This apartment is located in the heart of Old San Juan by the bay where the cruise ships dock and there is a balcony with a wonderful, unobstructed view. The unit has screened, shutter style doors that provide a nice breeze throughout the unit.
The photos and owner's notes on VRBO would lead one to believe that the unit is in pristine condition, but we did not find it to be that way. The unit is badly in need of repairs and a paint job. In the bathroom, he faucet is detached from the sink, so when you use the water the faucet flops around. In two out of my three showers the water never got warm despite allowing the water to run for several minutes. The shower never actually got hot. Two of the three shutter doors in the living room were broken. With one of them, one side of the door would not open at all. With the other, the lock down mechanism was bent so that you needed to jimmy it every time it was opened or closed. Again, while the balcony had a beautiful view, we observed that several of the supports that attach the railing to the balcony were rusted entirely through. The unit is on the fourth floor so this is a serious safety issue.
When we arrived, there were several floor mats hanging on lines in the utility room. The owner's father apologized that the cleaner had left them. But amazingly, he did not put the rugs on the floor where they belonged, despite our paying a cleaning fee but left that for us to do. We also noticed there was no TV. The owner's father said that there was internet and that if we wanted to we could watch TV by streaming on the internet. We have rented from Homeaway and VRBO before and understand that some owners do not provide cable or satellite for TV viewing, but we hadn't before experienced where a renter was expected to bring their own viewing device.
Another issue is that the living area furnishings are seem old, uncomfortable and ugly. Instead of a couch there is a futon which has no arms and was covered with an old bed spread. The chairs in the unit are straightback rattan with worn out cushions. Overall,it's not a place where most people would want to hang out.
The over all feeling of this rental is that it is runned down. It is a shame because it is not that huge and it would not take much make repairs and update it. As said, it is a marginal three star rental that should be a five.