310Guest-House LaVida

It was perfect. Everything we needed and excellent location. Marly was so very helpful.

Very Nice 310Guest-House LaVida in Old San Juan is an older building (like ALL of Old San Juan) and, as such, is not well insulated for sound from the often-busy street below. We had a balcony unit so two large doors lead outside to a small balcony. Two windows (above the balcony doors with no curtain or shade) let you know when it's daytime. With no reception desk, the property is accessed using a lockbox system with the combination provided prior to check-in. There isn't a regular cleaning service, but our friendly and accommodating hostess was responsive to text messages when we needed fresh towels and toiletries. The unit has a well-equipped kitchenette with fridge/freezer, microwave, dinnerware, coffee maker, etc. Overall, it was a very nice experience.

We really enjoyed the location. The guest house was right on Calle San Francisco which had shopping and restaurants, but wasn't so busy as to be un-relaxing. We really enjoyed sitting on the small balcony with a coffee or drink and looking at the city. All of old San Juan was walkable from our place, which made it really convenient.

The apartment was newly renovated and located in the heart of old town San Juan. From there, it was a short walk to major sights, restaurants and cafes. We had a spacious studio with kitchen and bedroom all in one, with an adequate but very small bathroom. All clean and with a generous tray of free snacks as a bonus. There was a large balcony with a good view of old town and San Francisco street below. A old elevator managed to get us all the way to the fourth floor with great effort, but the stairs provided good exercise as well. Not a cheap stay, but in my view worth the price tag. On checkout, we were approached by a gentleman from across the street who aggresively demanded our keys in rapid Spanish. I refused since I had no prior knowledge of him and proceeded to leave the keys in the lockbox as instructed. The gentleman did not approve. He could be a worker who meant well, but if so the approach was unprofessional and unfortunate.

We don’t usually post reviews, but we feel obligated to warn others about this roach-infested nightmare of a hotel. As a Puerto Rican myself, I was appalled by the owner's complete lack of hospitality and lack of understanding. The issues started immediately. Parking was advertised as $10/day with discounts, but this was a blatant lie (see screenshot). Street parking is nearly impossible to find, and nearby garages charge $60–$72 per day. When we called for clarification, the owner rudely dismissed us, saying, “Figure it out.” The situation deteriorated further. On the second day, the power went out for hours in the morning. While we understand that outages can happen on a tropical island, the owner’s curt and dismissive tone when we called for information was completely uncalled for. We simply wanted to plan our day—not be berated. The final straw? Coming back to our room to find cockroaches crawling on the floor and ON THE BED. We were horrified, immediately checked our belongings for bugs, and fled the hotel. We made sure the door was locked and keys were placed appropriately in the lock safe and double checked and left. ******* tried contacting the owner, but she ignored their calls, leaving us no choice but to book another hotel that night. No refund, no apology—nothing. Then I sent the owner proof of the roaches that she claimed was false. Still no refund. Save yourself the stress, disgust, and wasted money. Spend your hard-earned vacation elsewhere.

So-so stay When we arrived, we had to call because the key box did not have any keys - they said they gave us the wrong key box info. When we got to the room, we had to call again because we could not get the wifi to work when following the wifi info listed on the card in the room. They said, don't use those instructions - they gave us alternate instructions. They said parking was approx $8 to $10 per day at the local parking garages - it turned out to be $26 per day. The shower had limited hot water with low volume. Killed four bugs in the unit. The location was excellent - wanted to end this review on a high note.