Hotel El Convento

Built on land granted by royal decree in 1646, the structure that houses Hotel El Convento began as the first Carmelite convent in the Americas, standing across from San Juan Cathedral in the old walled city. Nuns lived within its three-foot-thick walls for over two centuries before the convent closed in 1903. The building cycled through use as a shop, a dance hall, and worse, until Robert Frederic Woolworth bought the ruin in 1959 and added two floors and 100 rooms, opening it as a hotel in 1962. A further restoration in 1995 to 1997 gave the property its current form: 81 rooms across the original footprint, with mahogany beams, Spanish tile floors, and marble bathrooms throughout. Four signature suites carry the names of past guests and stewards, among them cellist Pablo Casals and Gloria Vanderbilt, the hotel's first guest. Many rooms open onto Juliet balconies over San Juan Bay or the cathedral square below. A rooftop plunge pool and jacuzzi sit above the old convent walls, and a daily wine and cheese reception runs in the lobby. Patio del Níspero serves meals under a níspero tree in the courtyard. It is listed with the Historic Hotels of America and serves as the Puerto Rican government's guest house for visiting dignitaries. The cathedral bells still carry across the courtyard at dusk.