Royal Sonesta San Juan

We paid close to $600 a night here and we really didn't feel like we got our money's worth. the beaches were full of seaweed, I thought they would clean their beaches like most luxury hotels do. There weren't any pool attendants to help with towels and chairs. No servers...

We paid close to $600 a night here and we really didn't feel like we got our money's worth. the beaches were full of seaweed, I thought they would clean their beaches like most luxury hotels do. There weren't any pool attendants to help with towels and chairs. No servers coming around to offer drinks. The rooms were ok. Beds were comfortable. All in all I don't think you get your money's worth here.

Our stay at the Royal Sonesta was completely derailed by horrendous customer service at check-in and check-out. While the facilities were nice, the front desk’s incompetence and lack of professionalism ruined our experience. Check-In: A Sign of Things to Come: Bryan at the front desk messed up our check-in from...

Our stay at the Royal Sonesta was completely derailed by horrendous customer service at check-in and check-out. While the facilities were nice, the front desk’s incompetence and lack of professionalism ruined our experience. Check-In: A Sign of Things to Come: Bryan at the front desk messed up our check-in from the start—insisting we booked through Expedia (we used Amex), claiming we had a double instead of a king, and worst of all, trying to charge us for another guest’s $2,000 stay. All of this because he had pulled up a different Indian guest's reservations, despite taking both mine and my husband's IDs at the start. He never apologized, and acted as if this massive mistake was no big deal, and was super rude when we were trying to tell him he had the wrong reservation. Honestly, I've had better customer service at motels. Unreliable Service & Unprofessional Staff: - Jasmine ignored our request for extra pillows and water on the second day; when we called guest services in the evening they sent them up in 10 minutes, proving that she never passed our request on that morning. - Housekeeping walked in on us while we were changing, even though we still had 10 minutes left before check-out. The Check-Out Disaster That Ruined Our Stay: We were entitled to a 4pm check-out through our Amex Platinum benefits, but the hotel refused to confirm availability in advance. Every time we asked, we were told to "check on the same day." This made it impossible to plan our last day. With a late flight, we needed clarity—something every other Amex Hotel Collection property has been able to provide with zero drama. On the morning of check-out, the manager Arnold Rivera denied our request for a late check-out . Fine—maybe availability was limited. But why couldn’t they check the system the day before instead of keeping us in limbo for days? Their complete disregard for basic guest convenience left us scrambling to change plans at the last minute and put a sour end to our trip. We honestly couldn't wait to leave on the last day. Pros (The Few Bright Spots): - William at Alelí (breakfast) and William at the bellhop stand were excellent. - The pool and beach facilities were nice, though sargassum was an issue. A 5-minute walk led to clear waters. - Food at Alelí and Karaya was great and portions were big. The pool bar food was meh. Final Verdict: 1.5/5 – The Service Ruined It This was a splurge trip that we saved up for, and the discrimanatory check-in and stress of check-out made us feel like we basically wasted thousands of dollars. The front desk staff is disorganized, unhelpful, and completely indifferent to guests. Avoid this hotel.

There is no question that the hotel is in a great location with it being located on the beach and in walking distance to many restaurants. The room is lovely but the humidity in the room is a big problem. While we were able to keep the sliding glass door...

There is no question that the hotel is in a great location with it being located on the beach and in walking distance to many restaurants. The room is lovely but the humidity in the room is a big problem. While we were able to keep the sliding glass door shut to prevent the humidity from entering the room, it didn't help. The carpet was damp and I actually thought that maybe it had just been cleaned but that wasn't the case. It was so damp that you had to wear shoes the whole time otherwise your socks or your feet would become wet. While the tissue box was well appointed with the top tissues in the shape of a flower, once you used the flower all the other tissues were clumped together and damp within the tissue box and unusable. Of course, there was a musty odor in the room the whole time. Unfortunately this overshadowed any of the good aspects of the hotel so couldn't wait to check out of the hotel!

Beautiful beach. Lovely hotel, clean rooms and nice amenities. I highly recommend getting an ocean view room. We didn’t eat there so I can’t review that. We were at a work conference- so not really typical food. They did have incredible desserts though.

Been eating here for 16 years with Silvia as our waitress. Great location and food. Our favorite place to eat on the island of Puerto Rico. We come here every January for a month of great weather. Isla Verde is the place to be. Five minutes from the San Juan airport.

Not impressed. Beach is great, view of beach from king ocean view is great, but we wouldn’t stay again. Drinks are among worst on the island and expensive for the pleasure. Room is functional, not 5 star. Hairdryer was a laugh—portable size with little power. Some staff are nice, many...

Not impressed. Beach is great, view of beach from king ocean view is great, but we wouldn’t stay again. Drinks are among worst on the island and expensive for the pleasure. Room is functional, not 5 star. Hairdryer was a laugh—portable size with little power. Some staff are nice, many are apparently in need of customer service training. That relates to front desk, doormen, bar staff. Expected better especially given the price.

We paid extra for Club level services. Breakfast and HR drinks were included but still $700/nt was more than we planned on. Noise from renovations of the restaurant, a flooded toilet, error at check in is less than satisfactory. Beach, service and pool make it. Best was the concierge, Rolanivette...

We paid extra for Club level services. Breakfast and HR drinks were included but still $700/nt was more than we planned on. Noise from renovations of the restaurant, a flooded toilet, error at check in is less than satisfactory. Beach, service and pool make it. Best was the concierge, Rolanivette Ortiz, who greeted us with a smile and many helpful ideas. She handled all of our issues and then some. She made the week the success that it was.

Went for a business trip for 4 days. 2nd night was a Saturday and a group of ladies on the patio were extremely loud at 12am. Their yelling carried to the 6th floor and through our patio door that was closed. Called front desk, took 20 minutes to get the...

Went for a business trip for 4 days. 2nd night was a Saturday and a group of ladies on the patio were extremely loud at 12am. Their yelling carried to the 6th floor and through our patio door that was closed. Called front desk, took 20 minutes to get the group to move indoors. As a reminder all guests are required to sign a no noise waiver when checking in. So we were disappointed when there was that much noise at 12am. Also during the day to evening there is a bar in the lobby that plays loud music. You do not hear it while in your room. Beach was very nice and clean. We had lounge chairs and umbrella for use. The property was clean and maintained. The wait staff were very accommodating. Chris, and Dani were great at the lower level reasturant.

The hotel is showing its age and need quite a bit of love from a maintenance perspective. However staff was super friendly and helpful, and food and drinks were way better here (from a price and quality standpoint) than at the Fairmont next door. Go figure.

We just returned from a week stay at The Royal Sonesta…it was fabulous! The pool, bar, room, and service were fantastic. Special shout out to Jennetza @ the pool bar and Hilton, our room attendent!!!! Looking forward to a return visit! Beautiful beach as well!

Our first exposure to the Royal Sonesta was being checked into what seemed like a lovely oceanfront room, but we quickly asked to be moved because the headboard was obviously just recently vomited on and the whole room reeked of vomit. This was compounded by the little curly hairs under...

Our first exposure to the Royal Sonesta was being checked into what seemed like a lovely oceanfront room, but we quickly asked to be moved because the headboard was obviously just recently vomited on and the whole room reeked of vomit. This was compounded by the little curly hairs under the vanity in the bathroom -- obviously they cleaned this room in a hurry. ... the hotel answered in what seemed like a nice way: they upgraded us and moved us, but to one of the poolfront rooms that feels more like a basement than anything else. This all to say: this hotel is a pretty hotel, it is on the beach, but it is severely understaffed and provides a mediocre product, especially when you consider the price and the gigantic resort fee they attach on (which is ~100 dollars/night): - The pool, most days we were here, had one woman waiting the pool and the beach. - The coffee bar is the worst coffee I've had in my life, they can't even make milk drinks like lattes drinkable. - The breakfast buffet is 33 dollars a person but it is like a motel continental breakfast with a couple additional things. - The hotel restaurant has pasta dishes that cost more than what I would pay in places I scoff at in NYC (where I live). - The beach is not cleaned and not raked, you can look around and see tons of cigarette butts and trash if you just look down. - The room cleaning service didn't hit our room a couple days until after 5pm. - The hotel's interior is built as-if it's just meant for corporate events: it is empty and soul sucking and depressing. - The food quality is very low quality. The Ruth's Chris next door is mediocre even for a Ruth's Chris: we ate there the first night because we got in late and wanted to crash, and my steak had no color, it was a grey soupy piece of mediocre meat. - A large portion of the hotel's spaces were filled up with corporate events while we were here, including the indoors path to get to our rooms near the pool. - A bunch of the spaces are still rundown: the pool is very nice but one of its bars is being constructed on now with a lot of noise during the day, and the gym looks like it was constructed and furnished with equipment in the early 90s. I should've known something was up, as the hotel emailed me asking me to "bid" on room upgrades in the days approaching our stay. This whole place is trying desperately to separate you from as much of your cash as it can as quickly as they can. The staff here is obviously overworked and trying their best while a management that is obviously cheap and incapable pushes them along instead of hiring more people. There are so many great places to travel to and stay at. I'd put the Sonesta at almost the bottom of the list in terms of value. It is not a Ritz, it is not even a Westin on the beach, it is something else. The worst part is, this spot could be wonderful with a bit of work, but unfortunately it blends well with decaying and expensive resorts in Isla Verde and it seems unlikely they'll improve anything.

We stayed here for 2 nights prior to our cruise on 3/2/25. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed The Royal Sonesta pool area, Ocean Breeze beachfront restaurant and the beautiful beach area in front of the property. The beach was great to walk every morning and was very calm. Beach...

We stayed here for 2 nights prior to our cruise on 3/2/25. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed The Royal Sonesta pool area, Ocean Breeze beachfront restaurant and the beautiful beach area in front of the property. The beach was great to walk every morning and was very calm. Beach chairs were easy to get every day. The breakfast buffet was awesome each morning. A special shout out to William who provided outstanding service at our breakfast table and to Betzy who made the very best omelets!

My husband and I went to this hotel resort for breakfast, the food was exceptional and our surroundings was breathtaking, but what made it very special was our waitress Wanda, she was professional, witty and on top of her league, what a beautiful soul and a class act !

Excellent!!! We had a marvelous time. Plan to return! Staff is extra ordinary! The pool was amazing, the views were amazing, and we enjoyed the drinks and the breakfast buffet was fabulous and the upstairs outside bar overlooking the pool area was a great way to end a few of...

Excellent!!! We had a marvelous time. Plan to return! Staff is extra ordinary! The pool was amazing, the views were amazing, and we enjoyed the drinks and the breakfast buffet was fabulous and the upstairs outside bar overlooking the pool area was a great way to end a few of our nights.

The Royal Sonesta was a beautiful place to vacation. I first stayed 4 days with girlfriends and then a week with my husband (10 days total for me!). The hotel has the politest staff, all hard workers. The rooms were beautiful. The pool was large and the swim up bar...

The Royal Sonesta was a beautiful place to vacation. I first stayed 4 days with girlfriends and then a week with my husband (10 days total for me!). The hotel has the politest staff, all hard workers. The rooms were beautiful. The pool was large and the swim up bar fun! The beach was dreamy! Take a look at the hotels live cam and you'll see how beautiful it is. Special shout outs to: Nester the Concierge who is kind and helpful, Millie who works security and was informative and sweet, and to Jose who was always happy to help on the beach. There were many more beautiful people we didn't get the names of! Visit this wonderful place and you will be so happy you did! 🥰