The Ponce De Leon Hotel

My sister booked based on some cute online photos. The hotel is old and has history. It has a strong old building smell. The lobby is pretty. The staircase looks impressive, but has a note taped to the railing that says its unstable. The elevator is run down, a bit slow, and a little concerning. The girl at the front desk was pleasent, but not very helpful. When we arrived, they gave us a room with single bed when my sister had booked a room woth 2 beds. We had to come back downstairs and wait while she proved to them that she had already paid in full for the room type. They finally got us in the room with the correct number of beds. There is no designated parking. There are spots on the street, or there is a parking garage across the street. You pay every time you go on or out of the garage. If you leave your car for 24 hours, theater charge is $16. The new parking day begins at 5am. We ended up parking on the street in front of the hotel. During the day, you pay by meter, and can only stay for 2 hours, but from 10pm until 9am it is free and no time limit. The room: Shabby. Mattresses and box spring on floor level. Very close quarters. There is a closet with 3 hangers and a stand to put a suitcase on. No light in the closet. Only 2 lights in the main room, (Both were brighter than the sun) and 1 in bathroom. There is a mini fridge with 4 sodas and 2 waters (if you use them you will be charged extra), a microwave, and coffee machine, a TV that did not work. We did not use any of these. The bathroom sink was very slow to drain. The shower takes a long time to get not cold, but definitely not hot water. The water pressure was nonexistent it was like showering with a watering can above your head. The AC was cold enough, loud, and musty. The wood floor was filthy. There were loud noises like dropping things, walking, or moving about upstairs. This is sometimes supposedly attributed to a ghost, but it seemed more like just regular noise made by other guests. We were pretty much ok with most of this since we weren't spending a lot of time in the room. It is in a good location near restaurants and the Dali Museum and other places we were interested in are close. However after having to kill 2 bugs, we decided to cut our losses and leave a day early. I really hope that management/owners will upgrade it someday as the building has a lot of potential to be really an outstanding gem. Unfortunately, at present I do not recommend this hotel.

My husband and I thought this hotel would be a great choice for the price, location, and character. The pictures gave it a quaint vibe and the reviews were hit or miss. Welp, it was an absolute miss. I do not recommend this hotel. We checked in around 9:00 pm. Within five minutes of being in the room, I killed three small German cockroaches. The halls smelled of mold and mildew and were humid. The room was a little less humid and smelled a little less of mold and mildew. If you are sensitive to mold, do not stay here. I am and woke up sick. Sleep is not something you will get much of, if you are a light sleeper. The walls are incredibly thin between rooms and outside. We stayed on a Saturday night and I was not able to fall asleep until approximately 6:00 am. Bass from neighboring bars echoed through the room. Motorcycles, cars, people talking and yelling could be heard clearly on the third floor. The floors in the room and bathroom were sticky. There were eyelashes, hair, snot, and roaches in the bathroom. The shower head was cast in hard water build up and barely sprayed. The hot water, even after allowing it to run for the requested 2 minutes, only lasted 5. The bed was very uncomfortable and the springs dug into my ribs. I was surprised I didn't wake up to bugs crawling on me or bed bug bites. The elevator is terrifying. The floor flexes when going up and feels like your going to fall through. It almost feels like being hoisted in an industrial cardboard box. We decided to use the stairs instead. The staircase has sections where the metal is rusted out. It seems to be a miracle this building is still standing. Don't let the pictures fool you. This place does not have a cute vibe in person. It's dilapidated, gross, and does not look structurally sound. There are several better hotels within a couple of blocks of this one.

This is a cool hotel because of the history but it doesn't have much character inside. The lobby is tiny and the rooms are dated. The bar downstairs and restaurant nextdoor are great! You can't beat the location but be aware that you also have to pay for parking across the street which is 16 a day. As others have noted the water pressure leaves a lot to be desired and I wasn't able to get hot water but it was warm. If you can get a good deal on a room it's fine but I wouldn't choose this hotel over others in the area for the same price. The front desk woman was super nice and helpful though!!! Not a bad experience but meh overall.

If you just want a place to lay your head this is a great location, within walking distance of everything. Hotel however is basic, old and not well cared for. The staff we encountered were not very friendly and if you arrive on a Saturday evening all of the nearby parking garages are full.

The only good thing about this hotel was the downtown location if you enjoy the weekend events and bars. We fully expected the building to have a historic feel, creaky floors, and even smell.. but the level of unkept and dirty was unbelievable. So much so we opted to shower at a friends hotel instead of our own. Water never got close to warm despite the 1-2 minute sign suggestion and the shower head/curtain was diabolical. The window literally came completely off the frame in bathroom when we tried to open it for some ventilation. The elevator was tiny and frankly terrifying to ride. Bed was nice if you like sleeping on a rock. The AI photos they post for booking are no where near what you’re actually booking. Just don’t, spend the extra money somewhere else, cause this wasn’t worth it.. at least for room 402.

The Ponce De Leon has a really cool historical vibe, and I hope that it will see a revitalization to maintain it's charm in the near future, because I fear that it is beginning to fall apart. I have a feeling that your experience will vary heavily based on what room you get. We were in one of the larger rooms on the 5th floor. The staff at the front desk was great and helpful when we checked in. I believe his name is Eddy. If you need a quick, cheap place to stay with quirky charm, this will do the job. If you are looking for creature comforts and well-maintained luxury, this is not the place. I stayed here 3 years ago, and it was shabby, but it was generally clean and well-kept. I stayed again a couple of weeks ago, and our room was damp, the carpet was not properly installed, and there were large gaps in the baseboards and in an exterior wall leading outside. It was also a little grimy, in desperate need of a deep clean. The room I stayed in 3 years ago was not nearly as grimy. The other photos I see people post look a lot nicer than the room I stayed in, which makes me believe that your experience will vary depending which room you are in.

Historic old Florida hotel convenient to everything downtown. I've stayed here multiple times per year over the last decade +. Ownership changed. Service has declined since. Staff too busy on their phones to address issues. Rooms show age and neglect while rates increase. Beautiful neon sign out front is broken and neglected, an accurate example of what to expect inside. Sad really. 3 stars only because of the fond memories I have of past visits.

We stayed for 2 nights and 3 days and there were things in the room that didn’t work. ( a light and the remote for the tv) the room and the floor were dirty and the whole time we were there we had no hot water. The manager said we could get a refund, but because we booked with booking.com he said we had to get the refund from them, but they wouldn’t give a refund and said the hotel should give us the refund. So almost a month later and still no refund!!! Both the hotel and booking.com screwed us over on one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve ever had. For piece of mind I would avoid this hotel and booking site and stay somewhere else.

There’s nothing much to say… worst place I’ve ever stayed.

Shower water was COLD. Hotel said they would reimburse me but that I had to go through the third party I booked with (Agoda.) Agoda contacted them again and again but hotel did not respond. Every time I contacted the hotel they told me to call Agoda. I said the hotel wasn't responding to their emails. DO NOT STAY HERE.