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» Cruise Talk   » Ports of Call and Destinations   » San Juan hotels

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Author Topic: San Juan hotels
Waynaro
First Class Passenger
Member # 3484

posted 06-29-2004 04:42 PM      Profile for Waynaro   Email Waynaro   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Has anyone here stayed at a hotel before or after a cruise in San Juan? Any suggestions of good hotels?
Posts: 6108 | From: Vallejo,CA : California Maritime Academy!!! | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged
wile1170
First Class Passenger
Member # 4598

posted 06-30-2004 12:25 PM      Profile for wile1170   Email wile1170   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
You can't go wrong with the Wyndham Old San Juan...it's right in front of the piers in Old San Juan. Go a day early and take in the 2 forts that are easily within walking distance from the hotel. I've stayed there before on other cruises and are doing so again in December of this year before I go on Constellation.
Posts: 50 | From: Miami, FL | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged
sympatico
First Class Passenger
Member # 797

posted 06-30-2004 01:54 PM      Profile for sympatico     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Sorry, but I have to disagree with the Windham Old San Juan.

We stayed there about 3 years ago the day before we went on a Christmas cruise on HAL's Veendam. Front desk personnel were disorganized and rude. Room faced the back where they were building a garage, starting work at 5am. The previous night we were kept awake until 1am by a Christmas party going on in one of the ballrooms - music drifted right up to our room on the 4th floor.

When we complained the next morning about the construction, front desk person just shrugged their shoulders and more or less said "too bad" - claimed that they had asked the construction people not to start work before 7am but nothing they could to about it.

We were with a group of people including my TA and she was not happy. They refused compensation to any of us.

I will never stay there again, but then again, I will never sail out of San Juan again. Long story about the flight home with Continental!


Posts: 3305 | From: Toronto, Ont. Canada | Registered: Jul 99  |  IP: Logged
tg_lindo
First Class Passenger
Member # 806

posted 07-08-2004 04:01 PM      Profile for tg_lindo   Email tg_lindo   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
We stayed at the Radisson Ambassador in the Condado area. I would recommend it if you can get a good discount on the rate. The Concierge level, where we were, has separate check in, in a club-like area on an upper floor. That was neat. The hotel also has a casino (tiny by Vegas standards) and a couple of bars in which the rum pours were generous.
Posts: 349 | From: San Francisco, CA | Registered: May 99  |  IP: Logged
Sailor
First Class Passenger
Member # 4606

posted 07-09-2004 03:28 AM      Profile for Sailor   Email Sailor   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I tend to agree with Sympatico. Although the Wyndham Old San Juan Hotel is perfectly suited if you are going on Carnival , and it is situated really a few steps away from the Terminal, many other cruise ships like Celebrity and RCL dock on the other side and I presume there are other Hotels better suited.
Anyway back to our Wyndham experience.....after flying from Zuerich, we had a delay in Miami due to a technical problem and arrived at San Juan at midnight.
Then took a cab to the Hotel and checked in....after many tries to open the door I then went back down to the reception to see if the Key was defect.
No...went back up, tried again...went back down again, was told that security would come, went back up again....awaited 15min, no security went back down again and was told... "sorry Sir you have a room where the lock is brocken"....they knew that the whole time....and this was a good 30 min after checking in!!!
...anyway, to cut a long story short, everytime we wanted to get out of the room or go back in we had to call security and wait till they came.!!!!
Not the best experience after flying 15 hrs and that at 1am in the morning!!

Posts: 38 | From: Switzerland | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
sympatico
First Class Passenger
Member # 797

posted 07-09-2004 08:13 AM      Profile for sympatico     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Sailor - glad to hear that someone else had problems with the staff at the Wyndham. They couldn't have cared less about their guests and that we got no sleep that night. It was like they were saying "too bad - not our problem".

My TA was furious with their attitude and told them she would never again book a client into their hotel.

Oh, forgot - they gave us a complimentary buffet breakfast for all our troubles - that was worth maybe $10-15.


Posts: 3305 | From: Toronto, Ont. Canada | Registered: Jul 99  |  IP: Logged
Sailor
First Class Passenger
Member # 4606

posted 07-09-2004 10:26 AM      Profile for Sailor   Email Sailor   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Sympatico...you hit the nail right on the head. The staff of the Wyndham Old San Juan really couldn`t care less.
This happened to us last Nov just before a cruise on the Carnival Jubilee....just imagine travelling 15 or more Hrs and then having to fight with the front desk to get somebody interested to open the door of a room you already had "pre-paid" and that way after midnight
It seems that the free buffet-breakfast is the standard compensation....they offered me that as well, but I`d paid cash already in the dinning room....bad luck
One positive thing was....because I was so mad at the Hotel I asked Carnival if an early check-in was possible...and we were already on the ship at 12.00
John

Posts: 38 | From: Switzerland | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
wile1170
First Class Passenger
Member # 4598

posted 07-09-2004 11:55 AM      Profile for wile1170   Email wile1170   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Sympatico and Sailor, I'm sorry to hear about your bad experiences with the Wyndham...my past experience was nothing like either of yours...

Sympatico, if you didn't like the room facing the back of the hotel, why didn't you ask to be moved? Last time I was there, we were a group of 3 rooms and my Dad had a room at the back while the other rooms were port view...he went down to the front desk and they gladly moved his room to face the port. I don't think it's fair to judge a hotel based on "construction" that is out of the hotels control and also "Christmas parties" during an isolated time of the year. I think it was appropriate for them to give you the free breakfast...they didn't have to give you anything...what did you expect them too do? Give you a complimentary room?

Sailor - sorry to hear about the long flight over and the hassle in getting the door to work....again, did you try to get a new room from the front desk? I, personally, would have never stayed in a room where security had to let me in and out, I would have demanded a new room...

Wyndham is a very good hotel chain and is not a Motel 6 level hotel. I'm surprised to hear that you both illude to Wyndham "not caring about their guests" or "whether or not you slept well"...Wyndham has built it's name on service...

Keitaro - if you want to see and experience San Juan and not stay in the hotel....look into the Wyndham or any other "name brand" hotel in Old San Juan....you will not regret it. I'm willing to bet that the construction of the garage from 3 yrs ago is finished and that they have fixed the door with the broken lock by now. The hotel is very nice and you should enjoy it and also being able to see your ship sail in the morning you leave on your cruise is a bonus.


Posts: 50 | From: Miami, FL | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged
sympatico
First Class Passenger
Member # 797

posted 07-09-2004 01:41 PM      Profile for sympatico     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
wile1170

From what I understood the construction of the garage was for the hotel. Why didn't we ask for another room? Who knew when we arrived in the late afternoon after a long flight from Toronto, that we would encounter these problems. We weren't going to move in the middle of the night.

No I didn't expecte them to give us a free room, but they could have given us some kind of discount. As I said my TA was with us and she ran into a lot of problems with the front desk also - snarky, rude, etc.

By the way, do you work for Wyndham hotels???


Posts: 3305 | From: Toronto, Ont. Canada | Registered: Jul 99  |  IP: Logged
wile1170
First Class Passenger
Member # 4598

posted 07-09-2004 03:51 PM      Profile for wile1170   Email wile1170   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
No, I do not work for Wyndham... I have stayed at their hotels in the past for both business and vacation and have yet to have a problem with service....that's why I was so surprised by what you had written.

4 or 5 star hotels are known for service and doing whatever possible to make the customer happy....so I'm sure if you would have asked for a different room within the price level you were paying, they would have accomodated your or upgraded your room.

It's unfortunate that your stay was marred by the construction and the Xmas party.... That part removed, what did you think of the hotel? The accomodations? The Lobby? Location and accessibility to Old San Juan and the forts?

My point was that Keitaro was looking for some objective suggestions....I can't speak for him, but if it were me, I wouldn't want to hear about an isolated incidents that really had no bearing on the hotel or accomodations.

San Juan, it itself, is not a really safe place for "rookie" tourists to go..there is a lot of crime in the city and hotels by the airport...if you want to go to SJ to stay in your hotel, fine...if you are planning on going to SJ for a week before or after your cruise, you may want to stay at one of the many beach resorts...if going for a day or two before or after a cruise, stay in Old San Juan if for nothing more than convenience to the ships and the history.


Posts: 50 | From: Miami, FL | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged
Sailor
First Class Passenger
Member # 4606

posted 07-09-2004 05:19 PM      Profile for Sailor   Email Sailor   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Wile1170
...yes of course we asked for a new room but they said that they didn`t have any left....they were booked out. If this is true or not is beyond me to judge today......I`m certainly not arguing this at 1.am in the morning with a Hotel reception.
Anyway, for us this incident is History .....one thing is sure though, after 15 hrs of travel all I wanted was a nice soft bed......so what alternatives did we have in a "foreign country" than to take the room and have security let us in, let us out, let us in etc.
Maybe my opinion is biased.....I aqlso booked it because the Wyndham Chain has a good name.....what I however can`t judge is if my experiece was just bad luck or if others had the same.
But this is what this Forum is for....to exchange experiences, good or bad.

Posts: 38 | From: Switzerland | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged

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