I am from Puerto Rico and this Christmas my family and I decided to forget about cooking at home and go to a place where we could be taken care off and spend a good time. After a beautiful but very long drive we arrive to La Hacienda Juanita. As soon as we checked in we decide to go directly to the restaurant and have something to eat and that’s when everything start to go down hill. The service was slow, they did not have many of the menu items and the food was not what we expected, and certainly not what we read about at their web site. I feel sorry for all the tourists that think they are getting the best Puerto Rican food. After dinner we went to the so call game room where only one machines does actually work, to me it looked more like a game room commentary. Since there is nothing else to do we decide to go to sleep, which at the end was very difficult without pillows and with a comforter that has not seen a washing machine in a very long time.
After a few back step what really make the worst part is the lack of customer orientation the own owner of the place have, you are not going to receive a good morning, good night or even a simple smile, the only thing you are going to get is a bad humor face and a harsh or out of place comment. Although I will never go back or even recommend this place to my worst enemy and do have something nice to say about the place and is that the general staff is great, friendly and very charismatic. I think that the only way this place could be safe is if the staff runs the place instead of the owner.

Overall I rate this hotel average. It is fairly dismal in some respects, and stellar in others.
Service:
The establishment seems understaffed. There were gaps in the published menu and what food was really available. The food service was often behind schedule in starting for breakfast or dinner, with slow service. The breakfasts were fairly good, but the dinners were just passable insofar as table fare is concerned.
Accomodations:
The pool is usable, but maintenance is poor. It is up to the guest to remove the leaves and insects floating on the surface. The water was clear and cool, and the pool is large enough for lap swimming.
The rooms have no air conditioning, there are no insect screens on the windows, and the bathroom facilities are aged and in need of some repair. However, the facilities did work.
Cleanliness was okay and the rooms were cleaned and serviced during my absence while I was on business in Maricao during the daytime hours.
I recommend walking around the compound and selecting the cabin/room you will stay in, as some are near sources of noise (like gathering locations for local parties) and others are near hotel garbage storing sites located behind some cabins.
Location:
This is where the hotel shines. It is on a cleared hillside in the tropical forest. The immediate grounds have nice paths and little gardens. There is a path following the periphery of the compound clearing boundary with the forest that is maintained, allowing one to treck on the forest edge. The path leaves the compound grounds near an old coffee processing machine, circles down near the tropical forest for about a quarter mile or so, traverses along the lower slope of the compound hillside and circles up hillside to re-enter the compound near the kitchen building. There are all types of insects, spiders, birds and lizards. I found a spider that has defied classification for a year. There was also a lizard lying dead near the office steps with a spider in its mouth, an apparent dinner that did not go so well. A dead mongoose on the path provided testimony to the mammalian creatures inhabiting in the area.
Atmosphere:
This place is reminiscent of the 1800s colonial compounds seen in old pictures. The setting, especially when in the vicinity of the cabins immediately adjacent to the restaurant building, seems to bring one back in time to a pastoral society where life is slower and the bustle of the modern world is missing.
For someone used to camping and seeking a rustic and secluded night or two with a real bed, running water and available services, this place is great. I worked in Maricao during the day, but had I the time, a great day could have been had with an early morning walk along the path (I did this), a day of reading and viewing from the restaurant building veranda and an evening swim (I did this) before retiring early. I would recommend bringing a good book or two and a pair of binoculars. This would allow a person to have two or three days of peaceful, introspective adventure.

I had been to this place about 15 years ago, and unfortunately, the place has become a dump. The ladies in the front desk could not have cared less about our arrival, and the second lady late in the day was more interested in her homework than in answering our questions. There was a small puppy that was way friendlier than the front desk attendants.

The rooms are despicable: dark and musty. The bathroom is absolutely filthy. When I looked inside the bathtub I was totally disgusted.

The food at the restaurant was very good, and the view is nothing to call home about.

We stayed at La Hacienda Juanita for a brief honeymoon. It was secluded and took a while to get to, but it was very relaxing! The room we had was very basic but clean. We ate at the restuarant for all of our meals. Lunch and dinner were OK, but breakfast was great. The views from the restaurant and deck are wonderful, and we hiked the trail, which was a little overgrown but otherwise very nice. Since we went in the off-season, we had the place and the pool mostly to ourselves. There were flowers everywhere, along with a couple of pet turtles and chickens, but no excess noise. We originally were in a room next to screaming children, but the hotel changed it for us without any problems. I would recommend it when you just want to "unplug."