On balance, I was very disappointed by El Convento, based on a value judgement. Here’s why:
I booked two nights here for me and my wife following a cruise which terminated in San Juan, paying $1200 for a Superior Room. The cruise was great – one of sophisticated luxury – and I thought El Convento would provide an appropriate end to our holiday before flying home to the UK. We had noticed this hotel when visiting San Juan for the day last year, and were beguiled by its historical significance (it was a convent for more than 200 years) as well as its great location where almost everything in Old San Juan is walkable in ten to fifteen minutes, and by its self-promotion as a member of the ‘Small Luxury Hotels of the World’. We actually have one of those near our home, and we have always been impressed by the impeccable “can’t do enough” service and attention that hits you right from the door. But El Convento does not live up to the promise.
I booked the hotel through the Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts programme, and as such, was promised a noon check-in (when available); a room upgrade (when available); room credit (always); late check-out (when available); complimentary breakfast for two for each day of the stay. We were not able to check in until just after 3pm (this is the standard check-in time), and were advised that no room upgrades were available because the hotel was full. We were told that we’d get a quiet room on the 3rd floor. We did get the room credit and the late check-out. However, we were told that our rate did not include breakfast. After I showed them the Amex confirmation, clearly including breakfast, the receptionist tried to convince me that this was what the room credit was for and only after some discussion was a lengthy call made to the general manager, which led to me being given vouchers for a full American for the two days.
All the rooms surround a courtyard which contains the lounge area, a bar and a restaurant. Puerto Rican music is played at quite a volume from 8am until late, and when the bar or restaurant is full, the noise of various competing conversations, especially when groups of people are together, becomes a cacophony. Interestingly, noise tends to carry upwards more than outwards, and so when we arrived at our room, we could clearly hear the music and people from the courtyard. Ironically, our “quiet room” was located right next to the ice dispenser which we could clear hear operating through the walls.
The room itself was disappointingly small, particularly the bed, which had been advertised as a Queen, but felt more like a double. The air-conditioning, when set to Auto, was either fully on or fully off. When on, it was tremendously noisy (actually drowning out the downstairs noise), but the on/off nature was very disturbing, especially at night. The bathroom was tiny with nowhere near enough room for our toiletries. The towel rail fell off the wall when I took a towel from it. However, the walk-in shower was adequate. A small entrance to the room held the wardrobe, coffee-maker and mini fridge, which contained only two small bottles of water. These were not replenished, although a supply was freely available from the veranda room on the same floor. The coffee-maker had a light activated by a motion sensor and which randomly illuminated at various times during the night, lighting up the whole room and waking us up. There was no obvious way of disabling it. There was a door between the room entrance and the main room which had a seal and may have been able to provide some soundproofing. However, the door would not latch shut and therefore was redundant.
On our first night, the restaurant was full, so we chose to eat elsewhere, but we returned hoping for a herbal tea (for my wife) and a nightcap (for me). When I was able to attract the barkeeper’s attention, I asked if it were possible to have some tea, and he replied simply ‘No’ before addressing another customer. I went to reception to ask the same question to be told that the restaurant should be able to serve tea. But it was “super-full” so I was advised to try a bar over the road to see if they could help. We declined.
The following morning, the one and only elevator, used by guests and staff, was out of service for most of the day so those on the top floor were required to walk up and down five flights of stairs. We discovered our breakfast voucher had rules such that we could have bacon OR sausage, but not a little of both; and just one coffee. My wife tried to substitute a granola and fruit bowl which from the a la carte menu would have been much cheaper, but was not allowed. Throughout all this, the serving staff all looked harassed rather than purposeful. I became convinced that they were not resourced for the number of guests.
On the second night, we ate in the courtyard restaurant Patio del Níspero in order to use our credit. Based on the previous experience I booked a table through Opentable and duly appeared at the appropriate time to be told by the maitre d’ that there was no reservation for me in the system. I showed the Opentable confirmation and was then shown to a table where I found that the restaurant was not full at all. I was therefore surprised that there was even a discussion about reservations given that walk-ins could have been accommodated. This just cemented my jaundiced view of the poor service culture within the establishment.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the pleasant touch of the ‘manager’s cocktail hour’ which took place every day between 5pm and 6pm. On the veranda, a selection of white and red wines were free-poured by one of the staff and an assortment of “international cheeses” were laid out as an accompaniment. Refills were available, and I even saw one guest with a bottle of beer. This was a way of getting to know some of the other guests, almost all of whom I found were there either pre- or post-cruise. Some of them had room problems too although I will not post second-hand. Also, a tea and coffee station is set up and available until 12pm each morning (so we went there when we couldn’t have a second coffee at breakfast).
In summary then, my feelings are that El Convento promises a lot, and charges commensurately, but does not demonstrate any real care for its guests and certainly does not provide value for money. On checking out, I was not even asked how my stay had been, so I will be interested to see if there is any response to this post. Even so, next time I’m in San Juan, I will be looking at the Sheraton!
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