El San Juan Hotel & Casino Hilton, Carolina

It was 5 minutes from the airport and once we entered the dark yet cozy and elegant main lobby, we were enthralled. They have everything there...the casino, lovely shopping areas, the best club! and the best italian restaurant we have ever eaten at. The rooms were bright and clean and the service was awesome. Such a romantic place to stay. We will defintely be back! This time we will get a monarch suite!! I suggest this hotel to anyone. If you want to visit the rainforest, I would suggest renting a (we got a smar car) car to venture out....money saver and you spent that time be yourself. Truly enjoyed our stay! (Homer and Karen Enriquez) A great time spent on our 5th year anniversary!

Stayed here for a 30somethings Bachelor Party this weekend. Got to see all the room types from remodeled, suites to the older rooms in back. We actually didn't mind the rooms in back they had balcony's and vaulted ceilings. Avoid the club, hang out all night in the lobby and learn to salsa before you go. Pool was crowded save chairs early, beach was average but you get chairs. Best food at the pool bar 16$ chicken sandwich. Make sure to ask the cabbies and doormen for local places to eat and if never had one order a mohito. Over all not as nice as a south beach hotel but the pulse and locals make it fun. And Staff especially female staff is great just try smiling and don't sound like your from Neeeew Yooork.

The beach was very nice. Restaurants were good but VERY expensive. The pizza/Italian restaurant charged us $62 for 2 plates of bad pasta and 2 glasses of house wine. They also slipped in a nice gratuity. This left a" bad taste in our mouths." The renovated room was already ratty looking. White was not a smart choice for a hotel room. The shower already had rust spots. This hotel had its day.

We were staying in P.R. for 2 weeks with family. Well needless to say we were getting bored and decided to stay the last 5 days in SanJuan. I looked up a few hotels some of which I have stayed at before, and picked this one. Words could not describe how beautiful and modern the rooms were. It was very comfortable anywhere on the grounds weather you were relaxing in a cabana by the pool, dinning, beach or room. Also it was alot of fun too with live music, casino, bar/night life. I have been to P.R. 1 to 2 times a year for the last 12 years and have been all over the island, This is the best place I have ever stayed at!!! The staff is very pleasant and helpful. A++++++ Christina Lopez from Chicago

From the website this place looks like a swanky hot spot, and lots of fun. When we first checked in no one took are bags to the room for us, which isn't a big deal, except we had to walk through the pool area to get to our room. When we got to the room there were bird feathers on the floor, the tv covered with dust, hair on the toilet, hair in the bed, film on the windows, GROSS. My husband tried to open the patio door and almost threw his back out because it was rusted shut. Did I mention no A/C? After filing a complaint we went to get some food and did not unpack. That was at 2:00pm and at 8:00pm we still hadn't spoken to anyone. After filing a formal complaint with Hilton Corporate, we received a phone call, but they wouldn't be able to move us until the morning. The next morning our room was UPGRADED to a room with sand in the bed, mold falling from the ceiling in the bathroom and caked in the tiles. The posts of the furniture had rust on them!! We decided to stay, we were leaving on a cruise in a few days, and just try to make the best of it. The manager generously credit $200 to our account, which doesn't even buy breakfast at this place, and reminded us that this is an upgraded in which she would not charge us the difference!! We placed a note for the sheets to be changed because of the sand, and of course they were not. Good luck trying to get one of those egg loungers you see in the pics, people go down there and put a magazine one about 5 and just take off for the day and the pool staff does nothing. We even noticed people that weren't staying at the hotel from the beach just walking around the pool area. The kicker is one 'night' 5pm we were out by the pool with some friends and couldn't find our waitress, my husband went to the bar and had to carry a tray of drinks back to where we were sitting!!!! Service is awful!!! I work in the service industry and I was appalled. I would never not leave a tip and I was seriously considering not to. This place is a nightmare!!!! If this is what Waldorf's are like I'll never stay at another one Do yourself a favor and stay at the Embassy Suites down the road. When we came back from the cruise we had 1 more night in San Juan and we loved that place.

Pros: The Hotel facility is fantastic. The loby is beautiful. The pool(s) are perfect. The casino is as nice as any other hotel in the area (maybe only a notch below the Ritz, and no where near as crowded). The beach was great. The crowd was a good mix of visitors and locals, young and not-as-young. Cons: If you stay here, remember that this is still the Caribbean and things tend to happen at their own pace on the islands. We really got off to a bad start to our trip when we stood at the counter for 45 minutes trying to check in (at 4pm) only to find out none of the rooms were ready. I wish I were exagerating. We were told that since we had a handycapped member of our party we would be moved to the top of the list, and that they would call us when our rooms were ready. We came back an hour later, having not been called, and while both rooms were available it still took almost 30 minutes to get our keys and get up to the room. This was a very bad start to our trip and while the staff were always friendly they always seemed to be working in slow motion. On a similar note, while playing blackjack we went 3 hours without a coctail waitress serving us. On a fairly busy Thursday night there was only one waitress working the entire casino, and even she seemed to vanish for hours. We had the pit-boss make announcments. We had dealers try to go get her when they went on break. One time she walked by, said she would be right back, and then vanished for over an hour again. The rooms were really nicely done. They were done in a fairly modern/trendy style which I liked but it is not usually what I preffer. I would have liked for there to have been some carpet in the room as opposed to wall-to-wall tile. The rooms also seemed to be slightly worn and in need of some re-painting. Finally, everything was priced rediculously high. Breakfast was $22 per person. Coffee was $3.50+ and there were no makers in the rooms. Make sure to stop by the grocery store to get some supplies if you can. Even though I talked mainly about the cons, I really did enjoy the place and my stay. The setting more than made up for the shortcomings which were probably a little nit-picky. I think I still preffer the Ritz, although I am not sure I can justify the additional cost on a regular basis.

We stayed at the hotel for 5 nights, and it was the best vacation we ever had.The staff was very friendly and helpful, they even recommended the places to visit and how to get there.We definitely would go back and stay at the same hotel. The location is excellent.

The lobby and casino are beautiful however the rooms are filty. Walking down the hallway to our room there was dirty and pieces of paper all over the carpet. Then when we walked into our room it looked like a jail cell. Very blank and the floors were gross. Plus the bathroom door didn't close. There are hidden fees for everything! The walls are paper thin I could people having a conversation in the room next to us. We wouldn't sleep in a dirty room so we left within an hour of checking in. I would definatly never come back to this hotel. It disappointing to see a Waldorf Astoria in this condition!

Sadly I am writing this review from my room after 3 nights at the hotel. I have only slept one. This review serves as a warning, do not stay at this hotel. Pounding music from the club until 4 or 5am, paper thin walls and the Garden Lennai, 3rd floor, should be not be occupied by guests who want to relax. Not a single good view from any room. 6 months of waiting for this vacation only to subject my family to this environment. Today 8 motor cycle police came running into the hotel looking for a robbery suspect. Not what I wanted my kids to see but perhaps a lesson on what this hotel attracts. Very over priced, $22.00 for two drinks, few in-room amenities and you have to eat off premises to avoid a $150-200 bill. The pool is the only positive thing about this hotel but does not compensate for everything that is wrong with it. Clearly this hotel is intended for squeezing the most money out of guests and/or visitors. I truly wanted to find something redeeming about the El San Juan Hotel and Casino to justify my staying here. This is about the most honest review you will get on the place and unless the hotel seriously changes its approach toward guest.... I hope it is this review that serious travelers wil consider when booking a vacation. This is not an angry review but rather one of disappointment. The best way to send a message to a hotel owner or chain is to stop patronizing a place that does not serve its clients well. Family from New Jersey

NYC 06/2009 it was my birthday present to my boyfriend and all i wanted is to get away and relax.they dont let you.too many rules! f well,you can not smoke anywhere, not even on your balcony.you have to walk all the way to the beach, or exit the hotel.it was supose to be a nice getaway to relax and not stress to be afraid not to follow the rules. what are you wearing on vaccation? right, shorts and dress shirts. well, my boyfriend walked from our room with shorts thru the lobby and the security stopped him and said he can not walk in the lobby with shorts after 7pm. i understand if he would want to go to the club or a nice restaurant, but all he did was walking. they are very strickt with no acceptions. when i am on vaccation, trying to get away from stress, thats the last thing i need! by the way, the outside bar thats advertised on the webside, closes at 5pm. where i thought that is one of the hot spots in that hotel, its closed every night! next day we had to go to the mall and buy him some dress shoes so we can go out! (and he sure knows how to dress) it just wasnt good enough for them! anyways, the first day they charged me $80 for not returning my 4 pool towels, which nobody told me. (they scratched it from my bill after telling them im not gonna pay) another day just checking up on my room bill, they charged me $21 for parking, but i didnt even have a car! my boyfriend went shopping, and had his hands full of bags.the guy outside at the door to the poolarea, didnt even open him the door, infact just closed it infront of him. the service at the pool is really lazy and needs forever to bring a drink. i am normaly a very simple person, but if you pay that much for a hotel, the service should be great! i know it sounds like i am hard to satisfy but im really not. we talked to a lot of people staying there at the same time and they all said the same thing.i travel a lot and stayed in a few hotels, and i know in a hotel like this, they should be on top of everything,plus i stayed in lower priced hotels and got much better service! i was sad, but you can only make the best out of it. to defend the hotel, the lobby and poolarea were beautiful and the rooms where clean as well! the hotel is really nice designed and very big. what i also liked, that you can go into the pool and jacuzzi 24/7. the securities working there (from another company) where top and really cool!!!!! i would choose another hotel for less money!!!