The idea of staying at a quaint guest house right on the beach versus a big box hotel sold us to the idea of Hosteria del Mar. We fell in love with the place when we had dinner there in December. We were aware that Hosteria del Mar is rated as a two star hotel. We also read the reviews with the same issues/complaints coming up frequently. It was hard to determine if the management was addressing the problems since they do not reply on Trip Advisor. That being said, here is a synopsis of our 5 day stay there.

I arrived at the hotel in the middle of a torrential downpour, about 1:30 in the afternoon. I approached the reservation desk and I believe that a woman by the name of Nivia greeted me. She smiled and then told me that check in was not until 4:00. I explained that the taxi had dropped me, it was pouring rain, and i had all this luggage;what could I do? She smiled again and said that she didn't know what to tell me, but check in was not until 4:00. I would get very used to this smile. For the next 5 days, this smile was usually followed by a subtle insult, a snide remark, or NOTHING at all. This woman is not who i would use as the first face my customers see!! She remained totally unhelpful for our entire stay. She finally "allowed" me to put my luggage in an area of the lobby so that I could go to the bar and have a drink. She said that she would check to see when my room would be ready. NINETY minutes later she again told me that she would check on my room. Around 3:30 she gave me a key which signified the room was upstairs. I told her that we had reserved a beach front room on the first floor. She said that room was no longer available and that I had to go to the room upstairs.

Another staff member helped me get my luggage to the second floor. The room was decent, but the air conditioning had not been turned on and so the temperature of the room was stifling. Plus there was a musty, chemical type smell. I turned on the air and opened the doors to remove the humidity and the other peculiar smells. I stood out on the balcony and the view was spectacular. I went back downstairs and asked why the room on the first floor was no longer available. I was told the air conditioning was broken. I was told that if the air was fixed the following day, we could trade rooms for the rest of our stay. I asked to see the room on the first floor. The room was not as spacious as the room upstairs and it opened right up onto the deck of the restaurant!! I told the receptionist that we would keep the room we had upstairs. As I was unpacking, the receptionist called and said that she had two very nice rooms downstairs that I could stay in, but then she remembered that we were staying through Tuesday so she had to check and see if the rooms were available until then. She would call me right back. Forty minutes later I walked downstairs to find out if the rooms were available. Oh yes, they were. Same smile, You mean no one called you?" I looked at both rooms. Again, they weren't as spacious and they opened right on to the restaurant. Not much privacy or view!! But they did have larger bathrooms with a tub. I again told her that we would keep the room on the second floor. But I was puzzled. When I arrived at the hotel, there were no rooms on the firat floor and now there were two??

When I reported that my room had small bugs in it (which i can more than understand, this is the tropics) I was left a can of Raid--which explains the smell in the room. The room has no alarm clock, so we needed to count on wake up calls. Two of the 3 we requested never came, making us late for both our scuba dive trip and our plane out of Puerto Rico. The customer service was just lacking at many times, in my opinion.
We were given small, hotel size soaps for the shower and a slotted soap dish that would only accomodate a full size bar of soap without it falling out the bottom. Consequently, we spent a lot of time chasing the soap around the shower floor. Just another small annoyance that added up with the others to be a big annoyance. Our shower only had a small lip as a threshold and so if the shower curtain wasn't completely pulled into the shower, which gave me about 2 feet of room to shower, the whole bathroom was flooded. The size of the air conditioner was not ample for the size of the room. Consequently, it ran constantly making a whole lot of racket but never really cooling down the room.
Beach towels are $2 a day, but the chairs are free. the use of the in room safe was $3 a day. Why are the customers being nicked and dimed like this??

The restaurant is fabulous for lunch and dinner. Skip breakfast though. Charlie and Johanna were great servers and went the extra mile with a smile. A few others again shouldn't be in customer service.
Expect there to be a substantial wait for meals. But they are well worht the wait. The tuna, lamb, filet and red snapper were simply delicious as were the carpaccios and conch salad. The portions are certainly American sized. Try a sangria as well, yuumy and packed with a punch. Even if you choose not to stay at Hosteria del Mar, you must come to eat. Be prepared, it is a bit pricey.

The room was spacious and clean, but a little worn. The towels and curtains had holes and the bed clothes were definitely past there prime, but the room was cleaned daily. There was a refridgerator in the room which was very nice. The closet space was ample with plenty of hangers. There is also a desk with drawers and a chest of drawers. There is a TV and stand with more drawers. We relaxed frequently on the balcony, enjoying the view and the sea spray. The shower had plenty of pressure and hot water. The second floor allows for a lot more privacy. Some of the rooms are right above the deck of the restaurant but there still seems to be privacy.

I would stay here again, but would hope that some of the problems would be addressed. Especially the lack of customer service by some of the individuals on staff--the reception area and the servers in the restaurant. With just a little effort and some minor updates Hosteria del Mar would be our first choice very time.
Please feel free to contact me with any further questions or thoughts.

I was going to stay at Hosteria Del mar but was scared off by bad reviews on Trip Advisor. The wonderful owner, Elsie, was sorry I cancelled and invited me to lunch, on the house, to see the place. I loved the beautiful and peaceful setting on the beach, as well as the large assortment of Puerto Rican vegetarian dishes. The place was so nice I switched my hotel and stayed there, even though it cost me a night's stay at the At Wind Chimes Inn (cute but small, claustrophobic courtyard hotel on a busy road) which wouldn't let me out of my reservation. I had a large room w/ an ocean view balcony and the staff was super friendly. I stayed there alone and was never bored since the staff really took me in. Very tranquil place and the restaurant is a favorite with locals who want good food in a quiet and romantic place overlooking the water. Clean rooms w/ plenty of hot water and the AC worked well. It's even dog-friendly! No complaints by me other thanTrip Advisor raters almost made me miss out! I'm supposed to be in San Juan on a cruise in March and will be sure to go have lunch, again, and say hi to my new friends at Hosteria Del Mar.

The water problems are over for this hotel my people!
I believe they are making some renovations on the hotel. They have umbrellas on the beach, walls are painted I guest they are taking care of the complaints that were made before by many of us.
I really love this hotel, is romantic, enchanting , quiet and only 10 minutes from the airport and San Juan. Also 5 minutes from night life at el condado.
You must also eat at their restaurant called Uvva . The restaurant is delicious, especially the Grilled Filet Mignon and maybe add an apetizer like Hummus and Babaganous is also delicious.

You will love to stay at this hotel! Especially for those looking for a private place to stay. The staff is welcoming and friendly.

Well I hope you love it, I know I did!

My boyfriend and I stayed at Hosteria Del Mar in early December of 2006. We were on a budget, and the price ($140/night) was lower than that of nearby hotels, so we booked a room for 3 nights.

The hotel is located right on the beach in a quiet upscale residential neighborhood which is gated off from the rest of the city. I find that a little weird, but it did contribute to my general sense of safety in walking back from dinner in Condado, the metropolitan area. Hosteria del Mar is nowhere near Old San Juan, but you can take the A5 bus, or a cab. A few blocks from the hotel is a restaurant called Pinky's with a yoga studio upstairs, amazing smoothies and a good sense of humor. All very comfortable, safe and fun for alternative and/or gay travelers.

Back to the hotel. The entrance, lobby and restaurant at Hosteria Del Mar are beautiful - just take a look at their website. You can sit at a table on the beach, on the deck, or in the restaurant for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or anytime in between, and no one will hurry you along. The room was modest, but perhaps what you'd expect for that price in that area-? We have no way to know, since this was our first visit to Puerto Rico.

The room was on the street side, not the ocean side, because we were told that would be quieter, and it was. To get to it, we had to cross an open, roofless area between the ocean side building and the street side building, and that area, floored in cement, seemed a little grotty to me. Not dirty, but as if much less attention had been paid to how it looked than the other common areas of the hotel.

The room itself was relatively small, very clean, painted light pink, with large cool white tiles on the floor, two windows right next to each other - about the size of a picture window - and somewhat bare walls. It had a queen-sized bed, one night table, a TV, a decent sized closet with a tall, skinny wicker bureau, and a small bathroom with a shower (no tub).

My biggest complaint has to do with the fact that there was only one night table - I had to keep asking to have things passed to me, or just leave them on the floor on my side. And there was one evening where the water slowed down to a trickle, so that we had to put off our showers a few hours, until it returned. Oh - and the string for raising the large shade covering both windows wasn't there...we held it up with a coathanger so we could look out onto the beautiful tree right outside our window.

At night, we fell asleep to the sound of tree frogs and birds - very peaceful. The food at the restaurant was delicious, and the staff was extremely friendly and helpful.

If you are very picky and have the money to spend on a ritzy place, come here for lunch or dinner, not to stay. Or get one of the more expensive rooms - perhaps the staff has lavished more care on them, in terms of night tables, window shades, etc. If you aren't that particular, or you're on a budget, and the combination of perfection and small annoyances I've described sounds like it will suit you, definitely make a reservation. We had a wonderful time here.