking lot, we sincerely doubted we would have a chance to be moved to one of the rooms to the front of the property (which were only a handful, most rooms are in the back.) We also didn't ask for a refund because again, we booked third party, where we would have to take it up with them. So, lose / lose situation. We almost left after our first night. I would suggest for more visibility about the railroad, and be more affirming in advising guests about the noise, rather then having to sign something when we get there. Also, invest in a night guard. We appreciate the comforts, but we will not be...

Special Note: This review is related to a stay during the pandemic. This greatly colored the experience.

We have stayed at The Ponce many times over the last few years. It's typically been a lovely experience. This time was, sadly not so lovely.

I've had to do some traveling during the pandemic, and I've seen properties that have really dropped the ball in this situation and some that have risen to the occasion admirably. Sadly, I think the Ponce has dropped the ball.

The good: The rooms are large, initially very clean, and comfortable. That hasn't changed, and is the main reason I would probably give the Ponce another try WAY down the road. IN addition, the pool area here is delightful.

The bad: No room cleaning AT ALL. We were told by the cleaning staff that they would not clean the room at all because of the pandemic. We stayed for a week... with one small garbage can and one set of towels being all that was ever offered. We had to hunt down replacements for these things every day of our trip. Look, I know I sound like a Karen, but after a day or two, this really became an issue. There was no set place to find anything like toilet paper, garbage bags, or towels. Some days the front desk had them, some days they didn't. Towel requests were always difficult especially. It seemed they just didn't have enough. Twice we were offered pool towels in lieu.

Breakfast... they completely did away with gratis breakfast. They offer the old free breakfast (minus eggs) for $9 a person now and say it's because of the pandemic. This is baffling and frustrating considering how well I've seen other properties handle this situation from pre made plates to go bags.

What frustrates me most about the two issues above is that the price we paid was the same as all other stays when these amenities were offered. So, the price is the same but the value is GREATLY reduced.

Meh: I left a couple things in the room on accident. It was a couple of small clothing articles. Completely my fault. They called about them, which was SUPER nice. I called back and spoke to someone at the desk. I offered to pay for them to mail them to me. The lady said she'd call me back. That was three days ago. No return call. Not the end of the world, and totally my fault, but why call in the first place if you don't intend to help?

Look, these are nice people. Everyone is kind, and they have so much potential at this property. Once things are back to "normal", please give them a visit (and I will update my review), but during the outbreak, this is a...

If you are looking for a good place to stay while in St. Augustine, we can not recommend The Ponce enough. We recently took our first family vacation and stayed the weekend at the Ponce. On a basic level the hotel is perfect! It’s within 4-5 minutes of almost everything which made the entire experience so much more convenient. They have their own restaurant within the hotel as well which was such a nice accommodation. A lot of the places in the area are extremely busy with long wait times and difficult parking. Having the restaurant in the hotel made dining stress free. The restaurant is DELICIOUS. Our food was good quality food with excellent service. It was a semi-casual environment and it even has a full bar!! The pool is huge and completely enclosed with a privacy fence so you don’t have to worry about spectators. They have two “cabana” style structures on the pool deck and tables and chairs for comfort. They also have a super cozy couch set up with a Fire-pit coffee table in the middle for night time, and a hot tub! Our family really loved this amenity especially since it’s a smaller sized hotel so we were not overwhelmed by guests at the pool and were able to actually enjoy family time together. Now that….is just the basics. The best part about this hotel by far is the team that runs it !! When I say that they created a once in a lifetime experience for us….there is ZERO exaggeration there. The team at the Ponce worked hard to create a custom experience full of core memories for our family. They were in regular contact with us for days leading up to our trip. They hung personalized banners in our room with balloons and cards to help us celebrate our first family vacation and they took every opportunity possible to personalize our experience. Our room was incredibly clean and had EVERY amenity we could have asked for. For our family this was so much more than just a weekend trip….and we couldn’t have done that without the Ponce. If you are considering where to stay for your trip, we can not recommend The Ponce enough !! We will absolutely be back every year for our annual family vacation and we will continue to patron The Ponce. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for a truly incredible experience and a core memory for a lifetime. Our family is forever grateful to your team for all your hard work and care. This right here is a hotel that is run by compassionate and hard working people who have your family in mind throughout your entire stay. What more could...