San Juan Water and Beach Club Hotel, Cangrejo Arriba

It is suitable for young people.... pool on roof top is small, leather seats get too hot, they were white...but dirty...back then was like that, I wonder how it is now...huummm! too much noice since a lot of young people stay there...soooo...leave it for the young and careless!

I recently vacationed in San Juan and stayed in the San Juan Water & Beach Club. I must say that I had a great time and the hotel itself was very hip with a modern, contemporary flair. The rooftop lounge is great and has breathtaking views of the beach. However, I was not so lucky when it came to customer service. I stayed at this hotel for 6 days/5 nights. There were numerous occassions in which we requested items (washcloths, etc.) from the front desk and housekeeping and it took over 20 minutes to simply receive them. There were even times that they forgot and I had to call 2 or 3 times. The toilet in our room had poor plumbing and low water pressure, which resulted in maintenance having to come to our room 4 separate times during my stay. Additionally, there were 2 times that housekeeping had not cleaned my hotel room amd was not cleaned until after 5pm. Overall, the hotel has a nice ambiance, but the service is horrible. You'd be better off paying a few dollars extra for a room at the El San Juan or the Ritz where you can count on receiving great customer service. If it weren't for tourists, there people would not have jobs...

I'd like to say after reading the other reviews, if you want a ritzy resort, go to one, they are plentiful. If you want to stay at an excellent hotel, with service that will never cease to amaze you, this is the place. While the "Water Club" is an older establishment, and does not have Walnut paneled walls, our room was clean and well stocked, and even though we were directly under the rooftop lounge, the noise was NEVER a problem. All the people at the desk went out of their way to be helpful and polite, and the hotel restaurant/bar people were outstanding. Maury we miss you already! The Water Club is directly across a dead end street from one of the most beautiful beaches in San Juan, lined with coconut trees, it truly feels like paradise. The neighborhood can look a bit run down, but we never once felt nervous or threatened in any way at all. In fact, for anyone who is not so full of themselves they only look down their noses at the world, the locals are incredibly friendly and helpful. The locals speak Spanish, but most everyone is also fluent in English as well. The San Juan Water and Beach Club may not be the best fit for the ultra wealthy or those seeking to find a pampering resort to make them “feel” ultra wealthy, but for the rest of us, it is a small slice of Heaven.

It's hard to say what the best part of my stay at the Water Club Hotel was: the staff or the beach/location-- so I'll say they were both tops!! The ladies at the front desk, the porters, the guys who set up the beach chairs are all WONDERFUL. They are kind, courteous and friendly. They answered all my questions, responded to my needs/requests (or pointed me in the right direction if they couldn't), helped me book tours, and took the time to check back with me to see how things were going on a periodic basis-- that's what I call professional service with a personal touch! The beach RIGHT OUT FRONT is simply beautiful! You just can't ask for more! It is also clean and safe. You'll see police officers patrolling the area regularly. The hotel offers complimentary beach chairs and towels. As for the room, it was spacious and clean, the bed was very comfortable, and the view breathtaking. There was a safe, fridge, iron/ironing board, and hair dryer available in the room. The rooftop pool is small but adequate. Besides, I couldn't see being in the pool when you have a beautiful ocean right in front of you! Happy hour is 5-6 pm daily (free drinks) and a continental breakfast is available every day from 7-11 am. The only thing I would say is that the hotel could use a little paint and I'd recommend getting rid or fixing furniture that looks worn out. Since the entire hotel is white, it can easily look 'dirty' or old even though it is NOT. So they just have to be a little more fastidious to keep up with it. This hotel is small compared to others in the Isla Verde area, and this gives it a cozy ambience. It is easy to make acquaintances there and to get personalized attention-- a welcome bonus for a female traveling alone on a first trip to PR! I would highly recommend the San Juan Water and Beach Club Hotel to anyone, and I will certainly go back again!!

I have to say that I don't understand the negative reviews. I've stayed here twice, and completely disagree with the negative feedback. First, the staff is very gracious and helpful. The location is great... right on a beautiful and well-groomed beach. The neighborhood isn't sketchy in the least, even though a couple reviews might say otherwise. It's a very touristy area with a heavy police presence day and night. Walking and busing around the area or to-and-from the area is easy and safe. If you need "safer", you always take a cab. We never felt unsafe in this area. The hotel itself is a great size; you won't get lost in the crowd, so to speak. The staff recognizes and acknowledges you in a friendly and helpful manner. We were approached by two different managers who wanted to find out if we were enjoying our stay, and if there was anything we needed. I strongly suggest, make that beg that if you have children, please do not stay here. You and your children will feel very out if place. This hotel is in no way equipped to provide a appropriate environment for kids, and is too small and too intimate to allow other guests to enjoy themselves if kids are present. Plus, the roof-top DJ will keep your kids up all night. There were no kids at the hotel when we were there, so maybe the hotel doesn't accept them... I don't know... I'm just trying to figure out the negative feedback, and all I can come up with is someone with kids stayed there and felt out of place. I really couldn't say.

First of all, the area around the hotel is sketchy and does not feel safe enough to walk around at night. There was trash and empty beer bottles everywhere, most of it had been there for a long time - so they can't blame it on spring break. Most of the upperend restaurants in the area have closed however there was a bar and grill near by that appeared to have a lot of action. Now for the hotel. First of all the staff was very young, nice and all looked like they would rather be working somewhere else. It's a pet friendy hotel, so candles and smelly's are everywhere - and in all honesty, your nose would never know they accepted pets. It obviously was designed to have the feel of a spa - blue lighting, god statues with bowls of water and a glass elevator with water running inside the walls...... except that look is now dated and appears dingy. It was probably a really cool place some years back, especially for the hip25-35 Paris Hilton wanna be's, but now it's just weird. The rooms are small, but I actually really liked them. The bedding was of good quality and the view amazing. However the furniture, which looked like Ikea furniture, wasn't intended to take the beating a hotel takes and looked like it needed replacing. Here's the deal, If you can get a good rate, are young and want to party hard and crazy at the beach, this is a good place. The roof top pool wasn't designed to be swam in, but "drank" in. The vinyl covered "patio" furniture has probably seen, and will continue to see multiple "hook-ups". If you're married or past the age of showing off your ta-ta's, you might want to find someplace else to stay.

It's all about what you pay versus what you get and I paid the same rate as I would have paid for a room at the Ritx down the street. For that, I got a horrible experience. Dirty rooms, arrogant staff, no beach chairs when you needed them, and mediocre food. The roof top gets loud at night and if you are unlucky enough to be staying on one of the higher floors, you wont be able to get to sleep until everyone stops partying. They screwed up my reservation too! Promised one kind of room and gave me another. They aid they would adjust the rate but didn't and I had to remind them twice. i can say with little reservation, this was the worst hotel experience I have ever had considering the price we paid.

At first I was slightly worried about staying here because I had read a lot of reviews and half of them hated it and half of them loved it. I'm going to address the things i read about and then experienced. This is not a hotel for older people or people with children. My boyfriend and I went to celebrate my 21st birhtday and it's definatly a young crowd. The staff were amazing, very friendly!! They sang happy birthday to me multiple times & were just sincerly nice people. Our check in was delayed but they upgraded our room and decorated it with birthday signs( my boyfriend supplied them ofcourse.) The rooms aren't that big but it's all you need for two people. The shower is only half covered and the floor does get wet, but they supply you with towel matts for the floor and replace them everyday!! The restaurant down stairs, Tangarine, was absolutly fantastic!!! It was the best meal we had our entire trip, really really really delicous, although expensive it was definatly worth it! The pool was tiny but the ocean is steps away, we didnt even go in the pool. The music from the club upstairs is loud, so if you're looking for peace dont stay here. If you're looking to party its definatly a really nice bar!! Some great things to know: the hotel has a program called "my desires" you sign up on their website and you get a complemtary drink and snack when you arrive.( also the mini bar was incredibly reasonably priced.) If you plan on going to old san juan wake up early and utilize the entire day there, there are buses running in old san juan that are free, you just hop on and hop off where ever you feel, its a great way to see as much as you can. Also the bus from the hotel to old san juan is right down the street and it costs 45cents per person, way better than a $20 cab ride. There are lots of fast food places close to the hotel but i wouldnt recomend them, the food isnt the same and the workers are extremely rude!! There is a wonderful beach bar just blocks from the hotel with good drinks and food and all reasonably priced. all in all I think the people that didn't like this hotel were just looking for things not to like, if you're more concerned with a little water on the floor than the stunning beach directly in front of the hotel, then why go to the carribean at all?? If the smallest things will ruin your trip i would suggest staying at the el san juan casino and hotel, they're a huge hotel and its a very nice place.

Boutique hotel, on the best beach in San Juan. Location is great, 10 minutes from the airport, on Isla Verde beach, which is beautiful! It's a small hotel, very trendy. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful to us. The concept of the hotel is original, with the sound of waves playing in the background and water flowing down everywhere. The rooms are set in a minimalist decor and very clean. This is a great place for couples or young people, would not recommend it for families. There is a bar on the rooftop, which can get very noisy on the weekends. Our room was on the top floor, right under the bar, and the music kept us up all night. But to be fair, the staff did warn us about that. Overall I had a great experience there.

Rule # 1 in the medical profession: Do no harm. Rule # 1 in the hospitality profession: Do not deliberately antagonize guests and potential guests. The San Juan Water and Beach Club, a boutique (read “small”) hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico attacks this rule “Big Time”! I climbed the crumbling steps up to the small lobby and discovered problem number one: In an effort to be “hip”, I suppose, the public areas are lit in a strange blue hue. It does look cool, I admit, but you soon realize you can’t see a thing, especially if you’ve just come out of the bright tropical sunshine. I groped my way to an elevator and stumbled on the miss-aligned entryway. “My friend has tripped on that twice,” a fellow passenger told me. To this point, I admit, my complaints are rather trivial. Here is how General Manager Bob Sassani really puts it to his guests: NOISE. I’m talking chest-thumping, window-rattling, concrete-vibrating noise. As many as four nights a week, DJ “Tall Rick” sets up a frightening battery of tweeters, woofers and sub-woofers and fires off barrage after barrage of ear-splitting racket in the outdoor, rooftop disco. This could be fun if you want to party until well past 2 AM each night; it is sheer Hell if you’d like to get any sleep! Trust me, if you’re over thirty, you’re going to want to take out DJ Tall Rick, GM Sassani and anyone else associated with this amateurish excuse for a hotel. I tried calling the night manager one morning after 2 AM to run up a white flag of surrender, but no one would speak to me. “Call back tomorrow,” desk clerk Cynthia instructed. A resort condo a few blocks away is organizing legal action to put a lid on this rude neighbor, a place that is giving Puerto Rico tourism a black eye. Water Club, take the racket inside, tone it down and . . . grow up!