San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino

[grantjm99]

Anyone have any pictures of this hotel? how was it?

[Embracedbylife]

We stayed here in 2009 and really enjoyed it - it's worth the upgrade to get the ocean view room. Nice area with plenty of restaurants! It's located in Condado a 10 minute cab ride to Old San Juan.

 

This is a photo from our room! Lots of pics online at tripadvisor.

[seafun]

From their own website, so take the photos with a grain of salt, but it will give you an idea...

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-photos/sjupr-san-juan-marriott-resort-and-stellaris-casino/

 

I'm looking forward to my pre-cruise stay in November. :D

[Kramer995]

We are booked on New Years Eve this year for a cruise. I wanted a Marriott property on the beach, so I chose this one. Also, it appeared to be closer than the Courtyard on the beach. I'll post reviews when we return.

[FRANKM]

Got back today after spending a week at the Marriott Stellaris.

Very good hotel. Service is excellent. Location is the best.

Plenty of places to eat within walking distance. We had

an ocean view in the tower building on the 8th floor. Really nice.

Pool area is very good and the beach is clean. Ocean is a little

rough in this area. Would stay there again, in fact, I plan to.

Have some pictures which I will post after uploading from camera.

[CarolRick]

Got back today after spending a week at the Marriott Stellaris.

Very good hotel. Service is excellent. Location is the best.

Plenty of places to eat within walking distance. We had

an ocean view in the tower building on the 8th floor. Really nice.

Pool area is very good and the beach is clean. Ocean is a little

rough in this area. Would stay there again, in fact, I plan to.

Have some pictures which I will post after uploading from camera.

 

Frank,

Recommendations for restauarants in the area?

[FRANKM]

Frank,

Recommendations for restauarants in the area?

 

We went to Yerba Buena. Across Ashford to the left of the Marriott one block up on the corner. Good Puerto Rican Specialities. Frequented by locals. Prices are not bad. Excellent service.

 

Also went to Ummo. Argentinian Meat place to the left of the Marriott, about a block and half up. Good Steaks. Pricey. Nice wine selection. Exceptional service. The Argententian Sampler for two is a meal in itself.

 

Danny's, to the left of the Marriott a block up on the corner has a decent breakfast selection at good prices (for the area). Also, they have pizzas and italian selections. We had breakfast one morning and pizza one night. Not too bad. A large cheese pie with sausage was maybe $16. Dont expect attentive service. Just so so. Find your own table which is ok with me.

 

Tiajuanas across from Danny's seemed very popular. We did not try it.

 

Down Ashford several blocks is the La Concha Hotel. Across the street is

Cafe Del Angel. Excellent Puerto Rican food at good prices. Not opened at night. Was there several years ago.

 

In Old San Juan, we went to El Jibarito late in afternoon. Good Puerto Rican food. Crowded with locals. Good prices. Service is a little slow.

 

We also went to The Latin Roots in Old San Juan. Directly behind the Sheraton Hotel. Excellent. For $12 you can get 1/2 pound of pork, rice, beans, sweet plantains and salad. Lots of other specialties. Gets crowded on weekends and when cruise ships are in.

 

Raices is another good place in Old San Juan. We passed by but there was always a line. Have to try it next time. Gets good reviews.

 

In the Hotel, we tried the breakfast buffet....dont ask me why. It's $20 per person. Typical buffet.

 

In the hotel lobby there is a coffee place called The Coffee Merchants.

Really good coffee. They have a selection of pastries, cereals, egg sandwiches, wraps etc. I had my first morning coffee there. Opened from 6am to 6pm. Convenient. Good Mayorcas and Quesitos (cheese pastry).

 

 

Across the street there is a Starbucks and Hagen Daz, and another restaurant called Miros. Looked popular.

 

On the side streets off Ashford toward Magdelena, there were a few restaurants that looked very good.

 

Up past the Radisson, several blocks left of the Marriott, is a strip of places like Uno, Fudruckers.

 

We had a rental car so we didnt spend all that much time near the Hotel during the day and early evening.

 

Places get very crowded during the weekends with locals and cruise ship folks. Very lively.

 

The hotel baggage attendants are a great source of information concerning

restaurants.

[CarolRick]

Thanks,

We will be there two days and will take advantage of your info...

[FRANKM]

Anyone have any pictures of this hotel? how was it?

 

Here are a few shots. The ocean view rooms are the way to go.

Better yet if you can get something in the Cabana section, Ocean and

pool view. We were in room 815 in the tower and loved it. There are many better reviews and photos here on CC if you search for them.

[highflyingrealtor]

Here are a few shots. The ocean view rooms are the way to go.

Better yet if you can get something in the Cabana section, Ocean and

pool view. We were in room 815 in the tower and loved it. There are many better reviews and photos here on CC if you search for them.

Frank, thanks so much as you're a wealth of information! Great tips on food as those expenses do add up. Now if we can only contain ourselves until our 2 day pre-cruise stay in Feb.! You made mention of Cabana rooms being good as well as Ocean View. Are the Cabana's the pool view rooms or a different area yet? If so, are those a hike to get to the beach or is the whole resort layout pretty easy to get around? So I'm guessing the less desirable rooms would be facing inland w/a city view? Depending what location we get w/our priceline rooms we may take your recommendation and pay a few pennies more for an upgrade.

[FRANKM]

Frank, thanks so much as you're a wealth of information! Great tips on food as those expenses do add up. Now if we can only contain ourselves until our 2 day pre-cruise stay in Feb.! You made mention of Cabana rooms being good as well as Ocean View. Are the Cabana's the pool view rooms or a different area yet? If so, are those a hike to get to the beach or is the whole resort layout pretty easy to get around? So I'm guessing the less desirable rooms would be facing inland w/a city view? Depending what location we get w/our priceline rooms we may take your recommendation and pay a few pennies more for an upgrade.

 

The cabana building is next to the tower. They connect on the ground floor. This section is set back from the pool area and faces both the

pool and beach. Very nice. But I think much more expensive. Everything is easy to navigate.

The layout is very good. Beach access is through the pool area. Which ever section you take, make sure your room is as center as possible. You could wind up facing part of a condominium or the parking building. When I upgraded, I specified this.

The clerk gave a little smile and clicked the keyboard a few more times.

Room was one down from the corner. Thanks to other CC posts for this one.

 

Unless you really need to have a city view room, there is really nothing to

to see other than condos and other buildings.

 

Always check with the bag attendants for information. The one who checked us in, named Angel, really gave us some good tips. I have been going to PR for the past 20 years but never stayed in a hotel there. He was super helpful.

 

If you are there Friday and Saturday nights, the hotel lobby is really

lively. Live music and lots of locals and cruise paxs. So is the Ashford strip. Come Monday, everything got so quiet.

 

Enjoy your trip!!

[FRANKM]

We went to Yerba Buena. Across Ashford to the left of the Marriott one block up on the corner. Good Puerto Rican Specialities. Frequented by locals. Prices are not bad. Excellent service.

 

Also went to Ummo. Argentinian Meat place to the left of the Marriott, about a block and half up. Good Steaks. Pricey. Nice wine selection. Exceptional service. The Argententian Sampler for two is a meal in itself.

 

Danny's, to the left of the Marriott a block up on the corner has a decent breakfast selection at good prices (for the area). Also, they have pizzas and italian selections. We had breakfast one morning and pizza one night. Not too bad. A large cheese pie with sausage was maybe $16. Dont expect attentive service. Just so so. Find your own table which is ok with me.

 

Tiajuanas across from Danny's seemed very popular. We did not try it.

 

Down Ashford several blocks is the La Concha Hotel. Across the street is

Cafe Del Angel. Excellent Puerto Rican food at good prices. Not opened at night. Was there several years ago.

 

In Old San Juan, we went to El Jibarito late in afternoon. Good Puerto Rican food. Crowded with locals. Good prices. Service is a little slow.

 

We also went to The Latin Roots in Old San Juan. Directly behind the Sheraton Hotel. Excellent. For $12 you can get 1/2 pound of pork, rice, beans, sweet plantains and salad. Lots of other specialties. Gets crowded on weekends and when cruise ships are in.

 

Raices is another good place in Old San Juan. We passed by but there was always a line. Have to try it next time. Gets good reviews.

 

In the Hotel, we tried the breakfast buffet....dont ask me why. It's $20 per person. Typical buffet.

 

In the hotel lobby there is a coffee place called The Coffee Merchants.

Really good coffee. They have a selection of pastries, cereals, egg sandwiches, wraps etc. I had my first morning coffee there. Opened from 6am to 6pm. Convenient. Good Mayorcas and Quesitos (cheese pastry).

 

 

Across the street there is a Starbucks and Hagen Daz, and another restaurant called Miros. Looked popular.

 

On the side streets off Ashford toward Magdelena, there were a few restaurants that looked very good.

 

Up past the Radisson, several blocks left of the Marriott, is a strip of places like Uno, Fudruckers.

 

We had a rental car so we didnt spend all that much time near the Hotel during the day and early evening.

 

Places get very crowded during the weekends with locals and cruise ship folks. Very lively.

 

The hotel baggage attendants are a great source of information concerning

restaurants.

 

CORRECTION:

 

In my previous post I indicated that Cafe del Angel was not opened at night.

They are opened until 10pm. Closed on Tuesdays. Sorry, my bad.

[Quinn]

Frank - When did you request the upgrade to oceanview before you arrived or at check in? Thanks.............

[FRANKM]

Frank - When did you request the upgrade to oceanview before you arrived or at check in? Thanks.............

 

We did it at check-in.

[Quinn]

Frank - Lots of great info - thanks again!!

[dirvin0500]

We booked the Stellaris for 2 nights pre-cruise and 1 post cruise. Got all three nights for $110 apiece.

How does one go about upgrading to an Ocean View and what is the cost?

[Lorey2007]

We did it at check-in.

 

I am planning to ask for the upgrade at check in how much extra per night did they charge you for the upgrade?

[laedw]

Thank you FrankM for the information. We are staying there in October. We booked our room via Priceline. We should ask for an upgrade to an oceanview in the center?

[FRANKM]

Upgrading cost me $25 per night. Dont know if this was good or bad

but we were happy. You can call and see if they do it beforehand and

what the price is or just wait. I imagine things vary depending on the

supply of rooms and the timing.

[Lorey2007]

Upgrading cost me $25 per night. Dont know if this was good or bad

but we were happy. You can call and see if they do it beforehand and

what the price is or just wait. I imagine things vary depending on the

supply of rooms and the timing.

 

Thanks FRANKM $25 per night sounds good to me. After I got my confirmation # from Priceline I did call and told them I would like a ocean view room if available. I will also be sure to ask again at check in.

[seabird08]

Stayed at the Stellaris and enjoyed the neighborhood for local restaurants too.

[librarylady19]

Stayed at the Stellaris and enjoyed the neighborhood for local restaurants too.

Will be there post cruise on Dec. 18th. Can you recommend a good restaurant for dinner; not too pricey as I will be broke by then!!

[ORV]

Will be there post cruise on Dec. 18th. Can you recommend a good restaurant for dinner; not too pricey as I will be broke by then!!

 

Check out FrankM's post on page 1.

[RUDIMAY1]

any new updates? who stayed, dined and had cocktails in this are recently?

[drakes2]

We stayed at the Marriott Stellaris for one night pre cruise in January 2009. Booked through Priceline for a city view room and got upgraded to an ocean view corner room. Great location for dinner and easy access by bus to OSJ. Dined the first night at Ummo's, my DH had steak and I had empanadas with a bottle of Argentinian Cabernet called Saurus. They opened the bottle and let me try before purchasing. For breakfast we ate at Danny's, nothing special, but cheap and tasty, it filled us until we got to the ship and had lunch. Yes, service there was slow, but who cares, we were on vacation, and just biding our time until we had to embark our ship. We're staying there again in January 2011 - 2 nights pre and 2 post cruise. :)

any new updates? who stayed, dined and had cocktails in this are recently?