Hotel Vivre

The rooms are clean, though quite cramped, especially the bathroom, and the bed was pretty hard. Breakfast was nothing special, with limited choices. The location works well for bars and restaurants, but rooms facing the hotel's front entrance get a lot of late-night street noise. Exito supermarket across the street was one nice plus. A solid hotel if you don’t plan to spend much time inside.

The neighborhood feels authentic compared with the more touristy north, and the hotel is worth a stay. It’s modern and very clean, with rooms that have just the right amount of space. The service is excellent. You can always reach out to me on Twitter @joerazz.

The free breakfast was a plus, and one staff member spoke English, which helped since I'm still learning Spanish. I booked with hotel points and should've looked into the place more first, that's on me. The room Wi-Fi was around 5 mb and we couldn't work. The beds were so hard that my shoulders and hips hurt every night, especially as a side sleeper. They say there's a bar, but there isn't even a bottle or wine opener on site, so bring your own drinks and a way to open them. The restaurant also seemed to be used only for the free breakfast. And on two of our three nights, music from the bar or something next door woke us up around 1:30 am.

The front desk staff were hospitable and helpful, and the air conditioning worked. Avenida San Juan is lively, which was fun for a night, but there's traffic, music, and fireworks, so this is definitely not a quiet spot. The rooms felt small, with décor that could use some work, and the thin walls meant hallway noise carried in. For the price, I suppose you get what you pay for. I'm still puzzled that this and Estelar Square are both listed as three-star hotels, though I stayed at Estelar Square for a few nights and found the ratings confusing.