Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has come under fire for dropping tens of thousands of dollars on hotels and restaurants in Puerto Rico.
The Democratic representative reportedly spent almost $50,000 on stay and food in the third quarter of 2025 alone.
Fox News first reported that AOC’s principal campaign committee spent $680.52 on July 28 for a stay at the lavish Hotel Palacio Provincial in San Juan.
Highlights
- AOC's campaign spent nearly $50,000 on hotels and restaurants in Puerto Rico during Q3, sparking criticism.
- Expenditures included $15,489 on accommodations and over $10,743 on meals at upscale San Juan restaurants.
- AOC’s team says she frequently travels to Puerto Rico to support local causes and grassroots organizing.
- Outside Puerto Rico, her campaign spent thousands on luxury hotels and high-end catering in D.C. and New York.
AOC reportedly spent $50,000 on food and accommodation in Puerto Rico in the third quarter of 2025 alone
Image credits: aoc/Instagram
Just a month later, on August 29, she spent another $1,507.26, and $9,440,79 on September 29.
Third-quarter federal campaign finance filings show these expenditures around the same time AOC was denouncing gentrification in Puerto Rico on her social media.
AOC and her mother, who was born in Puerto Rico, attended a Bad Bunny concert in San Juan with fellow New York Rep. Nydia Velázquez and several celebrities, including Austin Butler and Penelope Cruz, in August.
Fox News reported that her campaign shelled out more than $23,000 on “venue rental” at the same location as Bad Bunny’s concert, the Coliseo De Puerto Rico, on June 24 and August 25.
However, it’s not clear if the expenses were related to the Bad Bunny shows.
Image credits: Hotel Palacio Provincial
All in all, her campaign spent over $15,489.77 for accommodation in Puerto Rico between July 1 and September 30. At least $10,743.13 was spent on “catering and meals,” including at high-end restaurants in San Juan, such as Cocina Abierta, Cocina al Fondo, and Verde Mesa.
A campaign manager for AOC, Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben, responded in a statement that Ocasio-Cortez “regularly travels to Puerto Rico to support local causes and host events that require both staff and security.”
“She is deeply proud of her investment in grassroots organizing and will continue to be active in advocating for both people on the island and the millions of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora,” Hidalgo-Wohlleben added.
Outside of Puerto Rico, AOC has had multi-thousand-dollar hotel expenditures as well, staying at boutique luxury hotels and expensive caterers during the same third-quarter filing period.
Image credits: aoc/Instagram
She spent nearly $5,000 at the Hotel Vermont in Burlington, following an April visit where her bill was over $1,600, according to her second-quarter filings.
Her campaign also spent almost $2,000 for a stay at the Thompson Central Park hotel, an “upscale boutique hotel near Central Park.” Another hotel listed was The Arlo Williamsburg, a Brooklyn hotel with a rooftop pool and bar. She dropped $3,000 on her stay there.
AOC’s filings also showed thousands of dollars being spent at high-end restaurants, such as a $6,300 bill at a D.C. restaurant called Ama.
Her campaign also spent $4,500 on ice cream from Mr. Ding-a-ling Ice Cream in New York, along with another $4,400 spent on catering from D.C.-area executive chef Caleb Jang.
Her campaign spent thousands on boutique hotels and high-end catering outside of Puerto Rico as well
Image credits: Hotel Vermont
AOC also spent anywhere between a few hundred and $7,000 at other high-end restaurants such as El Secreto De Rosita in D.C., Hen of the Wood in Vermont, Central Park Boathouse, and Mottley Kitchen in the Bronx.
AOC was first elected in 2018 and has since become a well-known name among progressive Democrats, amassing a huge social media following. She has advocated causes such as Medicare for All, affordable housing, and climate action through the Green New Deal.
She has also positioned herself as a staunch opponent of President Donald Trump while fighting for the working class.
Image credits: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“We have to run from the bottom up,” she said last year. “The demands of the working class, like better wages, must be front and center.”
She also promised to do so in 2019, when she announced her staffers would make a minimum of $52,000 per year, earning some of the highest starting salaries. “We pinch pennies elsewhere, but it’s worth every dime to pay a living wage,” she said at the time.