Thoughts on InterContinental San Juan?

[Aftastic]

The wife and I will be staying in San Juan a couple of days before getting on the Valor in January 2015. My initial thought was to stay one night in Condado and one night in Old San Juan at either El Convento or Sheraton next to pier, but both places are requiring a two-night minimum. Also, I am using my IHG rewards points to pay for the room at InterContinental, so it is costing me nothing.

 

I was just curious if anyone here had stayed at the InterContinental San Juan before and what their review of the place was. Is it really as nice as the pictures show or should I suck it up and pay the money and stay at the El Convento or Sheraton?

[Pomperaugrr]

I have stayed there twice. It is a great hotel. It was clean and the service was excellent. The pool is beautiful. There is a nice hibachi restaurant on site and another restaurant with excellent dinners and breakfast. The beach is very nice as well. The casino is small and the machines are pretty tight.

 

I would recommend this to a friend without a second thought. We will also stay there again the next time we cruise out of San Juan. It is about a 15 minute cab ride to the ship.

 

Eric

[GrandBistro]

El Convento has a 2-night minimum stay, which is why we won't be staying there pre-cruise next January. Don't know about the Sheraton.

[Aftastic]

El Convento has a 2-night minimum stay, which is why we won't be staying there pre-cruise next January. Don't know about the Sheraton.

 

As of right now, the Sheraton next to the port has a two-night minimum when trying to book online. However, I have seen some report back that restriction sometimes is lifted as you get closer to the date.

 

I'm content with the InterContinental, especially since it will cost me $0. I just have not heard the hotel mentioned in trip reviews (except for construction a while ago) so I didn't know if there was something I was missing.

[Aftastic]

Just wanted to pop in and thank you Pomperaugrr for the information you provided. It is greatly appreciated! :)

Edited March 12, 2014 by Aftastic

[monicajay]

The wife and I will be staying in San Juan a couple of days before getting on the Valor in January 2015. My initial thought was to stay one night in Condado and one night in Old San Juan at either El Convento or Sheraton next to pier, but both places are requiring a two-night minimum. Also, I am using my IHG rewards points to pay for the room at InterContinental, so it is costing me nothing.

 

I was just curious if anyone here had stayed at the InterContinental San Juan before and what their review of the place was. Is it really as nice as the pictures show or should I suck it up and pay the money and stay at the El Convento or Sheraton?

 

 

I would gladly stay at the InterContinental expecially for free :D. I stayed there once before for 3 nights and really enjoyed it. Pool area is fabulous. Try to get an oceanfront room.

[Choozin Croozin]

We love the Intercontinental and have also used points. The hotel is very nice, nice grounds, pool, beach bar and beach. You can't beat the location. We stayed there 2 years in a row. I am envious as we are out of points and won't pay the big bucks. Enjoy.

[PollyNJ]

We love this hotel. We stayed their 3 years ago before our cruise for 2 days..and 3 days following our cruise. The beach is lovely..they have a great pool, and a cute little restaurant/grill area that has outside seating which we really enjoyed. They also have a Ruth Chris Steak House and are within walking distance to OSJ Hotel. The thing we loved was they had several taxi drivers they recommended which we were able to set up day trips for when we returned from our cruise.

[mefinephotoman]

+1 on what Pomperaugrr commented. We stayed there in 2009 overnight pre-cruise. Nice easy trip from airport, used points like you are and enjoyed our stay until about 11:00 AM next day when we headed to the port. We were on Serenade of the Seas so we went to Pan-American Pier but it should take about the same 20-25 minutes to get to the port. The place was very relaxing and clean and just beautiful. I did try the Ruth's Chris Steak House and was disappointed in the meal compared to other Ruth's Chris that I have eaten at. Hopefully, it has improved because it was convenient. I think we even ventured out the morning of to find a drugstore about 2 blocks away. Beach was great (non-smoking if I recall...I used to smoke:eek:) and the pool was beautiful. We are sailing out of San Juan in September, doing 3 days pre-cruise and decided to spring for El Convento so we would be in the heart of OSJ. Otherwise I wouldn't hesitate to stay at the Intercontinental again.:)

Edited April 10, 2014 by mefinephotoman
Missed a word

[Host Faith]

We stayed at the IC a couple years ago and enjoyed it. We were there for one night after our cruise. Nice hotel, pretty beach, and good service. We enjoyed going to Metropol down the street for dinner. Excellent food!

 

Here is my review of the hotel, with some photos (scroll down to post #198): http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1500108&page=10