CAÑA - Fairmont El San Juan Hotel

Review summary

1. D

   Doug

   VIP

   Chicago

   3 reviews

   1.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 2

   Had their Christmas dinner menu this week. It was HORRIBLE. For only having 2 options to choose from per course and a not very full restaurant, the food arrived very slowly and was always luke warm at best. The lobster bisque didn't have a single actual piece of lobster in it, the ravioli pasta was too thick and undercooked, and the beef tenderloin barely had a sear on it and the "gnocchi" that came with it were so dense/chewy and the sauce covering them seemed like alfredo from a can. I have low expectations for hotel restaurants but man this one was beyond the pale in terms of how bad it was. Zero service (waitress was short with us and just dropped the food off without a word) and on the patio they had this fake audio of birds singing that was SO LOUD, and the waitress just laughed at us when we asked if we could then it down.
   

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2. L

   Leander

   VIP

   New York City

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 4

   Our family of 5 dined here for Christmas dinner - the four course meal. While everyone was friendly, the food was not very good - cold and not well seasoned. For $100 pp, the “experience” left a lot to be desired. We left after the second course. The restaurant adjusted the cost for the final course, which was appreciated. Hopefully, it was an off night.
   

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3. M

   Mayra

   Miami

   6 reviews

   5.0

   6 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Excelente los course , me buscaron otra alternativa , soy alérgica a pescados y mariscos. Y buscaron otra alternativa.
   

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4. M

   Mayra

   Miami

   6 reviews

   4.0

   6 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Estupendo , comida , servicio y ambiente . Ayer estuve en cena .
   

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5. E

   Ester

   Caribbean

   2 reviews

   4.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   We had reservations for noon. Arrived a bit early and were told the restaurant was closed and to go to the pool bar. I was confused and asked the bartender. He said that they close to clean after breakfast and to go back at noon. My party had the chicken sandwich (very good), the hamburger ( good but he asked for medium rare and got medium well) the Mahi tacos (very plain fish with pickled cabbage and sauce), and I had the snapper. The snapper was very oily and left grease all over the fried I had as a side. Gabriel, our server, was very nice.
   

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6. A

   Arlene

   New York City

   7 reviews

   1.0

   7 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Made a reservation here for Christmas Eve dinner. The restaurant itself was fine in terms of service and the hardworking waitstaff who were doing their best at their jobs. The issue we had was the fact that we were not guests of the ESJ Fairmont hotel and they do not offer complimentary parking for people dining here, which is absolutely ridiculous, especially since we ended up spending over $350 dollars for an underwhelming, subpar buffet meal for 3 people, to which inexplicable “food” taxes were lobbed on to the bill. The most offensive aspect was being told the parking would be validated by the hostess and then finding out (later at the pay gate) that there is only a $5.00 discount taken off for the first hour of parking. After trying to contact someone on the phone, we were hung up on so we had to repark our vehicle and physically go back to the restaurant to be told “whoops, it’s not “validated” parking, but a $5.00 off discount”the restaurant referred us to the hotel front desk to check to see if they could remediate the situation. Long story short, after spending almost an hour trying to get the parking validated, being told since it was Christmas Eve, they would fix the situation, the restaurant manager, Vivian, completely dropped the ball. Instead of salvaging a bad experience, with professionalism, she chose to be lazy, and simply did nothing to help improve a ruined customer experience. This has definitely put us off to ever considering staying at this property because if this manager,along with a horrible customer experience on a holiday is the best the Fairmont has to offer, hard pass.
   

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7. K

   Karen

   Washington DC

   27 reviews

   2.0

   27 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 5

   Christmas Eve buffet was wildly expensive and the food was meh.
   

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8. I

   Ivette

   Caribbean

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Staff was very friendly and great atmosphere. We enjoyed all of the food.
   

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9. M

   Mayra

   Miami

   6 reviews

   4.0

   6 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Muy bonita , la comida excelente y el mozo muy amable .
   

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10. L

    Luz

    Southwest Florida

    18 reviews

    3.0

    18 reviews

    Dined 2 days ago

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 2

    I expected better, except for the roast suckling pig and the green banana escabeche, the rest was horrible. It published a festive ambiance, no music, nothing except for an employee dragging chairs back and forth for least 45 minutes. We were blessed with a charming waitress, who was funny and kind. I requested an indoor table and was totally ignored. We were serenaded by coquis. I canceled my Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve dinners.
    

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