Romance abounds in the new Water & Beach Club Hotel, a boutique hot spot that sits beachside. 

Winter Weekend: San Juan

Sultry nights, endless salsa beats and some of the finest food in the hemisphere. Yes, it's easy to love San Juan. And with these hangouts (some new, some classic), our affection just grew deeper.

Night Spots

Piropos (1361 Calle Canals Esquina Iturriaga; 787/723-5577) is the standard bearer for that unmistakable mix of controlled mayhem in a tropical-chic setting. You’ll like the affordable tapas (try the stuffed peppers), but you’ll love the varied drink menu and open-air bar. Dance till the wee hours at Rumba (152 Calle San Sebastián; 787/725-4407), where rhythmic crowds, as well as the not-so-rhythmic, often spill out onto the cobblestone streets to cool off from moving to salsa beats.

Hotels

If you don’t believe romance and sensuality can be conveyed in a building, visit the Water & Beach Club Hotel (2 Tartak St., Isla Verde; 888/265-6699; waterbeachclubhotel.com). The boutique hot spot sits beachside, sports elevator waterfalls and echoes with the sounds of surf throughout its corridors. Liquid, the hotel’s main bar, has as many beautiful people as it does exotic drinks. For a more reserved respite, check out Old San Juan’s memorable grand dame, Hotel El Convento (100 Cristo St.; 800/468-2779; elconvento.com), which holds 70 finely appointed rooms inside a 350-year-old building, formerly a convent.

A Neighborhood We Love

A new generation has discovered the allure of the Campo Allegre District as scores of bars and restaurants (El Coco de Luis and Taberna los Vázquez are standouts) have sprouted in an area that once thrived as a colorful market. Some of the produce peddlers are still around (don’t miss Mercado Santurce), and you’ll love their timeworn shopfronts and easy banter.

New Restaurants

Panza (329 Recinto Sur, Old San Juan; 787/724-7722; cervantespr.com) is yet another reason to visit the comfortably elegant Cervantes Hotel. The menu—everything from roasted boar chop with white-bean chili in a plantain basket to lobster bisque with coconut—flaunts the planet’s latest culinary twists. Chayote (603 Ave. Miramar; 787/722-9385; chayoterestaurant.com) continues to shine as one of the most innovative bistros in town (mango flan, anyone?) in a setting that feels like a Caribbean artists’ salon.