A four-year restoration turned the Miramar family home of "Don Rafa" into a 36-suite boutique hotel and residences, developed entirely by Puerto Rican talent under Iván Zavala Steidel. Opened in January 2023, it was named Puerto Rico's Leading Boutique Hotel at the 2023 World Travel Awards, with rooftop restaurant Canvas as its dining centerpiece.
The essentials
Group Independent (In Réalta Grupo Inmobiliario)
Opening January 2023
Rooms & suites 36 suites
Segment Boutique / Upscale
Designer NC
Entry rate From $180 Learn more → The place Set on Avenida Miramar in the historic Miramar district, a residential neighborhood a short walk from Condado Beach and the lagoon.
The concept Don Rafa converts a mid-20th-century family home (built, per the hotel's own account, by a Spanish immigrant entrepreneur to house his extended family) into a 36-suite boutique hotel and residences. Puerto Rican developer Iván Zavala Steidel, founder of In Réalta Grupo Inmobiliario, led a four-year renovation designed and executed entirely by local talent, filling the property with original artwork by Puerto Rican artists. It opened in January 2023 and was named Puerto Rico's Leading Boutique Hotel at the World Travel Awards that same year, seven months after its soft opening.
Dining & wellness Canvas, the hotel's rooftop restaurant, anchors dining with panoramic San Juan views, alongside a Sun Deck pool and cabana bar; the property also runs a cocktail-and-tapas lounge, a gym and a wellness studio. Specific spa treatments are not confirmed.
Our take A well-told conversion story (family home to boutique hotel, entirely Puerto Rican-led) that mostly lives up to the pitch in Miramar, a neighborhood still under-hotelled relative to Condado; the mix of suites and full residences makes it as much a long-stay option as a boutique overnight.
Google guest reviews 4.8/5 · 327 reviews
Had the pleasure to visit Don Rafa last weekend. The aesthetics, and experience exceeded expectations. All senses are greeted warmly, upon entry. from the charming welcoming valet, the scents of the rich puerto Rican art/culture and history of Don Rafa, the attention to detail,, location and food at Canvas, both worthy of praise and a repeat visit! Don Rafa is A MUST stay, when in San Juan and Puerto Rico.
Don Rafa has a really cool, boutique feel from the moment you walk in. The lobby and common areas are stylish, modern, and thoughtfully designed, with a unique art-deco vibe that makes the place feel more like a design hotel than a typical stay. The breakfast area is pleasant, and overall the property looks clean and well put together.
Our room itself was just okay. It was a wheelchair-accessible room on the main floor right beside the front desk, which we hadn’t requested, and it ended up being quite loud because of the constant foot traffic and lobby noise. The elevator was also extremely slow, which made getting around the hotel a bit frustrating.
The policies felt unusually strict for a hotel in this price range. There was zero flexibility on late checkout, and early check-in costs $100 USD plus tax, which feels steep. What I found especially strange was a printed list of damage and replacement fees sitting in the drawer beside the bed, itemizing the cost of nearly everything in the room. It gave the stay a slightly uncomfortable, overly monitored feeling rather than a relaxed boutique-hotel experience. Staff was really knowledgeable and friendly!
Overall, the design and atmosphere are great, but the rigid policies, room placement, slow elevator, and fee list in the room took away from what could have been a much nicer stay.
Visited Puerto Rico for work and staying in the Miramar area was a must. I didn’t want a chain hotel and wanted to support local entrepreneurs. I found Don Rafa Boutique Hotel and it exceeded my expectations. Originally a two-night stay, it quickly became a three-night four-day experience. The service, rooms and staff made me feel right at home. Karla, Vincent, Omar and the other lady from Spain were always smiling and exuded a warm welcome. Being back in Puerto Rico, my homeland, made me feel truly at home. I wish this property and its staff the best. May God continue to bless them. It’s now my go-to hotel.
Boutique in the sense that it’s small, but service so lacking it just became a place for us to sleep and leave early each day. Rubbish check in experience, room wasn’t ready then was magically ready - we met the cleaning staff at the door to our room… Note we arrived at 4pm, (check in time) and had preadvised we’d be landing around 2.30pm so they had plenty of notice. No first time welcome/ tips / offer to help with reservations or excursions. Member of staff training at the desk was not well prepared and that definitely impacted our welcome experience.
Over our four days, no one greeted us when we entered and exited the foyer/ reception area. And we’re so clueless when we returned to collect our stored bags before heading to the airport (returning only 2/4 until we reminded them…).
Bedroom OK, good size main area but the bathroom is disappointing. No counter space whatsoever so you have to go back & forward with your toiletries and the extractor fan is extremely loud.
Rooftop pool area basically unserviced. We had to go to the foyer bar to order, the drinks were then brought to us at the pool after a long wait, no tray, served in (beautiful) glassware despite us being IN the pool. We also then couldn’t charge the drinks to the room so had to go to back to the room to grab a card.
Piano player in the foyer on Friday evenings - playing to no one - they’re trying to create a vibe that doesn’t really make a lot of sense.
Breakfast - stale croissants and muffins and a few loose piece of fruit. Finally the area where this hotel is located would not be my first choice when I return to PR. Long stretches of sidewalk with little to no street lighting, homeless people and super residential so as a tourist you feel rather out of place. Nearby restaurants also close at 10pm so make your reservations early or go hungry!
Unfortunately I cannot agree with the great reviews here. Sure, the hotel design is nice and I really appreciated that it had a gym, but in my opinion it’s crazy overpriced (280USD/ night).
The room was fine, but walls are thin and we woke up several times a night due to noise in the hallway. The bathroom was not cleaned well enough and there were some hairs in the shower. Also, I found it quite annoying that there was only one elevator in the hotel, you always had to wait. The rooftop does not have a lot of Charme but you could make so much more of it. Worst for me was the so called „Continental Breakfast“. This might be a cultural difference but most Europeans won‘t find much too eat here, except for whole fruit (which were already empty at 9:30). It was the unhealthiest breakfast I have ever seen with options of white toasts/ Bagels, sugary cereal (fruit loops & that stuff) and when I asked for yogurt (which also had been empty) it was flavored and contained also so much sugar (10 percent). Also it was questionable from a sustainability perspective because everything was in small packages & boxes. There was only one coffee pot for the whole hotel, so they had to brew another for 10 minutes with people all chasing the coffee (some could not wait and took it out while brewing so everything looked messy). Another guest asked if they could refill the milk, but the staff said „I can get you a glass but we don‘t refill, we just serve breakfast until 10.“ - it was 9:35. my suggestion would be: if you can’t serve proper breakfast with the resources you have, then don‘t serve breakfast at all.
Additionally, we booked a late checkout the night before (12 instead of 11) and still the housekeeping just entered our room at 10:50 - apparently it was a misunderstanding but they knocked again 11:50 so we felt quite rushed and unwelcome.
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