San Juan Hotels

[Annefran]

Hi All,

 

I will be sailing out of San Juan, PR next Spring and was looking for some recommendations for some nice, safe and reasonable hotels near the Pier. I've been to PR several times to visit relatives, who has since relocated but never stayed in a hotel. Would appreciate any opinions from our memebers.

 

Thanks, Anne;)

[superjerryw]

The only hotel that is really near the pier area is the Sheraton. You can acutally walk from the hotel to most of the piers which are only a block away. The problem is that there is another pier (forgot the name) that is apart from the others. RCI does use this other pier. It may be that RCI ships that are actually departing from San Juan use this other pier while RCI ships that are in port for the day use the more common pier area. In any case, the Sheraton usually commands a premium price due to its proimity to the pier area. There are numerous hotels in the Condado area which is only a few minutes from the pier area by taxi. This would include the Caribe Hilton and the Marriott. I have stayed at both and can recommend either one, however, they are pricey if you book directly. I got them both through Priceline at a considerable savings.

[Dubsolute]

I haven't been to PR yet, but I have close friends who stayed there for about a month. They say the Sheraton is a really nice hotel, very close to the piers. I wish I had booked this one, but I ended up booking our stay at the Caribe Hilton.

[Annefran]

Thanks for the helpful information members!

[Dave Hansen]

We stayed at this hotel in Feb. 06. It was a little over $100 per night.

It has just 29 rooms and used to be the Spanish Embassy in PR. It

took around 10 minutes to get to the cruise dock by cab. I did a

board about this place called "A Delightful San Juan Hotel" You'll

enjoy it

Happy Cruising

Dave Hansen

[Steven_&_Daniel]

I haven't been to PR yet, but I have close friends who stayed there for about a month. They say the Sheraton is a really nice hotel, very close to the piers. I wish I had booked this one, but I ended up booking our stay at the Caribe Hilton.

 

 

We loved the Caribe Hilton when we stayed there. Beautiful private beach.

[Dubsolute]

We loved the Caribe Hilton when we stayed there. Beautiful private beach.

 

I'm hoping we'll love it too. I'm not that picky. The only thing I require is a clean room.

[jazz1180]

I think the "closeness to the Pier" would depend on what cruiseline you're taking. Somewhere on here there is a thread with an aerial picture of San Juan and apparently there are 2 sets of Piers. Royal Caribbean leaves from the Pan Am Pier, and then there is another Pier where other cruiselines leave from (I think maybe Carnival and someone else). The two piers aren't near each other, so if you're looking for a hotel close to your embarkation pier, you need to figure out which one your cruiseline leaves from. We'll be sailing on the Adventure of the Seas and I was told that the Caribe Hilton was close by... not within walking distance, but a short cab ride.

 

Hope you have a great cruise!

[98Charlie]

I think the "closeness to the Pier" would depend on what cruiseline you're taking. Somewhere on here there is a thread with an aerial picture of San Juan and apparently there are 2 sets of Piers. Royal Caribbean leaves from the Pan Am Pier, and then there is another Pier where other cruiselines leave from (I think maybe Carnival and someone else). The two piers aren't near each other, so if you're looking for a hotel close to your embarkation pier, you need to figure out which one your cruiseline leaves from. We'll be sailing on the Adventure of the Seas and I was told that the Caribe Hilton was close by... not within walking distance, but a short cab ride.

 

Hope you have a great cruise!

 

The Caribe Hilton is indeed a short taxi ride from the Pan Am Pier. The beach and resort area grounds of the Caribe are beautiful as is the hotel. We stayed around the corner from the Caribe at the Normandie Hotel earlier this month.

 

Normandie was built in 1939 and restored only a few years ago. Structure was constructed to look a bit like a ship and is decorated in an Art Deco style that has to be seen to truly appreciate.

 

Caribe has several restaurant venues all open to the public so Normandie customers can use Caribe restaurants and vise versa. We ate dinner in the Normandie in an Italian style restaurant (operated by a S. American family:confused: ). Food was top notch.

 

Dinners at the two hotels averaged between $24 - $50 so be aware meals have a sticker shock. There is a combination Subway/TCBY style store located across the street, however.

 

Also be aware that SJ taxis have a luggage surcharge. It was $1 or $2 per piece of luggage.

 

Dianne

[jazz1180]

http://www.langland.org/cruises/sanjuan.asp

 

Here is the link to the map I mentioned... hope this helps.