.. beach, lobby, restaurant, location.. you've read the reviews, so if your room means nothing to you stay here.
You're greeted by a dirty hallway carpet on the way to Room 105. Open the door and wow!.. awful sea bass blue - ceiling to floor, trim, shabby closet and all! No pictures on the wall, window view of a wall, exposed wiring (also in blue), no fire alarm, small bathroom, No hot water!, And barely no water pressure... like 2 metal hangers in the homemade plywood shanty of a closet. The room had all the charm of a motel room but smaller. Elevator was broke .. fortunately I was on 1st floor, but I did feel bad for the couple sleeping in the Lobby. They had been upgraded to a suite after complaining but said the suite wasn't much better. OK but the mattress was great .. no kidding .. so drink a bunch of high priced rum and pass out on the mattress till checkout time and you'll be fine .. till you see the bill. But hey its just credit right?

I just stayed in Hosteria del Mar for nine days and it was a very pleasant experience. I did not get a beach front room but one in the second floor which was quiet and very clean and everything worked just perfectly. The room was recently painted and was quite spacious. For $80 per night and a comp breakfast it was the best deal I could get. Even some of the locals were amazed at the deal.
The staff was very friendly and the lunch at the restaurant was fantastic, dinner prices were high.
The hotel is located in a gated community and it is very safe and the beach is a local hangout for the local middle class young people during the weekends. There are free "Bomba" drum performances at the beach nearby on sunday afternoons, which is something not to be missed if you are interested in Puerto Rican Culture. You will need a car to move around and local transportation and shops are a few blocks away from the hotel, but the safety and location makes up for it. I strongly recommend it.

When we were looking for a hotel in San Juan, the main thing we wanted was a beachfront location. That is what we got here at the Hosteria del Mar, but not much else. Yes, the lobby is nice, the restaurant is one of the best in the neighborhood (coincidentally, the most expensive), and the beachfront patio is awesome. However, if you are not in a room on the beach, it is not as great. Our rooms were very shabby. I say rooms because we had to change rooms after we checked in, due to a bookkeeping error, which was very annoying. Each of the bathrooms had problems - the first one wouldn't drain, and in the second one, the shower did not work. period. But by that time we were so exhausted and sick of the change we didn't feel like moving again. Also, the A/C isn't great, the rooms were very humid, and oh man! What mosquitos! I have never been so eaten up by bugs. Finally, the free wireless internet wasn't working.

This hotel's only redeeming qualities were:
1) the free breakfast was a good start (fruit, toast, coffee cake, hot drinks, etc)
2) the people at the front desk, though incompetent most of the time, were very nice

Needless to say, we will not be returning, and we will not recommend this to friends.

Made reservations three weeks in advance at the front desk for a weekend stay. The same day we arrived we were told our room was unavailable and they had relocated us at a private residence back patio apartment. The residence was about three blocks away from the hotel and a street over the beach front. Paying for a hotel room at a beachfront hotel is not the same as paying for a “service” apartment, it was unacceptable. They should have called us as soon as they knew our reserved room was unavailable. No call, no decent accommodations, not even an offer for a rain-check. We were rudely dismissed without any concern.