Pros

  • Free breakfast with choice of hot and cold items
  • Courtyard pool with hot tub
  • Clean, updated rooms with a choice of soft or firm pillows
  • Five-minute walk to Condado Beach
  • Around the corner from Ventana del Mar Park and nearby shops and restaurants
  • Free Wi-Fi
  • A modern lobby with lounge area and business nook
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Cons

  • The bathrooms are tiny with inches separating toilet, sink, and shower
  • Breakfast is served on Styrofoam plates and cups, not very eco-friendly
  • The location is drab, surrounded by buildings and a parking lot
  • The closet doors are difficult to open and need updating
  • Parking adjacent to the hotel or in a garage for a fee
  • Breakfast can become crowded and noisy during peaks hours
  • Check in is a late 4:00 p.m.
See More Cons

Bottom Line

Renovated in 2014, the Holiday Inn Express San Juan Condado is a 115-room budget-oriented chain hotel that caters to tourists and businesspeople, some on extended stay. While not directly on the beach, the hotel is located in San Juan's upscale Condado neighborhood, around the corner from luxury shops and restaurants and just a block from Ventana del Mar Park and the path that leads to Condado Beach. The hotel delivers amenities expected by the Holiday Inn such as free breakfast and rooms equipped with coffeemakers, Wi-Fi, and two types of pillow choices. Those looking for a smaller, boutique experience might consider Casa Condado. You'd be hard-pressed to find a beachfront hotel in Condado in this price range (La Concha is twice the price), though Hosteria Del Mar in Ocean Park often isn't much more expensive.

See More Bottom Line

Oyster Hotel Review

Holiday Inn Express San Juan Condado

Scene

Located around the corner from Ashford Avenue's big-name luxury shops, this budget chain hotel appeals mainly to businesspeople and vacationers wanting to be close to the beach and lifestyle of Condado.

The Holiday Inn Express is a safe, familiar option for travelers, many in town on business, spending the night before embarking on a cruise, and those looking to stay close to the beach and the nightlife of Condado without paying beachfront hotel prices. The 2014 renovation introduced a bright, cheery, and modern style with lime green chairs and orange accents popping against neutral whitewashed tile floors (made to look like wood) and furniture, delivering a look that's part corporate, part beach-inspired.

From the street, the entrance to the bunker-like seven-story building is uninspiring, but the lobby is spacious, offering a sleek front desk, a small concierge desk where guests can book excursions and gather information, and a lounge that is ideally suited for waiting and meeting. Guests looking to linger outside the rooms seem to prefer the cozier lobby area near the breakfast room where an oversized flat-screen TV is set to cable news. Also near by is duo of computer stations, offering guests the convenience of printing walking maps or boarding passes. 

Glass doors at the back of the dining room open to a courtyard pool and hot tub, a well-used space by families and guests in the late afternoon, pre-dinner hours. While there is no restaurant or bar on-site, it's an easy walk to nearby restaurants and cafes, bars, and lounges.

See More Scene

Location

On a nondescript side street, across the street from a gated building and a parking lot, around the corner from Ashford Avenue's luxury shops such as Cartier and Gucci and the artful Ventana del Mar Park park that leads to Condado Beach.

Just over the bridge from Old San Juan is the trendy, Miami Beach-like Condado. The area has a handful of casinos, restaurants, and lounges that attract a crowd that likes to party but it also delivers an artsy cosmopolitan vibe. At the Ventana del Mar Park, visitors can take a morning Zumba class or enjoy live music on some evenings. A small stretch of restaurants with outdoor dining faces the park and pathways run along the oceanfront, delivering breezy views of Condado Beach, a stretch of sand that's ideal for walking or jogging.

  • Five-minute walk to Condado Beach
  • 10-minute drive to Ocean Park Beach
  • 10-minute drive to the San Juan Cruise Port
  • 15-minute drive to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
  • 20-minute drive to Old San Juan
  • 20-minute drive to El Morro Fort
  • 35-minute drive to El Yunque National Forest
  • 60-minute drive to the Fajardo Ferry Terminal
  • 2-hour, 30-minute drive to Rincon
See More Location

Rooms

Modern rooms with cohesive modern color palettes, two pillow choices, working desks, and tiny bathrooms

Brand loyalists know what to expect when checking in at a Holiday Inn Express. The rooms are equipped with standard amenities such as flat-screen TVs, work desks with ergonomic chairs, coffeemakers, safes, mini-refrigerators, and a choice of two types of pillows -- firm and soft.

The hotel's 115 rooms, updated in 2014, come equipped with either one king or two double beds all finished with three layers of white sheets and a coordinating color palette that's heavy on the lime green. The floors are covered in basic ivory ceramic tiles while the walls are painted pale green and finished with framed panoramic images of the sea in coordinating colors of green, taupe, and blue.  Furnishings include basic honey-colored wood dressers and tables, lime-green side chairs, white reading lamps, sheer window treatments, and white leather headboards.

Rooms vary slightly in size and view with the king rooms offering more space to maneuver than the rooms with two beds, which offer little space between the side of the bed and the wall. Some rooms on the first floor look directly onto the street and the waiting cabs, offering little privacy, while some rooms on the upper floors offer peaks of the sea through corridors of nearby buildings.

The bathrooms are neatly aligned with single-vanity sinks, plenty of white towels, and a trio of toiletries. Oversized gray tiles with strips of glass accent tiles in muted shades of green and taupe give the rooms a modern look, but they are tiny in size and offer little space between the toilet and the wall of the shower.

See More Rooms

Features

A courtyard pool with a hot tub, a small fitness center, and a busy breakfast buffet

The breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express delivers a variety of breakfast items from eggs and sausage to bunches of bananas to sugary, carb-fueled treats such as flavored yogurt, Fruit Loops, and mini pastries, all which can be washed down with Puerto Rican coffee. Also within reach of the buffet is a business nook with two computers, and a small gym with adequate cardio equipment to get in a decent work out. The courtyard pool, surrounded by a lime green concrete walls, blocks out the surrounding towering buildings and offers a relaxing spot to sink in the small hot tub or chill with a book in one of the many lounge chairs.

See More Features

Things You Should Know About Holiday Inn Express San Juan Condado

Also Known As

  • San Juan Plaza Hotel

Room Types

  • Deluxe King
  • Deluxe Queen
  • Deluxe Two Doubles
  • One Bedroom Suite
  • Standard Room

Address

1 Calle Mariano Ramirez Bages, Bages Condado, San Juan 00907-1687, Puerto Rico

Phone

(787) 724-4160

Website

Oyster Hotel Review

Holiday Inn Express San Juan Condado

Scene

Located around the corner from Ashford Avenue's big-name luxury shops, this budget chain hotel appeals mainly to businesspeople and vacationers wanting to be close to the beach and lifestyle of Condado.

The Holiday Inn Express is a safe, familiar option for travelers, many in town on business, spending the night before embarking on a cruise, and those looking to stay close to the beach and the nightlife of Condado without paying beachfront hotel prices. The 2014 renovation introduced a bright, cheery, and modern style with lime green chairs and orange accents popping against neutral whitewashed tile floors (made to look like wood) and furniture, delivering a look that's part corporate, part beach-inspired.

From the street, the entrance to the bunker-like seven-story building is uninspiring, but the lobby is spacious, offering a sleek front desk, a small concierge desk where guests can book excursions and gather information, and a lounge that is ideally suited for waiting and meeting. Guests looking to linger outside the rooms seem to prefer the cozier lobby area near the breakfast room where an oversized flat-screen TV is set to cable news. Also near by is duo of computer stations, offering guests the convenience of printing walking maps or boarding passes. 

Glass doors at the back of the dining room open to a courtyard pool and hot tub, a well-used space by families and guests in the late afternoon, pre-dinner hours. While there is no restaurant or bar on-site, it's an easy walk to nearby restaurants and cafes, bars, and lounges.

See More Scene

Location

On a nondescript side street, across the street from a gated building and a parking lot, around the corner from Ashford Avenue's luxury shops such as Cartier and Gucci and the artful Ventana del Mar Park park that leads to Condado Beach.

Just over the bridge from Old San Juan is the trendy, Miami Beach-like Condado. The area has a handful of casinos, restaurants, and lounges that attract a crowd that likes to party but it also delivers an artsy cosmopolitan vibe. At the Ventana del Mar Park, visitors can take a morning Zumba class or enjoy live music on some evenings. A small stretch of restaurants with outdoor dining faces the park and pathways run along the oceanfront, delivering breezy views of Condado Beach, a stretch of sand that's ideal for walking or jogging.

  • Five-minute walk to Condado Beach
  • 10-minute drive to Ocean Park Beach
  • 10-minute drive to the San Juan Cruise Port
  • 15-minute drive to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
  • 20-minute drive to Old San Juan
  • 20-minute drive to El Morro Fort
  • 35-minute drive to El Yunque National Forest
  • 60-minute drive to the Fajardo Ferry Terminal
  • 2-hour, 30-minute drive to Rincon
See More Location

Rooms

Modern rooms with cohesive modern color palettes, two pillow choices, working desks, and tiny bathrooms

Brand loyalists know what to expect when checking in at a Holiday Inn Express. The rooms are equipped with standard amenities such as flat-screen TVs, work desks with ergonomic chairs, coffeemakers, safes, mini-refrigerators, and a choice of two types of pillows -- firm and soft.

The hotel's 115 rooms, updated in 2014, come equipped with either one king or two double beds all finished with three layers of white sheets and a coordinating color palette that's heavy on the lime green. The floors are covered in basic ivory ceramic tiles while the walls are painted pale green and finished with framed panoramic images of the sea in coordinating colors of green, taupe, and blue.  Furnishings include basic honey-colored wood dressers and tables, lime-green side chairs, white reading lamps, sheer window treatments, and white leather headboards.

Rooms vary slightly in size and view with the king rooms offering more space to maneuver than the rooms with two beds, which offer little space between the side of the bed and the wall. Some rooms on the first floor look directly onto the street and the waiting cabs, offering little privacy, while some rooms on the upper floors offer peaks of the sea through corridors of nearby buildings.

The bathrooms are neatly aligned with single-vanity sinks, plenty of white towels, and a trio of toiletries. Oversized gray tiles with strips of glass accent tiles in muted shades of green and taupe give the rooms a modern look, but they are tiny in size and offer little space between the toilet and the wall of the shower.

See More Rooms

Features

A courtyard pool with a hot tub, a small fitness center, and a busy breakfast buffet

The breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express delivers a variety of breakfast items from eggs and sausage to bunches of bananas to sugary, carb-fueled treats such as flavored yogurt, Fruit Loops, and mini pastries, all which can be washed down with Puerto Rican coffee. Also within reach of the buffet is a business nook with two computers, and a small gym with adequate cardio equipment to get in a decent work out. The courtyard pool, surrounded by a lime green concrete walls, blocks out the surrounding towering buildings and offers a relaxing spot to sink in the small hot tub or chill with a book in one of the many lounge chairs.

See More Features

Best Rates

Amenities

  • Air Conditioner

  • Airport Transportation

  • Business Center

  • Cabanas

  • Concierge

  • Cribs

  • Dry Cleaning

  • Fitness Center

  • Free Breakfast

  • Internet

  • Jacuzzi

  • Kids Allowed

  • Laundry

  • Pool

  • Rental Car Service Desk Onsite

  • Separate Bedroom / Living Room Space

  • Smoking Rooms Available

Disclaimer: This content was accurate at the time the hotel was reviewed. Please check our partner sites when booking to verify that details are still correct.