TROPICALIA by DW

After the place I’d booked through VRBO fell through, I had to find somewhere else at short notice. I’m so glad I found this space. It was easy to communicate with Tropicalia, and we spent some time at the main hotel while waiting to check in. Everyone was friendly, and the hotel looked so beautiful that I’d love to stay there sometime. My friend and I stayed in a quiet neighborhood in a welcoming space with two bedrooms, a roomy living and kitchen area, a washer and dryer, and three AC units. There were two patio areas, which we shared with a few little lizards. A main road with great restaurants, grocery stores, and other shops was just a couple of blocks away, and the beach was an easy, short walk. It’s not a luxury hotel, but the price felt good for what we got, and I trust the people running it. I won’t use VRBO again.

We were very comfortable in the studio Airbnb, and the whole team was wonderful. They paid attention to the details and kept in touch consistently to check in and offer anything we needed. We also got to visit the associated hotel, which is beautiful and has lots of lovely skincare products for sale. We’ll stay again.

The bathroom flooded after we ran the shower for less than ten minutes, and the water wouldn’t drain. We contacted the host and front desk right away. The front desk staff member came over but said she didn’t know how to fix it and couldn’t reach maintenance because they were unavailable. She brought extra towels, cleaned the bathroom, and told us to take shorter showers. I said that wasn’t a solution and asked for the issue to be escalated. The host dismissed us and said San Juan had a water shortage. We explained more than once that the problem wasn’t a lack of water, it was the bathroom flooding. An hour later the water still wasn’t draining. They said we wouldn’t get a full refund and couldn’t be moved to another location. Even after we sent photos and videos, they kept saying nothing could be done and we should take shorter showers. As the water kept rising, we contacted Airbnb and explained this was a safety issue, not just poor drainage. Only then did we finally get a refund and move to a hotel. The host’s response was incredibly dismissive and frankly garbage. They made it feel like our fault instead of a plumbing problem. The Airbnb also wasn’t thoroughly cleaned, the couch was falling apart, parking was almost nonexistent, and the area wasn’t especially appealing. We were willing to overlook those things, but save yourself the headache and trouble.

The three of us enjoyed the decor, patio spaces, hammock, and location. We also liked having access to the nearby hotel for vegan food. The front door was frustrating because it wouldn’t unlock. We eventually found out you have to kick it open, which we wish someone had told us. Construction in the unit above us was loud enough to wake us at 8:30 AM, with awful shaking and jackhammering. It happened on just one day of our weekend stay, and the hotel comped us three tasting menus for breakfast, which we appreciated. Vice Versa consignment store nearby is well worth a visit.