Canario Boutique Hotel — Hotel in San Juan

AVOID AVOID AVOID AVOID AVOID

Horrible horrible customer service. From what I’m reading these people love to scam and loophole.

Visited the island about 2 months ago during the power outage. My initial AirBnB had to be cancelled due to my partner having a severe skin allergic reaction to either detergent or dust. Spent a whole day in the hospital with IVs. I was trying to make a reservation thru booking.com, and didn’t know the power had gone out. According to canario boutique it was 12:43 pm. The outage happened at around 12:38 pm.

I didn’t realize the cell phone towers had gone down as well, and I’m guessing my phone had the reservation page queued up, because next thing I know I had a confirmation email telling me I had booked a room here, after I had found alternative accommodations on my partners phone.

I tried calling and emailing them immediately, and I messaged them thru the booking.com portal. To be honest, I was more worried about my partner being ok but the continuing days I tried to stay on top of it, and at some point I just told myself I would get to it once I returned stateside. Also, benefit of the doubt kicked in and I assumed phones and computers were down for them as well.

About 2 days ago my CC company informed me that my claim would not be approved so I called booking.com, trying to get them to reach out to these people. They couldn’t and they emailed them and told me to reach out to them as soon as I could. I reached out yesterday morning and a nice receptionist (Ashley or Stephanie cannot remember her name) told me I should email their reservations office. The emailed me with nothing else but their policy claiming same day cancellations are iron clad.

At this point I’ve written off the cost of the cancellation fee which mind you, was the whole reservation itself. I work in hospitality and customer service. THERE HAS BEEN NOT ONE IOTA OF CUSTOMER SERVICE OR HOSPITALITY FROM THESE PEOPLE WHATSOEVER.

I understand that this is a business and I understand that rules are rules but there is always exceptions to them especially with extenuating circumstances. I’m blessed to have an ok job where this money won’t make me go bankrupt, but I also don’t just stand around making piles of cash, so it still hurts my soul to see that amount of money(almost 500$) go to waste with nothing to show for it. I would have accepted a credit for a future visit, anything and would have raved about this place even if the reviews on here and Yelp say otherwise.

All I can say is AVOID AVOID AVOID.

EDIT 9/5/2025

It took management almost 2 months to answer back to this review/rant/cry of outrage. While i understand that booking.com has their own cancellation policy, terms and conditions/rules, what I fail to understand is why every time I tried to reach out, after I was specifically told by booking.com that the cancellation was all up to you, the hotel, no one picked up. It took me days to reach a human being, and once I did I was redirected to reservations who pulled up YOUR cancellation policy, not booking.com’s. Listen, Mr.Manager in charge, I’m very hip to corporate lingo and you’re not going to catch me with it. The problem here the whole time has been no one has been able to answer any questions, I haven’t been able to reach anyone, and when I needed to call someone during the power outage no one was available. This is beyond policy’s or rules and conditions. This is about the basis of your business, human interaction, and not once having had an ounce of it through out this experience. You mentioned you hope to have me visit you. Let me destroy your hopes by saying I will never visit your facilities. And this is me being petty now, because I haven’t been before. I hope you use those measly 500$ dollars you took from me to fix your ac, your laundry, or your...

I came to Puerto Rico on a last minute business trip where flights were overpriced and the big chain hotels were either full or charging an arm and a leg. I was able to find and book a room with Canario Boutique Hotel on a last minute whim. Utilizing Priceline, the booking was easy and non-complex. The listing mentioned all the amenities the hotel guaranteed to offer so my expectations were established prior to coming in and assured no false expectations were made. Considering it was a smaller and possibly local chain, I didn't expect the same accommodations most Americans might see in common big hotel chains like 24/7 room service, bag assistance, etc.

Prior to arrival, Eddy, a manager of the hotel, contacted me 72 hours in advance to confirm my check in time. Considering the unreliability of flight travel due to many reasons such as weather, etc., I wasn't entirely sure what time I would arrive. I communicated that clearly with Eddy and gave a range time. Throughout the communication process where all my questions were answered, Eddy found an issue with my booking. He immediately called me over the phone to ensure my reservation was taken care of and issues were resolved. On the day of my arrival, Eddy once again emailed me to confirm my arrival time. I again informed him of the uncertainty of arrival since my flights kept being delayed and gave him an arrival range later than my previous email. He was able to accommodate and be present during my check-in.

Upon my arrival, I was buzzed in by Eddy himself and was greeted with a smile. Check-in was simple and straight forward, I was handed a key and a sheet of paper explaining all miscellaneous charges if something were to happen to the room (no smoking, don't lose key, etc.). Once I signed the sheet and given the key, Eddy proceeded to explain the rules of the hotel. He also mentioned extra amenities that were not included in the listing (i.e. free beach towels are provided but must be returned, and more) and informed me that any request I need will be satisfied so long as I asked (i.e. needed additional toilet paper, new towels, etc.). He also mentioned they brew fresh coffee every morning and kitchen access was 24-7 (although no breakfast, lunch, or dinner is included per the listing on Priceline).

The hotel is situated within walking distance of many stores and restaurants including pharmacies. It's a 1-2 minute walk to the beach. Night life exists around the neighborhood so you'll hear cars passing by and people enjoying life when the window is open. The streets are walkable during the day and night and police presence is active during both times of days.

Now for the bad:

The hotel is Boutique which means it's smaller than most common chain hotels. The rooms are relatively small in comparison (think of it as a master bedroom with a small walk in closet included). The room also has a private restroom although it is small in width but I had no problem fitting in them (5'10" 205 lbs at the time of my stay). The AC was a bit noisy but it is definitely needed due to the humidity Puerto Rico offers. The hotel is not ADA complaint so please be aware that there are no elevators or ramps, this did not necessarily affect my stay so it won't impact my rating of the hotel, but I would like to mention it for those who fall under ADA just in case. The hotel itself is very self-service UNLESS you ask. Which means you have to go out of your way to ask for anything you might need (ironing board, new towels, room service, etc.).

The good: Customer service was phenomenal. Any time I had a question or request, it was promptly answered with good information and my issues were resolved. You have to be direct in what you want and what you expect the outcome to be. During my stay, I was...

The location is really good..legit 5 minutes towards the beach...free coffee from 7am to 10am....the front desk is for the most part helpful. The room has cable. The bathroom is a decent size. Open kitchen for your own stuff.

This place has way too many mosquitos....everywhere i go in this hotel, i see an annoying mosquito trying to latch on to me. Every night I stay here i get more mosquito bites. a We were moved to the second floor after we saw a roach. Its not the most appealing from the inside.

So the reason why i gave the hotel 2 stars is because I find it extremely frustrating that i have to worry about mosquitos during my vacation. Book online if you do stay here, it will come out cheaper.

Edit next day....5/13/2017 Maid service is terrible. I left the maid service help sign and got no maid service when i arrived at 3:45pm. The day before i didnt get my room cleaned in till i arrived and was told i had to wait outside for about half an hour. I asked the maid if she could clean my room and she said no she had to leave at 4pm and she was busy the whole day so she was sorry for not cleaning our room. But i left the maid service please sign the whole day!!!!!......and from my observations no one else had. I got to the hotel at 3:45pm and it was not clean at all. So two days of no maid service. She kept repeating ill clean it tomorrow but i kept telling her i leave tomorrow and after the third time she said O i cant do it today.

So each day its a new letdown from the service. I recommend booking somewhere else earlier so you can find a good deal around the area.

Edited 30 minutes later I also forgot to mention our toilet got clogged twice and maintenance came to repair. The front desk told us not to put toilet paper in the toilet. Why do i have to worry about this on vacation? Also the maid is hanging around the hallways at 4:21pm why cant she clean the room.

I would lower to one star but the location is good.

Edited 5:09pm Same maid came at 5:00pm and cleaned my room in a sour mood. Its probably not her complete fault, management prob has some of the blame to it. I dont really know I just felt i had to express my experience with...