Although I got what I expected, I found this place to be a tad bizarre.
LIKED - The location is in a quiet setting and walkable to the Melia/Las Americas area. (15 minutes) The Santiago zoo is located right beside the hotel and an interesting little excursion for 1 peso. Some of the rooms are located very close to the lion pen so do not be surprised if you are awaken to the tune of hungry roars. LOL! There is rent-a-car, a store, a pool, 2 bars and 2 restaurants on site. The restaurants are located in the grand old building which I believe was once a hotel and someone's mansion. There are 2 computers beside the bar in the lobby.

DISLIKED- Although the rooms are a good size they are quite dated as stated in previous posts. Many of the rooms are housed in Cabanas (4 rooms together on 2 floors). Because the rooms are located in a forest/jungle like setting you can expect to see all types of creatures from small lizards to giant cockroaches. I had to use my sandals as a weapon a couple of times in my room to exterminate some crawlers. The restaurant food was nothing to write home about even by Cuban standards but the main dining hall was of an impressive size. Although there were dancers practicing almost every day, I never once saw a show going on there. Maybe in high-season? Although I saw a guy attempting to clean the pool with a large poll scrubber, the water had a kinda peculiar greenish brown to it.

The staff ranged anywhere from great to indifferent. The porter was a great guy to chat with about Cuba life. The rooms by the pool are noisy all day from the pool bar music. If you require tranquility then ask for a room in the larger building in back. Good for a couple of nights but would faint at the thought of a couple of weeks here. It's too bad, this hotel has great potential if only they'd spend the the pesos to fix it up. Renovate the rooms and house the great old building with better food and bars and this joint could be a real winner at a higher price even. Supposedly there was a bowling ally there a few years back.

I marvel at the way people rate hotels is Cuba, which is basically on some -conceived in the USA- formula. I stayed at Hotel San Juan for all of April in 2006, and will return this spring. The room was adequate, and well attended daily by a very nice room attendant/ maid. The included breakfast was again good, with variety and served by very warm gracious staff. Thing is, I do not go to this place for the ammenities. It is the experience. Within my month, I seemed to become one of a Cuban family. Morning hugs hello. Chats throughout the day. Watching the poolside action, where Cubans pay a small fee to enter each day. Disco at night was a hoot to observe or participate in. Once again, it was in large part Cuban. I met the managers, and both of the senior gentlemen, Fermin and Enrique, could not have been more abliging hosts. This is not a hotel that abounds with lavish ammenities. It is a hotel that pulses with the warm spirit and soul of the average Cuban heart. In short, the staff make the difference. Go from this place to a typical tourist beach resort nearby, and the magic is gone!

Stayed at Hotel san Juan for 5 nights in Jan. 2007. The setting is like a tropical forest and the hotel is laid out in several units with about 6 rooms each. The rooms are spacious and fairly clean, but they feel tired and washed out. The lobby is pretty, but the quality of the rooms do not match. I did have to get rid of a cockroach in the room once. There's no such thing as a hand towel, washcloth, bath mat or kleenex, so take those if you use them. Also, the toilet paper supplied is a really tiny roll per day (no extras!), again I would advise that you take some with you. BTW, there was NO hot water in the hotel while we were there because the heater had broken. We're still waiting for them to replace the light bulb that was out when we got the room. No dressers and limited clothes hanging space and hangers. The people are very nice, even though one of the front desk people was a bit grumpy. The porters are great. We never used the pool, but it is large and I never heard loud music, etc. However they close it very early. Our rate included a buffet breakfast which was quite adequate. For dinners, you can go to a buffet dinner (10 pesos per person), although they didn't have it the night we went, due to the small number of guests in the hotel. We ordered a la carte for about 12 pesos each and it was pretty good. The best food at the hotel is at the Italian restaurant above the buffet place. You can have a great view of the city in a gracious atmosphere and food is very good, at a cost of about 8-12 pesos, including wine or beer and depending on your choice of main course (seafood spaghetti was around 5 pesos and quite good!). There is a small foreign exchange office outside the lobby and a little gift and postcard stand. There is also a cafeteria beside the pool where you can buy bottled water, pre-packaged snacks and sandwiches. Overall, not a bad place, but nothing great either.

Our family enjoyed a stay at the San Juan in April. The staff was solicitious, warm and welcoming. They especially doted on our 7-year-old daughter. We appreciated both the children's and adult's pool, where we cooled off during the torrid mid-day hours. Our room was cool and refreshing. The grounds are nicely landscaped in creeping groundcover, flowering bushes, with shady, meandering walkways underneath a tall canopy of tropical trees. We breakfasted most mornings at the on-site Restaurante Leningrado, and also had several evening meals there too. We enjoyed the performances of the nightly cabaret review. Our daughters really enjoyed their tour of the Santiago Zoo, just next door to the hotel. We especially wish to thank the couple who run the concession stand for their knowledable recommendations of things to do and places to see in Santiago and surrounding area, and for the CD's of Cuban music they recommended, which we have often listened to upon our return home. We intend to return to the San Juan, and would recommend it for anyone who wants a relaxing, low-key hotel within reasonable taxi distance of the center.