Casa Botánica Hotel — Hotel in San Juan

I wanted to love this place. From the website, it checked all the right boxes—staff speaks English, adorable rooms, free parking, lush greenery everywhere. It's a botanical sanctuary in the middle of a busy city. They also have a little shop right by the front desk where they promote and sell the work of local artists. Their food is all vegan, tastes great, and if you're in the mood for meat there are plenty of excellent restaurants nearby.

We booked their newest room, the Glass house, which is literally a glass house outside the main house. The bed is plush and comfortable, and the AC does a great job keeping the room cool. The shower and bathtub are outside but it's warm enough even in March that I was totally fine showering outside. For reference, I love the heat, and if it's 70F out, I'm wearing a jacket and leggings. I loved the room at first. There are several quirks that i don't mind, that are easily fixed (i.e the faucet in the room is very stiff; there's no mirror in front of the sink; no towel rack by the sink so you have to grab one first, then hang it up elsewhere if you want it to dry; the tree in the middle of the shower drops some kind of flower/buds onto the shower floor every day so you have to clear it out before use each time, which bees also like just FYI, etc). Mostly little quirks that make it obvious whoever designed the room didn't actually try staying in it. But those I can get past.

However. I cannot get past the fact that there is zero soundproofing in this room. While I love the aesthetic and concept of a glass house, this idea would only work well in a suburban or rural setting. On google maps, the hotel appears to be surrounded by restaurants and brunch places. Except there must be a night club or regular hangout/nightlife place of some kind right behind the hotel on weekends. You can hear everything, even ear plugs don't help. People must park monster trucks on the other side of the fence because when they turn on their vehicles you can feel the engine revving in your ribcage. Their music was so loud our bed was vibrating. No ear plugs in the world can combat that. Not to mention every time the wind blows, you can hear every little leaf, twig and pebble roll around the roof. The little coqui frogs, while tiny, are loud. But none of this compares to the thumping bass on the other side of the fence. Things calm down on Sunday night, but if you plan to stay here Friday or Saturday, don't expect much sleep. I also now know that garbage pickup is at 4:30AM on Tuesday mornings. By the way, I'm also assuming that if I can hear people's conversations in the hotel/garden area, they can also hear me.

The google listing advertises free parking. Just be aware they're referring to street parking, not dedicated hotel parking. And while this is free, beware where you park. Someone left a nasty note on our car that basically threatened to ruin our rental (but in much ruder words) because of an alleged car alarm. Why would the alarm even go off if not for someone trying to break in? The alarm wasn't an issue any other time/place we parked. Suspicious.

Other food for thought—they do not give a phone number to contact, all communications are via email. Normally this isn't an issue for us, but on our last night the hot water in our shower stopped working and it was past 4pm, so no one was at the front desk to help us. In the time it took them to email back saying they'd contact their handyman, we had already showered by filling water bottles with warm water from the sink and pouring it over ourselves in the shower stall. We checked again the following morning and not only was there still no hot water, the issue had seemingly spread to our sink.

Overall, I wanted to love this hotel and I think I would have if we either were in a room inside the main house, or if this hotel were in a quieter part of town. It really is a beautiful place. But being woken up at all hours of the night affects my energy and mood, and I can't get past that, especially...

The hotel staff and the vibes really make this place special. We stayed in the Vintage and the Urban. The vintage gets a tad warm during the day, but the patio and outdoor shower make up for it. My one knock on the vintage is really the warmth of the room and not having a sink in the room. The Coqui frogs at night, though, were amazing to sleep to. I loved that this place was locally owned vs one of the big chains in Old San Juan. The hotel is walking distance to a lot of good food and the beach. The Uber rides are short to some other gems like La Casita Blanca, which is phenomenal food. You can literally walk to Pinky’s and have an amazing breakfast or eat vegan at the hotel. Victor and Sy (I hope I didn’t butcher her name, but I’m sure I did) are exceptionally talented and make vegan food that makes you actually okay with eating vegan food. The coffee is excellent as well and pretty well always full. They have yoga in the mornings, and the classes look really good and in such a pretty space. Housekeeping was friendly, and Tamara at the front desk was very kind and made lots of suggestions when our boat tour mix-up issue happened.

If you’re coming for the Bad Bunny residency, this hotel is a short Uber to and from the airport as well as to the concert. When you’re leaving the concert, it’s hard to get Ubers, and you will have to walk a good distance before being able to get picked up, but it’s also not an unwalkable distance from the venue back to the hotel either.

I attached a picture of one of the breakfasts we had that was wonderful. There was another that was a waffle and another that was avocado toast.

Just to sum it up, if you’re looking for a locally owned hotel, that’s close to the concert, that’s close to the beach, and shopping Casa Botanica is perfect for you. If you’re wanting something more touristy that’s likely owned by the large corporations, then Old San Juan may be your best bet. You’re just not going to find something that feels like a bed and breakfast with this level of service.

Thank you so much...

Staying here right now and absolutely love love love this place. We’re staying in the vintage treehouse, which has the most perfect cozy little room and a private balcony with an incredible outdoor shower. The space is secluded up a spiral staircase and surrounded by fruit trees and dense foliage. Love the daily morning yoga followed by the best vegan Ayurvedic breakfasts (included at no additional cost for hotel guests). Hot herbal tea blend, infused coffee, oat and almond milks available at all times. When they ran out of hot tea already brewed the staff prepared us some special herbal blends to use up in our room, each room comes with a hot water kettle and French press for tea brewing. Other nice touches are a diffuser with pure essential oils in the room and an adorable gift shop with wholesome natural products by local makers and gorgeous creations by local artists. You can try samples of the anti bug oil, skin and hair care too to refresh yourself and buy if you love it. There are several communal areas for relaxing, reading, working, etc and will have you feeling like you’re in a tropical paradise. The gift shop has lovely inspiring books to peruse through. I energetically feel like I belong here. I feel good supporting a vegan business and also knowing that any products I use are natural and all amenities are high quality to how I would choose to live my life at home - as clean and organic as possible. Even the mattress is bamboo and the vibes are immaculate here. Staff are very kind and extremely accommodating. Location is just steps away from the beach and many shops and restaurants. I’ve been walking everywhere by foot and areas seem safe and comfortable. Uber friendly area too if you need to catch a ride anywhere. Less than ten minute drive from the airport and close proximity to pretty much everything in San Juan. Has kitchen essentials if you choose to dine in or grab food on a supermarket run (several markets within walking distance). Adults only and pet friendly....