If you have ACTUALLY STAYED at a hotel in SJ SINCE Oct 1...please list here

[mommamia1012]

Well, here is my update regarding our reservation at the Courtyard Marriott Miramar.. I just got an email stating our reservations for November 10th have been canceled. We had 2 rooms are are 5 people in our group. This is part of the email:

"Unfortunately, our beautiful Island was directly affected by Hurricane Maria last month. Because of this situation, there are some things that are not running as normal. Limited Service are available as the hotel is working with limited personnel resources. As we continue to work towards recovery, the hotel is not accepting arrivals or new reservations at this time. Regretfully, we are unable to honor your existing reservation. "

Funny thing is that I spoke to the girl at the front desk at the hotel on Saturday and she told me they were honoring our reservation. We had a lengthy conversation about the hotel conditions and also what was going on on the island. She gave me no indication that in just a few days, they would cancel us. So aware of this and be proactive. If you wait, you may not be able to change your flights. I don't feel confident that ANY hotel is a safe bet at this point. I think they are all going to follow suit and cancel people out.

Needless to say, I had to scramble to change our flights from Friday to Saturday the 11th. We are flying on AA and they still had seats available. They didn't charge to change the flight but there was an extra charge of $70+ per person because they only had the extra leg room seats available.

Now I will start to pray for good weather and no delays with our flight as we get into SJ at 3:00pm and don't have tons of time for anything to go wrong. My nerves are frazzled...

 

 

 

 

[GregGH]

following

 

I just called Sheraton Old San Juan and our room for Sat Dec 2nd is still good...

[exercisemama]

We're supposed to be booked 11/9 and 11/10 at the Hampton Inn pre cruise. The only reason we found out that they canceled our reservation, was because I contacted them through messenger on Facebook. they are no longer taking new or existing reservations through January 1. We gave up and are staying pre-cruise into Fort Lauderdale for two nights, flying into San Juan the morning of our cruise.

 

 

 

 

This is getting concerning - I would have figured many more responses.. (We don't go out until Mid Jan)

Anyone have experience with DoubleTree, Hampton Inn, or Hyatt City Center post hurricane Maria? I see all these have posted recent photos and status updates on Facebook...

[Fmaclean]

While we are veering off topic ...feeling nervous after the hotel fiasco I double checked my United Flights for Friday December 8 out of Newark at 11:30 am to be told it was changed to 7:30 am Saturday Dec 9 arriving 12:20...the day of the cruise. That wasn’t working for me because there was no leeway for flight delays and embarkation. I changed the flight to 7:30 am on Friday Dec 8 ..that allows lots of breathing room! No charge for the change...I dared them to! ;p

[LindaKB]

Ok folks. Our group of 4 flew in from reno last night on southwest. City lights were nice to see. I did some dark areas without power but most all of San Juan was lit up. The airport looks completely normal. We checked in the the Casablanca. I'm posting this now from our room. A.C. is spotty, but other than that everything is normal. We're going out to explore today and will report back later

 

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[julesbeara]

Wonder how many rooms each of these offer? Just curious as to what the total number of rooms FEMA might be utilizing. I understand it is combined for relief workers and refugees.

 

Asked a friend that works for the government, and was told that the higher cost suites or luxury type rooms are outside the per diem rate for FEMA, Contract & government employees to reserve. Otherwise, every room is fair game.

 

 

Check out the http://www.fedtravel.com website for more details.

[3Boys&aDad]

The only suggestion I would make to everyone dealing with flights and hotels in PR over the next couple months would be to check DIRECTLY with the airline and hotel for your status regularly.

My wife is an agent, the agents use consolidators for booking flights and hotels...... The airlines and hotels are making real-time changes - and the notifications to the consolidators (and theirs to the agents...) are being delayed - in many cases by days and in some cases weeks. Those delays often limit your options for finding an alternative plan with a different airline/hotel when the rug gets pulled out from under you. Same delayed notifications to the end client for bookings you may make using rewards programs.

My wife has had to start making regular calls to the actual hotels and airlines to make sure her clients don't get stranded. She's avoided that scenario upwards of a dozen times now with at least 4 different airlines and 3 different hotels.

Stay on top of your reservations folks - the status is changing on a daily basis - and sometimes it's taking a step back rather than forward despite the progress on the island.

[lostchild]

Asked a friend that works for the government, and was told that the higher cost suites or luxury type rooms are outside the per diem rate for FEMA, Contract & government employees to reserve. Otherwise, every room is fair game.

 

 

Check out the www.fedtravel.com website for more details.

 

Looks like $167 is the lodging per diem rate from that site.

[snorkel2]

Asked a friend that works for the government, and was told that the higher cost suites or luxury type rooms are outside the per diem rate for FEMA, Contract & government employees to reserve. Otherwise, every room is fair game.

 

 

Check out the www.fedtravel.com website for more details.

 

We were also told suites were out of their cost range so booked suite with our travel partners at AC Marriott for 11/23-24. Had one of my co-workers who is from Puerto Rico call and verify our reservation is good. Will re-verify again when we are 2 weeks out. American Airlines totally removed our original flights this past Monday. They sent an email to our travel partners that their flights (from Dallas) were changed. We are from Oregon. No notice. I checked their website and our entire reservation was gone with a note to call American. Everything is now re-set for all of us and we are looking forward to taking off for DFW early morning (12:30 AM) on 11/23, meetings our friends and heading to San Juan. This will be a trip to remember. That is for sure. We LOVE LOVE LOVE San Juan. Have cruised from there many times on Adventure and Jewel and totally look forward to being there a few days pre-cruise. BTW our original hotel reservation was at Condado Plaza Hilton which got cancelled about 2 weeks ago. Bottom line is to always have a plan B. :-) I will be SO happy when they open that aircraft door in San Juan and the heat and humidity hit me!!! We will know we have arrived!!! Looking forward to a great B2B cruise (again) with our friends from Texas.

[coopster]

We were also told suites were out of their cost range so booked suite with our travel partners at AC Marriott for 11/23-24. Had one of my co-workers who is from Puerto Rico call and verify our reservation is good. Will re-verify again when we are 2 weeks out. American Airlines totally removed our original flights this past Monday. They sent an email to our travel partners that their flights (from Dallas) were changed. We are from Oregon. No notice. I checked their website and our entire reservation was gone with a note to call American. Everything is now re-set for all of us and we are looking forward to taking off for DFW early morning (12:30 AM) on 11/23, meetings our friends and heading to San Juan. This will be a trip to remember. That is for sure. We LOVE LOVE LOVE San Juan. Have cruised from there many times on Adventure and Jewel and totally look forward to being there a few days pre-cruise. BTW our original hotel reservation was at Condado Plaza Hilton which got cancelled about 2 weeks ago. Bottom line is to always have a plan B. :-) I will be SO happy when they open that aircraft door in San Juan and the heat and humidity hit me!!! We will know we have arrived!!! Looking forward to a great B2B cruise (again) with our friends from Texas.

we still have a reservation at the condado plaza hilton for 11/17 i checked it with them a couple of days ago and its still good online i got my fingers crossed.

[skiiergirl]

Ok folks. Our group of 4 flew in from reno last night on southwest. City lights were nice to see. I did some dark areas without power but most all of San Juan was lit up. The airport looks completely normal. We checked in the the Casablanca. I'm posting this now from our room. A.C. is spotty, but other than that everything is normal. We're going out to explore today and will report back later

 

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Thank you for sharing!

[Cruisin KLS]

Ok folks. Our group of 4 flew in from reno last night on southwest. City lights were nice to see. I did some dark areas without power but most all of San Juan was lit up. The airport looks completely normal. We checked in the the Casablanca. I'm posting this now from our room. A.C. is spotty, but other than that everything is normal. We're going out to explore today and will report back later

 

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Great to hear. Look forward to more information.

 

 

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[KatPem]

Just flew home yesterday from SJU after our cruise on the Adventure of the Seas.

 

 

There are lots of threads about PR hotels and SPECULATION of who is open...who will be open...who is cancelling reservations due to FEMA, etc....so let's PLEASE keep this thread at "actual, factual" "reports" from folks who have actually visited the hotels in San Juan since October 1.

 

If you have actually stayed in a San Juan area hotel since Oct 1....

 

Please tell us:

1. Date you stayed

2. Name of hotel

3. Powered by electricity or generator?

4. Restaurants, drug/grocery stores nearby...open/closed?

5. Areas of hotel that were open/closed, etc.

6. Any other helpful information regarding your actual stay at the hotel

 

Thanks to all for your "factual reports". Future cruisers are appreciative!

 

We flew in 10/12, stayed at the Comfort Inn Condado. I had booked online AFTER Maria hit and was not able to confirm reservation prior to flight. Got there, no problems with reservation. On that date, the airport did not have power and the Comfort Inn was running on a generator, which they turned off from 11am to 5pm every day. This was my backup hotel, we had originally booked at Da' House but they were not open yet and will not until power is restored to OSJ.

 

After our cruise, we stayed at the Casablanca Hotel in Old San Juan. This was booked in person on 10/13 when we got confirmation that our stay on Vieques would not happen. Casablanca was running on generator power. It did go off one night for a short bit but was back by the time we got back for dinner.

 

We booked our rental car through Charlie Car for both before and after our cruise. Before we parked in the hotel parking lot, after we parked in the Dona Fela parking garage in OSJ for $4 a day. It is open 24 hours. The Condado office of Charlie Car is closed. We had booked through them cause they offer free shuttles to and from the cruise dock. They honored this from the Isla Verde Office, both dropping us off and picking us up. They had plenty of cars available and we had NO trouble getting gas in the San Juan area. There was a station open both times right before their offices. There was a short line both times but that was due to the fact that you had to get to the pump, go in and take your cash or credit card, pump your gas and then go retrieve your credit card or change if it wasn't exact. That was a pain and the main thing we saw slowing things down.

 

Many places are cash only, especially restaurants. I will try to remember where all we went:

 

Mi Casita-no power but serving food on 10/12-cash only.

Orozcos-ate there twice after the cruise. Took CC

Walgreens in Condado on Ashford was open 24 hours and took CC

CVS in Condado on Ashford was open til 7pm and took CC

CVS in OSJ was open, not sure of hours, took CC. Rear doors closed in evening but still open.

The Place in Condado was open and took CC

Moreno's Spot in OSJ was open, cash only

Barrachina's was open during the day, not sure on rest, didn't go there.

Bun's Burgers in OSJ was open 10am-4pm, took CC

Bun's Burgers in Condado was open and took CC, not sure hours

Cold Stone in OSJ was open after 5:30pm, not sure on rest, didn't go

Chili's in Condado was open, took CC

Pizza Rustica in OSJ was open, cash only

 

Several places had items they were out of but plenty of options as well.

Some places had altered hours, even if they were open. Best to call them. Most had info posted on their doors.

 

Places we noticed were open:

Condado:

Buenos Ayres

Pannes

Serafina

Cocina Abierto

Denny's

Muchie Burger

Stop n Go

Madarin House

Condal

Punk Burger

Latin Star

Ropa Vieja

Di Zucchero

Starbucks on Ashford

Toll House Cafe (in Condado Palms)-open til 7pm i think.

Ali Baba

Yerba Buena

Tijuanas

Burger King

Cayo Caribe

 

OSJ-

El Patio and next door to them

Barrachinas

Moreno's Spot

Triana

G Spot

Melao

Taster's Place

Aroma's

Vaca Brava

Dominos

La Burgett

Pepe's by the bay

La Revolucion

Latin Roots

El Hamburger

Ladi's

[KatPem]

Ok so we have one person who stayed at the Comfort Inn with no air conditioning. Anyone else? Seems pretty scary that nobody else is giving us an update.

 

We stayed at the Comfort Inn 10/12-14 and had air and everything was as normal, except they turn the generators off from 11am to 5pm each day.

[KatPem]

Who didn't have air at the Comfort Inn? I didn't read that. Someone said not air in room at Casa Blanca. I was told by Comfort Inn when I called for Nov. 2 that they had power, water and were up and running. They said nothing about not having air. The person from Adventure who stayed there reported they had a smooth trip with no problems.

 

When did you call the comfort Inn? When we got there on the 12th they had stated that they had power for a day and then lost it again, not sure of their status now, they were running on generators on the 14th. Either way, with the generator, they had power, water, air, breakfast, etc. but they did shut it off from 11am to 5pm. Just wanted to make sure you had talked to them recently and not on the one day prior to the 12th that they did have power.

[minnowcruiser]

When did you call the comfort Inn? When we got there on the 12th they had stated that they had power for a day and then lost it again, not sure of their status now, they were running on generators on the 14th. Either way, with the generator, they had power, water, air, breakfast, etc. but they did shut it off from 11am to 5pm. Just wanted to make sure you had talked to them recently and not on the one day prior to the 12th that they did have power.

Sorry I didn't see this post till after I posted but I did talk with Comfort Inn today. I have a reservation for Nov2-4 which is still a go but the generator went down today. I read somewhere where they cancelled someones reservation for tomorrow. That might be the reason. The desk clerk told me that hopefully things should be find by the first of Nov.

[readytolose]

Just flew home yesterday from SJU after our cruise on the Adventure of the Seas.

 

 

 

 

We flew in 10/12, stayed at the Comfort Inn Condado. I had booked online AFTER Maria hit and was not able to confirm reservation prior to flight. Got there, no problems with reservation. On that date, the airport did not have power and the Comfort Inn was running on a generator, which they turned off from 11am to 5pm every day. This was my backup hotel, we had originally booked at Da' House but they were not open yet and will not until power is restored to OSJ.

 

After our cruise, we stayed at the Casablanca Hotel in Old San Juan. This was booked in person on 10/13 when we got confirmation that our stay on Vieques would not happen. Casablanca was running on generator power. It did go off one night for a short bit but was back by the time we got back for dinner.

 

We booked our rental car through Charlie Car for both before and after our cruise. Before we parked in the hotel parking lot, after we parked in the Dona Fela parking garage in OSJ for $4 a day. It is open 24 hours. The Condado office of Charlie Car is closed. We had booked through them cause they offer free shuttles to and from the cruise dock. They honored this from the Isla Verde Office, both dropping us off and picking us up. They had plenty of cars available and we had NO trouble getting gas in the San Juan area. There was a station open both times right before their offices. There was a short line both times but that was due to the fact that you had to get to the pump, go in and take your cash or credit card, pump your gas and then go retrieve your credit card or change if it wasn't exact. That was a pain and the main thing we saw slowing things down.

 

Many places are cash only, especially restaurants. I will try to remember where all we went:

 

Mi Casita-no power but serving food on 10/12-cash only.

Orozcos-ate there twice after the cruise. Took CC

Walgreens in Condado on Ashford was open 24 hours and took CC

CVS in Condado on Ashford was open til 7pm and took CC

CVS in OSJ was open, not sure of hours, took CC. Rear doors closed in evening but still open.

The Place in Condado was open and took CC

Moreno's Spot in OSJ was open, cash only

Barrachina's was open during the day, not sure on rest, didn't go there.

Bun's Burgers in OSJ was open 10am-4pm, took CC

Bun's Burgers in Condado was open and took CC, not sure hours

Cold Stone in OSJ was open after 5:30pm, not sure on rest, didn't go

Chili's in Condado was open, took CC

Pizza Rustica in OSJ was open, cash only

 

Several places had items they were out of but plenty of options as well.

Some places had altered hours, even if they were open. Best to call them. Most had info posted on their doors.

 

Places we noticed were open:

Condado:

Buenos Ayres

Pannes

Serafina

Cocina Abierto

Denny's

Muchie Burger

Stop n Go

Madarin House

Condal

Punk Burger

Latin Star

Ropa Vieja

Di Zucchero

Starbucks on Ashford

Toll House Cafe (in Condado Palms)-open til 7pm i think.

Ali Baba

Yerba Buena

Tijuanas

Burger King

Cayo Caribe

 

OSJ-

El Patio and next door to them

Barrachinas

Moreno's Spot

Triana

G Spot

Melao

Taster's Place

Aroma's

Vaca Brava

Dominos

La Burgett

Pepe's by the bay

La Revolucion

Latin Roots

El Hamburger

Ladi's

 

This is great information to have! Thank you so much!!

[longbottomricard]

Sheraton OSJ yesterday told our TA that they would be honoring existing reservations but taking no new reservations. This is for mid December and third time checking. Not sure how much I trust this....going to be working with Airline to see how flexible they will be for us.

We had a reservation at Sheraton OSJ for November 17, everyone I spoke to told me that our reservation was still ok, but I spoke to someone at the actual hotel 2 days ago who told me that all reservations are cancelled until January.

[readytolose]

After seeing posts on Facebook that the Marriott Stellaris had a roof fire and people saying that they got there and their reservation was canceled and they were canceling all November reservations, I decided to call them again today to check on the status of our reservation for November 23-25.

 

They originally told me no reservations until Dec. 1st. When I questioned if that was just for new reservations or existing reservations she then said they were canceling existing reservations until November 7th and I should be fine at the end of the month.

 

I’m not feeling very confident right now!!

[skiiergirl]

After seeing posts on Facebook that the Marriott Stellaris had a roof fire and people saying that they got there and their reservation was canceled and they were canceling all November reservations, I decided to call them again today to check on the status of our reservation for November 23-25.

 

They originally told me no reservations until Dec. 1st. When I questioned if that was just for new reservations or existing reservations she then said they were canceling existing reservations until November 7th and I should be fine at the end of the month.

 

I’m not feeling very confident right now!!

 

We are at Stellaris 11/24 and I also have been told we are "fine". We too shall see! Just received an email that our "back-up" hotel reservation has now been cancelled. So really, really hoping the Stellaris does honor the reservations!

[Darcy03231]

Just checked in at the Comfort Inn. They're shutting the generators down daily between 12:30 and 4:30 pm. Upper floors don't have water but they're working on it now and hope to have it back later today.

[vmacchirol]

As of this minute my reservation at the Marriott Casino is being honored for tomorrow sat when we get off the Summit. Like everyone else I have reached out to everyone at the hotel. I also had this hotel and La Choncha booked, they flat out told me weeks ago they were canceling. We shall see tomorrow what happens. My car service confirmed pick up and my Marriott Mobil app let me already check in for tomorrow. We shall see I will post more tomorrow.

 

 

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[coopster]

we still have a reservation at the condado plaza hilton for 11/17 i checked it with them a couple of days ago and its still good online i got my fingers crossed.

just got told today our reservation has been canceled plan b hotel the miramar

[skiiergirl]

Just checked in at the Comfort Inn. They're shutting the generators down daily between 12:30 and 4:30 pm. Upper floors don't have water but they're working on it now and hope to have it back later today.

 

Thank you for sharing!

 

As of this minute my reservation at the Marriott Casino is being honored for tomorrow sat when we get off the Summit. Like everyone else I have reached out to everyone at the hotel. I also had this hotel and La Choncha booked, they flat out told me weeks ago they were canceling. We shall see tomorrow what happens. My car service confirmed pick up and my Marriott Mobil app let me already check in for tomorrow. We shall see I will post more tomorrow.

 

 

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Thanks for the post. Please keep us updated. Good luck!!!

[CruiseGal999]

This was posted on another thread also....

 

Cruise finished - Disembark

Following the instructions that Royal gave us on the last night' date=' we had our bags out in the hall by 11PM. In the morning, you have to be out of the room by 8:00AM. Our assigned waiting area was the Main Dining Room, with an approximate disembark call at 8:00. That time is different for every group. We ate breakfast, cleared the room, and got to the MDR by just before 8:00. Shortly (maybe 5-10 min) the call came for us to Disembark. We left the ship. In the cruise terminal, you enter the luggage hall. There were a handful (maybe 10 or so) porters in the hall just as you entered. I had read on these boards that if you have one of them help, it expedites the customs process. In this case, I also figured they would be glad to have the work and a tip. So, I engaged one of the porters. The bags were spread out in the room well and it only took a few minutes to find ours. He grabbed them. There was a separate customs line for porters and nobody was in it. The "help yourself" line was about 20 feet long, still not bad. Customs was another few minutes, and almost before you knew it we were heading outside. The whole process was as quick and painless as it gets. Thanks Royal. There were a bunch of taxis outside and the taxi agent lined us up with one. Off we go! About 10minutes to Old San Juan.

 

Casablanca Hotel

We checked in. I guess that I was a little surprised to see lights on inside. What, electricity? The porter helped with the bags. Four floors of stairs

At the room, we received the big surprise as he informed us they are running on generator power and the AC is "kinda off and on". But the great salesmanship kicked in, when he said "luckily you guys have a balcony room - just open the doors". The room was beautifully decorated. Everything worked, including wifi, water, toilet (don't laugh), shower, and satellite TV. We went out to explore Old San Juan for the day. When we got back, the AC was on in the lobby, but not in our room. We slept with the balcony doors open. It was pretty muggy, but otherwise all was good.

Dan

 

 

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The Casa Blanca Hotel ... it looks interesting. Why are there tubs on the roof? Are they working tubs?