HELP!!! My bid was accepted in PR

[Worn out mailman]

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

I'm sitting on the balcony of a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale I 'bid' on Priceline (I'm down for 4 nights visiting a friend down here). It's a 3 star...when I won it I was concerned as are you because it wasn't on the A1A as I had hoped...but, albeit there are a couple minor flaws, it is the nicest hotel room 85 dollars a night can buy. Indeed, a nicer room than the one where I stayed at Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach in Cancun, which is supposedly a 5 star.

 

Hopefully you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I have been.

[Scorpiorose]

well.....as my DH says, it's a room, we wont be there much!

[gtaylor]

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! ;)

 

 

Well, we've stayed there a couple of times, and the pool area was one of the nicest that we've experienced.

 

The only time that I can find pictures from was in 2003, and my digital camera wasn't so great, but you can find some of my pictures posted over at PhotoWorks.

 

gary

[Scorpiorose]

No....we are staying at the "normandie" which is near the Caribe Hilton!

[gtaylor]

If you're responding to me, I was responding to Sea Island Lady.

 

gary

[Scorpiorose]

oh.....:p

[cruiserny]

I've stayed there and it was fine. Don't worry!

[Scorpiorose]

good to hear......not roach infested?:eek:

 

is it within easy taxi or walk to OSJ, pier, coach/DB outlet?

[nanner10]

good to hear......not roach infested?:eek:

 

is it within easy taxi or walk to OSJ, pier, coach/DB outlet?

 

Since you have not received any replies to this question I will push your post up! I have not stayed at the Normandie, but I believe it would be a hefty walk but a short cab/bus ride to Old San Juan including the Coach Factory Store and DB. I think the bus to OSJ runs right by your area and costs about $.75. Read the trip advisor reviews for both your hotel and the Caribe Hilton for lots of info on many of your questions.

 

Here is a link good interactive map. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&*****=1&msa=0&msid=116969536791656461166.00000111c2647d9ad5cbd&ll=18.30399,-65.921083&spn=0.912651,1.167297&z=9&source=embed Try the satellite view for a good perspective of the area. The Pan American Pier is listed on this map but not your hotel. You can compare the locations on the Tripadvisor map.

 

The RCCL pier is the Pan American. Many of the other lines use the pier in OSJ. Sometimes RCCL uses that pier too but only for cruises that visit OSJ as a port stop. For RCCL ships that originate in Puerto Rico, as the Adventure and Serenade do, they sail out of the Pan American pier. The Pan American Pier is close to your hotel but probably not close enough to lug your bags over to. Anyone who has stayed at the Normandie, can you clarify this?

 

We sailed on the Adventure last March and stayed at the Hotel Milano in OSJ which was a short walk from the Coach/DB stores. The address for the Coach store is 150 Calle Cristo. The DB store is nearby. We (with two other couples) will be back on the Adventure two weeks before you. Given that, you may want to cross the Coach store off your list since we may have put a serious dent in their inventory :D .

[nanner10]

When using the link in my previous post: to help you get your bearings in the area you can zero in on the Pan American Pier. To do that, scroll down through the list on the left of the screen to the next to the last listing which is Pan American Pier. Click on that and it will recenter the map. You can then zoom in.

[Scorpiorose]

Wow....nanner10 - great map! Thanks for the bump back on the screen and the indepth answer....I sure appreciate it. I Hope I hope you'll post a review when you get back, it will be so close to ours. I guess you must think it's ok, returning there huh AND btw...isn't there enough coaches for us all....and DB's? Let's not be greedy now, surely you can leave a couple for us Washington folk - of course here in WA there are enough fake coaches that it's pretty watered down supply over here. I guess I'll have to be content to just pick up what you leave behind.....I'll take it!:p

[metsfan1968]

We sailed on the Adventure last March and stayed at the Hotel Milano in OSJ which was a short walk from the Coach/DB stores.

Don't wanna be thread hijacker, but ... can you tell me what you thought of the Hotel Milano?

[nanner10]

Wow....nanner10 - great map! Thanks for the bump back on the screen and the indepth answer....I sure appreciate it. I Hope I hope you'll post a review when you get back, it will be so close to ours. I guess you must think it's ok, returning there huh AND btw...isn't there enough coaches for us all....and DB's? Let's not be greedy now, surely you can leave a couple for us Washington folk - of course here in WA there are enough fake coaches that it's pretty watered down supply over here. I guess I'll have to be content to just pick up what you leave behind.....I'll take it!:p

 

You are quite welcome. I do have to give credit for the interactive map link to the original poster of it, I believe it is RayB.

 

Here is another map link I have collected. Again I am not sure who posted it originally: http://www.langland.org/cruises/sanjuan.asp

 

You are right, we should not be so greedy! We will try to leave a nice selection of tasty morsels behind :p !

 

Actually we are going to be in a pinch to do our shopping. We are only going one day before and our plane doesn't touchdown until 2:30PM on Saturday. The Coach store closes at 6 on Saturday and doesn't open until 11 on Sunday. We like to get on the ship as early as possible and normally we would be heading to the ship by 11AM on Sunday, so we will see!

[nanner10]

Don't wanna be thread hijacker, but ... can you tell me what you thought of the Hotel Milano?

 

No problem.

 

To answer your question I should say that sometimes we choose to stay in a more moderate hotel and sometimes we prefer a bit of luxury, it just depends on the individual trip. We are willing to stay at a decent Day's Inn type hotel or we might stay at a Hyatt type hotel, etc. We do not usually opt for anything higher or lower than that range.

 

Last March we stayed two nights pre-cruise at the Milano. Due to reviews on the Tripadvisor site that said that the rooms that overlook the street might be noisy and due our desire to seek a more moderately priced room for the beginning of this trip, we opted for a room in the back. We even chose a room that had no windows. Since at times we both have trouble slleping, when we travel we sometimes opt for two double beds in case the beds are not the greatest. We did this here and slept well. I don't remember the beds being any issue though.

 

We figured we would be spending the next week in our cabin with a balcony so it was not big deal (the lack of windows) and it wasn't. I was impressed that when I called to book this room the person I spoke to took the time to explain about this room to be sure we were aware of the lack of windows.

 

The hotel has a certain charm about it. We enjoyed the view and dinner from their rooftop terrace dining room. Yes, you will see lots of rooftops and sides of buildings but it is a city rooftop after all. I don't remember if breakfast was an available inclusive option for us but both mornings we were there we walked up one Street to San Francisco and ate at this funky old time cafe that has a bakery in the front. From looking at area reviews I am all but positive that it is La Bombonera. I loved their toast and we thought their local food choices were quite good.

 

The room was a decent size and was clean. The bedspreads were a little dated in style and the decor was a little old fashion. Who cares! I will try to look up our room number if that would help.

 

After staying at this Hotel I felt the reviews on Tripadvisor gave me an accurate idea of what our experience would be like. My suggestion would be to read the reviews (if you haven't already) and see how you feel about this (or any!!) hotel.

 

By the way, some of the recent reviewers mentioned that their room was musty. I am extremely sensitive to musty odors (I have asthma) and this was not an issue for me.

 

Sometimes in reading reviews I get the feeling that some reviewers use the same basis to review every hotel. It seems reasonable to me to have one level of expectation for a hotel that is moderately priced for their area and another level of expectation for a hotel that is at the higher end of the scale for that particular area. The hotel Milano is a moderately priced hotel for San Juan and I think a very moderately priced hotel considering that it is in Old San Juan itself.

 

The location was A+ excellent and I would certainly stay there again, if that helps.

 

Check out the San Juan forum on tripadvisor for lots of area info: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g147320-i72-San_Juan_Puerto_Rico.html

 

Good luck!

Nancy

[Scorpiorose]

nanner10-our itin says we dont even leave port until 8:30pm. Are you on a different cruise line?

[metsfan1968]

nanner10 - Wow. Thank you very much. I agree with your approach on virtually all counts and use Trip Advisor for every trip we take. We, too, stay at a range of places based on what we're looking for on a particular trip, and I also find that some of the reviews on Trip Advisor are a bit skewed - with people not necessarily guaging the review to the level of hotel, what's available elsewhere in the area, etc. Using one set of criteria for any hotel anywhere in the world. Your comments help alot. Thanks again.

[nanner10]

nanner10-our itin says we dont even leave port until 8:30pm. Are you on a different cruise line?

 

No. Same cruiseline, same ship.

 

Are you asking because I mentioned getting on early? You can get on early and start your cruise early, if you choose. We choose!

[nanner10]

You are most welcome metsfan1968! These boards have helped me out a lot!

[Scorpiorose]

hum.....how early can you get on? We are treating San Juan as a port, we've never been there so not sure when we'll get on.

[nanner10]

Scorpiorose: Last year we were on the ship around noon as I recall and the ship did not leave until 10PM. I believe they changed to the 8:30PM sailing shortly after our cruise.

 

Since we have been to San Juan before and we will have a little taste of the island by arriving the day before the cruise, with the exception of the outlet stores, getting on the ship and starting the cruise is what we are all about, this time.

 

To each their own, though; there is plenty to see in San Juan so you may want to spend more time exploring it.

[Scorpiorose]

Well, we are scheduled to arrive in SJ on the 28th, late!!! But, we all know how flights are going these days and we are coming from WA, state!

We'll have the 29th for sure to explore and having never been there we thought we'd tool around Old SJ and I will hit the outlet stores Coach and DB! The next day, I guess we could do something too, what though. A beach day? Or we could get on the ship early too.

 

Nanner10 are you sailing when we're sailing? March 30, couldn't remember.

[karen&roy]

cHECK OUT THIS MAP http://www.travelmaps.com/ Just click on any of the areas and it gives you detailed streets, shop ect. Holiday Inn is in the Condado district where all the upscale shopping is so you will like it. You can take the ferry from old San Juan to the Bacardi Factory which is neat to see. Take the B2 bus from the hotel to Old San Juan but have change 75 cents. You can go everywhere on these buses and the people at the hotel will help you :o Or take a cab to Luquillo Beach, beautiful and calm water, rent a chair and relax!!

[Scorpiorose]

great web site, great suggestions. I guess I'll just wing this part of the trip, not my usual style but......I'll try to get out of my (plan to the last detail every single minute) mode:D .