Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU): Approximate driving time is 25 minutes and distance is 9 miles.

Driving directions from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport: Follow Av Baldoriotyde Castro/Rte 26 towards San Juan. Continue over the Laguna del Condado bridge where the road becomes Rte 25/Av Muñoz Rivera. At the entrance way to Old San Juan, take the first turn right onto Calle Norzagaray. Turn left at the Plaza San Jose onto Calle Cristo. Go downhill 2 blocks and the hotel is on the right.

Getting there: The best way is by white-painted tourist taxis which charge flat fares to the hotel in the $16–$25 range. Bus C45 (fare of 25 cents) runs from the airport to the Old San Juan bus terminal 5 blocks from the hotel. Rental cars, Town Cars, and limousines are more than $36. Fees subject to change without notice. Rental cars are available online.

Getting around: The hotel’s location in historic Old San Juan makes walking the best way around to the numerous shops, restaurants, and historic sites. Hopping on and off the district’s open-air trolleys is free. Trolleys run to the bus terminal along the pier and from there, Bus A5 takes passengers to the Condado and Isla Verde areas of the city. Fares less than $5. Fees subject to change without notice. The narrow one-way streets and lack of parking can make driving difficult in Old San Juan and in general, visitors may find local driving habits are aggressive and require caution. Taxis outside of tourist areas charge metered fares. Port Authority ferries run from the pier in Old San Juan across the bay to Cataño for less than $5 and from Fajardo on the east coast to the islands of Vieques and Culebra for fares of less than $5. Fees subject to change without notice. Various públicos or passenger vans travel around the island but can be slow as drivers wait for a full van. The main terminal is on the waterfront in Old San Juan.

Rooms feature handcrafted furniture of dark-colored wood and wrought iron, including Spanish antiques and replicas of antiques; terra-cotta-tile floors; white ceilings; and colored walls. Small marble bathrooms contain pedestal sinks and tub/shower combinations. Amenities include bathrobes and slippers, refrigerators with complimentary bottled water, CD/cassette player combinations, and VCRs (video-movie rentals available). DVD players can be rented.

Café del Nispero - Located in interior garden courtyard under centuries-old, 75-foot tall nispero tree. Potted palm trees. Umbrella-table seating. Lunch menu featuring daily specials, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and main courses such as pecan-crusted seabass, soy-pineapple chicken.

El Picoteo - Open-air tapas bar with antiqued masonry walls colored orange, high wood-beam ceiling. Also, terrace seating under awnings and umbrellas. All-day lunch-dinner menu featuring hot and cold tapas, Spanish-style pizza, paella, sangria.

Café Bohemio - Intimate, air-conditioned dining room with high wood-beam ceiling, red-and-white walls, candle wall, celebrity photographs. Lunch menu of Puerto Rican-style sandwiches, salads, and main courses such as tuna tartare, skirt steak. Dinner menu with additional choices such as pepper steak, shrimp in Creole sauce. Live music some nights.

Under a succession of operators, the hotel fell into disrepair until San Juan investors restored and reopened it in 1997 as a boutique hotel with contemporary amenities. Guests enter on a black-and-white marble floor amid Spanish antiques and tapestries and take an elevator to a third-floor, open-air reception area. Popular with guests wishing to explore Old San Juan, the hotel is also family-friendly, providing children with easy access to the Puerto Rican Children's Museum just outside the entrance.

Amenity highlights: Guests lounge on a rooftop sundeck with potted flowers overlooking Old San Juan, cool off in a plunge pool, soak in a bubbling spa, and work out in an air-conditioned fitness center. After strolls through the old city, the hotel's spacious interior courtyard provides shady respite under a 350-year-old tree. Two streetside restaurants draw lively crowds after dark. Complimentary Continental breakfasts and afternoon wine-and-cheese receptions are offered on a third-floor, open-air terrace overlooking San Juan Cathedral.

Insider tip: A block west of a little sculpture park outside the hotel entrance, visitors can walk out to a guard tower of Old San Juan's Spanish-era fortifications and peer through slits just as soldiers did in the 17th century when watching for approaching enemies.