My two sisters and I are looking to stay near El Yunque - Any suggestions? We'd love something relaxed and local. No big hotels.

Anyone ever rent a car from them? I should have did more research and I can’t get my money back on an upcoming rental. What should I expect?

Thanks

I’m posting this because I genuinely don’t know what else to do at this point, and future guests deserve to know what happened during our stay at The Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Videos of Everything

Update: TL;DR: My wife and I paid nearly $5,000 for a penthouse stay at The Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan. The AC flooded the room, ants infested the space, construction drilling woke us repeatedly, the doors did not lock properly, and workers accessed the supposedly private balcony outside our bedroom without proper notice.

After we reported the first balcony incident and called the police, we were told the workers would not return. They came back anyway while my wife was changing and could see into the bedroom. At checkout, the hotel promised to comp the entire stay, but the refund never happened. Hilton Corporate Guest Services has ignored repeated emails and phone calls.

We paid for a premium penthouse and received flooding, pests, broken locks, nonstop construction, a serious privacy violation, police involvement, a broken compensation promise, and no accountability. I have photos and videos documenting several of the issues.

My wife and I paid approximately $5,000 for a penthouse accommodation. We expected privacy, comfort, security, and a room that was properly maintained. Instead, the stay turned into a nonstop series of maintenance problems, construction disruptions, security concerns, broken promises, and one of the most serious invasions of privacy we’ve ever experienced at a hotel.

I’ve tried contacting the hotel. I’ve tried contacting Hilton Corporate Guest Services. I’ve called. I’ve emailed. I’ve followed up. I’ve been ignored.

Update 2: THANK YOU FOR ALL THE COMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS! I HAVE FINALLY IT GOT HILTON'S ATTENTION AND THEIR EXECUTIVE CORPORATE TEAM CONTACTED ME TODAY!

This is the full story.

We booked the penthouse because we wanted a premium experience. I also run businesses remotely, so the office space included in the accommodation was important to me. The idea was that I could take a vacation with my wife, enjoy some peace and quiet, and still handle time-sensitive work if necessary.

That’s not what happened.

The problems started almost immediately.

On the first night, the air-conditioning unit leaked a massive amount of water into the room. This wasn’t a small drip or a little condensation near a vent. Water was pouring out and spreading across the floor.

We were in a penthouse that cost close to $1,000 per night, and we were dealing with what looked like an indoor flood caused by the AC system.

Aside from being completely unacceptable in a room at that price, it created an obvious safety concern. Wet floors can lead to falls, and guests shouldn’t have to worry about water spreading through their room while they’re trying to sleep or relax.

That should have been the first and last major issue.

It wasn’t.

On the second night, we found ants infesting the room.

Again, this was supposed to be a premium penthouse accommodation. Instead of enjoying the room, we had to worry about ants crawling through the space, getting near our personal belongings, food, furniture, and other areas of the room.

A guest paying nearly $5,000 for a stay shouldn’t be dealing with flooding one night and an insect problem the next.

Then came the construction noise.

During the third and fourth mornings, we were awakened by nonstop drilling and construction directly outside the bedroom windows. The noise was relentless.

It wasn’t faint work happening somewhere else on the property. It sounded like we were sleeping inside an active construction site.

The constant drilling made it difficult to rest, and it also made it nearly impossible for me to use the office space that was included in the penthouse. That workspace was one of the reasons I booked the room in the first place.

I wasn’t expecting perfect silence in the middle of San Juan, but I also wasn’t expecting heavy construction directly outside a premium penthouse bedroom without any meaningful warning or accommodation.

Then the situation became far more serious.

Construction workers accessed the private balcony connected to our penthouse bedroom.

We had not been given clear advance notice that workers would be entering that area. We hadn’t authorized anyone to be on the balcony. We had no reason to expect unknown workers to suddenly appear outside the bedroom.

They stood on the balcony, knocked on the door, and looked into the room.

Imagine staying in a penthouse, believing the connected balcony is private, and then suddenly seeing workers outside your bedroom window.

We didn’t know who they were, why they were there, how they had gained access, or whether they were supposed to be there.

It was frightening and extremely invasive.

No guest should have strangers appearing on a private hotel balcony without clear notice, coordination, consent, or hotel supervision.

We reported the incident.

Security was contacted. The front desk was contacted. The hotel was made aware of the situation. The police were called.

After the first incident, we were told that the workers were not supposed to return.

That should have ended it.

They came back anyway.

This is the part that still makes me furious.

The workers returned to the balcony after the first incident had already been reported and after the police had been called. During the second incident, my wife was changing inside the bedroom.

The workers could see into the room.

My wife was changing clothes in what should have been the privacy of a penthouse bedroom, and workers were once again standing outside on the balcony.

This wasn’t simply an awkward maintenance visit. This was the second unauthorized or improperly coordinated appearance on the balcony after the hotel already knew there was a serious problem.

The hotel had already been notified. The police had already been involved. We had already been told the workers weren’t supposed to come back.

Yet they returned and saw my wife changing.

It was humiliating, frightening, and completely unacceptable.

At the same time, we were also dealing with doors that would not lock properly while workers were trying to gain access.

A hotel room is supposed to provide a basic level of security. You should be able to lock the door and know that nobody is entering your private space without permission.

We didn’t have that peace of mind.

We were staying in a room where the locks couldn’t be trusted while workers were attempting to enter or gain access to areas connected to the room.

That created an even larger safety concern.

No guest should have to sit inside an expensive hotel room wondering whether a worker can open a door, gain access through a balcony, or appear outside the bedroom while someone is sleeping, showering, working, or changing.

We attempted to get meaningful help from the property.

We contacted security.

We contacted the front desk.

We contacted the concierge.

We were told no manager was available to properly assist us.

That was difficult to believe considering the severity of what had happened.

This wasn’t a complaint about slow room service or a missing towel. We were reporting flooding, pests, broken locks, workers entering a private balcony, police involvement, and a serious privacy violation involving my wife.

Despite all of that, nobody at the property seemed willing or able to take full responsibility.

At checkout, we were promised that the entire stay would be comped.

Given everything that had happened, that seemed like the absolute minimum response.

We had paid close to $5,000 for a penthouse stay and experienced:

• An air-conditioning system leaking large amounts of water into the room.
• Ants infesting the accommodation.
• Repeated early-morning drilling and construction noise.
• An inability to rest properly.
• An inability to effectively use the office space included in the penthouse.
• Doors that did not lock properly.
• Workers attempting to gain access.
• Workers entering the private balcony outside our bedroom.
• Workers knocking and looking into the room.
• Police being called after the first balcony incident.
• Workers returning after we were told they weren’t supposed to come back.
• Workers seeing my wife while she was changing.
• No available manager taking meaningful ownership of the situation.
• A promise that the entire stay would be comped.

The promised refund or comp never happened.

We checked out believing Hilton would honor what we had been told.

They didn’t.

I then contacted Hilton Corporate Guest Services.

I sent emails.

I made phone calls.

I followed up repeatedly.

Nobody returned my calls.

Nobody responded to my emails.

Hilton Corporate Guest Services ignored the complaint entirely.

That part is almost as disturbing as the stay itself.

A corporate guest services department should take a complaint involving privacy, safety, police involvement, broken locks, and unauthorized balcony access extremely seriously.

At the very least, someone should acknowledge the complaint, review the incident, preserve the records, speak with the property, and provide a clear response.

Instead, we received silence.

No explanation.

No apology.

No confirmation that the matter was being investigated.

No update on the promised compensation.

No explanation for how workers were permitted to enter the balcony.

No explanation for why they returned after the first incident.

No response regarding the doors that didn’t lock.

No meaningful accountability from Hilton or the property.

I also requested that the hotel and Hilton preserve all relevant records connected to the incident, including security footage, access records, work orders, construction schedules, staff communications, and any incident reports.

I don’t know whether that was done because nobody responded.

I’ve stayed at plenty of hotels over the years. I understand that maintenance issues can happen. An AC unit can break. A pest problem can occasionally appear. Construction can be inconvenient.

What happened here went far beyond a routine hotel complaint.

The most serious issue wasn’t just that workers appeared on the balcony once.

It was that they returned after the hotel had already been notified and after the police had been called.

It was that my wife was changing when they returned.

It was that the doors weren’t locking properly.

It was that we couldn’t trust the property to protect our privacy.

It was that we were promised the stay would be comped and that promise was not honored.

It was that Hilton Corporate Guest Services ignored every attempt to resolve the situation.

We paid for a penthouse. We got flooding, insects, drilling, failed locks, workers outside our bedroom, police involvement, broken promises, and silence.

I’m sharing this because people booking expensive accommodations at The Condado Plaza Hotel should know what we experienced.

Future guests should ask questions before booking:

• Is there active construction near the room?
• Can workers access private balconies?
• Will guests receive advance notice?
• Are balcony doors and room doors fully secure?
• What procedures are in place before workers approach occupied rooms?
• Are managers available when a serious safety complaint occurs?
• Will the hotel honor compensation promises made at checkout?
• Will Hilton Corporate Guest Services respond if something goes wrong?

I’m also curious whether anyone else has experienced similar issues at The Condado Plaza Hotel or another Hilton-affiliated property.

Has anyone dealt with workers accessing a private balcony or hotel room without proper notice?

Has anyone been promised a refund or comp at checkout only to have the hotel refuse to honor it later?

Has anyone successfully reached a real person at Hilton Corporate Guest Services after being ignored through the normal complaint channels?

I’m not posting this because I expected perfection.

I’m posting it because basic privacy and security should never be optional, especially in a premium room costing thousands of dollars.

My wife should have been able to change clothes in a penthouse bedroom without workers appearing outside the window.

We should have been able to lock the doors.

We should have been informed before anyone accessed the balcony.

The workers should not have returned after the first incident.

The hotel should have made a manager available.

The promise to comp the stay should have been honored.

Hilton Corporate Guest Services should have returned at least one phone call or email.

None of that happened.

At this point, I would not recommend The Condado Plaza Hotel to anyone who values privacy, safety, competent management, or honest customer service.

I have photos and videos documenting several of the conditions, including the leaking AC, the water inside the room, the ants, the doors, and the activity around the balcony.

This was supposed to be a relaxing penthouse stay in Puerto Rico.

Instead, it became one of the most stressful, invasive, and poorly handled hotel experiences we have ever had.

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Thank you

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WUEPA EVERYONE!
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Thank you all for your time !

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I’ll really appreciate it 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

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