eriel

Hi guys,
Can anyone help to decide between the 2 mentioned hotels please? Both seem to have great reviews and pretty much same location but the price difference is about $50/night (Caribe being the higher of the tw) Willing to fork over the money if it's worth it.
Thank you!

eileen

Whether a higher price is "worth it or not" can only be determined by you, and especially difficult to answer because you didn't mention your priorities. I have stayed at the Caribe Hilton twice and found it to be a well-run resort with good service, decent food and extensive facilities. Despite its city location, it has the feel of a "resort" rather than a hotel. I thought it was a particularly good value for a Caribbean vacation in high season. It's a short cab ride to Old San Juan and other areas of the city and since I saw your other posting, I think it is a better choice for you than the Ritz, which is further away from the downtown, some rooms do not have balconies, and pricier. However, you are not going to be able to walk a lot of places from the Caribe except perhaps the convenience store or the Normandie hotel which is next door. Most of the city's great restaurants are elsewhere. If you really want to be able to walk around, you might choose a hotel right in Old San Juan such as El San Juan Hotel.

eriel

Thank you Eileen. With you mentioning that the hotel has a resort feel rather than a hotel is exactly what i wanted to hear!
There are few things that are important for me when choosing a hotel - good location, nice room (which i understand Conrad hotel definitely has) and, for this vacation, a nice beach area. So, if you tell me that Conrad has a nice beach to offer, that's going to do it for me!

Also, if to stay in Conrad, should we rent the car straight from the airport or wait until the next day and rent at the hotel? Aside for Old San Juan, we'd also like to roam around the rainforest and other adventurous places.
thank you!!!!

eriel

Just realized that you had written Caribe, no Conrad! Long day! Never mind, then Conrad it is!!

eileen

Well, keep in mind it is a beach resort located in a city, and it's a nice beach for that type of property. Also, because the Caribe is pretty large, in addition to the beach, there are fairly extensive grounds that are also waterfront -- I liked laying on a lounge chair on the lawn, with a view of the water. And the pool is large too. As for the car, that is a difficult call because I am not sure what the parking charge at the hotel is, how many days you will be there and if you want the car for the entire time or for just one day. It's very easy to take cabs within the city and it was about $25 from the airport to the hotel via cab. You really don't want to try to drive around and park in the city, I would think that would be difficult. El Yunque is about 45 - 50 minutes away, depending on traffic and you definitely need a car for that. So you might want to just rent a car for one day, unless you are really planning on roaming. We own a timeshare in Dorado, PR and when we stay there, we rent a car, when I stayed right in San Juan, I did not.

tom42

Just a correction - EL San Juan Hotel is not in Old San Juan. It is in Isla Verde, right near the Ritz Carlton.

Regarding the beach at the Caribe Hilton - it is a manmade beach, covelike and very calm. It isn't a great walking beach in the sense that it doesn't stretch out for miles. It is a good beach if you have small children since it is so calm. I much prefer the stretch of beach in Isla Verde. I stayed at the Caribe Hilton once and, while I enjoyed it, I didn't love the fact that you couldn't walk anywhere. Both Old San Juan and the Condado area are short taxi rides.

That being said, if beach is important to you, then the Caribe definitely trumps the Conrad, which is on the ocean but mostly in front of a breakwall.

sarubin

The Conrad is a better location as far as being able to walk to places. Condado has more restaurants, etc. That being said, we stayed at the Caribe last year and walked to Condado for dinner several times. It is only about a 15min walk. Caribe is a very short taxi ride into Old San Juan as well. I am a big fan of Conrad hotels based on the level of luxury, but the beach area at the Caribe is very nice. They have plenty of chairs, hammocks and a nice calm beach. The ocean in San Juan can be very rough, but the lagoon area at the Caribe makes it very calm. We have two tweens, so for us the Caribe is great. We are headed back there in 3 weeks.

As far as renting a car, we rented one just for one day to go to El Yunque. Having been to rain forests in Costa Rica, I was extremely disappointed with the rain forest there. It is axactly like it sounds, a forest with a lot of rain. No animals to be seen and no real great flora either. Unless you are set on going there, I would pass. Not a huge need for a car in San Juan. I would suggest just renting one for a couple of days and picking it up near your hotel, if you are set on venturing out. Make sure you reserve it before you go, as they sell out. Our concierge had to pull some strings to get us one for a day, last year.

Enjoy,

Scott