Review: Hotel El Convento in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

Recently, my sister and I stayed at Hotel El Convento in Old San Juan before our cruise that left out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Some of you may remember that I booked this historic hotel on airbnb for half the price of booking directly through the property. I’m happy to report that we had no issues with our airbnb reservation, and the hotel was the perfect location to experience Old San Juan.

Hotel El Convento: History, Location, Public Spaces

Hotel El Convento was build in 1646 as a convent. In 1962, the building was converted to a hotel. I don’t believe I’ve ever stayed in a hotel this old before! The building is in great shape, though.

Hotel El Convento is located right in the heart of Old San Juan, within walking distance of everything in the historical section. My only complaint about the location is that there is no good spot to be dropped off or pick up an Uber without blocking traffic. But, it is what it is.

At check-in, I noticed that the hotel still has old-fashioned keys for each room:

The hotel has a courtyard in the center with a restaurant on the ground floor:

There is also a restaurant on the second floor. I ate at the ground-floor restaurant only once for breakfast. The service was a bit slow. There are a lot of other restaurants in the area, so we didn’t eat at the hotel for lunch or dinner.

I loved the decor in the lobby area and public spaces:

Our floor, the third floor, has a great open-air lounge:

The roof has a small pool and hot tub with more lounging space:

The hallways outside of the rooms are wide and bright with additional seating.

Our Room at Hotel El Convento

We stayed in Room 317. The doors are heavy and thick.

Once inside, there is a closet with a safe and refrigerator in a small hallway. Then, there is another door that leads to the bedroom and bathroom. This second door made our room practically soundproof to the outside noises! There was a wedding reception one night and live music at the restaurant, but once we closed that door, we couldn’t hear any of it.

Our room had two full-size beds, a desk, a dresser and great blackout curtains. The beds were very comfortable. (Photo taken at night before we unloaded our stuff, so the room appears dark).

The bathroom was surprisingly modern:

Overall, the room was comfortable and quiet. No complaints!

Nearby Attractions and Sister Hotel Beach Club

The streets surrounding Hotel El Convento are narrow cobblestone streets with colorful buildings.

There are many restaurants, shops, art galleries, etc.

Hotel El Convento is just two blocks from Fortaleza Street:

I recommend the gelato place on the corner near the umbrellas.

Castillo San Felip del Morro and Castillo San Cristóbal are also within walking distance.

Hotel El Convento has a “sister” hotel with a beach club. At the front desk, we received passes to Courtyard Isla Verde Beach Resort. We took an Uber to and from the hotel (which was $10-$15 each way). Once at the Courtyard resort, we received wristbands for the day that entitled us use of the beach, restaurant and casino.

Staff members set us up with some free beach chairs and umbrellas. I expected the beach to be packed on a Saturday, but it wasn’t.

We ate lunch on the patio of the hotel’s Sirena restaurant. I tried the local dish, mofongo.

I loved our day at the beach!

Overall Thoughts

Hotel El Convento was perfect for our pre-cruise stay in Puerto Rico. The hotel definitely has character. It’s hard to beat the location and beach privileges. And, the price we got on airbnb was a great value! While I didn’t use traditional points for the stay, I did offset most of the expense with Capital One miles. I would definitely stay at Hotel El Convento on future Puerto Rico trips.