Our hotels and dining in San Juan 11/1 and 11/9.
 

Greetings fellow Fodorites,

I just wanted to post a short note on our brief visit to San Juan (pre and post cruise). We stayed at the Radisson Ambassador - older hotel, but clean and comfortable. The only negative comment is the poor lighting in the room and bathroom. Complimentary rum drinks. Good location.

Lunched at Danny's International near the hotel. Excellent pizza!

Dined at the Tropical restaurant for dinner (http://www.tropicalrestaurant.com/index.html). Excellent food and drinks. Lots of locals, friendly service and reasonable prices.

Headed to the Fiesta bar at the Wyndham hotel in Condado to listen to some salsa. Enjoyed the drinks there; music a little too loud for our liking, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

Post cruise stay at the Caribe Hilton (via Priceline for $65 plus taxes). Lovely grounds, large room (#823) with views towards Condado. Dined at the Madrid restaurant at the hotel. Pricey, but delicious (and filling) Asopao de Mariscos (a rice stew with various fish and seafood); Tony had their veal chop, also very good. Service by Luis was exceptional.

We enjoyed walking around Old San Juan, window shopped and watched the street entertainers.

Unfortunately our two days in San Juan we encountered lots of rain, so we couldn't really enjoy the outdoors at the hotels.

I am curious about the area around the Caribe Hilton. We are booked into the Normandie Hotel, which seems to be nearby though not as fancy. Then I read in one of the guidebooks that it was a "shabby area." What did you think? The hotel looks nice, not too expensive, and the location in between Condado and Old San Juan semed to make sense. We are going for a week beginning Dec. 30th so we have time to change our reservations but that is an expensive time to go. Did you notice the Normandie Hotel at all or the public beach next to it? Did it look OK? You sure got a great deal on the Hilton!

The Normandie is next door to the CAribe Hilton. I wouldn't call the area shabby but therre is not too much around. The pool at the hotel is small and the beach is small and not very good and there isn't a good beach within walking distance. If you intend to spend a lot of time at the beach or the pool the hotel might not be the best choice. You would be better off staying in Isla Verde or the Condado. You can see the beach at the Hilton but there is no way to get there unless you go through the Hilton hotel lobby. A chain link fence separates the properties. I stayed at the Normandie some years back for one night before a cruise. At the tme the hotel seemed tired but I understand it has been recently renovated.

Ditto on Rob's comments. We were told of a restaurant, about a 10 minute walk. Well, about 10 minutes later (and not feeling comfortable walking the area at night) we saw a Kentucky fried chicken place, but not the restaurant, so we walked back and dined at the Madrid hotel.

Again, I would much rather find a hotel in Condado on our next visit as that area has most of the restaurants and bars. If you decide to stay at the Normandie (looked nice) then take a taxi to OSJ.

Thanks to both of you for the info. Actually we do not plan to do a lot of beaching but would still ideally like a hotel with a water view and access to a nice beach. We are interested in dining and cultural and historic sightseeing, so a hotel in Old San Juan would make sense but we don't want to be too far from the Condado. We will probably want to spend at least 2 nights at one of the casinos.

We are paying $150 per night for a room with a view at the Normandie. Can one of you suggest better options in that price range in OSJ or the Condado for a week late December - early January?

Thanks, Professors