Isla San Juan Travel Forum

Hi
I will going on the next 8th July to San Juan Pto Rico and need know about a cheaper and clean, aand ssssafe plce whrere can i stay fffor about 7 days. Iam from Chile and it will be my first time there in Pto Rico., so please need an answer soon cos i wil be depart from Chile soon to United States and there from Miami to San Juan.

your best bet is castro's guesthouse 205 calle de tanca in old san juan...rates from $20+ US

also check out the weekly rate for: the caleta ..on forteleza...also in old san juan

Here is the tele # for castro's Tel: (787) 722-5436),

better reserve as they sell out quick.

Here is the URL for:

www.thecaleta.com

...by the way it is not on fortaleza...but near it!

Hi, I am from PR and now live in Illinois, but here is what I found from someone who stayed at 205 Calle de Tanco (Casto Guesthouse). I just want to make sure that you know everything about the place and not end up having a bad visit and a negative impression about PR (my home):

From journal: On the Cheap in Old San Juan


This little-known hotel is probably the cheapest in Old San Juan, but is definitely not for everyone. It’s not the place to stay if you require room service or other such frills. If you can’t deal with staying in rather low rent quarters, and not merely in monetary terms, don’t consider it.
Located on Calle Tanca, between San Francisco and Fortaleza, you''d be hard pressed to stay closer to the action. Built in 1916, this was once an upscale apartment building. In typical style, the ground floor is commercial space. Above, the apartments have been divided into smaller lodgings. The second and third floors each have two balcony rooms overlooking the street. At $40 a night, these are the most expensive rooms. I stayed in one and would dislike settling for less. Interior rooms go for as little as twenty bucks a night, but have no windows. Splurge on the balcony room. I greatly enjoyed just hanging out over the street, soaking up the ambience. Keep in mind, it's still half the price of even modest digs elsewhere in town.

Putting it bluntly, the place is rather dirty. There's evidently no staff other than the man that runs the joint and it shows. The marble stairs are worth thousands, the tile floors are beautifully laid and the ornamentation reminds of a time when great pride was put into construction. However, this building's glory days are long gone. My room was large, but poorly lit. There was no air conditioning, but a ceiling fan and floor fan sufficiently cooled the room. The near constant breeze in Old San Juan added noticeably to the comfort level with the balcony opened up.

I don't know if all rooms have them, but my quarters had a mini-refrigerator. I was nearly ecstatic to discover this and found it handy for chilling my bottled water and a six-pack of Medalla.

The bathrooms are communal; two per floor. I knew this ahead of time, but what did not occur to me, though it should have, was to bring my own towel. I felt foolishly unsurprised at the lack of towels the first time I went for a shower.

When staying at the guesthouse, you may make advance reservations, but evidently it's not required. To ensure a balcony room, book in advance. Call ahead and you'll be instructed to mail a deposit check equaling one night's stay. This place ONLY accepts cash. Once there, Enrique Castro, the proprietor, will return your check. Mr. Castro, incidentally, is quite amiable, but speaks no English. There may be someone around to translate for him, but don't count on it. If there's not, don't worry. My Spanish was little better than his English and we got along just fine.

You won't be living in splendor, but I consider the Guest House Old San Juan a real value if you're on a tight budget. My next trip to Old San Juan, I just may be calling on Senor Castro.