Just came off a 6 day, 5 night stay at El San Juan, traveling with a bunch of friends in their mid-twenties. This is definitely a party hotel, and the lobby gives that away right off the bat with an assortment of very impressive bar areas and restaurants. The lobby is pretty calm during the day, but at night its very exciting if you want to party.

The pool area is also very nice, with three different pools, swim-up bar, a few nice hot tubs and alot of comfortable seats to lounge in. Pool area was a big plus for me.

Now the bad stuff...My room was kept very nice and clean, but we saw a bunch of our friends' room, and one room had a problem with ants in the bathroom, another room had really gross mold and mildew in the showers, and one of our friends in another floor had such noise problems that they could barely sleep any of the nights. I personally did not have any of these problems, but we saw three rooms that did, so I guess its a bit of the luck of the draw there.

The hotel staff, especially at the front desk, was generally pretty rude and sometimes even outright mean. One concierge outright lied to us when we asked about the means of transportation to get to the El Yunque rainforest, and another was extremely condescending when asking about restaurants that had vegetarian options (PR is not very big on that FYI). There were a couple nice and patient front desk workers, but overall, the attitude was still poor.

Overall, my experience was positive, but you have to be willing to overpay for the value, and you may get a really loud floor or a poor room. It is a great place for 20-30 year olds that want to party.

This is a beautiful hotel to stay at. We loved the lobby and the casino. The pools and just awesome too! We have stayed at this hotel 3 different times and this particular time I only have one complaint. The rooms have all been renovated and they have taken out the carpet and put tile in all the rooms which makes for a very noisy stay. We heard a lady next to us walking in high heels and it sounds very loud in your own room. Without the carpet there is no buffer for sound. Also outside in the halls people were very noisy at all hours. I know some of this is expected no matter where you stay but it did get a little out of hand. Other than that I will always love this hotel!!!

My family and I stayed at the ESJ for five nights. It was a very happening place to be. The lobby is a bit dark but at night it comes alive with music and dancing. The casino was fine. The pool by the ocean was great, we loved the beds. The other pool just wasn't kept as clean. As far as bed bugs we didn't see any kind of bug in our room. We did see a very large roach in the lobby by the elevators but I think thats typical for the islands. I have to say the only thing that would hold me back from staying there again would be the bathrooms. The rooms have been redecorated and are fine but you can't turn the shower on without getting in the shower, and the shower head is a hand held. The stationary glass door was never cleaned and th tile on the shower floor were horrible and needed a good scrub with tilex. We visited the Ritz and I am considering staying there for my next visit. By the way the food at the Ritz is the BEST. Remember to bring your bug spray. There have been some cases of sickness due to bug bites.

My bad experience started when I arrived. First I was on line to check in and went to walk to a front desk agent who told me i'm busy I can't help you then the next agent took me, the agent asked the person behind me to step over to him. Rude!! Upon check in I had to give a deposit for incidentals, plus pay for the remainder of my stay. I was offered a discounted deposit rate, but after the first hour I realized I was charged for what I signed for plus the original deposit rate leaving me completely broke. I went back to the agent and she apologized and told me she didn't do it. The agent who did couldn't do anything about it, but i felt it was wrong because he didn't have permission to charge me as I had not signed for it. I was told I was upgraded but it was a regular room. I hotel was beautiful but the staff wasn't up to par, they were rude and inconsiderate. Keila was the only one I appreciated there. My room as very pretty, clean and bright. They had a mini bar that was in a little closet that emitted so much heat. The bar was stocked with the exception of a bottle of vodka that was missing and I was surely not paying for especially after I already experience a shortage of money and the bottle costs $100. I bought my own at the supermarket (Pueblo)which was close by up a few blocks. The pool was my main thing to do while staying at the hotel. it was big and never really that full. There were always chairs to lay on. By the end of my stay I noticed the pool was a bit dirty. Don't know how often they clean, not to mention its always open for people to swim in. The telvison had limited stations and a movie costs $5 to rent. A cab ride to old san juan and the condado area was $20. Actually anywhere we took a cab was $20. Some of these cabbies jerk you because they know your a tourist. My favorite spot for breakfast was Edith's Cafe about a block up. Beware of leaving your room on the day of check out. It may just lock you out. I had to ask a room attendant to let me in to get my luggage. Don't take the weather for granted. The hotel will not allow you in their lobby if your wearing shorts. My boyfriend was well dressed in shoes and dress shorts and dress shirt and was asked if he was a guests because he wasn't dressed in long pants. The door man said you have to go straight to your room. The club inside the hotel was nice but the party went on so long into the night. Most of the patrons to the club were not from the hotel. Overall the hotel was great but the staff needed a little more training in hopitality. I personally am in the hotel industry and they were rude. I think they are too expensive too, considering they charge a resort fee. My resort fee was over 70 bucks and it wasn't worth it. I wouldn't stay here again. For various reasons.