During a week-long trip to San Juan, we had the opportunity to stay in (and rate) 3 different sized rooms.

ROOMS / DETAIL: All are new, quite modern, and tastefully decorated.

- The presidential suite (very large sized) felt more like an apartment than a hotel room: the master suite is large (there are 3 bedrooms total), the master bathroom had a bidet and hot tub, the kitchen was very spacious and well appointed, there is a laundry room with a good sized (stacked) washer and dryer, and the dining room (with balcony) and living room were roomy. This is an excellent room and good for a couple or a family / families to ‘live in’ and relax.
- The Penthouse Suite (medium sized) was a nice size and more like a regular hotel room with a small kitchenette – including a cook top, a full sized refrigerator / microwave, etc. - and good sized bathroom with hot tub. This is good for a couple who would like to relax.
- The Superior (small sized) room is quite small. It is one room with a bed and small bath attached, a mini refrigerator / microwave set in the corner, a wall mounted T.V., and not much more. This is a good room for one person or a couple who are looking for a basic place to sleep.

STAFF: They are very nice and you can tell they do strive for high levels of customer satisfaction by accommodating the guests (we asked to switch rooms once and they gladly obliged). They also securely stored our luggage, at no charge, for 2 days while we were away in Viequez for a short trip. We primarily interacted with Glen, Alex, Richard, and the owner and all were very helpful and nice. The only minor drawback was that sometimes small details were missed. For example, a few things were left undone even after asking (the living room t.v. was never programmed to work, we had to ask for batteries for the safe twice, and burnt out kitchen lights were not immediately replaced).

CLEANLINESS: This is one area that could use a small bit of improvement. Specifically, a few cleaning details in two of the three rooms were missed, necessitating us to wipe up the bathroom and kitchen counters before getting settled. To be fair, the 3rd room we had was spotless. Generally speaking, we will say that the overall room and hotel cleanliness is very, very good.

NOISE: The Presidential Suite we stayed in is located adjacent to a convenience store / café and on weekends, the people that congregate there can be loud. So loud that the A.C. unit in the suite did not drown out their partying. Expect this noise to last until 5 a.m. We were told that this sometimes happens on Friday and Saturday nights but were promised that if it happened again, the police would be called to stop it (note, it did not happen a second time). The Regular Penthouse Suite (medium room) we had was fine. The only thing you will hear is the elevator coming and going – no noise from the convenience store was heard. The Superior (small room) we stayed in is located on the same floor as the dining area / kitchen / work out facility and you will definitely hear the noise people make while in every one of those rooms. It’s almost as if you are in someone else’s house as you can clearly hear conversations and moving about. If that sort of noise bothers you, we would not recommend staying in either of the two rooms on this floor: 701 and 702. We actually asked to be moved and the staff were happy to oblige, kindly giving us a Penthouse Suite. We appreciated this very much.

AMENITIES: they were great: free parking, free basic breakfast, and a light complementary dinner 2 nights a week. The food is not bad at all... If you like straight-forward restaurant food you will probably like it. FYI: No decaf is provided. We will mention that the staff here are very nice as well.

LOCATION: it’s in a local neighborhood and it’s fine. We did walk around a bit without any problems or trouble at all but it’s certainly helpful to rent your own car, or get a cab, if you plan on exploring Old San Juan and P.R.

Aside from the few minor issues above, it’s quite a good place to stay and we really did like the hotel and staff. If Trip Advisor would allow, we would give Ciqala 4.5 stars. We really enjoyed the presidential suite that, again, was more like an apartment and if we return to P.R. we’d book that room (make sure to check their website for great specials – we got this room for a very good price). Please try this hotel – we think you’ll like it.