After being in Santo Domingo for 7 weeks I returned to San Juan and to the same hostel. It made me feel home again. every night dancing and concerts and all very close by, which makes me feel secure. The family who cares is very friendly and try to offer the best they have. Very good for the price and location.
Would definitely recommend it!

Let's be honest, if you are going to San Juan to actually see the place and not stay in your hotel the whole time, then you don't need lots of bells and whistles. Fortaleza Guest House was located RIGHT in the middle of the action in Old San Juan. Nothing fancy here, just a clean room with two beds and an air conditioner (no windows), for CHEAP. The shared bathrooms and kitchen area were also kept up quite nicely. My only caution, is that Israel, the manager is super nice, but you will need to know Spanish to make a reservation with him, or to ask where the supermarket is etc. Other than that, when you are only in the room to sleep, you really don't need more than this!!!

if you want to feel home..... that's the place! The location..... can't be better!, the warmnest of the people running the place makes you feel like you never want to leave. Being an old building the person who looks after the place doesn't stop cleaning it up! Great place for a free traveller... love it!

Last year my friend and I went to Puerto Rico for 6 days and we decided to stay in Fortaleza Guest House due to the fantastic location. We did not make any arrangements except for our flight so we were happy to hear there was still a room available for us. We asked for a room with a balcony at the front of the hotel and this was not a problem!

The first night I met one other single traveller who wanted to join us on our trip to the rainforest (with rental car) later that week. The next day another single traveler wanted to join us and there we had our car full :-) (besides sharing costs also nice company!). At night we went with (almost) the whole guesthouse to the pub and had some great nights in the shared living room and at a salsa club.

I guess it is also about the people you meet in the hostel, but for us the service was great and the shared bathrooms were perfectly fine (in my bathroom in SXM I didnt have a hot shower so I considered it even luxury!) The second last day it had rained badly and our bed was wet due to a leak.. We could have changed room, but we decided to push the bed into the (dry) corner and got our sheets changed immediately.

The next day we had to leave the guesthouse.. Unfortunately. I would definately go back!