Vieques Hotels / Lodging

Casa de Amistad
Isla de Vieques, Puerto Rico

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Articles for Casa de Amistad

Until it was radically renovated in 2002 by a likable former resident of Wisconsin and Minnesota, Owen Smith, this boxy-looking, two-story cement building functioned as a battered and run-down boardinghouse that focused on cheap mattresses and cheap but bountiful meals for itinerant workers. Today, in far better-maintained premises, something of the same spirit still prevails, albeit in cleaner, more hip, and more convivial circumstances. Owen is a very hands-on manager, who, from the premises of a cottage in back, is always available for advice, counseling, or humor. There's the sense, on the building's ground floor, of something akin to a bohemian commune, thanks to the owner's friendly sense of informality, a tuck-away bar in one corner, a communal kitchen where residents are invited to prepare their own meals, a tiny "lending library" stocked with dog-eared paperback books, and a gift shop where some of Owen's artworks are on sale. Bedrooms are angular, tawny-colored units that evoke a summer beach hotel in Provincetown, Mass., or Fire Island, N.Y.: breezy and airy enclaves with simple but comfortable furniture and a sense of well-intentioned laissez-faire. Although any hotel on the island will genuinely welcome gay and lesbian clients, this is the guesthouse that does so the most visibly, attracting a clientele that, at least in high season, is about 50% gay. The establishment's social center is within a cement-walled courtyard, around a very small, L-shaped swimming pool sheathed in cerulean-blue tiles.

Facilities:Small outdoor pool; courtyard garden/sun terrace; rooftop sun deck; communal kitchen; TV room; small gift boutique