AC Hotel Opens in San Juan’s Condado Neighborhood

Marriott has opened its first-ever AC Hotel in the Caribbean: the AC Hotel by Marriott San Juan Condado.

Set in the increasingly chic residential district of Condado, the design-heavy hotel has 233 brand new guestrooms, including 46 suites.

Onsite amenities include the AC Kitchen, AC Lounge restaurant, a fitness center, a business center and a rooftop bar and swimming pool.

A balcony at AC San Juan.

AC is Marriott’s European-inspired design brand, which has until now focused largely the United States, Europe and Latin America. (AC was founded by hotelier Antonio Catalan in Spain in 1998)

The new hotel is the result of a “comprehensive” renovation of what was the former Radisson Ambassador Plaza & Casino, a project that broke ground in the summer of 2016.

And it’s just the beginning of what could be a wider push for the brand in the Caribbean, led by a high-profile partnership Marriott signed with Sandals Resorts International to open an AC Hotel in Kingston.

And it’s part of a small but burgeoning trend in the Caribbean toward hipper, more “authentic” hotels, from the Curio Collection by Hilton’s expansion in Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Belize to the growth of Hyatt’s Centric brand, which is planning to expand to Barbados.

— Alexander Britell