Christopher D.
Yelp
I've been visiting San Juan twice yearly for the past 6 years. After a couple of these visits I decided I'd had enough of vacationing in the midst of the touristy, overpriced hotel crowds of Condado and Isla Verde and I decided to try staying in guesthouses instead. I've stayed in three different guesthouses and have now found my favorite.
My favorite beaches are in Ocean Park so I was glad to find Coqui Del Mar. It's one block from the beach and right on the easternmost side of the Ocean Park neighborhood.
Last month I spent five days with a small group of friends in Coqui Del Mar's three-bedroom unit. The unit we stayed in is the largest available. It has a covered outdoor veranda, three full-size bedrooms, full kitchen, living room, and 3 bathrooms. There's also a backyard with a grill, patio furniture, and after-beach outdoor shower that is shared with the other four units.
The guesthouse was clean and well-stocked, and the only thing we needed to pick up that we couldn't find in the kitchen was zip lock sandwich baggies.
We didn't want to rent a car so we took a cab from the airport. The total (with $1 per suitcase fee, fuel surcharge, and tip) was $18. However, there was parking on site (a big help in these near-beach neighborhoods where on-street parking can be hard to come by).
Coqui Del Mar is a one minute walk from the bus route that travels along the beach throughout San Juan. One day we took it to Old San Juan--about a 35 minute trip. Usually the bus is 75 cents, but it's free throughout 2008 for some reason that the locals seem to chalk up to Puerto Rican Politics. Free? I didn't ask too many questions!
Other than our excursion to Old San Juan, the rest of the time we just traveled on foot. There's a grocery store, gas station, Walgreens pharmacy, a couple of bars, and several restaurants in the neighborhood. You don't need a car to get to any of these (though if you pick up too many groceries you might want to hail a cab on the return trip--we learned this the hard way).
The property manager lives on site. She's wonderfully friendly and full of helpful information if you ask. She even gave us her cell phone number in case we had any questions while we were out.
If you go to the nearby beach on the weekend, look for the hamburger lady (she's got a grill set up under a tent and makes HUGE burgers for $5). One of these with a cerveza is a complete "meal." There are guys who walk the beaches every 20 or 30 minutes selling ice cold Gatorade and beer. When you see one you might need to whistle or raise your hand to get them to walk over to you. Local beer was $2, imports were $3. Once we realized this we decided not to schlep a cooler with us to the beach--instead we helped the (underground) "local economy." (Coqui Del Mar has a bunch of coolers that you can use if you want to bring your own drinks to the beach).
I don't always travel in a group so I asked the property manager to show me one of the studios. Other than the lack of the veranda, they're basically a one-room version of the large, three bedroom unit where we stayed--only on the upper floor. All have kitchens.
The only thing that was a bit confusing was the key for getting into the unit. There's an outdoor keybox that opens the veranda (or the gate to the studios). Once you've used the key to get inside, then you need to enter a code into the digital locks on the doors (don't make the mistake of thinking that the key opens both the veranda AND the unit doors--it doesn't. It took us a minute to figure it out, but it probably would've been easier if we'd printed off the directions that we got in the email after we made our reservation.
Can you find a more posh place to stay in San Juan? Yes. Can you find a better guestroom for the price? I doubt it. Granted I've only stayed in three other guesthouses (and four hotels) in Puerto Rico, but this one is by far my favorite. Unlike other guesthouses, Coqui Del Mar doesn't force you into a one-week Monday-through-Sunday contract. Instead, like a hotel, you choose your check-in and check-out dates.
I'll definitely be back--I've now found my new home-away-from-home!
