Hilton Garden Inn San Juan Condado

We were pleased with our stay after booking at the last minute and finding a room available. The property was clean and well maintained. It backs onto a large bay and sits across the street from the ocean, so for an ocean view you’d be better off at the Condado Plaza Hotel across the street, also a Hilton property. Staying at the Hilton Garden Inn gave us access to their amenities, and a sky bridge connects the two properties.

The staff were amazing, the amenities were fantastic, and the food options on site were exceptional. The location was perfect for our pre-cruise stay, with both cruise terminals nearby, Old Town easy to reach, and plenty to do within an 8min Uber. We’d stay again 100%, cruise or not, and it’d be a great spot for a long weekend just a short flight away. Our room could’ve used some attention, though it wasn’t terrible. The floors were dirty, with hair that wasn’t ours all over. Some wear could be expected in a tropical place, but mold in the drawers and cracked, poor caulking in the bathroom, along with mold and general grime, seem like easy fixes for Engineering.

On a whim, my family and I stopped in for lunch. We were seated quickly after a prompt welcome, and each of our meals was made the way we liked. After that visit, we might choose to stay at this location sometime.

The rooms and hotel were clean, but we felt completely on our own. No one greeted us at the door or helped with our bags. After we unloaded the car, I noticed a young man asleep face down on the outdoor podium. Inside, an older man looked at us without saying anything, then walked between the back door by the pool and the front door. This was our first time experiencing this kind of treatment at a hotel, whether cheap or very expensive, and we never got a hello, good morning, good night, or offer of help during our stay. At check-in, the receptionist told my husband there was a $30 daily resort fee but didn’t explain what it covered. The next day at Condado beach, we learned from the very polite staff there that it paid for beach chairs, umbrellas, towels, and access to the pool across the street next to the beach. We’d been about to pay $30 for beach chairs and an umbrella ourselves. Dinner at the restaurant was another bad experience. A sign said to wait to be seated, so we waited 10 minutes. A waiter then told us to choose any seat. As we walked in, a party leaving warned that they’d waited over an hour for food. We sat down anyway, hungry and hopeful, but waited 25 minutes without anyone bringing a menu or greeting us. There were only five occupied tables, and waiters kept walking by. We left. I politely told a waiter no one had helped us. He acted surprised and repeated what I’d said, even though he’d passed our table several times without offering help. The lotion bottle was empty after dinner. The next morning the cleaning lady refilled it when I asked, but the body wash was empty after our beach trip and stayed that way for the rest of our stay. Our room’s coffee machine had only one cup when we arrived. My husband used it that first day, but no more cups were left. On the third night he called the lobby for help, but no one answered. He went down to the front desk and was told housekeeping would bring one. After 45 minutes, none had arrived. He called the front desk and housekeeping with no answer, then went downstairs again. They said someone would come up, and 10 minutes later we got cups, but none were brought after those were used. My family will keep traveling to Puerto Rico for my husband’s work at a large pharmaceutical company in Juncos. We definitely won’t stay at this chain again.