Message: Hi - I'm writing to all those veteran PR travelers. Myself and 2 friends are traveling down there in a few weeks. I've read that Condado and Isla Verda are the best places to stay if one wants close access to beach and downtown/old san juan. I've been researching accomodations and seeing some great places but priced pretty high ($250+). I'm looking for more affordable lodging and was curious if anyone had stayed in a quality hotel/inn/b&b on or close to the beach in those above areas. We are semi-budget conscience but don't want a dump. Any information/recommendations please post! Thanks,

I am too researching for a trip to PR in March. I've been looking at the site www.tripadvisor.com where you can find a lot of advices about places to stay in PR, expensive or not.

If you want alternatives to the bigger, more expensive hotels, here's a few smaller hotels and guesthouses that should have rates under $200:

Condado:
Hotel El Consulado - on the main street in Condado not far from the Marriott, about a couple of blocks from the beach.

Any of the three Canario Inns - Canario by the Sea and the original Canarion Inn are closer to the beach than Canario by the Lagoon.

Coral Princess Inn - newer, attractive boutique hotel close to the Marriott, about 2-3 blocks from the beach.

Aleli by the Sea - probably more basic than the above, but very close to the beach.

El Prado Inn - nice, quiet location, about 3 blocks from the beach. The rooms in the original old house are a lot more attractive than the ones in the newer annex.

Ocean Park (good beach in residential neighborhood between Condado & Isla Verde):
Numero Uno Guesthouse - right on the beach, very good but expensive restaurant, usually gets good reviews.

L'habitation - next door to Numero Uno, more basic, mostly gay clientele.

Hosteria del Mar - also right on the beach, good restaurant, rooms are probably the middle of the range between Numero Uno & L'habitation

At Wind Chimes Inn - on the edge between Condado & Ocean Park, a few blocks from the beach. Attractive, but some rooms are very small.

Isla Verde:
(The lower priced alternatives in this area are generally not as attractive as the ones above.)

Hampton Inn - not on the beach, but close

Casa de Playa - excellent location right on the beach, but not very attractive.

El Patio - not on beach, but not far. Not gorgeous, but not unattractive.

Mario's & Empress Oceanfront - close to the beach, but not much charm.

Mango's, Green Isle Inn, Casa Mathiesen - unattractive and across a busy highway from the beach strip. Not the best choices.

Borinquen Beach Inn - don't really know about it.

As katieling suggests, you can find a lot of info and reviews on almost all of these places on tripadvisor.com.

Good luck!

I've stayed at the Hampton Inn which is almost directly across the street the the El San Juan Hotel. It was an inexpensive alternative and we still had beach access. The only negative is that the hotel is a "U" formation with the pool inside the "U" and it backs up to the airport. If you sit by the pool when the planes are taking off it echos off the building and is so loud it sounds like it's landing in the pool.

The rooms are nice though and all that's offered is a continental breakfast. There is no real restaurant in the hotel.

I guess if you plan on going to the beach and not laying around the pool, it's a good choice. It certainly is centrally located to the other hotels and some nice restuarants.

You should also check out the Howard Johnson's in Isla Verde. We stayed there a year ago and got a great rate on the internet -$115/nite during Xmas break. It is across the street from the beach. The rooms were standard midrate hotel, but were clean and everything worked. There is also a tiny outdoor pool.