Meliá Century Hotel Ponce

Hotel was old style charming, staff helpful and engaging, great location. It would have been even better if there had been HOT WATER for showers the two days I was there. There was not...

The website is indirectly misleading. It talks about being first to get bathrooms, phone, etc. but it is currently not up to minimal expectations at all. The water for showers was never more than luke warm. Tub drainage is slow. Some electrical outlets didn’t work. Rooms very small. Took a long time to clean up water in the entry way, which was a safety hazard. Elevator is very slow. Pictures on the website show food and drink but there is no restaurant, not even coffee. There are other small issues I won’t include. Really, it’s great to advertise the historical nature of the building and the great location across from the plaza. But it needs major improvements to be a quality and up to date hotel.

Melia Hotels have long enjoyed a reputation for outstanding service, 5-star accommodations, and highly rated facilities. When choosing a hotel to stay in Ponce, we decided to stay at this hotel because it was a Melia hotel, and we felt that would mean that at the very least our stay would be satisfactory. Sadly, that was not the case. Honestly, I have never stayed in a worse hotel. The common areas are beautiful, but the rooms leave much to be desired. We did write to corporate, but they told us that this Melia hotel was independently owned. As a customer, how would you know the difference. Unfortunately, all this response did was destroy our trust in the Melia hotel brand; therefore, we will never stay at a Melia property again. Upon arrival, we were given a room that was not only dirty, but that also had structural damage. When we brought this to the reception’s attention, we were told that the hotel was full, and they could not put us in another room. I told them that there was no way that we would stay in the room and that is when we were told that they would see what they could do. During this time, I went on the website to see what the different room options were. While navigating through the site, I saw that I would have been able to book a deluxe king. I told that to the clerk and that is when he said that he could move us to a deluxe queen at no extra charge. We accepted, and the room was better than the first one, but it was far from stellar. We got no WiFi in the room; the sheets and blankets were stained, there was no hot water when I showered, and the light fixture was flashed continually. Additionally, we had been given a towel in the previous room which instead of asking us for it, they came into our room and took it while we were out. The second day we were there, I got to speak to the manager. I showed her the pictures of the room we had originally been assigned to, and she was aghast. At the time, she did offer us a king suite, which my husband turned down because he did not want to move again. Without a doubt, the hotel needs renovation, but I am still at a loss as to how they could have ever thought that it would be alright to put a paying client into such a room. In Ponce, there is the Fox Hotel and the Ponce Casino Hotel in the square if you want some options, and there is always a vacation rental!

This is a real jewel of a hotel, and I have stayed in hotels on at least 4 continents. This 1895 era hotel exudes loads of charm and class, and the employees are gracious and polite and helpful. The rooms are simple but classic and have all you need. The pool is lovely and the semi-outdoor courtyard patio is amazing. Called Lemón Courtyard, it is gorgeous and tastefully decorated in white and yellow and is open to the sky in the middle and covered on two sides. The hotel historically had a gorgeous restaurant but now it is not in use as such but more as a reminder of past elegance with dark wooden tables and decor. There are plenty of restaurants in the area, several within walking distance, especially good is Mesons and Velons by Dominguez (I may be getting the name a bit wrong.). You will love the Dorado (Mahi-Mahi with Risotto which I enjoyed on two occasions. where they have a small lovely stage for night club performances. The upstairs hallway in the hotel is filled with striking black and white portraits of famous people from long ago who stayed at the beautiful Hotel Meliá. There are also several beautiful boutiques with fashion clothing and even a cigar shop. I am not a smoker but those inclined can smoke their Cubanos in the Lemón Courtyard.

A vintage hotel in the heart of the city. It’s our 2nd stay, and we've seen the progress on the renovations. A noisy wedding...

Staff was grat The facilities were poor. No restaurant was close but expedia has that they have breakfast. I found an old pair of socks and some other items in the room. No towels. The batroom was so small. I would not recommend until they renovate. I understand its old and a historic hotel but yo dudes lets get it right this is a 💎gem. Its a shame there are so many opportunites especially the restaurant. I'm a chef and to see that restaurant just sitting there is terrible. Man owners should renovate this location its a shame to see this hotel like this. Staff were awesome.

The hotel management and employees do not care about their customers at all. Twice we asked for our bedroom toilet to be fixed and it was never fixed, making us go across the street to another hotel bathroom twice. The A/C wall unit made so much noise that even after use bought ear plugs we could not sleep. Safety hazards: no signage for a step going into the bathroom and a hole in the wall for the some detector without one and be aware that the elevator does open its doors flush with the floor. There are cracks on baseboards, ceilings, walls, poor lighting in the parking lot, with limited parking spaces, and uneven surfaces that you ca trip over it. There’s no surface for your toiletries in the bathroom and no toilet paper holder as it was broken. The door know was not working properly to get into the bathroom so you have to “play” with the key until it worked. I asked for ice and had to wait for Receptionist to free herself (no other customer nor the phone were holding her) to assist me, as there was no body else to assist. When we checked out and complain about this, the gentleman in the Reception only said “sorry about that”. If you feel adventurous fit a very bad experience stay here.

The hotel in the inside with its grand old world decor is stunning & beautiful BUT the rooms are horrible …they need to do major renovations to the rooms and upgrade absolutely every square inch. False advertising on the webpage makes the rooms look spectacular. Those pics must be from years and years ago. Also website advertise restaurant which they do NOT HAVE. Very disappointed. Would not recommend nor would I ever go back to stay there.

Nasty nasty the smelled moldy the bathroom was old and the sink was clogged plus t he shower water was cold swimming pool was dirty no ice machine on the floors it was a total disaster will not be staying there again

Las facilidades están bien pero deben ser mas orientados al detalle hay que limpiar los muebles que tienen en los pisos. Además las puertas deben modernizarlas y arreglarlas.

Great service

I stayed there because I had a medical procedure at San Lucas Hospital. I didn’t have time to walk around. The staff was excellent and responded to our needs immediately.

I don’t recommend this hotel. Although they are trying to preserve the architectural style. The building needs more maintenance, specifically the bathrooms. The front desk does not maintain a master key to open the rooms in case of an emergency. They had to break my locks to access my room and change it the next day. I was asked to leave my room open the entire day. Incredible. Just not acceptable. They must have security standards for emergencies situations. No good hotel. Go to another place.

It was a very bad experience being at this hotel. Although location was a plus. Bathroom was not clean. Needed more maintenance and upgrades. Cabinets didn’t work. No hot water and enough towels. No intercom to call front desk for anything. Even, they failed to mantain a master key to open a room in case of an emergency. No safety standards are unacceptable in a lodging facility. The price I paid was excessive for the poor service. Do not go to this hotel.

Hotel stay was very good. Original room was changed due to the room # 125 not locking from the inside and had to be changed to another room # 121.. The Agent checked the door and gave us another room. She was very accommodating and we appreciated the service.

Terrible room it was nosiey and dirty

Convenient

No tenia agua caliente en la ducha

Sabanas y toallas sucias. La empleada del front desk fue muy amable, me dio lastima que estaba sola tratando de resolver y aun asi lo hizo de buena manera y con la mejor actitud. Deberian renovar habitaciones o minimo tener personal suficiente para mantenerlas limpias

Me hospedé un fin de semana largo (sábado a lunes feriado) con mi bebé de 1 año. El lobby y las áreas comunes como la piscina son bonitas y la ubicación es excelente, justo en el pueblo de Ponce con varios restaurantes buenos cerca. Las camas también fueron cómodas. El hotel necesita urgentemente una remodelación. El cuarto estaba en malas condiciones: no había agua caliente en la ducha. La ducha estaba dañada, el agua con mucha presión desprendía la pintura. El elevador es viejo, sin botón funcional (hay que usar un bolígrafo para oprimirlo). Las puertas abren solo con llave, sin cerradura adicional y mi bebé podía abrirla por lo que tuve que bloquearla con la maleta. Las cortinas dejan pasar la luz del pasillo toda la noche. Solo había un zafacón en todo el cuarto; la iluminación era pésima y las paredes tenían grietas. Los muebles y facilidades estaban viejos o dañados (gavetas que no abren bien, marco de cama roto, televisor anticuado). El servicio de habitación fue lo peor: solicité recogido de basura y nunca lo hicieron, tuve que bajar yo misma el zafacón al lobby. No había suficientes sábanas ni toallas. Cuando pedí, me dijeron que debía llevar las toallas usadas al front desk para que me dieran nuevas, además prometieron llevar sábanas pero nunca lo hicieron.

Great place

House keeping opening the door without knocking. Tub was dirty and there were roaches.

Mi aire se dañó y no funcionaba. En la mañana comenzó a hacer un ruido y se tuvo que apagar. El staff me indicó que el aire es muy pequeño para el cuarto. Dormí sin aire, las otras 5 habitaciones tuvieron problemas en diferentes factores. Realmente la experiencia fue horrible.

Terrible experience. Properly is falling apart badly. Furniture is in pieces, no hot (nor even warm) water, bed mattress has a gigantic hole in the middle, hallway smoke detector battery beeping all night, no blockout curtains and last but not least, housekeeping lady knocking on the door (like she’s serving an arrest warrant) just to confirm if we were still in the room. Never again and will not recommend this hotel to anyone.

Terrible experience. Properly is falling apart badly. Furniture is in pieces, no hot (nor even warm) water, bed mattress has a gigantic hole in the middle, hallway smoke detector battery beeping all night, no blockout curtains and last but not least, housekeeping lady knocking on the door (like she’s serving an arrest warrant) just to confirm if we were still in the room. Never again and will not recommend this hotel to anyone.

The property is very well located and the staff really nice but it needs major improvements. There was no hot water and beds were not comfy. Room has no mini fridge, no coffee maker, no iron, no disturb sign, no chairs.

Rooms does not have blackout. We had to request to change to another room due to issues with noise on the air conditioner. Bathtub dirty, no hot water available, offered breakfast and then cancelled. It is sad such a historical property not being taken care of.

This hotel is in terrible condition and should not even be open to guests. The building is extremely old, dirty, and clearly neglected. The pool was filthy, cloudy, and clearly not cleaned in days. Staff didn’t care at all. Total waste of money — never staying here again.

In chek in the staff didn't told me that on Saturday they had an event and that we couldn't use the pool. That was really unrespectfull

Beautiful well kept property. Feels like you walked into a beautiful & antique hotel . Definitely will book again

When I arrived In the closet I saw a pair of sneakers from the previous guest. OMG

Nothing, we were issue a single full bed, after paying for a double bed room

Great

Classic beautiful hotel!!!

Terrible, not hot water, customer service pero poor, no phone in the room to call main lobby, they have me waiting too long to help me with my situation. Overall very bad experience, I don’t recommend this place at all.

Its unique charm.

Up: It is a beautiful hotel. Large rooms and very clean. Location, location, location absolutely great. Close to all kinds of activities, shops and restaurants. Parking behind the hotel available at no cost. Several small businesses/vendors inside the hotel available for a good shopping experience. Down: Although customer service while at the hotel was good, it takes forever for the personnel at the lobby to pick up the phone. Mini fridge is available to certain rooms. Therefore, if you have a medical condition that requires refrigeration, this is not the right hotel for you. At the hotel, the bar and restaurant were close. No live music or band at the lobby. Overall, 3/5 rating.

It was nice

The hotel conditions were average. Paid for internet access and had no access in the room. Morning staff unprofessionally allowed doble parking and our car was blocked making leave later than expected and we were almost for flight. I will not stay in this hotel again and I don’t recommend it.

There were no food options. The bed was terrible and there’s no hot water.

La limpieza era muy pobre en todo el Hotel y el baño esta muy sucio y nunca llego el agua caliente. Demasiado pequenos los cuartos para el precio que cobran

I like the parking and the oportunity to stay in one of their original rooms with balcony overlooking a quieter plaza street.

The service is excellent, but the parking experience was terrible, the gate to access the hotel is closed and they don't give a key. If you arrive late at night you will have to walk around the building to access the main entrance.

Small rooms. Noise inside room.

No complaint, i love thra hotel!

Great staff, very helpful. Thr property could use with a few minor renovations but nothing that affected our stay. Thank you!

Súper hermoso

Acogedor

Super bien localizado con lugares para comer. Sugiero que arreglen el desague que queda en el frente del hotel. Por lo demás excelente.

El estacionamiento terrible no hay seguridad y cualquier persona que no sea huésped se estaciona y los huéspedes se quedan sin estacionamiento. Pedimos toallas en dos ocaciones y desde temprano la respuesta que recibimos fue q se estaban secando hasta las 4:00 pm que llegó un muchacho muy amable a recepción y nos llevó las toallas. El servicio de estacionamiento sin seguridad y cualquier persona que no sea huésped entra al estacionamiento y los huéspedes nos quedamos sin estacionamiento. En la cabecera de una de las camas hay un tornillo por afuera y es un peligro.

Absolutely no amenities for the guests, not even coffee. Unsafe areas. Stairs have no illumination, no room service. Employees were very helpful. Will no return or reccomend.

No hay agua caliente, lumpueza en los cuartos debe ser mejor

Muy lindo hotel muy amable front desk lo uni que la Cana del cuarto era super incomoda un mattress horrible de malo tiene q Cambrialos .

Beautiful place can’t wait to return

It should be more flexible for guess checking in late at night

Great location but the ship has sailed on this hotel, the decades of no maintenance have caught up. My room never had hot water over an entire week. Let the staff know but they are working with a property that is falling apart. The restaurant and bar are never open, there is a bar outside with the cigar shop that is open and I would recommend. The area also has nice restaurants and bars.

Historic place, conveniently located.

NO HOT WATER, VERY BAD SITUATION THAT DIDNT TELL

The area is nice and walkable. The building and finishes are in desperate need of maintenance and work. Showers are never hot and in the morning are cool to cold.

Good for a short stay.

Las sábanas huelen mucho a Clorox. La alfombra y el mueble necesita limpieza.

Location good, that’s all. Extremely outdated. Noisy area.

Very nostalgia

The TV Dish connection worked only once. The shower curtain had some mildew. Because is such an hotel the hot water doesn’t work all that well.

Good

, ......

It is a historic building which I started visiting over 75 years ago.

Basura Basura Basura este hotel. 1)no agua caliente 2)música en vivo que no deja dormir todos los sábados hasta las 2am. Es un abuso y la dama en front desk por el día te miente diciéndote que la música acaba temprano. Y el caballero que esta en front desk desde las 11 pm me dice que un tal Sr. ,como ellos dicen, este Sr. es el que manda en el hotel por las noches porque aunque subcontrata el salón para música en vivo el hotel no puede hacer nada aunque es dentro del hotel. 3)los empleados dicen que la Gerente General se llama Odalis y que con ella que está solo por el día en la semana es con quien uno se puede quejar, pero siento que para nada porque no les importa y ya están acostumbrados a abusar y mentirle a los clientes . 4)ni teléfono en los cuartos para pedir ayuda. 5)alarma de fuego en el pasillo sin batería buena y sonando todo el tiempo y no deja dormir; 6)una cucaracha en el asiento en el cuarto esta mañana cuando despertamos y así mismo empacamos y nos fuimos casi corriendo. 7)antes de irnos decidimos tirar las sábanas y fundas al piso para que las lavaran y nos encontramos con el mattress sucios y manchados horribles, super viejos y usados suciamente. Horrible ojalá que cierren esa ratonera de cantaso.

Excellent area to stay but AC was not working properly. WE stayed for 3 nights and did not see any housecleaning crew. Overall, decent experience.

Everything is good.

The hotel is cozy and very nicely decorated. What needs replacing are the mattresses, which are in very poor condition.

The carpet was so dirty and never vacuumed. The balcony had the best view but also extremely dirty. The bathroom needs a complete overhaul and the hot water was a hit or miss.

No recomiendo este hotel para nada. Las fotos que postean para rentar este hotel no tiene nada que ver con la realidad, la habitación que me asignaron al llegar sencillamente era horrorosa, sucia, deprimente, y no senti nada de seguridad,el elevador esta para que lo cierren y lo cambien, el personal de la recepción no fue nada empatico cuando les dije que no podia dormir en esa habitación ya que no tenian mas disponibilidad, no le Contestaban el teléfono al representante de expidia que trataba de ayudarme y para finalizar me dijeron que si yo me pensaba que eso era un hotel 5 estrellas, de verdad que el servicio que me dieron fue muy malo hasta que al fin llego la manager y me devolvio mi dinero para poderme ir. Primera vez que me pasa una situación asi y sobre todo en un Melia, de verdad si por cualquier parte que voy hay un Melia lo Escojo pero tengo que dejar mi review de lo que vivi en este hotel Melia de Ponce ya que mw hicieron pasar muy mal rato.

Our room was bare. It had two queen beds, small old dresser, small refrigerator. No table or shelves to place personal items. No shelves or towel racks in the bathroom. Musty, damp smell. The room faced the plaza. Although the view was nice, it was too loud at njght (doors/windows) had no sound insulation. The plaza lights are kept on all night and the bright lights made it hard to sleep. One morning, around 7am I heard loud banging/hammering sounds. Seemed like someone was doing some repair work at the hotel at 7am! The following morning, someone was clearing the plaza of leaves with a loud leaf blower. That went on for 2 hours! I reserved the room for 6 nights. I stayed for only 3. Had to find another hotel for the rest of our vacation. Unfortunately, this hotel has a policy of no refunds. Basically, I ended up paying for two different hotel rooms! The staff was courteous, but our rooms were never serviced. The trash wasn't taken out, we ran out of toilet paper and no one came to replace it. I really wanted to like this place, but it was pretty bad.

It is in a good location. But we did not like that there is no parking priority for guests. If there is any activity at the hotel, the guest has to wait for space available to park. And it should not be like that.

Negligencia crasa en el mantenimiento del sistema eléctrico de emergencia. La administración del hotel debiera revisar el nivel de pericia del contratista contratado

It is a century building, but just a little modern. Very convenient for several reasons as beach areas, restaurants, highways, and many others activities that you might be looking for you can just literally have access to a highway and get to any destination.

Staff gave the extra mile despite of the challenges brouby the blackout.

The beds were hard as a rock, the bathroom smelled awful. I think is very expensive for what you get. Should charge $70 a night at most. The pool was cold and dirty. I would never return.

Good!

Es un hotel antiguo, pero no significa que lo dejen sin remodelar, ni limpiar. El baño da miedo. El precio its OK, pero lo pensaria 2 veces volver a quedarme.

No hay agua caliente. Las camas tienen hongo y los aires acondicionado tienen un fuerte olor a humedad las duchas estan pintadas y los drenajes estan tapados. El olor a. Cigarro es increíble. En fin. Es mejor dormil en el carro o en la calle. En las noches no se puede. Salir no es. Segura el area

It was okay

Terrible. Everything was very dirty. The personal doesn’t know how to treat people. The room has humidity and mold. The beds were dirty and oddly.

We were initially given keys to a grubby room with an awful mattress with visible springs through the cover. We were moved to a lovely room when we asked but the water only ran cold. The next day it was adjusted but then only ran extremely hot and there was no cold water at all so the toilet wouldn’t flush. Overnight the leaf-blower started working at 4:50 am until someone went out to complain. It was an eventful stay but the lady on reception was very receptive and happy to help.

Love this place

The room furniture was dated, old and poorly fitting to the room. The bathtub was in poor conditions, enough for a replacement. The sink faucet was old and too difficult to operate. Tha A/C unit dated and noisy. The worst part was no hot water service. Very sad situation. Just the bed mattress and pillows were good. Only stayed just one night, running away first thing in the morning.

Balcony dirty, carpet with dirty spots, ceiling lamp with lots of dust, no place to put your things in the restroom, just 2 towels, no floor towel, got to call front desk since there's no hot water, 15 minutes wait, no phone service in the rooms, small parking full have to wait to put my car inside the hotel, hotel have a cigar bar and all the smell through the property. Its a shame since is a historic building with poor maintenance.

The room need some updates. Better mattress, and the closet door was broken. The view was amazing.

Lile

The rooms need to be updated. The cigar smell is horrible

This hotel is truly an historical site that stretches over a century. The Melia's facade as well as its interior showcases the grandiosity of times past. Its location in Ponce situates it at the true center of the city, across its plaza and museums. The Melia staff, specially Nelson Maldonado at the front desk, made sure that we had a pleasurable stay. You have direct access to a car parking area right from the hotel ($6 per night) . From our room's balcony we could see the Fire House Museum at the end of the street (worth a visit). Although the WiFi connection was not very strong in the room, we enjoyed the live music at the lobby's restaurant. Make sure you try some delicious ice cream at the shop next to the hotel's main entrance!

Room where clean but mirror in the bathroom was falling from wall. Other than that is a good place to stay.

No hay servicio de limpieza de los cuartos todos los días, el estacionamiento es limitado e incluso díficil ya que acomodan hasta vehículos de otros hoteles.

Booked two rooms here. 1 room was all good older and tasteful, comfortable bed and 2nd room was kinda motel vibes, needed updates badly. Bed was terrible. But staff was friendly and trying to do their best with what they had available.

Beautiful and classic

Me encantó la decoracion colonial, y todo blanco, la ducha tiene excelente presión de agua. Era nuestra primera noche de bodas y dormimos muy bein!

El area del Bar esta espectacular,todo muy fino y elegante con musica de fondo digna del lugar y como complemento los traguitos, los aperitivos irresistibles y el servicio exelente.

I like it!

This establishment impressed me with its impeccable cleanliness, a definite plus. However, the building's age is apparent, particularly in the older rooms. My room, for instance, featured a traditional lock and key, which felt somewhat antiquated. Upon check-in, I received a discount voucher for the on-site restaurant, a nice gesture, though I didn't have the opportunity to use it. The elevator, unfortunately, was a point of concern; its vintage nature made for a slightly unsettling ride, and an update would be a welcome improvement. Despite these minor drawbacks, the overall experience was positive and satisfactory.