HELP!!! My bid was accepted in PR

[Scorpiorose]

:confused: ....after trying for months to land a priceline bid for a hotel in San Juan for our AOS cruise in March, who knew.....it was accepted this morning. It's to a hotel I hadn't head of...the "Normandie Hotel" in San Juan, Munoz Rivera Ave. No one else on these board has mentioned this hotel! I'm sad too....it doesn't list a running tread mill on the list of services and I wont be able to run while staying there....any thoughts? Anyone know anything about this hotel? I easily got about $75-$100 off so.....:o

[volleyballmom87]

Go to tripadvisor.com and read the reviews of the people who have stayed there. It will either alleviate your concers or confirm them.

[cusyl]

I found this information for you on tripadvisor.com

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?q=normandie+hotel+puerto+rico&sub-search=Go

[Fury1995]

Just run around the floor in your hotel in a big oval. That'll get you warmed up for the jogging track onboard.;)

[Scorpiorose]

thanks guys....I love cc, I ask and I receive :p ! It does in fact have a fitness center and it seems it isn't far from OSJ, we'd like to go there! Anyone know how close to RCCL pier? Oh....and the prices on web sites is $100 more, so maybe I didn't do so badly! AND on the beach! Newly remodeled, I suppose not so bad after all!

[volleyballmom87]

It looks like the reviews are mixed. Make sure you look at where the poster is from (some parts of the US are pickier than others). Some people are NEVER happy. I don't know if you can read their other posts like you can on CC to see if they are just complainers. You also have to take into account that you are leaving the contiguous 48 and standards are different everywhere. If it is for 1 night or 2 it should not be such a big deal unless there are roaches crawling accross you face as you try to sleep. How much time do you spend in a hotel when you are someplace completely new, beautiful and interesting?

[Scorpiorose]

hum....checked the reviews but....we're just there pre cruise, late one night and one day....we'll make the best of it, I wouldn't like it if we paid full price and had those reviews, but with our bid the price is right so, we'll make due!

[chef_christoph]

Scorpiorose,

 

My girlfriend and I stayed at the Normandie last April for a night before our Panama Canal transit aboard Serenade.

 

We didn't mind the hotel. I didn't think it was great, but I certainly didn't think it was as bad as some of the reviews I have read made it seem.

 

Our room was large, had a king sized bed and separate office and sitting areas. The bathroom was nice but this is one area that you could definitely tell that this is a 65 year old building. They have changed some of the fixtures, but we noticed some missing tiles and the window was old and did not work properly. No big deal.

 

We didn't think the pool/beach area looked very nice, but since we were only staying there for one night, we didn't get a chance to use it.

 

We ate breakfast at the cafe in the lobby and enjoyed it. My girlfriend still raves about the coffee. She says that it's the best coffee she's ever had.

 

Because of the location of the hotel, you need to take a cab pretty much everywhere you go. There is a taxi stand right by the front of the hotel and we never had a problem getting a taxi when we wanted to go somewhere.

 

I would have no problem staying there again for a night or two, but if we were to stay in San Juan for a longer period of time, we would probably choose to stay elsewhere.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[arabrab]

For one night pre-cruise it sounds just fine. You might want to bring a set of foam earplugs in case you get the room over the disco. In general, I use Priceline only when I'm not especially picky about the hotel, particularly non-domestic/Canada hotels, since hotel standards very a lot in other countries/commonwealths.

[sanibel]

We were at the Normandie in October for one night pre-cruise. Reserved through Hot-wire. It was fine. We arrived late (about 8:30 or so) and went to the cafe in the lobby. Ordered club sandwiches and they were delicious. We were hungry but I think they were good club sandwiches regardless! We had the breakfast buffet the next morning and thought it was good.

Our room was very clean, even had a small seating area separate from the bedroom. I know one person complained about brown water and I don't doubt their experience but we certainly didn't have anything like that.

Previously we've stayed at the Caribe Hilton and the Normandie is right next door. Frankly there wasn't that much difference between the two hotels. The Caribe just has the pools, beaches, extra bars and the Hilton Honors room but the rooms themselves aren't that different in our experience. We would definitely return to the Normandie given the price difference.

Hope this helps.

[leftyrn]

:confused: ....after trying for months to land a priceline bid for a hotel in San Juan for our AOS cruise in March, who knew.....it was accepted this morning. It's to a hotel I hadn't head of...the "Normandie Hotel" in San Juan, Munoz Rivera Ave. No one else on these board has mentioned this hotel! I'm sad too....it doesn't list a running tread mill on the list of services and I wont be able to run while staying there....any thoughts? Anyone know anything about this hotel? I easily got about $75-$100 off so.....:o

 

I had the same concerns when we "won" the Normandie on Priceline. We will be there 4 nights beginning Jan 1... mixed reviews, we are not particularly picky and will just go with it. Many folks always have bad things to say so we are hoping they have different tastes then we do... I will try to post our experience when we get back in the Middle of Jan.

 

Check the Puerto rico board here on CC there is more information on the Normandie over there

[Sue L]

Scorpiorose,

 

What star level did you bid on? And what date, my daughter is looking at the AOS for the second week.

[98Charlie]

DH & I along with BIL & SIL spent a night post cruise at the Normandie in 2005. It was a hoot and would go back there again in a minute for a night's stay.

 

Hotel is designed to look like a ship with inside rooms looking out into an inside courtyard.

 

Rooms were very spacious. Rooms and hotel are designed around an art deco theme and are among the larger hotel rooms we've ever booked in many, many years of traveling.

 

Hotel has a special bar area at the top floor with great views of the city that was furnished with art deco design furniture when we were there -- lighted plastic furniture that made you feel like you were in a surreal atmosphere. DH & I were 58 at the time we stayed at the Normandie and truly loved the entire experience.

 

The Caribe Hilton is just a short few steps away and while the Normandie really doesn't have a great beach area, the Caribe is there and available with a great beach area.

 

If you're looking for something different and are open to new avenues in hotels, then the Normandie is right up there.

 

Food in the dining rooms was great. Hotel service was terrific.

 

Dianne

[maxs mom]

We stayed there this past July for our AOS cruise. We liked it. I thought the place was charming. All the staff were very nice....they had all cruised on the Adventure! We went to the bar that night and chatted with the bartender and did some people watching. We had breakfast in the center courtyard area and it was wonderful! When I got up in the morning and looked out the window....there was the Adventure....just as big as life....I could have thrown a rock and hit it. You are very close.....a quick taxi ride. We are going on the AOS again this summer and I think we will book The Normandie again. Got it on Hotwire the first time, but I think we will just book direct this time.

[Scorpiorose]

I bed 3 star level and resort! We're going March 30th on AOS, so we needed two nights. Like I've said I've been working on this for 6 months, no bids ever excepted so I was surprised when it went through today! We wont be there until late on the 28th so I hated to pay a ton for several hours really, if we manage to get there at all that night, who knows with delays and such, we might not get there until the morning, I'll have to take the number with me to call and let them know we'd still need the night of the 29, I know we'd have to pay for both nights.......sigh!

[Scorpiorose]

98Charlie - can you go over and use the other hotels beach front? Do you pay a fee for that?

 

Maxsmom - so we ended up paying 150 per night, on searches it came out at least 100 more, which I think is outrageous! Do you remember what you paid?

 

So...all......its close to taxi, the pier, a nice beach, has a bar and a fitness center......hum.....sounds fine for us!

[98Charlie]

98Charlie - can you go over and use the other hotels beach front? Do you pay a fee for that?

 

Maxsmom - so we ended up paying 150 per night, on searches it came out at least 100 more, which I think is outrageous! Do you remember what you paid?

 

So...all......its close to taxi, the pier, a nice beach, has a bar and a fitness center......hum.....sounds fine for us!

When we were there we wandered over to the Caribe. We weren't interested in using the beach area but it did seem wide open. As I recall there was a Tiki Bar and lots of (empty) lounges.

 

There was also a complex of fresh water swimming pools complete with a swim up bar.

 

Here is a shot of the area from their web site

 

Best bet may be to call ahead and see what their policy is. Click Here for a link to their web site.

 

Charlie

[toonjie]

I bed 3 star level and resort! We're going March 30th on AOS, so we needed two nights. Like I've said I've been working on this for 6 months, no bids ever excepted so I was surprised when it went through today! We wont be there until late on the 28th so I hated to pay a ton for several hours really, if we manage to get there at all that night, who knows with delays and such, we might not get there until the morning, I'll have to take the number with me to call and let them know we'd still need the night of the 29, I know we'd have to pay for both nights.......sigh!

 

Normandie is not so bad for 1 night, sounds like you want to be close to OSJ and it's the closest of the Condado hotels to OSJ. In the future, only bid resort in San Juan that will give you the following possibilities: (According to bettterbidding.com)

Resort Caribe Hilton

Resort El San Juan

Resort Inter-Continental

Resort Marriott San Juan Resort

Resort Wyndham Condado Plaza

 

To make more than 1 bid per day simply add more areas since Priceline has no other resorts in Puerto Rico.

[Sea Island Lady]

I have stayed at the Caribe Hilton and I can tell you that the pool area, photo shown above is not nearly that nice in person. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice pool and the view was pretty alright, but not that blue. That's some enhanced photo! ;)

 

Here is a photo of the Normandie that I took from my room at the Caribe. I loved the way the Normandie looked and wished we had stayed there.

 

[maxs mom]

scorpiorose.....we got the Normandie on Hotwire last July for $119.00, but by the time they added all the taxes and special resort tax (don't be surprised about that when it is added on) it came to around $145. I've never been able to have any luck with Priceline, but maybe we'll give it a try this time.

[98Charlie]

I have stayed at the Caribe Hilton and I can tell you that the pool area, photo shown above is not nearly that nice in person. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice pool and the view was pretty alright, but not that blue. That's some enhanced photo! ;)

 

Here is a photo of the Normandie that I took from my room at the Caribe. I loved the way the Normandie looked and wished we had stayed there.

 

Actually I don't think that it is even a photo of the Caribe pool complex. It really looked more like the architect's rendition. But, I thought it gave a good look at the layout.

 

Charlie

[Scorpiorose]

well, I was only bidding resort, for the past 3 months, so I finally put in 3 stars too, and boom, it's a done deal. That's ok, we get in so late (if at all) on the 28th that we'll really only be there one day which we want to see OSJ, and one night! A couple rums and we'll be good. I was so afraid we'd have to pay close to 200 a night......which wouldn't have been good since we'll barely be there on the 28th. It will work. Thanks all!!!

 

So I take it the Caribe doesn't mind the Normandie coming over?

[Sea Island Lady]

I don't know about that, but I do know that you will not be able to check-out towels without your name and room number.

 

Two tips:

The beer (and perhaps the drinks) are cheaper inside the lobby, than they are at the the pool.

There use to be a Morton's Steak House in the Caribe. You will need reservations. DH and I ordered one steak and two sides, and along with the bread that is free, we had more than enough to eat. Saved a bunch!

[Scorpiorose]

Well, great......like I said...not sure if we'll have time for beaches and all of that! Too short of a stay.....

 

does anyone recommend OSJ? Is it worth spending a day?

[Sea Island Lady]

Yes, OSJ is beautiful!