Small hostelries make your vacation feel at home

2022, by Peter Martin

Staying in a hotel and lounging on a beach was the typical vacation for visitors to Puerto Rico. Not anymore.

More travelers nowadays seek a fuller experience of the island. The beach is still important but travelers also want to immerse in Puerto Rico’s local color, to learn about its vivid culture fusing Spanish, African and American influences, to get transported into that mellow tropical rhythm that is so much a part of being an island in the Caribbean. Staying in a guest house or a bed and breakfast (B&B), is part of the adventure, a way for an outsider to get closer to the destination and its people.

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THE BEST IMMERSIVE PUERTO RICO FOOD TOURS

Updated: March 28, 2023, by Shari Mycek

Old San Juan’s first-ever bed & breakfast, the historic Casa Sol — identifiable by its goldenrod exterior, and red wrought iron door — offers five elegantly romantic rooms, and quite possibly the best breakfast in Puerto Rico. Owner Eddie Ramírez, a retired Hilton executive (who grew up on the same street as Casa Sol) meticulously restored the 18th-century Spanish Colonial building, exposing beams and even frescos. While the result is stunning, it is Ramirez’s homemade breakfasts that keep guests coming back. His menu includes specialties like Mallorcas with ham, cheese and eggs (a very traditional Old San Juan breakfast), and Eggs Casa Sol —  a take on eggs benedict, featuring grated potato and pumpkin, tomato,  basil, poached eggs, and cheese.

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Six Bed-and-Breakfasts that Will Make You Feel at Home

316 Calle del Sol, San Juan

Caribbean sunshine pours into the indoor patio at Casa Sol, an Old San Juan B&B housed inside an ancient Spanish colonial structure built in the 18th century. The property’s arched doorways and windows are accented by antique art, and its five bedrooms offer elaborate teak doors, Spanish furniture and high ceilings.

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Metamorphosis into an ecotreasure

N. Michelle Rodríguez Amadeo

Sustainable tourism has been defined as “tourism that respects both local people and the traveller, cultural heritage and the environment”, as recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), a suitable balance between environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development needs to be established to guarantee long-term sustainability.

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Casa Sol, Puerto Rico: B&B and beyond’ – The Independent

Like a scrubbed-up Havana, diminutive Old San Juan’s perfectly preserved cobbled streets, parks and plazas are lined with pastel-coloured mansions, their balconies festooned with tropical blooms. Founded by Spanish conquistadors in 1508, it’s one of the oldest settlements in the Americas. But this is no museum piece. Puerto Rico’s party-loving capital – it’s the birthplace of the piña colada and home to Bacardi’s «Cathedral of Rum» after all – is full of life.

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