Fairmont El San Juan Hotel

Disappointing Experience at Fairmont El San Juan Hotel We were expecting a luxurious and seamless stay at the Fairmont El San Juan Hotel, but unfortunately, our experience fell short in several key areas. At the pool bar, my brother-in-law was told there would be a 1.5-hour wait for food. While we understand that delays can happen, this level of service is simply unacceptable, especially for a hotel of this caliber. To make matters worse, when he tried to order a simple soda for his child, the bartender refused to serve it, citing the need to serve everyone else at the pool first. This policy makes no sense and is entirely out of line with the standards of customer service we’ve experienced in Europe and the USA. Adding to the disappointment, there were no beach chairs available for guests at the beach. For a hotel that markets itself as a luxury destination with premium prices, this is inconceivable. Overall, the experience felt disorganized and unworthy of a property carrying the Fairmont name. I hope management addresses these issues promptly, as they are not aligned with the expectations of guests paying for a top-tier experience.

I stayed here twice in December 2024 (the 13-14th, and the 21st-22nd), bookending a cruise that went out of San Juan. Pros: - The hotel’s got a great old-school vibe, and the external grounds are really well-maintained. There are adorable cats running around, and lots to see and enjoy. - There are multiple bars within, and plenty of food options, ranging from sushi to pizza, to the on-site restaurant, and even a Starbucks. - Easy access to the beach. - Lots of pool options. Sadly, that’s where the good news ends. Cons: 1) The hotel is definitely showing its age. - From the 13th-14th, I had no hot water in the room. - From the 21st to the 22nd, the room had two major issues: a leak coming from what looked like an electrical panel in the ceiling, and a non-functioning mini-fridge. My attempts to address these deficiencies are a great segue to the second major issue: 2) The staff is just over it, and by “it”, I mean everything and everyone. You can tell from the moment you check in that they can’t wait to be rid of you, and this plays out in ways big and small. Every time I had to go to the front desk (which unfortunately was a fairly frequent occurrence) they really seemed to be trying their best to ignore everyone, by keeping phones to their ears or by staring intently at their displays. During my second stay (12/21-12/22) I quickly noticed that the mini-fridge wasn’t working. I mentioned it to the front desk as I was leaving for some sightseeing; when I came back nearly two hours later, there was a grumpy looking staff member outside my door who complained that he had been waiting there to fix the fridge. Was that my responsibility? Did he really have no key to do that himself, at any point over the previous two hours? When I let him in and showed him the issue, I was told that no, the fridge *was* in fact working, but that I somehow didn’t know how to use it. Sorry, but the fridge was set to 68 degrees when I checked in, and two hours later, was still at the exact same temperature. I didn’t even know fridges could get to room temperature. The fridge was replaced, but frankly, I didn’t need the attitude. The second issue was an inconsistent leak from the ceiling, almost directly next to the bed. About 1-2 times per hour, the ceiling would drip repeatedly on to the carpet (which was already damp when I’d checked in). I filmed a few 5-10 second clips for the front desk and showed it to them; I received a text message about an hour later asking me to return to the front desk for a conversation about it. When I arrived at the front desk and explained I’d received a text message, the very-bored-looking staff member waited until I’d finished speaking before asking “so, how many keys do you need?” I then had to repeat that no, I didn’t need keys, but had been summoned down to address an issue with the room. I was then told that the leak “wasn’t a good enough reason” to offer a refund, and that due to the holidays, there simply weren’t any other rooms available to move to (and this was true for the entirety of San Juan). The surprisingly helpful front desk supervisor (Gabriel) patiently offered options, none of which were great, so I ended up putting towels down to try and soak up the drip and prevent more from saturating the carpet. But how does that happen? Did no one actually notice that the ceiling was leaking water between check-outs? For $700 a night, I think you can probably do better just about anywhere else on the island, and that’s really disappointing because this is supposed to be a top-tier brand. This is the kind of experience I’d expect from a Holiday Inn or another mid-to-low-tier hotel.

My experience at El San Juan was pretty average with several disappointments. First off, the walls are very thin and starting early in the morning you’ll hear the maids talking and laughing very loudly with no regard for those sleeping in their rooms. The first night we were there we had a bottle of champagne sent up to our room for my birthday. We drank half the bottle and saved it for the next night. When we came back to our room the next day, the maids had trashed our champagne. I called the front desk to explain what had happened, she transferred me to the kitchen, showing she clearly didn’t want to deal with me. I explained again to the woman in the kitchen who said she could send another bottle to my room for $75. I told her that was absurd that we’d need to pay again because of the maids negligence and she said “I don’t have any proof of that.” So apparently I’m a liar! The next day I found that my medication was missing. We turned the whole room upside down and couldn’t find it anywhere. We got a text asking about our stay so far and I told them what had happened and that this is a big concern for my health and quite frankly so terrible as it seemed my belongings were not safe in my room. Their response was “sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.” The hotel clearly is not equipped to be at max capacity (week before Christmas). Every morning we would come down for breakfast and wait 30-45 mins to be seated and to enjoy cold, picked over food for the price of $45 per person. Our mattress was most likely 15-20 years old as it was broken in many places, lumpy and hard. The check out process took 30 minutes of standing in line with others who were also checking out or in with two people working, again the week before Christmas. It’s a beautiful hotel and the pool and restaurant staff are very polite but it truly was a s*** show and some updates need to be made.

We had a wonderful stay at the San Juan Fairmont hotel. I was a little concerned about the reviews that mentioned loud music, so I put in a request for rooms away from any loud music, and got very quiet rooms. Housekeeping was outstanding, security was excellent, the rooms beautiful and completely updated. We tried a few of the restaurants, the only one that didn’t meet our expectations was restaurant Cana.

We stayed 2 days at another nearby hotel which was nice. We happened to walk over to the ESJ one evening and were impressed by the bar and evening life and the overall resort. After leaving the other hotel we ventured off to a pre reserved Airbnb which end up being a total mess. We came straight back to this resort and booked 4 nights. The best thing we could have ever done. The staff to check us in were very accommodating and helped us relax. The rates were cheaper for so much more, and cleaner and nicer. The bartenders help us pick nice drinks. We stayed in an ultra nice villa and enjoyed easy beach access. All the staff in closing security greet you as guest with a smile. I highly rate this resort as it has multiple pools a gym, a few restaurants, and more. Wonderful resort, probably the best in the area.