Hotel El Convento in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, hosts meetings, receptions, group dinners and weddings in five rooms that take between 10 and 220 guests. The hotel occupies a restored 17th-century Carmelite convent at 100 Calle del Cristo, in a district that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has a dedicated banquet kitchen and a hospitality team that helps plan group events.
Seminars and company events
The meetings page lists five spaces. The largest is Salon Campeche, which measures 2,800 square feet and holds up to 220 guests. It has marble floors, stained glass windows and a vaulted ceiling 50 feet high. It was a chapel in the 1600s and still shows its original murals and antique lanterns.
Salon Paoli (1,800 square feet, up to 100 guests) suits a day of presentations or a seated lunch for a mid-sized team. Salon Oller (1,008 square feet, up to 70 guests) is described as a cosy setting for receptions or meetings. Salon Martorell (820 square feet, up to 50 guests) was designed by the artist Antonio Martorell and pays homage to women in Spanish-language faith and literature. For board-level sessions, the Executive Boardroom (555 square feet) seats 10, with mahogany furnishings and a Smart TV.
The hotel does not publish capacity by layout, so ask which figures apply to theater, classroom or banquet seating before you choose a room.
Weddings and receptions
The hotel's planning form offers corporate events, weddings and other occasions as event types, and its wedding enquiries lead to a dedicated Old San Juan wedding site. Salon Oller is described as a setting for receptions. The hotel's pages do not state wedding capacities or ceremony spaces, so ask what the Salon Campeche chapel and the other rooms can hold for a wedding.
Rooms and capacities
In short: Salon Campeche up to 220 guests, Salon Paoli up to 100, Salon Oller up to 70, Salon Martorell up to 50 and the Executive Boardroom 10. The planning form asks for the number of guests, the number of rooms and the meals required, which helps the hotel match a room to a program.
Accommodation
The hotel offers guest rooms and Signature Suites. Its pages do not give the current number of rooms, so ask how many it can hold for your dates. A rooftop plunge pool has views of the city and the bay. Group stays come with special offers on food and beverage.
Catering
The hotel has a dedicated banquet kitchen, curated menus and gourmet catering. Its planning form lets you choose breakfast, lunch, dinner or appetisers for the event.
History and setting
King Philip IV of Spain approved a petition in 1646 to found a Carmelite convent in San Juan, and the building was inaugurated in July 1651. The hotel presents it as the first Carmelite convent in the Americas. Nuns lived there for 252 years, until it was vacated in 1903. The building then served as a shop, a dance hall and a flophouse. Robert Frederic Woolworth bought it in 1959 and turned it into a hotel of 100 rooms, which opened on January 27, 1962. It reopened in January 1997 after a later restoration.
The address, 100 Calle del Cristo, puts the hotel in the heart of Old San Juan.
