First of all, I will never recommend this hotel/parador to any of my friend and even my enemies. I was at Jayuya for a Business trip, and the first time that we came to Jayuya we stay at La Posada Hotel at Jayuya and it was not a pleasant stay, so for our second trip down Jayuya we got our company booked us Hacienda Gripina, hoping better results from our previous experience. So we drove all the way to Hacienda Gripinas, when we arrive there was no one at the Lobby/Front Desk, but we got a note with our names on it, that told us where our rooms where and the keys where left on the front desk, so we pick them up and walk all the way to the rooms, only to find one clean room out of three. The second and third room where all messy with used towels hanging on chairs, the bed seem like it has been used hours before, some cups of wine where also at the second room. The third room did not have any lights, only one lamp seems to work. So we went down to the lobby and found the only three people working at the Restaurant. We told to a man who seems to be some kind of manager and told what we just found at our rooms. He was very surprise like us and gave us two new rooms. We went to the rooms, and we found that we didn’t have TV/Cable nothing (though they gave us the tv controls) so for us the TV where just ornaments. Bottom line, WILL NEVER EVER AGAIN will go to Gripinas, prefer to stay at Ponce and drove 1 hour to Jayuya for work.

Staff was very friendly. Food was awesome. Rooms were EXTRA clean! Came for a business meeting and ended up purchasing an extra night. Will come back!

First of all, if you come here without doing some research on the area you are going to be in for a surprise.

Jayuya is the probably the most isolated town in Puerto Rico. No one speaks English (again if you do research you will know this- only 30% of Puerto Ricans speak fluent English), it has a revolutionary history (1950 they declared a short lived independence). You will be 4000 feet above sea level. There will be mosquitoes, lizards, wild dogs, and roaming chickens. Instead of riding bikes, the kids ride horses, yet they seem to wear all the up to date clothing. The ride there will be one of the most scenic and windy you have ever witnessed.

If this kind of stuff interests you as it does me, you will love it. It was a great escape from the resorts at the Rio Grande and the hustle and bustle of San Juan.

For $130/night two people get fed dinner and breakfast (average), but that is a steal even if they are feeding you dog food.

For the best experience ask for room number 5 as it has the largest balcony.

The beds are somewhat uncomfortable and there is no hot water, but this does not take away from the relaxing nature of the hacienda. Bring a book, some bug spray and relax in the nice wooden rockers on the main 30 ft balcony (that has spectacular views of the mountains). Relaxation is the key here.

It does seem that the hacienda has deteriorated a bit since the town has taken over, but it still has great charm, and if you have a small Spanish phrase book you will be fine.

When you go into "town" check out the rock with Taino paintings, the beautiful river where you can swim, the Taino museum the recreated mayors house (if you don't speak Spanish ask for Omar, he has basic comprehension of English and will love to tell you/rant about the history of the town. He will also offer you tours on horses and ATVs for discount prices compared to the more touristy areas around San Juan.

If you do decide to come here, please do not cheat yourself out of driving straight from San Juan. The roads are clearly marked and you cannot get lost. This drive was remarkable and something that can only be understood by those who have done it. It is not dangerous at all (my girlfriend was freaking out the whole time before the trip, but was not scared at all when we were finally doing the drive). Just stay around 20/mph, honk around sharp turns and keep the camera on for amazing pictures. Do not go south to Ponce and then up!

Do not go come here with children, as they will kill themselves with boredom and/or they might ruin an otherwise peaceful experience for other travelers.

I WILL go back there, it is the type of place that one would retire to and purchase and run themselves!

First of all, if you don't speak Spanish, you're out of luck. The manager speaks English, but he's not there at all times. We paid for 4 nights with the meals included, but I forgot to ask if there were any vegetarian options - there aren't. When I told them we are vegetarian, there response was bascially, oh too bad. They brought us rice and beans - with ham, and when I told them there was ham in the beans, they said yes. We also got a "salad" which was brown iceberg lettuce and one sad looking tomato. Our room was full of mosquitoes. We couldn't get a wink of sleep with all the buzzing in our ears. My daughters woke up covered with bites all over them. I asked for another room without mosquitoes, but the manager said none of the rooms have screens, and that we should wear repellent. The guide in Frommers said there was a trail leading to the summit of a mountain, but there were no trails on the property, and the manager said it was an hour drive to Toro Negro. Our room was on the ground floor with peeling walls and the flattest pillows I've ever seen. Oh, and also no hot water, barely a trickle of any water. In the morning, we asked for our money back. We weren't refunded for the one night we stayed, or for our terrible dinner, but we were told we could get the money back for the other 3 nights we had reserved. But because the hotel is owned by the town, the manager couldn't refund our credit card and we had to write a letter to the town and ask them to send us a check. I'm not exactly holding my breath to get back my $500. We left there and went to Casa Grande in Utuado about 45 minutes away, and had a great stay there and didn't get eaten by mosquitoes.