ejcrowe

We've got another mammoth layover coming in a couple of weeks in SJU. A couple of times we've taken a taxi over to Pamela's restaurant at Numero Uno Guesthouse, which we've really enjoyed, but this time we're looking for something a little bit closer to save on taxi fare. Other suggestions? What about the beach resorts closer to the airport? Is it cool to cart your carry-on luggage with you if you're just going to have lunch there, or do they frown on non-guests dropping in like that?

thanks!

DavidSXM

I had the same problem a ccouple of weeks ago.

Thanks to American Airlines changing their schedules to just two flights a day from SJU to SXM, I had a 10 hour wait between flights.

I took a cab to the Sheraton in the Old Town (fixed price $20 plus tip) and persuaded the doorman there to keep my carryon / laptop in their baggage room on the pretext that "I was meeting a colleague there".

I then wandered around the Old Town and had a leisurely lunch, before returning to sit in the Sheraton lobby watching TV for a while before going back to the airport.

The Sheraton did not impress me at all, but it was very convenient to use the facilities in order to kill time !

The next time I will head for the Conrad, which seemed to be a much nicer place !

beachdreams3

Isla Verde is the closest place (less than 10 minutes from SJU). I went there on a layover two years ago, and I think the cab fare was $10 - 12, or you could get a bus right at the airport for $0.75 [Note: Have exact change (coins) for the bus; I was so embarassed when the driver wouldn't take my $1 bill, and I had to ask other passengers for change for a dollar.]

There are several hotels right on the beach (Ritz Carlton, Intercontinental, Hotel El San Juan, and I think all of them would be fine with you having drinks or food, but some seemed fairly protective of their beaches (security guards restricting access to the beach to guests).

ejcrowe

DavidSXM, we really enjoy Old San Juan, but we don't want to spend the extra taxi fare to get there & back again 'cause it would be more than the fare to Numero Uno.

beachdreams, do you have any personal experience with the hotels in Isla Verde or which one might be most welcoming for lunch?

thanks!

doug_stallings

You might consider the San Juan Water and Beach Club, which is actually across the street from Isla Verde. There's the street in front of the hotel and then a little wall and then the beach. I don't know if the hotel itself would rent you a beach chair and umbrella, but that part of the beach doesn't have a lot of hotels on it, so I would expect some locals might set up there and do business, much as they do in Condado.

My second recommendation would be the Courtyard Isla Verde Beach Resort. It's not quite as high-brow as the Intercontinental and Ritz-Carlton and might be a little more egalitarian about use of its immediate beachfront.

Since Puerto Rico is a domestic telephone call, you could even call the resort and ask if they have a program to let non-guests rent a beach chair. Why not? It's probably a free call from your cell phone anyway.

doug_stallings

FYI: There is a public beach in San Juan, Balneiro de Carolina, but I doubt it has any place to leave luggage, though it does have rest rooms, lifeguards, and picnic tables.

tom42

I don't think they want to go to the beach. Sounds like they just want to have some lunch. Generally El San Juan does require wristbands, even for the pool area. Ritz Carlton does not. There is a casual pool bar/restaurant at the Ritz Carlton right at the beach. I would think that you would be able to check your luggage at the hotel if you are going to be having lunch there. But that is just a guess. You might want to give them a call to check.

beachdreams3

Sorry, I did not eat at any of the hotels. I had a pretty short layover, and it was late afternoon (too late for lunch and too early for dinner). I actually had wanted to try some Cuban food at Metropol (I think that is the name) but wasn't hungry enough to eat then and didn't want to bring food back to SJU (you have to go through some sort of Agriculture checkpoint), so I just walked around and had a little snack.

ejcrowe

Thanks for the continued suggestions, y'all. tom42, you're right--we just want a nice place to relax and have an extended lunch away from the airport. Doug, I'll take your suggestions and call a few of the luxe hotels and see what kind of luggage storage any of them can provide.

islebethere

EJ,
The last time we had a long layover in San Juan (arrived about 8 a.m. with a 3 p.m. departure home), we took your advice and headed by taxi to El Convento, where we had breakfast and then walked around the old town. We enjoyed that experience. I think the taxi fare back then totaled with tip about $50, but I think we got that much worth out of the experience, rather than spend the time in an uncomfortable airport seat.

A few years before that (this info is very out of date), we had a long layover in San Juan on our way to Tobago. We took a taxi
to El San Juan -- our arrival by taxi might have led the early security guards to think we were staying there -- I'd just read that it was a classic property and wanted to have a look. So we wandered through the El San Juan area and saw that there was restaurant on the beach at a nearby hotel. We managed to make it to the restaurant (my husband had a carry-on backpack -- our other luggage was checked through), and we enjoyed a nice lunch. Strange as this is, we were challenged as we LEFT the restaurant to pass through the property to get a taxi to the airport. The security guard seemed quite insistent that we couldn't pass through the hotel property. We finally managed to communicate that we'd had lunch at the hotel beach restaurant and he reluctantly let us through. Otherwise, we'd probably be on that beach today with no authorized escape.

ejcrowe

islebethere, that's a very funny story about the ESJ not wanting to let you leave! If we choose to go there I'll definitely call ahead of time to make sure they'll let luncheon guests leave the property.

I'm glad you enjoyed your breakfast at El Convento and your walk around the old town, too.