Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico

We are staying in San Juan November 24, 2017 for 2 nights before we board our cruise. We have previously been booked with 2 different hotels, the first one was destroyed by the hurricane and the second hotel, Intercontinental took our reservation but have now cancelled it because they are only allowing people that are in San Juan working on the recovery effort to stay there. Any suggestions on hotels that will be open and allowing guests on November 24, 2017??

thanks for any help

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

While you will probably get some input on this board, let me recommend that you also post this on the San Juan, PR ports of call board

found here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=131

Keith

We are staying in San Juan November 24, 2017 for 2 nights before we board our cruise. We have previously been booked with 2 different hotels, the first one was destroyed by the hurricane and the second hotel, Intercontinental took our reservation but have now cancelled it because they are only allowing people that are in San Juan working on the recovery effort to stay there. Any suggestions on hotels that will be open and allowing guests on November 24, 2017??

 

thanks for any help

I want to suggest that whatever hotel you choose, it's best to contact them directly rather than rely on the 800 number call center or corporate web site. I've read many reports of people who thought they had reservations, but found out that the hotel was not going to be ready once they called the local number.

I also wanted to welcome you to Cruise Critic.

When our reservation at the Hyatt was cancelled I found a room at Condado Vanderbilt (for early Nov). Good luck!

CALL the Doubletree - it's in the Condado district. It is at least being listed on the Hilton site as having a few rooms left.

CALL the Doubletree - it's in the Condado district. It is at least being listed on the Hilton site as having a few rooms left.

I have no idea what conditon each hottel is in nor the pricing given so many hotels are not taking guests, but I would inquire at the Ritz. On the beach in Isla Verde area.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Do agree -- after you look up some hotels online -- call them personally. And expect to pay higher than normal prices.

I have no idea what conditon each hottel is in nor the pricing given so many hotels are not taking guests, but I would inquire at the Ritz. On the beach in Isla Verde area.

Nope. It's not open yet. Got that from my Marriott Friends. One was working at the Dorado Ritz Carlton. But, neither Ritz Carlton (they hate it when people say "The Ritz" - that's a hotel in London ;-) ) is open yet. According to their info, the RC San Juan won't open until maybe April 2018. The Reserve in Dorado may open late November.

Keep an eye on their restoration website: http://www.paradisebymarriott.com/updates

This was posted in another thread:

http://puertoriconow.seepuertorico.com/hotels

Nope. It's not open yet. Got that from my Marriott Friends. One was working at the Dorado Ritz Carlton. But, neither Ritz Carlton (they hate it when people say "The Ritz" - that's a hotel in London ;-) ) is open yet. According to their info, the RC San Juan won't open until maybe April 2018. The Reserve in Dorado may open late November.

 

Keep an eye on their restoration website: http://www.paradisebymarriott.com/updates

Good information.

Keith

Nope. It's not open yet. Got that from my Marriott Friends. One was working at the Dorado Ritz Carlton. But, neither Ritz Carlton (they hate it when people say "The Ritz" - that's a hotel in London ;-) ) is open yet. According to their info, the RC San Juan won't open until maybe April 2018. The Reserve in Dorado may open late November.

 

Keep an eye on their restoration website: http://www.paradisebymarriott.com/updates

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the info.

the Ritz is also in Boston, New York, Montreal, and many, many, other cities. Who cares employees hate when people refer to their hotel abbreviated as long as they book and stay there. :D :) A little full of themselves? :D

the Ritz is also in Boston, New York, Montreal, and many, many, other cities. Who cares employees hate when people refer to their hotel abbreviated as long as they book and stay there. :D :) A little full of themselves? :D

They deal with entitled, full-of-themselves twits who walk around with their holier-than-thou noses stuck up in the air as guests day in and day out. They are proud of their hotels - it is denigrating to them when someone refers to their hotels in a less-than-respectable manner.

The Ritz Carlton brand is around the world, just like Waldorf=Astoria and St. Regis and Four Seasons and Aman. I've never heard anyone say "the Reeg" for St. Regis. I've never heard anyone say "the Four."...

The Ritz is an uber-high-end hotel in London.

To use an abbreviation (like ULCC, NBA, WN) instead of a full name will not help someone who does not know what the abbreviation is used in place of it's full name. Someone may see "The Ritz" and try to search for it and not find a "Ritz" hotel, not knowing that the full brand name is Ritz Carlton.

Back on topic: There is a big recruiting effort going on to help find Puerto Rican hotel workers positions in Mainland hotels. Some of the PR hotels won't open for a long time, and those employees have to find jobs somewhere. It will be interesting to see how many come back.

 

...

 

Back on topic: There is a big recruiting effort going on to help find Puerto Rican hotel workers positions in Mainland hotels. Some of the PR hotels won't open for a long time, and those employees have to find jobs somewhere. It will be interesting to see how many come back.

Interesting -- are there many openings at mainland hotels needing to be filled, or is it likely to be a temporary staffing-up?

Interesting -- are there many openings at mainland hotels needing to be filled, or is it likely to be a temporary staffing-up?

Depends on how you define "temporary"... It's the start of the Winter Tourist season for Ski Resort towns, and places like Florida and Arizona for those seeking warm weather vacations. Every hotel/restaurant/ski resort/beach concession hires seasonal staff. Those positions would most likely be for November-April. I've had staff come to hotels I've work at for temporary work for a season when hotels were undergoing renovations. Sometimes, people will return "home", but some will decide they like it enough to turn to year-round, or find another year-round position at another hotel. I have one agent who is from Jamaica: she works at our hotel in the winter season and returns to Jamaica for the summer. There is a houseman (part of Housekeeping - the ones who don't clean, but bring the stuff to the rooms, etc.) who works at our hotel in the winter, and then goes to Nantucket for the summer season. For some of the big chain brands, there could be some special assistance for those from Puerto Rico willing to go to another hotel for awhile, like eligibility requirements for benefits, housing assistance. And, some of those chains are willing to step up and say "you may work here and return to your other job as soon as the hotel is ready." Lots of possibilities.

Makes sense - and I suppose a lot of the winter season hires might come from areas - such as New England coast summer resorts - which see huge drops in business between October and May.

Makes sense - and I suppose a lot of the winter season hires might come from areas - such as New England coast summer resorts - which see huge drops in business between October and May.

You'd be surprised at the makeup of those seasonals; most are not from the US, outside of college kids on summer break. The workers get their visas and bounce between the winter and summer resorts. Not just hospitality. When I worked at a ski resort, there were so many there who worked as instructors and fifties and restaurant workers in North America in "our" winter, then went to South America or Australia for "their" winter. There is a lot of recruiting done in South America and Asia for seasonal workers. There have been some efforts by some of the recruiting firms to concentrate efforts in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean to try to help the victims of the Hurricanes.

CALL the Doubletree - it's in the Condado district. It is at least being listed on the Hilton site as having a few rooms left.

The Doubletree's Facebook page also indicates that they are open and welcoming guests. I switched our December reservations here after the Caribe Hilton cancelled our reservations. I also have backup reservations as the AC by Marriott and the Miramar Marriott Courtyard.