An adults only hotel in Puerto Rico with all inclusive drinks and a fantastic rooftop! Where do you sign up? I’ll tell you all about it! Here is the best place to stay in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
Why is this the best place to stay in Old San Juan?
You have seemingly endless choices for areas to stay when you travel to Puerto Rico. There are tons of beach locations you could stay at, but here is why I think Old San Juan is best.
San Juan is SO lively. Within steps of your hotel door you can find restaurants, bars, markets, shops, lively squares, and lots of action. It is SO unbelievably colorful that I knew I would want to wander the streets endlessly and see everything I possibly could. I knew I’d be happier exploring this vibrant area as opposed to walking on the beach each day. In San Juan you also can easily access beaches and basically anything you’d want to do on the island.
With that said… on to where is actually the best place to stay in Old San Juan.
El Colonial Hotel in Old San Juan
Location
The location of this El Colonial was perfect. It was right off the main square/entrance of Old San Juan. Any time we needed to take an uber/taxi it was SO easy to just walk right to the square and get where we needed to go. This way we didn’t have to waste time in traffic. The location was also right in the thick of things and walkable to absolutely anything we wanted to do.
There are some very local beaches within about 8 mins walking, very nice beaches within 30 mins walking, and tons and tons of beautiful beaches within about a 10 minute uber ride away. So in my opinion San Juan gave me everything I needed.
All Inclusive Drinks
What an amenity! I honestly reached out to check multiple times before visiting El Colonial because I was surprised it was real! I sincerely wish more hotels had this option, and let me explain, it wasn’t just about free alcohol. While t was very nice to have a cocktail or a glass of sparkling wine whenever we wanted. It was EQUALLY as nice to have sparking water and friendly faces to come back to every time we entered the hotel. All of the staff here were so kind and welcoming and we sincerely enjoyed coming in and out from our adventures and talking to them about Puerto Rico and about our days on the island.
Another really nice perk was that it became a really great way to meet and chat to other travelers. This area felt very communal and people hung around here in between activities/outings. We got to know people staying in the hotel and connect with them far more than we ever would in a regular hotel scenario. Of course if that isn’t your vibe you can also just keep to yourself, but we found it really nice and enjoyable.
Bonus: Another reason this is the best place to stay in Old San Juan is that you are allowed to walk around with a beverage. So we could get a cup of sparkling wine from the lobby and then head out exploring!
The rooftop
I am a rooftop loving girl, so this place was so nice for us to have to hang out. They have 3 bathtubs up there, which at first seemed kind of silly to me, but once we used them I realized how nice it was! We filled them up and just relaxed and sat in the shade & read. It was so peaceful! I also used the roof top as my morning workout space, we watched sunrise and sunset up there, and we were thankful we had the area to just chill out. The views were fantastic over so much of Old San Juan!
The rooms
The rooms here were really nice, clean, and spacious. The bed was very comfortable and we had a really nice little Juliette balcony with a street view that let in a lot of light which I really love. We booked last minute so we didn’t get to try them out, but they have a few rooms with a small terrace that look wonderful! I would definitely go for one of those when we return.
Communication
Communication is also such an underrated amenity when booking a place. El Colonial has a whats app that you can message at any time 24/7 and get a response. We asked a ton of questions before and during our visit. They were always there to help whenever we needed it. We could ask for things from more towels, to a dinner reservation idea, to late check out, etc. They were always so kind and responsive.
Even better though, was the hotel staff themselves. Every single employee was over the the top kind, welcoming, helpful, and so upbeat. We literally loved coming in and out to see them and chat and check in. This is NOT common in my travels and I can not overstate how nice this was.
Things to Note
This hotel is adults only. There is no elevator here and there can be a good amount of stairs depending where your room is and how often you want to access the rooftop. The staff will carry your bags up and down but you’ve gotta get yourself up and down. The hotel is non smoking (not an issue for me). I highly recommend this hotel if you’re staying in Old San Juan in Puerto Rico!
If you’re looking for an excellent day trip from Old San Juan, check out my post about visiting the El Yunque rainforest with my favorite guide! —> Click here
If you’re interested in other places I’ve stayed around the world, check out my FREE guide on Thatch that shows you all of my favorite spots! —–> FREE guide here!
My posts will sometimes contain affiliate links. This means that if you click and book through my links I will earn a small commission at NO COST to you. This helps me to keep sharing out this awesome info! I also will FULLY recommend things that I acquire NO commission on and I just think are truly good recs. You will always get the truth from me here I would never recommend something I didn’t love.