Hotel El Convento
Hotel Information: Designated Puerto Rico's official guesthouse for visiting heads of state and other dignitaries, Hotel El Convento contains sections dating to 1651, when a Carmelite convent opened on the site across from San Juan Cathedral, the Western Hemisphere's oldest. The convent housed nuns for 252 years until closing in 1903. In 1959, the building was converted into a hotel. Entertainment, government, and social notables made it their San Juan destination. Pablo Casals played his cello in the courtyard.
San Juan investors restored and reopened El Convento in 1997 as a boutique hotel with contemporary amenities. Guests enter on a black-and-white marble floor amid Spanish antiques and tapestries. Popular with guests wishing to explore Old San Juan, Hotel El Convento is also family-friendly, providing children with easy access to the Puerto Rican Children's Museum across the street.
Insider tip: A block west of a small sculpture park outside the hotel entrance, visitors can walk out to a guard tower and peer through slits just as Spanish soldiers did in the 17th century.
Hotel El Convento offers 58 guestrooms, all non-smoking, in a yellow, five-story building. Wooden doors with louvered panels open to French balconies (no step-out space) offering views of Old San Juan. Rooms also face wide, open-air, balustraded corridors overlooking the hotel's open-air garden courtyard, with tables and upholstered chairs outside each room.
Decor features handcrafted furniture of dark wood and wrought iron, including Spanish antiques and replicas of antiques. Floors are terracotta-tile, ceilings white, and walls colored. Small marble bathrooms contain pedestal sinks and shower/tub combinations. Amenities include bathrobes and slippers, compact refrigerators with complimentary bottled water, 32-inch LCD televisions, and Bose CD players and radios. DVD players can be rented. In-room massage is available from an independent provider.
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