Retail in San Juan
As soon as you step into Old San Juan, you will find yourself in a shopaholic’s paradise. Here you will find almost everything you may be looking for and even stumble into one or two surprises.
The busiest business in the Old City is concentrated on three of its main streets: San Francisco, Cristo, and Fortaleza Streets. These streets are where most of the stores are located.
San Juan is a widely known destination for buying jewelry. Club Jibarito and Blue Diamond are some of the exclusive high-end jewelry stores that you can visit. Alternatively, you can go places like Oriany and Joyeria Consuegra where there is more variety in quality and prices. You can also find high quality brand watches in many of the stores that line up these streets.
Many world-class designer’s brands have stores in Old San Juan. Factory outlets like Coach, Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, Sunglass Hut, and Swatch Watches can be found on the streets mentioned above. Down by the bay at Comercio Street, right in front of the cruise port, there is a strip where you can visit Polo Ralph Lauren, Harley Davidson, and Foot Locker outlets. Walgreens and CVS have big stores on that strip as well.
Just a short walk from that strip you will get to Plaza Dársenas, a small but busy square facing the bay. There you can get some of the most original local arts and crafts in town. Handcrafted leather goods, hand-rolled cigars, tasty traditional sweets and treats are among of the authentic local wonders to be acquired here. Rum lovers will be ecstatic to visit La Casita de Rones. This sophisticated venue hosts a beautiful seafront bar, an inside bar, a restaurant and a shop. Here you can enjoy or buy 26 different kinds of Puertorrican rums to drink in-house or to take home as gifts or for yourself. For more local arts & crafts, visit Plaza Colón, one of the most important squares in the city in itself, it receives local artisans from all over the island from time to time. Try it!
Cristo, Fortaleza and San Francisco Streets are also brimming with all kinds of arts and crafts, souvenir and gift shops for every taste, preference and budget. If you are looking for an elegant hat, as a gift or to protect yourself from the Caribbean sun, try Panama Hats at Cristo St. Looking for a stylish place to buy and smoke a good quality cigar? Visit the Cigar House or KEK Cigarette & Smoke Lounge. Curious readers must be sure to step into Librería Laberinto for a great selection of Puertorrican and international literature, both, in English and Spanish. It is located at Cruz St, between Fortaleza and Tetuan Streets.
There is an impressive amount of places where you can get very high-quality local art, fashion, accessories, jewelry and clothing designed by Puertorrican artists. The island offers a vibrant scene for buying local. Check out some fine examples of these kind of stores that we highly recommend: Origen is a store where you can find excellent jewelry and art handcrafted and designed by Puertorrican artists. Concalma and Pure Soul do the same for locally designed clothes and accessories. Coconut People specializes in local designers swimsuits. We strongly encourage you to sponsor our local fare by asking around and visiting our local stores for traditional products made in Puerto Rico.
shopping malls
Image by Moebiusuibeom-en.
Just minutes away from our hotel, in the vicinity of the Old City, the versatility and convenience of mall-shopping is right at your fingertips. Two of the most important malls in the island are easily reachable from our hotel to make sure you do not miss the opportunity to shop till you drop.
Plaza las Americas: “Plaza” (as it is affectionately and authoritatively called by the locals) is the largest mega-mall in the Caribbean. Housing over 300 local and international shops, plus 40 restaurants, in over a 1.8 million square-foot expanse and three levels, you can be sure to find all the stores you know and love, and new ones you will love to discover. It boasts to being home of the world’s largest JC Penny’s and Sear’s department stores and a 13 screen cinemaplex showing the latest releases, both, in English and Spanish. Located at .525 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Av., in Hato Rey, it is just a 10-15 minute taxi ride from our hotel and easily reachable by public transportation. The mall is open Monday through Saturday, from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, and Sundays, from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. There is assistance for people with disabilities and mothers with babies have use of a comfortable nursing room there. If it exists, you can probably find it in Plaza.
Mall of San Juan: This upscale 650,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art mall is the perfect place for shopping, eating and enjoying yourself in style. With more than 100 stores and restaurants across three levels, you are guaranteed to house most international and many local designers and brands, combining a one-of-a-kind mix of luxury, lifestyle and fast-fashion retailers. Conveniently located right at one end of the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge that crosses San José Lagoon, the mall is just 15 minutes away from our hotel and 5 minutes from the Luís Muñoz Marín Airport. It is open from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm, Mondays thru Sundays. The Mall of San Juan is sophisticated shopping at its best.
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