We stayed in Ponce for one night. We wanted to do two things: visit the museum and visit Caja de los Muertos (the island.) Well, the museum was closed for renovations and the island ferry needed reservations, the phone number for which I could never find until we checked into the hotel (the room conveniently had the numbers for several activities and things to do.) So what then?

La playa de Ponce was okay. Not really the "most beautiful beach" I had read about. It's definitely not much of a swimming beach. But back to the hotel.

It faces the plaza, but the entrance is located on the little side street. We knew this, so we didn't have any trouble. But if you don't know, it might be a bit confusing.

We stayed one night and we arrived a little earlier than regular check-in; the gentleman at check-in was cordial and friendly. He got us into a room, no problem, even though our room was not ready yet. I was a little put off though, when he couldn't find our reservation at first. Apparently, I "mispronounced" our name, so he was polite enough to correct it for me!! We have a Spanish family name (my hubby is Mexican) so naturally I pronounce it with a Mexican dialect. I guess it's true what they say about Ponceños--they think very highly of themselves. But he was nice, nonetheless. Just a tip to him: never correct someone when they are pronouncing their own name. You are the one who is wrong.

The room was pretty clean and the shower was HOT. We had come from a not-so-clean place, so it was pretty refreshing. The hotel is just across from La Plaza de las Delicias and within convenient walking distance to see the area.

The parking lot is down the street a bit, so keep this in mind. We knew it ahead of time and just unloaded at the door before we parked. We went dancing at the Hilton Ponce Golf & Casino Resort and had no problem getting our car back into the locked lot when we got in that night/early morning. The lot attendant was in the lobby, so we had to ask him to unlock the gate.

There is a little business center with internet, which was convenient since our laptop battery died. We used it to figure out our itinerary for the remainder of the week.

The next day, the gentleman at the front desk was very helpful with giving us directions and making suggestions. When we went for breakfast on the roof, I was impressed by the attendant who kept the area very clean and well-stocked. The food left a little to be desired, but I'm sure that's not his fault. There were mostly sugary cereals, breads, and sugary pastries. There were bananas, but no other fruit. I bet they could offer healthier items for the same budget if they just tried. Maybe some oatmeal?

All in all, this was a good little hotel. I wouldn't want to stay in Ponce for more than a couple of days, but when we go back (after the museum is done with their renovations) we will probably stay here again.

We stayed here for 2 nights in May 2008. The hotel is very conveniently located to the main plaza (just 1/2 block away), and you can see the Parque de Bombas from the roof. It's a bit tough to find while driving with the one-way streets (and our GPS had a couple of them as 2-way which made for some fun), but once you have that figured out it's easy. Parking is right next door at $3 a day.

The hotel rooms are nice; you can tell it's an older hotel (as things are rather small), given that though it was fine. The balcony views are excellent, and our air conditioner worked well. The staff were very friendly and welcoming, and the lobby is very nice looking. The pool is also very nice, especially after a long day, though it's a bit small.

The only downside I'd mention is the breakfast. It's really no more than what you'd get at a run-of-the-mill cheap chain hotel in the US; I expected at least fresh fruit or something. Other than that, we were very happy.

Once we found the hotel, the staff was friendly and helpful. The lobby was nice and gave a historic feel to the hotel.

The good ends there... The room was small and cramped. The bathroom needed a serious overhaul or at least a really good scrubbing. The “air conditioning” was controlled with just the speed of the fan – not the actual temperature. So, we messed with it all night long as we were hot then cold then hot. The bed did not have a fitted sheet and the flat sheet wasn’t positioned correctly so we struggled with trying not to sleep on the bare mattress.

We thought the city of Ponce was going to be a neat place to stroll while viewing historic buildings. We felt scared at night and the daytime wasn’t much better in some parts of the city. Our next visit to Puerto Rico will be without Ponce. It was hot and dirty and unsafe.

We stayed at this hotel 1 night and found it to be fairly comfortable. The bed was a little hard and the room a little small but we weren't in Ponce to hang out in the hotel room. The breakfast wasn't great but the rooftop where they serve it was very enjoyable!