I want to start by saying that I have traveled around the world and stayed in all sorts of hostels/hotels/motels---you name it. Anchor's Inn has got to be one of the most sketchy places I have ever set foot in. Where to begin?

First of all, the area is quite sketchy and very desolate. When we walked in, there was no one around. We went to the bar and finally a woman came over. Now, my husband made the reservation in English but when we got there, no one spoke English. Fortunately, I speak Spanish. We had to have been the only people in the place (off-season), so we tried to be very sporting about this. Nonetheless, who did he make the reservation with?
A woman led us to our room, snapped on the AC, and rudely slammed the door. The room smelled like old urine. It was stuffy and poorly ventilated. There were stains on the carpet, a drab comforter on the bed, a plastic table and chairs jammed in the corner, and the bathroom...filthy beyond imagination. My husband looked at me and said, "Do you want to leave?" And leave we did. I have never done that. Never. It was like "Escape From Fajardo"! My recommendation: Go to Vieques.

I'm fairly surprised by the positive reviews. I'm not particularly fussy, but I found this property so grim (paint peeling off the strange barred red and black stripes on the exterior, dark, almost unfurnished interior room-- although I did not see any of the view rooms-- plastic covered couch in the hallway). The location is between a beautiful beach (a few minutes drive away) and the town of Fajardo, -- but the immediate area around the hotelseemed to be an unpleasant neighborhood and loud. No garden. Overall impression of an unwelcoming, dark hotel.

Anyway, although we put down a night for a deposit, we left and stayed elsewhere.

We stayed several nights at Anchor's Inn in late May. Out of all the places we stayed in PR, this was the best, by far. The prices were very moderate compared to other places in the Fajardo area, and moreover the owners and staff will treat you with a warm honest hospitality, a commodity which even in its ordinary lame rehursed form is usually worth a penny. This was the real thing. The rooms were interesting in architecture (the whole place has an interesting architecture!) and clean enough. In the restaurant, Jose-Maria, French cook and owner, makes a sauce forestiere which is beyond words - try it, if you only have one night in Puerto Rico try it! The waiter Pedro has a family recipe for a cilantro sauce he'll serve with the bread and salad which is, likewise, amazing. This is the place to come to for heavenly sauces. In addition, the place has an atmosphere which is decidedly more "genuine" than many other places.

I just returned from a trip to Puerto Rico in late May 2005 where I stayed at The Anchor's Inn for 3 nights.

It was generally a negative experience so I will point out specific details as examples.

The reason I chose Anchor's Inn was its low cost and availability of information on the internet.

My cost was 60 dollars (tax included) per night for a room with a queen bed with private bathroom. It can with air conditioning and free parking.

Good points:

1. The price was cheap.
2. Hot water works.
3. Air conditioning works.
4. Able to talk to proprietors who speak Spanish, English to book a reservation.
5. Free parking

Bad Points:

1. Poor recordkeeping. When I called to reconfirm the reservation a few days before arrival, they lost it because they forgot to write my name next to my credit card number.

2. We checked in at 4:30pm and our room was still not ready. This was because the maid service was lazy. We waited 1/2 hour to get the room.

3. They asked us to pay for the 3 nights in advance.
Normally, other hotels in Puerto Rico do not do that.

4. Toilet did not flush properly. I fixed it myself by reattaching the floating stick was controls the water level.

5. The night table lamp did not have a light bulb. However, when I pointed this out to the owner, she remedied the problem promptly.

6. Condition of walls and paint in the room was in disrepair. The sheetrock had been seriously broken and patched. Walls were dirty.

7. The maid took away our bathroom towels and forgot to put fresh toilets. She also forgot to put in a new trash bag. Bed sheets are not changed during our stay.

8. Hotel reception desk and restaurant is closed on Tuesdays, so you cannot get help or resolve problems on that day.

9. Hotel has no numerical address. The location is specified as 2.7 kilometers along a local road. You need to navigate by landmarks.

Conclusions:

I have stayed at worse hotels but they generally charged a lot less money. This hotel is comparable to a youth hostel. For 60 dollars a night, this hotel was a poor value. The proprietors are polite when we asked them to fix problems, but there were so many problems that I did not want to spoil my vacation by complaining. We were so happy to leave Fajardo and Anchor's Inn after the end.