Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

Sweet

The hotel, El Convento, was fun. It was a converted convent, right in the middle of Old San Juan, and had a lovely yellow facade. It is supposedly haunted by the ghosts of the nuns who once used to live there, but as I am an angelic hotel guest, my stay was perfectly pleasant.

All the restaurants and bars in Old San Juan are a very walkable distance away, which meant grabbing a drink or dinner was super easy. The hotel also holds an evening wine hour, and it was delightful to bring a glass of wine up and sit by the rooftop pool. Escaping the UK in February meant I needed to make the most of the vitamin D!

El Convento is twinned with a sister hotel in nearby Carolina, and it was only a 20 minute car journey to the beach. It made lazy, sedentary days feel productive as you were commuting to and from your relaxation, which is perhaps the most vacation-minded statement you could possibly make…

Spicy

The old town itself! I was half expecting it to be similar to Key West, slightly cheesy and sleepy, but I was very happily mistaken. All the streets were fantastically colourful, with murals everywhere and a lot of Bad Bunny pride.

There were plenty of eating and drinking spots available to choose from. As well as the famous options of El Cafetin and generally Calle San Sebastian (I definitely witnessed a few people who had made the most of the one dollar jello shots) - there were some more sophisticated options for dinner. My favourites included a Japanese restaurant, Azalea, as well as Le Madre, a Mexican spot. Le Madre had a long wait, so there was the option of having drinks at the mezcaleria and listening bar next door, before sitting down for tacos. All of this was made all the more delicious with the fact that home was only a 5 minute walk away!

Sour

Not technically in San Juan, or even Puerto Rico itself, but the journey outwards was a little more painful than it needed to be.

It is ideal that there is a direct (and very reasonably priced) flight from Madrid to Puerto Rico, however, it is less than ideal that the immigration process at Madrid Airport (specifically Terminal 4S), is potentially one of the worst I’ve ever experienced. It took a mass stampede and about 2 hours of queuing to get to the immigration desk, simply to be allowed to leave the country. If you are ever taking this route, leave plenty of time, and forget about having a pre-flight breakfast!