I stayed in the Coqui Inn beginning of March 2008. I had seen the place online before going to Puerto Rico and it did not look too bad for the price. The grafetti mural walls through me off a little and I was iffy on booking the place based on the "unknown" of the area. We went to PR and family was going to find us a cheap place close to the coast-beach, that did not happen. So an hour after getting off flight from NYC we contacted a few places that were $140 + a night, went to see like 3 of them...rooms looked like blah for that price and we didnt want to spend alot of $. The vacation was like an extended weekend cheap get away to the beach kinda thing.

So there I was trying to get directions to the place on the phone, dealt with 3 different people. The address for place does not come up on a GPS system, at least not a tom-tom. Finally found it. Much easier than they explained. The enterance is around the back and it has multiple doors to get into the facility and confusing to find main lobby. We finally get in, there is one woman waiting on the sofa... one lady behind the counter and one manager in the office. it takes like hour-two to get checked in. the clerk made a money mistake refund transaction before and now the manager locked the "system" down and they can not enter any reservations. so she tells us to wait, dont give a specific amount of time. I tell her i saw a room online for $89 per night, and it is the two of us. We get handed like 4 sets of keys, told to pick a room. first we took a top room- not connected to others. two beds inside- twin and double. sheets are clean bathroom looked clean except the tile work in the shower stall was kinda busted up. could use TLC and a complete paint job. Huge refrigerator in room was a plus. Very cold. Light bulbs were burnt out, my Husband went to desk to exchange 2 of them, they said someone will come to room - no one did. we didnt stress it. The second day, we had NO hot water or water pressure. After 3 attempts, water and hot water running. 2nd day no such luck. After a long day and having a early morning ahead of us, we had to repack all our stuff and move to another room... we had choice of another 3 rooms, we settled on this other room, that may not have been the right one!

I forgot to mention that the room cost us $79. After complaining at check in that we waited so long.... we got the room at that rate.

Back to room 2. Nicer, cleaner, new paint job, bathroom a little tiny bit more up to date... not perfect, but it worked for sleep and shower purposes. Well water pressure and temperature were great...This room had two double beds and a stove (crappy) some dishes and a pot and pan and utensils. not a bad gesture but.... nothing I would make meals on. Fridge was smaller, but still nice to have. We bought some 12 pack soda at Wallgreens, milk and cereal and throw away bowls...The air conditioner was terrible terrible. At this point I opened the slatted windows and turned on the fan, I gave up switching rooms. The front door was metal slatted and you could force the slats open from the outside of the room and stick your hand in and open the doorknob lock. Not cool to leave ANYthing of value behind. We also hung the do not disturb sign to aviod wondering if maid service was going to go through our stuff.

Camera's througout the property inbetween walkways to rooms made safe, however not enought lighting outdoors. the place is basically enclosed when your inside, it seems like it was once 3 seperate hotel-motels smushed together...

The space around the Coqui was nice. sitting areas, pools were all very clean and everything outside was maintained with decent landscaping... some chairs and hammocks... the floors are tile in some areas of the place and became very slippery and no wet floor signs left out. I noticed 4 computers in the lobby area with people planted infront of them. COME ON! YOUR On Vacation... Get off the computer and go the the beach! They sold soda and ice cream and stuff. I saw the coffee pot, they never mentioned the freee coffee or breakfast stuff, nor did I care to ask for it.


Bottom line: you get what you pay for. $79 was not expensive for us and we got a shower and a clean bed. Not a fancy place. Staff is nice but soooo slow when doing things. I would stay again if I needed a cheap vacation. But would also consider renting a timeshare or small apartment for a week at about the same price.

My advise to all, dont waste your money on taxi or tours (ones that you can do yourself like Morro and Yunque. Rent a car. It's like $19 a day (without optional insurance). you can go to different beaches like pinones and fajado ... not restricted to busy san juan... try charlie cars for a rental.

Good luck!