Condado Vanderbilt Hotel

Deception: We stayed before. On the last visit, we had a nice king size room with a balcony and an ocean view. We confirmed no less than three times that we were getting a similar accommodation. When we arrived, this time, we were given the smallest room anywhere. The hotel apparently over sold. And it would be two more days before they could do anything about it. Again, we were promised a room similar to our last visit. The hotel moved us to a room with no balcony. The rooms they offered us on this trip were dark and not what we were promised. Out of our week long trip we wasted approximately two days dealing with the room issue. One of the managers, a front desk manager Was condescending and equally as deceptive. It remains to be seen if anything more will be done. They are at this time trying to build us out of more money for the room like we had on our visit a few years ago. Be very careful with this property mostly because it says one thing and does another.

I am really torn writing this extreme bad review for Condado Vanderbilt and the 1919 restaurant in the hotel. We’ve travelled to Puerto Rico for 25 years. We watched the renovation of the Condado Vanderbilt and 1919 restaurant. We were one of the first customers of the hotel and restaurant when they opened, and are regular customers of the 1919 restaurant. We booked reservations for 1919 through Open Table a month and half in advance of our trip for December 10, 2024, at 7:00pm. We confirmed the reservation on December 9th through Open Table. When we arrived at the five-star hotel and restaurant, we and others were told we could not enter the restaurant for dinner because the hotel/restaurant booked an event for the entire restaurant. We were informed we could sit at the bar and have dinner. This is a five-star hotel and restaurant. You will pay anywhere from $400.00 to $600.00 for dinner for two depending on what you order and drink. The ambiance, service, and food are excellent, but to be told to sit in the bar and pay that kind of money is absolutely unacceptable. The restaurant should have informed us in advance about their decision to close the restaurant to outside guests and book an event. To be a five-star hotel and restaurant, we would have understood if they had called us to book another day. So, we called Mario Pagan restaurant from the Condado Vanderbilt lobby to see if we could be seated at the last minute. Mario Pagan sat us immediately. Mario Pagan has excellent service and food and we go there as well every time we go to Puerto Rico. Mario Pagan gets the 5-star rating from us. I hope the Condado Vanderbilt and 1919 restaurant will do better in the future.

First time visiting Puerto Rico (couple in our 60’s) This hotel absolutely made our vacation a 10 out of 10. I am a “tough customer “ as my husband likes to say and The Condado Vanderbilt met all my expectations. We were upgraded to a suite maybe because it was after 4:00 and our room wasn’t ready. The upgrade made all that frustration go away. Our room was gorgeous!!! Fridge, microwave, ice machine, snacks, Nespresso machine…. Comfy bed, huge tub. There were minuses too. Housekeeping missed us 2x and the shower set up is weird. All the restaurants are really great and if you love breakfast there’s an OUTSTANDING buffet. The pools, the beach, the location- all excellent. 10 minutes to Old San Juan, 15 minutes to the airport if that. Everything is expensive. Very expensive Life is short - live it up!

Linens and beds were very nice. Housekeeping service was hit or miss, mostly miss. Missing towels, snacks and hair dryer. Shower door would not close causing bathroom flooding. Two repair requests were not fulfilled during 6 day stay. Inside drawers were very dirty. Hangers were too chipped to chance hanging my blouses. Glass walls were smeared with unknown substance. The pool and beach was nice. Poolside and beachside service was not on point. It seemed the entire hotel lacked employees. Every employee encountered was very nice. Morning room service was very good. Good location. Easy walking distance to bars and restaurants. Overpriced for a listed 5star hotel. 4star at best.

I have stayed multiple times. Pros: AMEX PLAT member. 2 pools with varied. High number of suites making upgrade likely. Nice gym looking st ocean. Only 5 star in SJU. Multiple eating options on property. Good walking distance to other hotels and a few restaurants. Cons: Rooms have a few issues; broken handles etc. some areas of service off. Do not expect international standards. All drinks expensive. Tips: Rooms in east tower Heritage on east side have long beach views. See floor map. 872 really good so any floor above 3 would be similar.