V Starr Reimagines San Juan’s Condado Palm Inn by Infusing Local Culture, Hotel’s History

Condado Palm Inn, located in the heart of San Juan, Puerto Rico’s beachfront Condado neighborhood, was seeking a refresh of 88 guestrooms and corridors in one of its two towers.

In September 2021, the hotel commissioned West Palm Beach, Florida-based interior design firm V Starr, founded by professional tennis player Venus Williams, for a redesign that would intimately connect the property to its coastal surroundings and culture, yet add a retro vibe to reflect its 1960s origin.

The revision was part of a multimillion-dollar, property-wide transformation and rebranding of the former Best Western Plus Condado Palm Inn with the intention of becoming independent. However, the innovative modifications impressed the Tapestry Collection by Hilton, which led to Condado Palm Inn earning the Tapestry banner in August 2023. Tapestry selects original hotels for their unique and vibrant personalities and authentic connections to their destinations.

The property’s newly attained status was validation of V Starr’s work.

“That means we did our job and succeeded,” says V Starr CEO Sonya Haffey. “We gave them enough of an independence and enough of an aesthetic that Tapestry signed it. Tapestry is well-known for its boutique style and being very true to the surroundings.”

Adding Local Experience and Flavor

V Starr infused the property’s once-nondescript spaces with the island’s dynamic energy and culture through a mix of colors, textures, and custom furnishings. These spaces were previously simple and lacked a connection to the area, explains Haffey.

“The tower was outdated,” she notes. “It felt a little flat. It didn’t reflect the surroundings, the vibrancy, the people, or the energy of the area. It didn’t do justice to the property itself and its location in proximity to the beach and live music.”

V Starr drew inspiration from the coastal surroundings, using a palette of palm green, teals, blushes, and peaches to reflect San Juan’s lush landscape and sunrises. The team also incorporated natural wood and rattan elements to reflect the beachy locale.

The palm green accents—including palm-adorned drapery and playful, palm floor lamps—honor the hotel’s namesake and natural environment. Continuing the theme in the corridors, V Starr used coral and palm green accents and designed an abstract palm mural. The hallways are sunny and bright with sand-colored flooring.

The refresh was also shaped by Condado Palm Inn’s history and bringing its 1960s retro elegance back to life, Haffey explains.

“It’s a contemporary version of what you might have seen in the 1960s with custom furnishings featuring soft, curved edges and scalloped silhouettes,” she points out.

Additionally, V Starr added modern elements including color-blocked painted walls for a fresh look. Also, Haffey says, given the climate’s humidity, paint for exterior walls is superior to wallcoverings due to the potential for mold.

Catering to All Travelers

The new double queen and king suites offer a beautiful getaway but also provide special considerations for the hotel’s steady business sector. The guestrooms cater to leisure, business, and “bleisure” travelers. Bleisure travel simply means that employees are combining leisure and business travel, which was accelerated by the pandemic.

With the rise in remote work, conventional boundaries between work and personal life blurred, encouraging professionals to seek opportunities to relax and refresh during their work obligations.

To accommodate this trend, V Starr utilized custom furnishings with functional style including dedicated work desks and vanities and velvet headboards integrating task lighting. Sconces added more light and detail. Guests can work on their laptop from a small table, looking out over the ocean. Or they can move the chair in front of the color-blocked wall for a video conference call backdrop.

‘Pet Project’ and Sustainability

Haffey describes the hotel’s redesign as a “pet project.”

“It’s such a beautiful, vibrant community and close to home, and one of our company’s pillars is sustainability,” she explains. “We enjoy renovation projects because your structure is standing. You’re not demolishing. You’re not building new. You’re reinventing what’s already there.”

Haffey recommends that other owners and design teams consider renovations of existing buildings, and then, “See what you can keep,” she notes. “Just because it’s an older building, don’t dismiss it and demolish the whole thing. For a lot of people in the world now, their interest lies in renovated properties and their unique qualities.”  

Overcoming Challenges

With that said, reimagining older buildings poses challenges, including space planning. Because Condado Palm Inn was constructed six decades ago and underwent previous renovations, there were variations in room sizes and configurations. Some rooms were unique, but no one really knew which ones, explains Haffey.

“You had to walk every single room to tell which ones were different,” she adds. “Maybe the wall space is smaller because it’s the corner, and this is the only room like this.”

The design team adapted. For example, V Starr didn’t utilize built-in nightstands because some rooms were tighter with space for one nightstand, while others could accommodate two. Also challenging was integrating new lighting and USB charging as electric outlets had been moved over time, so “finding where you can get power was interesting,” Haffey notes.

Haffey’s Advice?

For teams reimagining older buildings, she recommends utilizing laser scanning to capture precise detailed data for every space in the structure.

“Have somebody come in and scan the building using modern-day technology and modern-day software, so you know what you have,” Haffey says. “That’s going to help you with any future renovations and maintenance.

“You’re going to know where your electrical and plumbing are in every single room,” she continues. “You’re going to know what you’re dealing with. That can only help the owner in the end when you have a renovation, whether it’s soft or hard. It can help with getting takeoff and paying less in labor.”