First time in Puerto Rico
Oct 18th, 2010 | 07:13 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
First time in Puerto Rico
Hi Everyone,
Im planning my first trip to PR and I want to enjoy it as much as I can. Im also scared its goin to rain alot, See I plan on going in the beginning of Nov and I not to sure if how the weather will be that time of year??? Does anyone know??
I have already been told San Juan would be the best place to stay, I would love to enjoy the nightlife (bar/clubs ) could anyone suggest any places,something very up beat that plays reggaeton... Also what are great resturant down there, I really want to enjoy the culture...
Lastly are there any Must See/ Must Do things in PR Im very open to suggetions I want to make this the best trip possible.
-P.s
I hear that I should learn spanish before I go is that really necessary??
Thank so much xo
Im planning my first trip to PR and I want to enjoy it as much as I can. Im also scared its goin to rain alot, See I plan on going in the beginning of Nov and I not to sure if how the weather will be that time of year??? Does anyone know??
I have already been told San Juan would be the best place to stay, I would love to enjoy the nightlife (bar/clubs ) could anyone suggest any places,something very up beat that plays reggaeton... Also what are great resturant down there, I really want to enjoy the culture...
Lastly are there any Must See/ Must Do things in PR Im very open to suggetions I want to make this the best trip possible.
-P.s
I hear that I should learn spanish before I go is that really necessary??
Thank so much xo
Oct 19th, 2010 | 03:55 AM
#2
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 329
Likes: 0
You don't need to learn Spanish at all to travel to most of Puerto Rico, especially San Juan.
My wife and I go to PR for a long weekend once a year and have become good at it. So good that people ask us when they are thinking of going, so I started preparing stock answers to PRFAQs to have on hand:
El San Juan is the big flashy casino/hotel in the Isla Verde section (an area of beach hotels close to the airport) of San Juan. Next to it is ESJ Tower, which is full of families in timeshares and modest condos (very clean and perfectly fine to stay in) and then The Ritz-Carlton, which is top shelf with BLT Steak and Il Mulino restaurants in it and really nice pool grounds that connect to the beach. For a Caribbean beach vacation, though, I find it too stuffy and not a “fun“ place to hang out. Of course it depends on what you want to do with your time.
El San Juan is a fun place with a lot of action for nightlife including a big casino. Not my first choice for families.
It also has one of the few enjoyable rooftop bar/restaurants in the area, though the food won't impress you. Unfortunately, it is a giant BBQ joint but it still can be a lot of fun and always has a nice Caribbean breeze.
Isla Verde has some of my favorite things on the island. Most are walkable from each other: A *very* local restaurant called Metropole (Bistec Encebollado is a PR dish of thin grilled steak with sauteed onions, I always get that, and a side of boiled yucca which is a root vegetable), right next to it is Club Gallistico (guy-YEE-stee-ko) where cockfights are Saturdays and Tuesdays if you can tolerate that type of VERY local culture (I hear Felix Trinidad has been a regular there lately), the raw bar at BLT steak in the Ritz-Carlton, the beachfront bar at the nearby Intercontinental Hotel, the rooftop bar at the small Water Club hotel is close by and is worth a look at night, too. Pikayo is the most blogged about and highly rated restaurant on the Island, but for me it's too much New York City-style pretense for my time in Puerto Rico.
A short cab ride to La Concha Hotel in Condado is a good place to spend a weekend night. It's the hot place for 20-to-30-somethings right now, but I'm glad I spent my 40th birthday there in January.
While that might sound like a lot already for a weekend, go to Old San Juan because it's really nice and unique. It's a well-preserved 300-year-old Spanish settlement with lots of good architecture and bars and stuff.
On the lawn facing El Morro Castle is the perfect place for a couple to be at sunset any night of the week. La Mallorquina (my-or-KEEN-a) is a great old school Puerto Rican restaurant in town. There are lots of new school places (all owned by the same guy) like Aguaviva, Dragonfly, Parrot Club. Marmalade is by the chef at Le Circ, but not very expensive and is very good. I mention these places because the food is creative, solid and reliable and the restaurants are well run. On hot days, you'll find they have the best air conditioning.
My favorite hotel in PR is in Old San Juan: El Convento, a converted convent. Walk through the main hotel entrance (just to see how nice) to the bar on the other side that is not owned by the hotel called El Picoteo (peek-o-TAY-o). The menu looks good but the food's not great. They have a great selection of local rums, though. The best rum on the island is called Ron del Barilito (small barrel rum) which is aged in small French Cognac casks and takes the flavor and color of the barrel. Other than that, Bacardi (they pronounce it back-ar-DEE) has some outstanding aged stuff they don't export much of so it's good to experiment there. The brand Don Q (Don KOO) is held in much higher regard and is much smoother than Bacardi. Back up your rum with the local beer called Medalla Light (meh-DAI-ya), which in most places is $2-$3/can.
Finish up there and head out the opposite you came in. Across the street is a classic dive bar called El Batey. You won't want to when you see it, but go in. People will appreciate it if you play the jukebox. Once you've got a drink and are settled in, you'll find yourself in a conversation with someone interesting right away. I never met anyone in El Batey that wasn't really cool to bs with for a half hour or so. Cheap drinks here. Girls like the house cocktail called the 101, but it almost gave Maria semi-permanent brain damage last time, she says.
I'm getting carried away so I'll stop there.
I've never been to El Conquistador, but I know a lot of people who have. Most of them are older and although they absolutely love it, have no stories of cockfights, Cognac flavored rum, brain damage or local flavor of any kind.
Oh and Fajardo has little taxi planes that take you to the islands of Vieques and Culebra for cheap.
My wife and I go to PR for a long weekend once a year and have become good at it. So good that people ask us when they are thinking of going, so I started preparing stock answers to PRFAQs to have on hand:
El San Juan is the big flashy casino/hotel in the Isla Verde section (an area of beach hotels close to the airport) of San Juan. Next to it is ESJ Tower, which is full of families in timeshares and modest condos (very clean and perfectly fine to stay in) and then The Ritz-Carlton, which is top shelf with BLT Steak and Il Mulino restaurants in it and really nice pool grounds that connect to the beach. For a Caribbean beach vacation, though, I find it too stuffy and not a “fun“ place to hang out. Of course it depends on what you want to do with your time.
El San Juan is a fun place with a lot of action for nightlife including a big casino. Not my first choice for families.
It also has one of the few enjoyable rooftop bar/restaurants in the area, though the food won't impress you. Unfortunately, it is a giant BBQ joint but it still can be a lot of fun and always has a nice Caribbean breeze.
Isla Verde has some of my favorite things on the island. Most are walkable from each other: A *very* local restaurant called Metropole (Bistec Encebollado is a PR dish of thin grilled steak with sauteed onions, I always get that, and a side of boiled yucca which is a root vegetable), right next to it is Club Gallistico (guy-YEE-stee-ko) where cockfights are Saturdays and Tuesdays if you can tolerate that type of VERY local culture (I hear Felix Trinidad has been a regular there lately), the raw bar at BLT steak in the Ritz-Carlton, the beachfront bar at the nearby Intercontinental Hotel, the rooftop bar at the small Water Club hotel is close by and is worth a look at night, too. Pikayo is the most blogged about and highly rated restaurant on the Island, but for me it's too much New York City-style pretense for my time in Puerto Rico.
A short cab ride to La Concha Hotel in Condado is a good place to spend a weekend night. It's the hot place for 20-to-30-somethings right now, but I'm glad I spent my 40th birthday there in January.
While that might sound like a lot already for a weekend, go to Old San Juan because it's really nice and unique. It's a well-preserved 300-year-old Spanish settlement with lots of good architecture and bars and stuff.
On the lawn facing El Morro Castle is the perfect place for a couple to be at sunset any night of the week. La Mallorquina (my-or-KEEN-a) is a great old school Puerto Rican restaurant in town. There are lots of new school places (all owned by the same guy) like Aguaviva, Dragonfly, Parrot Club. Marmalade is by the chef at Le Circ, but not very expensive and is very good. I mention these places because the food is creative, solid and reliable and the restaurants are well run. On hot days, you'll find they have the best air conditioning.
My favorite hotel in PR is in Old San Juan: El Convento, a converted convent. Walk through the main hotel entrance (just to see how nice) to the bar on the other side that is not owned by the hotel called El Picoteo (peek-o-TAY-o). The menu looks good but the food's not great. They have a great selection of local rums, though. The best rum on the island is called Ron del Barilito (small barrel rum) which is aged in small French Cognac casks and takes the flavor and color of the barrel. Other than that, Bacardi (they pronounce it back-ar-DEE) has some outstanding aged stuff they don't export much of so it's good to experiment there. The brand Don Q (Don KOO) is held in much higher regard and is much smoother than Bacardi. Back up your rum with the local beer called Medalla Light (meh-DAI-ya), which in most places is $2-$3/can.
Finish up there and head out the opposite you came in. Across the street is a classic dive bar called El Batey. You won't want to when you see it, but go in. People will appreciate it if you play the jukebox. Once you've got a drink and are settled in, you'll find yourself in a conversation with someone interesting right away. I never met anyone in El Batey that wasn't really cool to bs with for a half hour or so. Cheap drinks here. Girls like the house cocktail called the 101, but it almost gave Maria semi-permanent brain damage last time, she says.
I'm getting carried away so I'll stop there.
I've never been to El Conquistador, but I know a lot of people who have. Most of them are older and although they absolutely love it, have no stories of cockfights, Cognac flavored rum, brain damage or local flavor of any kind.
Oh and Fajardo has little taxi planes that take you to the islands of Vieques and Culebra for cheap.
