Isla Verde Hotels | Verdanza Hotel | San Juan, Puerto Rico

The Verdanza Hotel, Carolina enjoys a superb location in the heart of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico only steps away from one of the Caribbean’s liveliest white sand beaches and other great area attractions. At night, Isla Verde comes alive with a wide range of nightlife choices, from live entertainment, to dance clubs, casinos, and restaurants.

Attractions close to the Verdanza Hotel

Historic Old San Juan, Puerto Rico is the second oldest city in the Americas. The old city comprises of seven historic square blocks characterized by narrow cobblestone streets and colorful buildings that date back to the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries when Puerto Rico was a Spanish possession.

With its abundance of shops, historic places, colonial fortifications, museums, open air cafés, restaurants, gracious homes, tree-shaded “plazas”, Old San Juan is a treasured spot for locals and visitors to Puerto Rico alike. Old San Juan is 7 MI/11.27 KM from the Verdanza Hotel. Excursions are available at our Tour and Travel desk.

The Puerto Rico Museum of Art
The Puerto Rico Museum of Art (MAPR) is a 130,000 square foot neoclassical building from the 1920s, formerly the San Juan Municipal Hospital. It features permanent collections and loans of Puerto Rican art from colonial times to the present in changing exhibitions.

Opening hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with the schedule extended on Wednesdays to 8:00 p.m., while Sunday hours are 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. T 787-977-6277.

The Museum is located on 299 De Diego Avenue in nearby Santurce, 4 MI/ 6.44 KM from the Verdanza Hotel.

Plaza Las Américas Mall
Plaza Las Américas Mall, or “"Plaza," as locals call it, is the largest shopping mall in the Caribbean and the 2nd in all of Latin America. The mall features over 300 stores; 13 movie theaters; and more than 40 eateries and restaurants, in addition to a year-round calendar of fairs and exhibits, which turn a day of shopping into a full Puerto Rico shopping experience.

Mall hours are Monday to Saturday, 9am-9pm; Sundays, 11am-5pm. Plaza is located at F.D. Roosevelt Avenue, Hato Rey, and is 12 MI/ 19.31 KM from the Verdanza Hotel.

Alternative Shopping
Visit La Chiwinha, Puerto Rico’s only fair trade retailer. Find unique gifts, apparel, accessories, home décor, organic chocolate, tea and coffee from around the world – plus a weekly calendar of activities.

Open Tuesday through Friday, from 1:00 to 8:00 p.m.,
and Saturday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Located at 1054 González Street in Santa Rita, Rio Piedras
– approximately 10 miles from the hotel. T: 787.925.0707

Fair trade, you ask? Fair trade traces its roots to 1946 when Edna Ruth Byler, a volunteer for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), visited an MCC sewing class in Puerto Rico where she discovered the talent the women had for creating beautiful lace and the extraordinary poverty in which they lived despite their hard work. She began carrying these pieces back to the United States to sell and returning the money back to these groups directly.

Her work grew into Ten Thousand Villages, which opened its first fair trade shop in 1958 and is now the largest fair trade retailer in North America. Fair trade enables artisans to earn a fair wage and provides the opportunity for a better quality of life.

Casa Bacardí
Visitors to the Puerto Rican home of The BACARDI rum can enjoy an interactive tour through history, observe the production process and experience the party spirit of BACARDI brand. The tour ends at a pavilion in where you can sit and relax in a colonial court and savor a complimentary Bacardi cocktail.

Tours take place every twenty minutes, Monday through Saturday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and again on Sunday, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. T 787.788.8400

Hipódromo Camarero
For a day at the races, Hipódromo Camarero (best known by its former name “El Comandante”) is the only thoroughbred racetrack in Puerto Rico, located on a valley with a superb panoramic view of El Yunque near the Verdanza Hotel. The beautifully landscaped complex of 257 acres features a mile-long racetrack with a seven-furlong chute - which equals 1,400 meters.

Open all year except Tuesdays and Thursdays. Post time for the first race on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday is 2:45 p.m. AST. Try your luck or simply sit back and enjoy the “sport of kings” right here in San Juan, Puerto Rico!

Beaches
The Verdanza Hotel is within a short walking distance of the magnificent Isla Verde Beach…the beach that made Puerto Rico famous! Known by the locals as “Alambique” beach, the Isla Verde Beach is actually a series of beaches stretching for miles.

A tranquil place during the week, Isla Verde really comes alive on weekends. Beach lovers stream in from everywhere to get some sun, party with family and friends, play paddleball and beach volleyball, jet-ski, sail, or walk along the sandy shores.

Two minutes from the San Juan’s Verdanza Hotel is Carolina Beach, one of Puerto Rico’s five beaches certified by Blue Flag - a voluntary eco-label awarded to over 3450 beaches and marinas around the world. The Blue Flag designation was awarded to Carolina Beach based on four criteria: environmental education and information, water quality, environmental management, and safety and services.

Beyond Carolina Beach, within five miles of our hotel, are well-known surfing beaches. Whether you’re hard-core or just want to enjoy the show, you’ll find enthusiasts of surfing, parasailing, kite surfing, windsurfing, and body boarding in action virtually every day of the year. The waves are especially high during our winter months – November through March.

Piñones Mangroves
Mangroves are low trees that grow in marshes and along tidal shores. Their roots, interlacing above ground, sketch fascinating patterns and provide protection for countless animals and plants. The Piñones Forest, one of Puerto Rico’s natural treasures, is a mangrove-lover’s paradise and is just minutes from the Verdanza Hotel and San Juan.

On your way you’ll pass a small marina, a cluster of seafood shacks and coconut stands at Boca de Cangrejos, and probably will see surfers riding the waves at Aviones, a beach named for the stream of aircraft heading in and out of nearby Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. You will reach the Piñones Natural Reserve with its boardwalk and bicycle trail through the forest, wild stretches of beach with fine views of San Juan, Puerto Rico’s skyline, a maze of mangroves, a small bioluminescent bay, dramatic sand dunes, and exotic wildlife. Bikes available for rental.

Puerto Rico Music Conservatory
A little-known gem outside the local community! Wednesday evenings, music professors, guest musicians and music students come together to offer concerts to the community – with a repertoire ranging from classical to fusion and folkloric.

In addition, a monthly calendar of weekend activities features musical performances by the Conservatory’s own Symphony Orchestra, as well as string, percussion and jazz ensembles. If you are a lover of Puerto Rico music, this will be a real treat for you – and an experience few visitors to Puerto Rico know about, let alone have the opportunity to enjoy.

Additional top attractions beyond San Juan

El Yunque Caribbean National Forest - Named after the benevolent Indian spirit Yukiyú, El Yunque is the only rainforest in the U.S. National Forest System.
Camuy Cave River Park - The world’s third largest underground cave system
Arecibo Ionospheric Observatory. The Arecibo Radio Telescope is the largest of its kind and one of the most important research facilities on the face of the earth. The huge dish could fit over a dozen football fields and sits in a sinkhole, forever aimed at the sky, tuned to detect the slightest sounds emitted by the farthest stars.

Excursions
For your convenience, we offer a wide range of day trips and excursions – from scuba and snorkeling, to nature and adventure, water sports, fishing, history, culture and golf - through our partner, Castillo Tours. Our Tour and Travel Desk is located in the lobby.