Canario Boutique Hotel

We were forced to stay at Canario after their sister property, Casa del Caribe told us they had overbooked and given our room to someone else — "it happens often when using a booking site," the receptionist said, with no apologies. Our room was small, unattractive and poorly maintained — with a broken TV and broken mini fridge (which they didn't try to fix when we advised them) and a closet door that didn’t open completely because of the bed blocking it. In addition, they don't take American Express, so even if you book using an online platform and use AmEx, you'll have to redo it with another card. With poor service and substandard maintenance, we'd never book again with Casa del Caribe or Canario Boutique.

This really was a disappointment. Although this Trip Advisor website says there is a 24 hour front desk, that is not true. (Hotel did advise me of this in advance, to be fair.) It is small and family run I believe so employees hop around between different branches. As with many others, I was unlucky with the reservations roulette wheel and nobody was present when I arrived at night, so I had to call another branch and wait for them to come assist me. As others have mentioned, the room was very dirty (there were actual dead insects on the bedding!) and I slept only one hour as I was so repulsed. Some loud chainsaws began at 8 AM sharp so I couldn't sleep in even if I wanted to. They are very rigid on checkout and do not permit late checkout unless you pay extra (the fact that I checked in late due to no staff present apparently doesn't mean anything) and the cantankerous man in the morning, Fioran I think, was banging on the door at 11:01 AM sharp. They are lackadaisical about getting you into your room when you attempt to check in, but fastidious about making sure you vacate exactly on time. There were a couple of pluses: They do permit luggage storage in the common sitting area, but at your own risk, as anyone could have access to it. Also, there was one excellent employee, the main reason I am giving two stars instead of one. His name is Eddy (he was NOT the mean morning man) and he truly goes above and beyond to provide extra service and assist the tourists, fully bilingual. Unfortunately his hands are tied when it comes to aforementioned issues. In conclusion, I cannot recommend this lodging. While the prices are commensurate with other lodging in the area (high), the quality is not.

The Canario Hotel is DISHONEST. Reserved a room for 12/27-1/2. My flight was cancelled so I left the next day. When I arrived they told me they had cancelled my reservation because I did not show up the first day even though I had already paid for the stay and they would not give me a refund. Major rip off! If you reserve & pay for a room that room should be yours. They ruined my whole vacation because of greed.

Everything was good -- decent rooms, nice staff, great courtyard -- except I was wrongly charged for not returning a key (which I did return). I thought the charge had been erased but it wasn't. I checked out around 5:30 am. No one was at the desk. I dropped my key in the bucket marked "return keys." Nothing was said to me about a missing key until I complained about a $167 charge that had been added to my account. Probably incompetence but who knows. Don't stay here.

I have stayed at El Canario several times, all good but not great. I also stayed at fancier hotels, Marriott, La Concha, and two expensive places in Old San Juan. But I am going back to Canario. The money I save will pay for my dinners at fabulous restaurants, like Cocina Abierta. Canario is a very good value, if you aren't too critical. Many amenities available at Marriott, next door.