I love this place and have stayed here about a half dozen times over the last 10 or so years (alternating with the Borinquen Beach Inn up the street, depending on availability and price). It is a great place for a gringo to play at being a beach bum-- cutoffs, no shoes, Hawaiian flower shirt, and two POTENT coladas for $16 at the bar RIGHT ON THE BEACH! Rum drinks start at $4, folks. How can you not like that?
I've never stayed in any room other than 2 or 6 (yep, the "worst" rooms in the bunch... but I LOVE room 6!) and I have no complaints about noise-- I'm a heavy sleeper. Others may find room 6 to be too close to the bar and action, so choose carefully. If you are under 26, this is the place you want to be.
At 8pm there was no hot water. Inquiry to the front desk was unhelpful; the clerk checked the breakers and reported all was in order (I assume this to mean they use an electric on-demand hot water heating system) so we were at an impasse. I gave up and slunk off to the restaurant. There was hot water at 11pm, so that was nice. Plenty of it in the morning as well.
Dear God, do not eat at the motel restaurant! Nobody should name their restaurant something so close to "La Plague" as this place. It had the strangest menu for a tourist town on the ocean and the shrimp in the risotto seemed to be at least a week old... and it was not a good week for them. Chef, there are other seasonings to use than salt. Look into them.
As you might imagine the bed is rock hard. The room (remember, I am only discussing my experience with 2 and 6) is spartan with no coffee maker, no clock radio, no iPod docking station, no hair dryer, no bottled water (though all were promised in the motel's description) and the "flat panel" TV is an old tube type. I have no idea what channels it offered as there was no remote and no obvious way of receiving anything other than the TV Guide channel. If you're interested in being thirty feet from the ocean and you still want to watch TV... sheesh, there's no hope for you. I also don't know if the WiFi worked. Did I mention you're on the beach and the bar is right there?
Others have described the place pretty well and I doubt I can add much. Staff are pleasant and spoke English, some can communicate a few sentences in other languages (such as French). The room was spotless, the soaps are pleasant, the shower (no bathtubs, but some rooms may have them) invigorating and roomy and the air conditioner (remote controlled!) worked perfectly.
I am concerned that the bathroom light switch and plug is right next to the sink and is not equipped with a ground fault circuit interrupter. Additionally, I am hopeful that if management replies to this posting they will address the hot water issues raised repeatedly here.
My 4-star rating is relative; this is a special place, difficult to compare to others. It is not luxurious, plush, or fancy but is certainly a memorable place to stay. There are so few motels like this, right on the flippin' beach, and they provide tons of chairs, tables, even beds on the sand for guests to use. I dig it, you might too!
Room Tip: Room 6 is the closest to the bar and beach. The obvious advantage is being able to crawl home easily...
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
February 27, 2013
MikeyDaNut- Thanks for the review, we are glad you basically cover all the aspects of our operation. Yes we are about being at the beach and hanging out at the bar.
Sorry the food at the restaurant was not up to standard. We will give your feedback to the Chef. As we speak the restaurant menu is being re-designed as we have a new chef and sous chef.
FYI the name of the restaurant is "Café La Plage" not "La Plague"
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