Accommodations

Hacienda Gripiñas (Carr. 527, km 2.5, 787/828-1717 or 787/828-1718, fax 787/828-1719, gripinas [at] excite [dot] com, www.haciendagripinas.com [1], $112 s, $159 d, includes breakfast, dinner, and taxes), built in 1858, was once one of the island’s most prosperous coffee plantations. Today, its white wooden structures with green trim and red tin roofs are a unique hotel surrounded by the majestic mountains of the Cordillera Central [2]. The accommodations are rustic but comfortable and include modern bathrooms, excellent beds, air-conditioning, local TV, and amazing mountain views. Some rooms have private balconies, but for those that don’t, there is a lovely large common porch with rocking chairs and hammocks overlooking the lush grounds thick with birds and coqui tree frogs. The Restaurante Don Pedro serves Puerto Rican cuisine. Amenities have been recently updated with the addition of two swimming pools and a bar.

Hacienda Casa Taína (Carr. 528, km 1.8, 787/828-2270, 787/828-2271, or 787/828- 2272, casataina [at] jayuya [dot] net, www.haciendacasataina.com [3], $85 one-bedroom, $150 two-bedroom) is a lovely new Spanish Colonial–style hotel with tiled roofs and nicely landscaped grounds with gorgeous views of the mountains. Rooms are brightly painted but sparsely furnished. Amenities include a pool, poolside bar, and restaurant.

Posada Jayuya (49 Guillermo Esteyes, 787/828-7250, fax 787/828-3842, $87 s, $98 d, tax included) is a simple no-frills hotel in the town of Jayuya [4]. The rooms feature modern bathrooms and quality beds, air-conditioning, cable TV, and mini-refrigerators. There’s a pool on-site, but no restaurant or bar, although a free continental breakfast is served on weekends and holidays.