Carolina Homestays

I would highly recommend the Fairmont El San Juan based on my experience staying for 4 nights this past week. The pool party was a good start to the week and made the outdoor scene more lively on Sunday & then the atmosphere was relaxing for the rest of the week. Most of the lounge chairs were positioned for a full day of sun & there's cabanas for those who like shade. Each pool has a different vibe one is more lively, one has shade and more quiet & one is good for laps. We were beyond impressed with the beach bar food (highly recommend the burger & fish tacos). Our room was spacious & had a balcony which was good when we had free time to relax before dinner. As a cat person, I thought the best part of the hotel was the family of cats that live on the property. They're super friendly (and will leave you alone if you're not a cat person), some of them even let us pick them up. I was sad to find out that people had complained about them and the hotel was considering moving them when they didn't seem to be a bother at all. The gym was really nice, especially for a hotel gym & had plenty of machines to accommodate a decent size crowd. They also offer classes, I took a yoga class on the beach with Ruth, who was great and super attentive to my back problems. The shops were nice but extremely overpriced - except for the chocolate truffle shop which was delicious & reasonably priced. The breakfast buffet had everything you could ever want for breakfast (even the alla carte menu gave huge portions) - we ate there every morning, their waffles & omelette bar were my favorite & their bacon was cooked perfectly every day. The Meatmarket steakhouse we ate at our first night was impressive, especially for a chain restaurant. Riva had an awesome tasting menu, which was priced beyond reasonably, along with amazing service, hospitality & delicious house wine. Their unique twist on common dishes was impressive & we ate every bite of every course even after we were stuffed because it was THAT good. Housekeeping kept our room in perfect shape & the front desk staff was very helpful when we wanted to plan dinners off the resort & a day trip to Old San Juan. The sounds of the birds at night make it like you're sleeping in the rainforest & very easy to get a good night's sleep.

Advantages: The hotel is not far from the airport, and the service attitude is very good. Although there are not many choices for breakfast every day, eggs are all made fresh. There are cocktails and various snacks at night. Basically, you only need to go out for a meal by yourself. Disadvantages: 1. The hotel is not on the seashore. The hotel's own beach needs to be walked for about five minutes. The scenery is of average quality. 2. The hotel has a resort fee of $ 35 per night, which is not so cost-effective. Overall it feels like a good choice.