We spent a week in late March 2008, staying at the ESJ towers. Having read the reviews before we left we were not sure what to expect with both the hotel and the staff. But, we were pleasantly surprised. The hotel was clean and comfortable. The location was excellent. The staff was very friendly and courteous. The hotel had several activity rooms with pool tables, video games, and ping pong tables. It also had about 6 fairly new computers with internet access that can be used as part of the $5/day mandatory resort fee (it covers parking also).

The secure access to the beach was not as complicated as some of the reviews had suggested. Also, we realized it was not just for this hotel but almost every hotel and residential buildings along the beach had similar secure controlled access into their properties.

We stayed in the 12th floor with great views of the ocean. The only negative thing is the noise from the airport. Being only a couple of miles from the airport planes are constantly taking off. If you are down in the lobby/pool area or in the beach it's not that noticeable but it's pretty loud in the room. The takeoff's stop by around 11 PM, but it does make staying in the balcony in the evenings pretty uncomfortable.

Overall I would rate the experience as very good!

for over 150$ a night i expect a nice hotel. this hotel was bad.

the pro's
friendly staff
security

the cons
hotel is extremely old and outdated
room had wet/damp smell
i saw 1 small cockroach in room
charged 2$ a day to use a safe in the room
ice maker didnt work and wasnt fixed
breakfast buffet was powder eggs and 4 items that were bad
parking and beach access was a problem

would not stay there again/you shouldnt either

we stayed from jan 27 to feb 3. this was a timeshare trade through interval international. first the good stuff. we had an oceanview room on the 12th floor with a beautiful view of the beachline. the beach was very nice and the restaurants and bars in the area were great and reasonable.the pool was very nice. Now the bad. the hotel is in desperate need of repairs. our furniture in the room was worn out. the dresser and bathroom cabinets were made of wicker. water pressure was bad. ceiling leaked in bathroom and on the balcony. when i checked for leak by lifting the ceiling tile i was skocked to see that the ductwork was made of cardboard wraped in ductape, very healthy. i came down with a bad cold, maybe from the air conditioning? the whole building needs to be redone. we took the bus back to isla verde from san juan one day. what an experience. they go right through the roughest and poorest part of town. part of the culture i guess. i would go back to the area but not at esj towers. the intercontinental or the ritz-carlton are the 2 nicest hotels in the area. the el san juan was nice but their casino smells like the carpet had been wet, very musty. taxis are very pushy and expensive

we had the best tiome at this hotel. the service was excellent . the view was perfect . room service was not pushy and everyone in the hotel wanted to help us if we needed it . I WILL DEFINITLY BE BACK NEXT YEAR TO STAY AT THE ESJ TOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!