Fortel Hostel

A termite swarm straight from hell infested my room in the middle of the night. I felt something touch me while I was sleeping, jumped up, turned on the light. Millions of termites were everywhere: in my bags, on the beds, covering the floor, flying at me from all directions. When I opened the door, half of them swarmed into the hallway taking over both spaces for quite a while. After they finally cleared out, they left behind a mess of wings and carcasses. I contacted the hostel and got no reply. Three other guests told me this happens regularly and the owner blocks or ghosts anyone who complains or asks for a refund. I even have audio of them saying the owner said "That's your problem, not mine" in videos I took. When I asked why they were still staying there they said they couldn’t afford to leave. Most guests don’t speak up unfortunately. But I’m more than willing to expose how the hostel takes advantage of its guests and hides behind 'kind' automated messages. Booking.com, where I booked, only heard from the hostel after I opened an investigation with them. That’s when they responded with a string of fake excuses implying I didn’t know anything about termites, tropical climates, or San Juan. I have vast experience with all three and never experienced anything like this. They said they’d issue a refund but based on other reviews I’ll have to keep fighting until I get it. And I will. This place needs new ownership that actually cares about its property and guests. I do not recommend staying here.

The worst hotel I have ever stayed at. This was by far the worst hotel experience I’ve ever had. The shower only had cold water, which made it nearly impossible to bathe comfortably. The room was far from clean, and to make matters worse, guests were not allowed to use the laundry facilities. We also weren’t allowed to hang clothes either inside the room or on the windowsill. The location was terrible—so narrow that most Uber drivers refused to come pick us up. The public areas had little to no air conditioning, and the room itself was freezing at night. I couldn’t even get a good night’s sleep because of how cold it was. Noise was another major issue. There’s a noisy bar downstairs, and the rooms have no sound insulation at all. I could hear everything from other rooms and from the street—it felt like I had no privacy or peace at any hour. Overall, I would absolutely not recommend this place to anyone. Terrible experience from start to finish.

Location is great, right in the middle of Old San Juan. Everything is within walking distance in the old town. rooms/bathrooms are cleaned daily and are air conditioned (cold!). Communication leading up to the stay was great. Not the cleanest ever but still fine, bathrooms were humid in March so I imagine would be worse during the summer.

I was woken up covered in swarms of flying bugs, we think they were termites. There were millions of them swarming in bedrooms, the common areas, the bathrooms and the stairs to the entrance. Messages to the manager went unanswered. The girl working called him and he wouldn't even come to the hostel to see what was going on. They advertise laundry facilities but the laundry room was always locked and employees were rarely available to ask about it. The only good thing about this place was the location in Old San Juan.

Absolutely loved it staff are friendly and speak English or Spanish! Rooms are quiet and clean. Staff was even willing to hold my bag after checkout during the afternoon as my flight wasn't until the evening and let me shower a couple hours after checkout.