My wife and I stayed at the Lazy Parrot during January of 2008 for 5 days. We stayed at the Rincon Beach Resort for the first part of our stay because the Lazy Parrot had no availability for those days. In our opinion, the Lazy Parrot wins, hands down. It is a very good value for your dollar kind of place.

The good:
- Nice clean spacious room. Good bathroom. I really liked the balcony/patio outside of our Panoramic room.
- Continental breakfast in the morning. Always fresh and fully stocked. It was nice even to go sit out by the pool in the morning and have a cup of coffee.
- The Rum Shack. Love love love that place. Reggae night was a whole lot of fun.
- Smilin Joes. Great food even though it's a bit overpriced.

The Bad: (nothing really bad, just wanted the contrasting title)
- The roosters across the street. They woke me up at 4am our first night there. Second night had no problem with them
- The only other bad thing is that I am not there right now.

Some other Rincon highlights.....
- Tamboo. Good food, good people, good bar, great view, good times all around
- Rock Bottom. Awesome place to hang out
- Panderia Libonese. Best breakfast sandwiches in town.

Other than that, just rent a car and go explore. There is so much to see and do on the island.

I just returned from Puerto Rico where we spend part of our trip in Rincon at The Lazy Parrot Inn. It is nestled in the hills and has views of the ocean. We stayed in the new building - our room was comfortable, clean and nicely decorated with a large balcony overlooking the swimming pool. There is a casual, friendly feel to the place and it was a nice contrast to the large resort in San Juan where we had stayed. The pool is nice but the hot tub was cold during our visit. There are 2 restaurants, one outdoors by the pool which has a decent menu and good food. We did not eat at the restaurant upstairs which is a little more formal but the menu looked inviting. There are some lovely outdoor tables set in little secluded areas. There are 2 cages with parrots and love birds that our kids loved. Our stay included continental breakfast which again was eaten by the pool. While waiting for our dinner the first night, our kids played with other kids around the pool area while we chatted with other guests. It was definately relaxing for us and our children.

On the downside, when we arrived, we had already been in Peurto Rico for a week and had three big pieces of luggage. We had to lift them up a flight of stairs, then down a series of steps at the other side and then up two flights of stairs to our room!!! I asked if there was anyone to help with bags and was told no! On our departure, we discovered that we could drive down the side of the inn and bring our bags out by the bar but that still involved lugging them down two flights. Also, on our first night, the ice machine was out of ice and the blender to make frozen drinks was broken.

The second night we stayed, there was an engagement party by the pool and some other event going on and the place was crowded. We placed our order for dinner shortly before 8pm and at 8:40pm were told that they were out of one of the items that we ordered. I ordered a salad instead (thinking it would be quick) but by 9pm still no food and one of our kids had fallen asleep. At that point, we cancelled our order and went to our room. There was music blaring by the pool until 11pm which was right underneath our balcony. This may have been a once off - the waiter was really haried - but it might be worth checking with them if there are any parties scheduled during your stay.

Also, there is a small step-up going from the pool area to the breakfast area that is not that obvious and we noticed a few people trip over it. On the morning we were leaving, a woman fell over it dropping a glass plate and landed on a piece of broken glass that went into her knee. This is a definate hazard that could be easily rectified by painting the step up a bright color.

Pool hours are only from 10am to 6pm but did not seem to be strictly enforced. Our kids are early risers and bugged us from 8am to go in the pool but we did not permit them because of the rule. We were more comfortable with breaking it when other guests were swimming in the pool outside these hours. You also need your own towels to bring to the beach, which we did not know.

On the whole, we loved the ambiance and the casual laid back feel at the Lazy Parrot. I think we were unfortunate on our second night and that this may have been an anomoly. We would give it another try.

We were looking for a budget priced accomodation to rest our bodies for 5 nights so that we could enjoy the warmth of Rincon, Puerto Rico during the day time. The Lazy Parrot fit the bill perfectly. Our accomodations were simple and clean. Although the room was small and cozy, it was just right for my wife and I. Afterall, we didn't come to Rincon in the middle of the winter to stay in a room. We were there to enjoy the beaches, the sunshine, the people and the drinks! Booking the room over the Internet was easy. Franzia, the hostess answered any questions I had via e-mail. The check-in was easy. Considering the fact that we arrived at the Inn at about 1am, we had no trouble checking into our room as Franzia had given us instructions as to what to expect and where our key would be located. The Inn has a distinct tropical ambience to it. It has a quaint tropical setting, a nice pool and a soothing breeze, which always seemed to caress us any time of the day. The place was quiet during the day and a bit lively at night as it anchors a restaurant, Smilin' Joe's and a pool bar, The Rum Shack. We didn't get to sample the fare at Smilin' Joe's, but we did frequent The Rum Shack several times during our stay. We enjoyed their hot wings immensely.

A simple continental breakfast awaited us each morning and was just right to take us into lunch. Nothing fancy, but enough to suffice our appetites. For those travelers who are conscious of the environment, the Lazy Parrot is a Green Hotel. They do their best to conserve the resources with solar cells to heat their water, which brings to mind about the only slight inconvenience of our stay. Because one or two days were cloudy, for one day our shower water was not as warm as we would have liked it. And the hot tub wasn't that hot either. But we didn't need to use the hot tub and we took a quick shower. The remaining days our showers were hot.

To sum it up, if you are looking for elegance and pampering, the Lazy Parrot would most likely not be your style. But if you are a budget minded traveler, looking for a simple getaway mixed with some fun, in the hills of Rincon, you can't go wrong with this place. In fact, my wife and I hope to return there next winter.

Although I knew the hotel was not directly on the beach, I was very disappointed to discover that my "ocean view" room did not have a view of the ocean unless I was using binoculars. I stayed in the new addition and the room was spacious, well decorated and had a large balcony. There are no phones in the room so communicating with friends in other rooms is near impossible unless you use cell phones or yell from one balcony to another. Although the bathroom was very modern, it lacked sufficient lighting to even wash your face and you certainly couldn't see well enough to put makeup on. There were no shelves, etc in the shower stall to hold soap or hair products. We were there for 3 nights and on the first day they told us the hot tub needed a part for the heater. It never arrived. We actually left a day early (and of course they wouldn't refund any money; in fact, when we checked in they immediately charged us for the balance of our stay before even showing us to our rooms) and went to Ponce for a night before returning to San Juan. The hotel had been given great reviews and I was totally disappointed.