ESJ Towers Review
Our experience in San Juan, Peurto Rico was
invigorating. We stayed in an area called Isle
Verdes. ESJ Towers is one of the many
resorts located on Isle Verdes. There are a
plenty of sightseeing and fun activities to do
on this island. It is a US Territory so it has all
of the common fast food restaurants like the
US such as Subway, Pizza Hut, Dominos,
McDonalds, Burger King, etc. There are a
number of people who understand and speak
English every where that you go. Peurto has
a lot to offer a vacationer, but ESJ is no
hoopla.
There is nothing fancy about this resort hotel.
It gives you your minimum accommodations
both in the rooms and on the grounds. When
you enter the room it has the appliances on
one side of the entrance (usually to your left)
and enough space to enter with your
luggage. The kitchen appliances are aligned
next to one another starting with the
refrigerator, stove, sink, and counter with
microwave and cabinets in your basic white
color. Once you walk pass the microwave,
youre in the bedroom similar to an efficiency
apt. The furniture is made of wicker (See
pictures attached). The room is exactly like
the pictures on the webpage online at
www.esjtowers.com. There are small rooms
off the lobby that houses one of the listed
items per room: internet or writing tables, ping
pong table and board games, a pool table, a
small arcade room, a general store, a bar
room, a restaurant for breakfast and lunch.
The outdoor pool is located on the second
floor. It is nice and clean with a refreshment
stand. You cant use cash at this stand. You
have to bill it to your room.
You have to walk through a dimly lit parking
garage to get to the small gym and beach.
You exchange your towels in the gym as well.
It has a treadmill, bike, little tv, and free
weights. You have to have a pass code to
enter the beach. This was the worst feature
of the hotel. They should just make steps
coming off the pool area so that you can easily
get to the beach. It is inconvenient to leave
your room on the 8th floor, go to the
basement, out the door through the dimly lit
parking garage, up some other steps, and
punch in your code that you have already
forgotten by the time you get to the beach.
If your room is in the south building facing the
pool and beach, change rooms because it is
noisy. The hotel behind you makes deliveries
all day and night and uses a crane system to
hoist the freights and it is loud. We had to
change rooms to the other side of the building
to sleep peacefully. They were remodeling
some of the rooms beneath us which were
noisy, but they worked on the rooms during
the day.
ESJ has average resort accommodations.
There is nothing luxurious or elegant. It is
basic and simple in each room. The lobby and
pool are its greatest features. I rate the
overall hotel a C average on a grading scale
of A-F. I rate the pleasantness of the staff
an A-. I rate the location on Isle Verdes
a B. The next time that I visit San Juan, I will
stay at another resort for the elegance. If
youre in college then it is great, but if you
have visited other resorts, it does not come
close to a silver or gold star resort. I had
mainly three complaints. The noise outside my
room from the adjacent hotel delivery system,
the hot and cold water knobs had mold and
rust around them, and the entrance to the
beach being accessed via the parking lot.
They accommodated us by moving us to
another room. I enjoyed that the resort was
located in short walking distance to all
restaurants, ATM, block buster, post office,
San Juan Hotel with the casino inside, and a
24 hour grocery store, etc. Isles Verdes can
use street cleaning, but is tolerable. I believe
most people like ESJ because it is close to
shopping, restaurants, souvenir shops,
Walgreens, a 24-hour grocery store, the
beach, public transportation, and tours. Old
San Juan is a better looking part of the
Island. It reminds you of San Francisco with
the hilly streets and it was clean with a lot of
historical sites.
Here are some of the activities that are a must
when you visit Peurto Rico: Bacardi/Old San
Juan tour, Rainforest tour, Kayak-
Bioluminescence Bay tour, Catamaran Trip,
and a ferry or plane ride to Culebra Island.
You should do one tour each day so that you
can relax by the end of the day and get the
busy items out of the way in the beginning of
your week. The Bacardi/Old San Juan tour
costs $40 per person and includes a tour of
the Bacardi Rum Distillery, San Cristobal Fort,
and historical sites. The Distillery gives you
two free drinks and a movie tour. They
stopped the actual walk through of the
distillery. (Big disappointment). The
Rainforest Tour costs $65 per person which
consists of Yokahu Tower, hike to La Mina
Rainforest (the more beautiful waterfall).
Kayak Bioluminescence Bay tour costs $75 per
person. It is a kayak tour that all can enjoy
even beginners and non swimmers. You tour
a lagoon which has waste deep water that
glows a fluorescent green color.
Unfortunately, humans have destroyed most
of the water so it barely glows, but it is done
at night and is a lot of fun (nothing scary).
The Catamaran trip costs $65 per person. It
consists of sailing, snorkeling, and lunch.
Culebra Island Trip is the beach with the white
sand, tropical fish, and best beaches. The 16
minute plane ride is only $27 per person and
the ferry was $2.50 for a 2 hour ride. You
must arrive to the ferry by 6:30 am to get in
line to get a ticket if you want the earliest
ferry or you may find yourself standing outside
in the sun waiting for hours for the next ferry.
The plane ride is the better way to travel
because its less crowded and guaranteed to
have space available when you want to
leave. The ferry not so much.
I hope this was helpful. I encourage others to
take the time to print your experience. I gave
lengthy details because I did not have many
recent reviews before I toured. You can stay
at ESJ but dont expect luxurious rooms.
Expect rooms that look like they cost $100 a
night not $250 or above. Isle Verdes is one
strip with basic shopping
no fine dining and a
little trashy in spots. Not the entire area.
The beach is okay with a lot of seaweed on
the shores. Culebra has the best beach.