TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I stayed at this hotel in early march. We honestly loved our stay! Our room in the tower was exceptionally clean ( 7th floor) and the cleaning staff were very nice. Riccardo, one of the managers in the lobby is incredible. He was so helpful the entire stay and gave us many tips on where to go. The beach was lovely. The food was ok but could be more diverse in options. The steak restaurant is a must!!! Overall, really enjoyed our stay.

I hate leaving negative reviews, but with how expensive this hotel is, people deserve to know what they’re walking into. Our first room was in the Towers (Room 807), and it had black mold. I noticed it within about two hours of being in the room. I’m currently detoxing from mold exposure, so I’m very sensitive to it, and this was not subtle. To their credit, Sara (the manager) at the front desk was very helpful and quickly moved us to a bungalow (Room 105), which I was initially excited about. However, when we walked in, there was a strong smell. I later found out why. I asked about it right away and was told it was from the Banyan trees. Unfortunately, the issues didn’t stop there. The ceiling in the bungalow was visibly warped, and the air conditioning was stuck at 64 degrees. We froze the entire first night. The next day, maintenance had to replace the thermostat three separate times just to get the temperature to regulate. Later that afternoon, I heard what sounded like heavy rain, only to realize the air conditioning unit in the ceiling was actively pouring water into the room. When I asked if they would bring in fans to properly dry out the ceiling, I was told no. At that point, I could clearly see why this hotel has mold issues, they do not take water damage seriously. At that point, it became clear this isn’t just a one-off issue. It feels like the property is dealing with more maintenance problems than they have the staff to handle. We were two for two on rooms with serious issues, which is unacceptable at this price point. I would not recommend staying here if you’re expecting a clean, well-maintained environment. I would genuinely like a response from management regarding the negligence of exposing guests to water damage that is not being properly addressed or remediated.

I arrived at the pool at 8:30 am and chose two chairs that were not reserved. Several were marked as reserved and I carefully avoided those. I was told by staff that I was sitting in a reserved area (despite it not being marked as such) and would need to spend 199 dollars to stay there. They moved me to an unshaded area. Seemed to blame me. Didnt offer an apology. I had arrived plenty early to find any chair and would have chosen any other had the chairs I selected been marked as reserved.

My husband and I chose the El San Juan Resort based on our previous experiences at Fairmont Hotels We are members of their rewards club and have always enjoyed their 5 star service It was quite the opposite here! As I realize the hotel has been in operation since the "50's I assumed we would be having a similar Fairmont experience. On a positive note the resort was very clean and the staff very friendly...on a not so positive note the beach is very narrow and very overcrowded with lounge chairs on top of one another. The beach itself is not keep clean and the beach furniture quite old and tatered . The food was terrible and in the 7 days we were there we never had a decent drink! So disappointed!!!

I debated even writing this because I do not typically leave negative reviews, but given the price point of a Fairmont stay and the level of issues we experienced I felt like people deserve to know. My husband and I traveled from California for what was supposed to be a special stay. From the moment we checked into Room 825 things were off. The room was uncomfortably warm, the AC was barely keeping up, and after a long travel day my husband went to shower before dinner and the water pressure was so weak it was nearly unusable. As a woman with long hair washing it was genuinely not possible under those conditions. On top of that our in room phone did not work, so calling the front desk was not even an option. I went to the front desk, they sent someone up, nothing changed. I then sent a formal email to management laying out every issue in detail. I never heard back from anyone. The next day I went back to the front desk and after about 15 minutes a manager came over. Their solution was to move us to a downgraded room because we were staying so long. So essentially we were being penalized for a longer stay. I had never heard anything like that. I did not take them up on it because packing up after already being there felt like too much and honestly I was losing faith that anything would actually get better. The power also went out five times during our stay. Every time it did the AC shut off and the room became even more unbearable. We could not sleep. I am not exaggerating when I say the conditions were genuinely uncomfortable for what is supposed to be a luxury property. By day three I went up mid afternoon to take a nap and the room was so hot it was impossible. I went back downstairs and finally spoke to Sarah, a manager, and she was the first person who actually listened and wanted to fix it. She moved us to a new room with a better view and working AC and honestly the room temperature alone made such a difference at that point. The water pressure in the new room was somehow even worse but we were halfway through the trip, had just hauled all of our stuff down the hall, and I had AC so I just dealt with it. Here is something that says a lot though. As we were moving our bags into the hallway we ran into another guest waiting for the elevator. He made small talk and asked if we were checking out. When we said no, moving rooms, he said "wow you're lucky, I have been trying to do that for days." So we were clearly not the only ones dealing with problems, which is not something you ever expect at this level of hotel. A few other things worth mentioning. We were never told at check in that our rate included breakfast and a room credit. That is basic information guests should receive on arrival. Also, one morning we asked the hostess at the restaurant if we could be seated on the patio and said we were happy to wait if needed. She responded with "you don't choose where you sit, we do." It was rude, unnecessary and completely out of line especially when we were being nothing but polite and there were plenty of open tables outside. The pool and beach service was another miss. Over seven days I never once had someone stop to take a drink order. Staff would occasionally drop off a menu and disappear. Every single time I wanted a drink I had to get up and go to the bar myself. At a resort at this price point that is just not acceptable. Then at the end of the trip we got our final bill and were charged the wrong amount. We called to sort it out, sat on hold for 45 minutes, someone finally answered and the call disconnected. Called back the next day and they did refund us but that is yet another thing that should not have happened. The general staff was friendly and Sarah genuinely tried to make things right, and I want to give credit where it is due. But one good manager and a friendly smile does not make up for nearly a week of broken AC, power outages, unusable water pressure, a non working phone, a rude hostess, no response to a formal complaint email, billing errors, and pool service that required me to get up and get my own drinks for an entire week. For the price of a Fairmont stay this was not it. I would not recommend this property and I say that as someone who owns a travel agency and stays at properties frequently. There are too many other great options to deal with this.