Condado Lagoon Villas — Hotel in San Juan

We just got home from a wonderful vacation in Puerto Rico in which we stayed at the Caribe Hilton. This hotel was the low-point of the trip (which is saying something since we both got a stomach virus - not the hotel’s fault). We have visited many resorts in the Caribbean so we do have a basis for comparison. This was a last minute vacation and so we needed an “affordable” hotel and thought we found it with the Hilton. We didn’t expect luxury but what we did expect was an honest deal for an honest dollar. What we got was one of the worst displays of greedy and manipulative tourist-gouging imaginable. The over-pricing of everything that was being sold to a captive audience is the main reason for the low rating. As you are pricing and comparing hotels, you will need to add approximately $20 per night for “service charge”, $15 per day if you want internet and $5 per room-service call. The restaurants were ridiculously priced. We knew they had a breakfast brunch for $26 but we didn’t realize that all the restaurants were proportionately priced (examples, $18 for cheeseburger, $17 for a turkey sandwich). None of the food we ate was “special” and we ended up paying a taxi to take us to Old San Juan for most meals and most of those meals were special! Morton’s Steakhouse(in the hotel) does offer a very extensive happy hour ( I think there are like two hours of every day NOT included). There is also a Starbucks in the hotel that offers an extended breakfast sandwich menu and a Subway across the street (but seriously?! Who wants to eat Subway in Puerto Rico?). The room was OK - nothing special. The thermostat didn’t work so we had to call for service every time we wanted to change the temperature. The room was large and the bed very comfortable. The room was adequately clean. The overall service at the hotel was very good except in any place you eat and/or drink…. We often times had to go find someone to take our order or give us a check. We love to snorkel and the hotel not only had its own snorkeling bay but there is also a public snorkeling bay right next door (an easy walk….. I wouldn’t advise going over the wall or trying to do a swim through). At first I was disappointed in the reefs because they were mostly dead but I quickly got over it when I saw the variety of life… lion fish, crabs, flounders, urchins, tube worms and two very cool squids! Puerto Rico is an insanely beautiful place. We didn’t get to see as much as we wanted by a long shot and we can’t wait to go back and correct that. We did go into Old San Juan a few days and it’s really a great place. The Castillo de San Cristóbal, in Old San Juan, is amazing and cheap; be prepared to walk and take lots of pictures. We went to the Bacardi Factory but I don’t remember much about that… from the pictures of the event, it looks like it was fun and it’s very cheap. My favorite restaurant was the Puerto Rico Café… great Mofongo and $6 Mojitos. The Genesis had an $8 Mojito which had three full shots in it. We also enjoyed Cafe Mallorca for dessert and coffee. All of the bathrooms that I used in Old San Juan were adventurous. The tour-desk in the lobby was a great place to get all kinds of information and we booked a trip to go to the El Yunque rain forest but the afore mentioned illness kept me in my room that day. Fortuneatly, the afore mentioned tour-desk graciously refunded our money. In conclusion, this hotel offers cheaper rates but takes advantage of you once you get there (bait and bend over?). The people who work there are competent and friendly. Puerto Rico is gorgeous and there is MUCH to see, do, eat and...

We had a room with a fantastic view and a super comfy bed. All attendants were friendly. We received fresh towels and toiletries every day.

Reasons for 4 not 5 stars:

Hotel is listed as 4 star property on booking. Com and implies it is part of the hilton which it is not.

Some pictures included Hilton amenities, like the pool and private beach access. This property has a small and pretty pool and garden but it is not the swanky pool with waterfalls pictured.

Of note is that there is no concierge service. The front desk is manned by security and there is a hospitality office only available during business hours.

When we had an issue with our air conditioning between 4 and 9 in the morning, this was a concern. I believe the issue is that the AC and thermostat are controlled/ communicate via WiFi which may have needed a reset, as it simply began working again by the morning, but not after making it difficult to sleep.

Booking will offer a $5 a day per person breakfast. It is not an on site or room served meal. They give you vouchers to redeem. The breakfast is in El Mercado, a building that neighbors the villas. You can purchase the breakfast at will for $5 plus tax, and it is a fine but not special breakfast, and I'd recommend giving yourself options instead of committing to it every day.

Also of note, we momentarily got stuck in one of the elevators and not all the emergency buttons functioned. To their credit, the doors re opened in under 3 mins and the elevator was worked on and disabled immediately. This appears to fall under the purview of security.

There is still some construction from Maria but we didn't find it intrusive.

The gym is a tiny and unimpressive space, which also housed a very hungry mosquito!!

We truly enjoyed our stay and felt it was a reasonable value, but the advertising available is significantly misleading.

Among positives, our Villa had a full kitchen, and was very clean and beautiful.

I would disregard the most angry of reviews, which appear to be flukes or exceptions, but note the difference between average 4 star property expectations and the kinds of amenities and services actually available.

The beaches available without a car are crowded and a 5 to 10 minute walk. The water is clear but the sand is hot and coarse, and packed out with families in the summer season.

Do yourself a favor and rent a car to go to Luquillo and/or take ferries to Culebra and Vieques if you want a beautiful...

For the most part it was a pleasant stay. I did get a private room at the condado lagoon villas with Airbnb. I do like the location it was very convenient to get around from place to place. The view from the balcony was beautiful I got to see manatees swim around one day! I was thankful to have coffee and sugar with the coffee maker! Although I did receive a sponge and towels to use I wish dish soap and more towels of better quality were provided. On a more important note I'm not sure who they hired to clean the apartment but I own a cleaning company and for 95 dollar cleaning fee it was by far utterly disappointing as I had to do my own personal run through and purchase disposable rags to wipe dressers and baseboards counters and utilities. The kitchen counter was covered with rice and the floors were not swept to par unable to walk barefooted. The bathroom sink was still clogged from a may review and is almost unusable! It was extremely disgusting to have to cleanse in an area with a sink full of crud. There are mold spores around the shower which could be handled quite easily with some CLR and I do recommend new caulking around the shower door or whole new door. Most importantly I do also highly recommend either a dehumidifier and/or air purifier as it is very moldy and musty in the room! I had to buy air fresheners to try to mask the smell. It is clear that there's some issue going on as there are spores on the ceiling and in the air vents which is not really safe for people to be breathing in. Lastly the king-size bed is hard as a rock and it does need a new box spring cover or dust ruffle. Also I would recommend they disclose that the room is close to the road as I was awoken every day to dump trucks or deliveries beeping or honking quite frequently. Although the stay had lots of potential within the room and the amenities on the property I'm not sure if it was worth the $1,600 to stay with all the issues I had to deal with. Again I do very much appreciate them giving me a place to lay my head for the week but I wanted to relay some issues in hopes theyll resolve and improve for...