Courtyard or Marriott hotel
 

I will be staying in PR for about ten nights and am considering the Courtyard in Isla Verde or the full service Marriott downtown.

Which would you recommend based on hotel, nightlife, beach, and place to run?

From past experience with Marriot, the courtyard Marriot tend to have smaller rooms and less amenities.. I would call Marriot directly and ask.

Thanks, meta.

PRnative - If you are monitoring, what I really need help with is understanding the better location.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Hhmm... I see it as a choice between the best location on a not so good beach (the Condado Marriott) or a "fringe" location on a better beach (the Courtyard). By this I mean that in Condado, the Marriott has the best location, beachwise, walkingwise. Close to lots of restaurants, on the best section of Condado beach, and the most active spot in Condado. But, the beach at Condado is not as good, long, or clean as Isla Verde beach.

The Courtyard is on one end of the Isla Verde strip, the end closest to the airport. It's a little detached from the nerve center of the Isla Verde area, which is around the Wyndham El San Juan. Proximity to the airport probably makes some of the rooms noisy. Flights stop around 11pm, so during the night it won't be a problem, but it might be an issue in the early mornings. On the plus side, the Isla Verde beach is much better than Condado, longer and cleaner. To one side of the Courtyard is the developed strip of beach (where the Wyndham and several other hotels are) to the other the government-run Isla Verde balneario with basic facilities, and beyond that, Pin~ones, which is a long stretch of undeveloped beach with a boardwalk snaking between the beach and mangroves that would be a good running spot (during the day when people are around, otherwise it would be too isolated to safely run). So the Courtyard would give you much better beach-running options, but you won't be in the middle of everything, like you would be in the Condado Marriott. You'll have to walk farther to get to restaurants and bars outside the hotel. Both hotels are right on bus lines that take you into Old San Juan.

Courtyard in another life was a Crowne Plaza hotel. it runs parallel to one of the runways at the airport. Airplane noise can be intrusive . I stayed there when it was a Crowne Plaza and this past summer i was at the Ritz Carlton which is next door. I didn?t find aircraft noise to be a problem at either. It is on a nice stretch of beach. If you exit the hotel to the beach and look to the right you will see the Isla Verde public beach. IT is far enough away so there is no worry the section of the beach where the hotel is located will be crowded. If you go to the left on the beach you come to the RItz CArlton. There is only one restaurant, other than those in the Courtyard and the RItz Carlton in the immediate area. IT is the Metropol which is very popular with locals and tourists. It serves local fare. If you exit the hotel to the street and look to the left there is nothing much to see. Across the roadway is the airport runway. Walk to the right and you soon pass the Ritz CArlton. Continue walking and you soon come to the El San Juan hotel and a fairly busy area. It is about a 10 minute walk from the Courtyard to the El San Juan. You cannot walk on the beach from the Courtyard to the El San Juan - there is a breakwater that is not passabl