San Juan, Puerto Rico

LorraineM

Has anyone visited San Juan? Just wondering if anyone had any hotel recommendations?

Have a few in mind after reading trip advisor but would be good to hear anyone's experiences.

Thanks

marsman802

I can!

I went for a friends wedding in November 2012. A lot of us went and stayed in several places.

I stayed at the intercontinental San Juan and that was smack on the beach - very secure and had a lovely restaurant and a great wine sommelier.

Next door was the El San Juan, a Hilton. Absolute stunning bar in the center of the place and a great casino here as well.

Many people stayed at the San Juan Water and beach club. It had a very boutiquey feel to it and great terrace bar with views over everything nearby. Rooms looked good here as well.

San Juan is great, the old town is beautiful and so much to explore. The wedding I attended was held at the old Fort in the old town in candlelight - really nice.

We flew BA but they no longer fly there now. The flight was branded direct but it touched down in Antigua and let 95% of the plane off before taking us 5% onto Puerto Rico. Very bizarre flight as we all just moved to Club World for the last hop.

You're going to love it out there. People were amazing.

lutzi1

I went to San Juan with DH's work a few years ago. Please bear in mind that Puerto Rico is the murder capital of the Caribbean and choose your accommodation and your activities wisely. There are certain areas of San Juan you must not go into for your own safety - make sure you know which these are. I am not trying to scaremonger here and if you pay careful attention to this you will have a great time, but please read up carefully before you travel and make sure you are aware of the dangers. I hope you enjoy your trip.


If you like jewellery there are some great bargains to be had btw.

marsman802

One thing to add - we made so many friends over there of my mates wife that loads of them are coming this way later this year.

You have never seen an island love to dance or dance as well as these guys.

Voyager2002

marsman802 wrote: »

One thing to add - we made so many friends over there of my mates wife that loads of them are coming this way later this year.

You have never seen an island love to dance or dance as well as these guys.

Sounds like a pale imitation of Cuba.

Voyager2002

lutzi1 wrote: »

I went to San Juan with DH's work a few years ago. Please bear in mind that Puerto Rico is the murder capital of the Caribbean and choose your accommodation and your activities wisely. There are certain areas of San Juan you must not go into for your own safety - make sure you know which these are. I am not trying to scaremonger here and if you pay careful attention to this you will have a great time, but please read up carefully before you travel and make sure you are aware of the dangers. I hope you enjoy your trip.

I can't resist comparing this with Cuba, where violent crime is absolutely minimal. Puerto Rico and Cuba had similar histories and societies until independence (from Spain): at which point PR became part of the USA while Cuba followed a different path...

LorraineM

Thanks everyone for your great tips. Intercontinental and hilton are on our list. OH wants by the beach. We only have 2 days as it's a post cruise stay and we will have our 10year old so a nice pool and by the beach sound good.

Thanks again :beer:

photome

lutzi1 wrote: »

I went to San Juan with DH's work a few years ago. Please bear in mind that Puerto Rico is the murder capital of the Caribbean and choose your accommodation and your activities wisely. There are certain areas of San Juan you must not go into for your own safety - make sure you know which these are. I am not trying to scaremonger here and if you pay careful attention to this you will have a great time, but please read up carefully before you travel and make sure you are aware of the dangers. I hope you enjoy your trip.


If you like jewellery there are some great bargains to be had btw.

Its great to be young! when i was 18 I drove all around the island and drank in many areas of San Juan that were real dives , I had no fear back then and no knowledge of any of those areas you talk about....this was back in the 70s mind and I have great memories

lutzi1

I could say a great deal on this, we read up before and took care, (we were travelling with our then 12 year old daughter), but the most telling for me were:

- We are experienced travellers, but there is a very novel experience when you arrive at SJ airport. There are uniformed government officers there to put you safely into an approved taxi and get you safely to your resort. They write down the right fare for the number of passengers and your luggage and give you a chit so you are not ripped off. As soon as you set off the doors automatically lock, even in a modest vehicle.

- We rented a car one day to escape from the resort DH's company do was in, we needed to go to a supermarket as DD and I have a restricted diet for medical reasons. We rented a Ford Focus, nothing special so as not to stand out. We bought our groceries, I was putting them in the boot and I said to DH, "What is this tag hanging down from the boot lid?" The pictures on it then explained its function: if you were abducted and shoved in the boot of your car, it was so you could release the boot from the inside. ( The local advice if this happens is also to kick out the tail lights to alert others following).

- I was in our room in the resort one morning, and there was a plumber working between our room and next door (it had all been renovated and the idiot builders had shoved rubble down the loo to get rid of it). As I was there and he was constantly in and out I left the door ajar. Within five minutes or so (tops) the manager and a maid both arrived at the door, clearly panic stricken and reinforcing the message that you never leave your door open even in a very heavily guarded resort.

- We had read in advance that the locals never stop at traffic lights and junctions at night, as they run the risk of being highjacked, robbed and worse. On the one day we rented a car, we had only got to the first traffic lights when we experienced a major smash when a car that failed to stop smashed into another. No-one stopped to help, they drove round. Normally your first instinct would of course be to stop.

- Before we went to the resort my husband's company were celebrating at, we stayed at the Embassy Suites in San Juan. We'd stayed with this chain in the USA before and they have nightly managers' receptions with free drinks and snacks for a couple of hours a night. In New York there was little or no control over who went in, you could order as many premium drinks as you wanted and the place was jumping. In San Juan it was much more limited, but much more telling was the degree of control over who could enter, with the manager personally checking your credentials. This despite the armed guards patrolling the corridors 24/ 7. (This isn't meant to be anti the Ebassy Suite, we loved it there and there was a good self service steak and salad house around the corner which you could safely walk to passing various highly guarded hotels).

The country is very beautiful, we watched a team of cormorants diving into the sea in formation catching fish one day, it was absolutely stunning. :A However we couldn't linger long because the locals were already clocking us there and starting to gather. 90% of the country looks like a cross between a giant's scrap yard and a war zone if you venture immediately outside the tourist areas - parts of buildings missing/ bullet holes etc. It reminded me of Sarajevo.

If you read up before you go and take the appropriate precautions you will have a wonderful time, I am sure. Just please don't make the mistake of assuming it is like being here - it isn't.