A wonderful home-base for exploring Old San Juan.

Guest: Marc R. (Northfield, Minnesota)
Date of Stay: 12/21/11 Review Submitted: 12/29/11

My family just got back from a week in Old San Juan. We absolutely loved staying at this property. It was perfect for our vacation, we could cook, heat up left overs, relax on our own time schedule and use it as a base for exploring the island. We were met right on schedule by Wanda and she showed us everything in the apartment. Everything worked well. She was also very helpful with the check out. The whole experience from on-line reservations through the check out was smooth and efficient. We appreciated the various suggestions of things to do in the area - we made it through many of the restaurants suggested. We would definitely use Vida Urbana again. This was one of our favorite vacations ever. Marc and Cindy Robinson Northfield, Minnesota US

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The villa apartment was fantastic!

Guest: Pam (-)
Date of Stay: 05/24/11 Review Submitted: 06/19/11

The villa apartment was fantastic! Easy access to all of the wonderful things o see and do in Old SJ. We were a group of 6 girls and the accomodations were perfect and we were very comfortable. You can't beat the price and the location! Also, the people working at Vida Urbana are so helpful and booking with them was painless. Buen viaje!

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Wonderful Time

Guest: John Meyer (-)
Date of Stay: 01/04/09 Review Submitted: 01/12/10

I recently (Jan 14-21) stayed with my fiancé at the Calle del Sol #308 property. I just wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful time and the accommodations were excellent. Wanda was great providing us with a tour of the property and providing us with information about the area. In addition to that we enjoyed las Fiestas de La Calle San Sebastian. We hope to visit in the future and would like to keep in contact.

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House made the trip

Guest: New York Travler (New York)
Date of Stay: 10/10/08 Review Submitted: 05/31/09

Rooms were small, it was hard to have the temperature comfortable as it was either too hot or too cold, the beds were not the most comfortable, the kitchen was small, bathrooms extremely small… Was one of the best places I stayed ever! The place has its quirks, but it adds to this great row house. I feel so bad for anyone who stays at the large tacky resorts. I stayed here with two friends and it was a great time. This place made the trip. It’s the perfect distance to everything, very close yet just outside the loud tourist streets. Yes you lack certain “amenities” that the large hotels have, but the overall atmosphere, space and location more than make up for it, and everything you could want and more is provided in the historic district. Even a great beach a few blocks away by the capital where there was basically nobody. Perfect for a group of 4 to 6 friends or a family as it starts to become very affordable comported to getting 2-3 hotel rooms.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Lovely Old San Juan apt

Guest: Marisa & Orville (Tampa, FL)
Date of Stay: 01/14/09 Review Submitted: 02/09/09

This is a wonderful property. Close to many businesses and restaurants, but still quiet enough from the hussle of every day. Very spacious. Includes access to Wifi

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, girls getaway, families with young children.

Excellent accomodation

Guest: manhattanite (Manhattan)
Date of Stay: 10/07/08 Review Submitted: 10/21/08

This casa is simply amazing - experience the real PR from here. I feel sorry for anyone even considering staying at some stale, middle-of-nowhere Condado Beach resort. Those hotels are disgusting. Casa del Sol is located in the absolute heart of Viejo SJ. One block from the Atlantic and a few blocks from the harbor. Everything you need or want is in Old Town SJ. The forts and beach are a short walk. Restaurants, shops, clubs, parks, plaza's, etc. also a very short and enjoyable walk. There is a free trolly that takes you around SJ but I never used it. Nothing is more than a few minutes away. You can literally walk around the entire town in less than an hour. Very safe area, always felt secure. Open the door/windows to let in some fresh air. The place itself is enormous (by my Manhattan standards). The flat-panel tv came in handy during a refreshing afternoon downpour. In short, I highly recommend this place for anyone. Me and my two friends all commented how awesome this place is throughout our stay. Even has washer/drier.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Pretty wonderful- location and layout A+

Guest: Dannyboy63 (San Francisco area, CA)
Date of Stay: 07/23/08 Review Submitted: 08/05/08

Nothing glamorous here- simple, practical, and in the middle of old San Juan. Can't beat it for convenience to soaking up the city and the people. SO much better than staying at a hotel outside of old SJ, but be prepared- a/c only in bedrooms so the apt gets quite warm. Plan your days for getting away to a beach or pool somehwere- or just laying low in town- then late afternoon/evening, open the doors to the apt, sip your mojito (make it in your kitchen) and really feel like a local. We loved that neighbors would pass in front our door and say hello. The manager and contacts for renting this unit are terrific- really appreciate how available and helpful Annett was. One more thing- we were a little disappointed that the apt was not appointed/decorated with just a little thought- would be very easy to make it a bit more visually appealling. In fact, we "redecorated" a bit- moved some things around, tucked away some cleaning supplies, lit some candles... and that made all the difference.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, people with disabilities, sightseeing, adventure seekers, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Nice enough

Guest: klarabelle (Hungary)
Date of Stay: 05/31/08 Review Submitted: 06/10/08

Great location, clean and nicely done up. However: No a/c in the main lounge area, which is the hottest part of the house. Excellent bed, but TINY bathrooms. Peeling walls. Generally overpriced.

Owner response:We are glad to see our strong sides being pointed out such as great location and cleanness. We are sorry about the missing A/C in the living. If we would install one and keep cooling a fairly big lounge with ceilings at 18ft. we would automatically have to raise our prices, because electricity is extremely expensive in Puerto Rico. Since the house is well designed it has a nice cross ventilation. Ceiling fans help to cool the area. We'll simply keep it as it is for now. Talking about prices - we believe that a clean house with 2 bed rooms and 2 bath rooms, in a prime location, sleeping up to 6 persons for $200 per night is a very fair offer. However if you decide to rent the house for two persons only it turns out to be costly but still economic compared to any comparable hotel room in Old San Juan.

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, girls getaway, age 55+.

A pleasant stay

Guest: Old San Juan Visitors (Peoria IL USA)
Date of Stay: 02/01/08 Review Submitted: 03/22/08

We enjoyed our time at this property. It is nothing fancy but very comfortable and a convenient in location in Old San Juan. The only drawback is that the nextdoor neighbors come to life after 11:00 p.m.. Nothing unbearable. They are just a lively bunch. Overall it was worth the money and we would consider staying there again.

Owner response:Thanks for reviewing our property and sorry for the inconvenience you had with our neighbors. We could have talked to them if we would have known you aren’t comfortable. In fact we are having a good relation ship with them and will talk it over now. We encourage all our clients to call as soon as they aren’t happy with whatever might go wrong and we are committed to make your stay as enjoyable as possible. Recently we bought some extra amenities like hair dryer, extra pots and dishes as well as more blankets. We keep adding things to the apartment to have it as complete as possible.

Recommended for:Girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Disenchanted but disillusioned...

Guest: Globe Trotter (California)
Date of Stay: 01/01/08 Review Submitted: 02/08/08

I rented this house wanting to have a "locals" experience which it indeed provided. The location was perfectly situated on a charming residential street in historic Old San Juan. It is an easy walk to great restaurants (I highly recommend Mira Buena) and plenty of shopping. There is a wonderul free trolley that can take you to the historic fort and the grocery store will drive you back to your house for a nominal tip to the driver. The house itself was a bit less accomodating than I had expected. Our television was not connected to any form of cable. When I commented to the manager, I was informed that the add for the house said there was a TV but never mentioned cable. In that case they may have well put up a card board box if you can't get a single channel! The closet door fell off in the master bedroom, a ceiling fan light had no cover...just a bare bulb, and we were informed the dining room table was about to fall apart upon our arrival. My understanding from the manager however is that all of these items have been noted for repair or replacement as the house was a "new" acquisition. Unfortunately I reserved the house a month in advance and was not told it wasn't completely ready for inhabitants. I must say however that the manager did try to make amends and provided us an adjustment to the charges. She also took the time to review our concerns and suggestions for future guests comforts. Provided these concerns are met and improved, a future renter can have a wonderful experience at this location. Our overall experience was pleasant but I have rented many houses in the past in other countries and have had much nicer furnishings and more complete amenities. The house is probably fine for younger people but the middle aged set and older might prefer a few more comforts...like a TV that works.

Owner response:To all our future tenant! We are truly embarrassed for the things that went wrong this time and deeply upset, that after all we did our clients couldn’t leave happy. The moment we were informed our tenants are unhappy, we started to work for them! We offered them various solutions such as an upgrade - to move to a way more expensive location at no extra charge or to refund the full amount of rent if they wish to leave the agreement or to fix and replace the TV and Dinner Table as well as all the other issues the same day. Our tenants refused all our offers and asked for a discount. We accepted to refund 40% of their rent! After all 4 tenants stayed in a “2 bed room, 2 bath room, 2 patios HOUSE” for less rent than what 2 persons would have to pay for a tiny hotel room. It is true that the TV didn’t have cable by than, because we couldn’t get an appointment to install it on time – now this issue is fixed and with the cable came the new flat screen for better quality TV – see updated living room picture. Indeed the dinner table was old – please check our pictures and see yourself that there is a brand new wooden table to enjoy your meal. The old one is still usable and went to the patio - so now out door dinning is possible. We also installed two hammock hooks – so if you want to chill the tropical way you can “hang out” in your private patio. The closet door didn’t fell off it went out of place which was fixed in a second. Well, what more can we say – please come and stay with us and be sure that we will be there to take care of your needs and fix whatever needs to be fixed in a heart beat, but please don’t asked for discounts – since that doesn’t seem to be the way to make tenants happy after all we won’t do it anymore.

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, sightseeing, adventure seekers.