Embassy Suites - San Juan

[Hawaii697]

Has anyone stayed at the Embassy Suites pre-cruise? Your thoughts or suggestions for other hotels in the San Juan area as well. Thank you.

 

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Cruisin' Southern Caribbean August 2005

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[Kansasgal]

WE PRICELINED THE CARIBE HYLTON IN SAN JUAN FOR $60 PER NIGHT IN SEPT. DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE YET BUT THE WEBSITE LOOKS NICE!!WHEN ARE YOU CRUISIN?

[MsVand]

My husband and I will be staying there in a few weeks. Used points we had accumulated so it worked for us. Will let you know what it is like when we return.

 

Destiny - 4/18/04

 

[Hawaii697]

Kansasgal, as you can see, I have a looonnngg wait to go. (August 2005) I'm the group leader, so I get the lovely job of coordinating hotels, where to go at ports of call, etc. I'm having a great time with the research. Thanks for your suggestion of the Caribe Hilton. Sounds like a popular spot.

 

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Cruisin' Southern Caribbean August 2005

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[Hawaii697]

MsVand, I would love to hear your thoughts about the Embassy Suite when you return. I see you are sailing the week of my birthday, please have a drink for me. Have great cruise too. The Destiny is a great ship.

 

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Cruisin' Southern Caribbean August 2005

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[CCLNCLRCICRUISER]

Hawaii

Here is a link to a review from someone that was at the Embassy Suites a couple of weeks ago.

 

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=4283041586&m=16210138

 

Someone else mentioned that it seemed like a place that the locals loved to frequent, so I imagine they have either great drink prices or a great atmosphere, or maybe both!!Sounds like a great spot!

 

Kansasgirl

If you click on my roll call link, you will see lots of other pics of the Caribe Hilton. It was also my first choice, but there is a huge convention held at the hotel the same weekend I needed. I got the Raddison Ambassador(Friday $75) Hyatt Dorado(Saturday $75)-pre cruise and Wyndham Old San Juan(Sunday&Monday $60)-post cruise via Priceline.

 

 

 

Jeff

 

 

Destiny 10/03/04 Roll Call

 

Destiny,Past,Present and Future Cruisers

 

10/03/04 Date with Destiny

[OfcSupport]

My husband, ten yr. old and I stayed there in Feb. of 2003. We enjoyed the pool and thought the hotel lobby was beautiful. The suites were also very nice. We were very glad we choose that hotel.

 

Our return flight on USairways lost engine power about 15 minutes over the Atlantic. To make a long story short we had to make an emergency landing back in San Juan. The airline put us up in a Marriott in San Juan. We were extremely disappointed in it. There were roaches in the bathroom, the buffet dinner they provided was terrible. The service also left alot to be desired. The Embassy Suites was much nicer.

[Hawaii697]

OctoberDestiny, thanks for the great link. Will definitely try Hotwire.

 

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Cruisin' Southern Caribbean August 2005

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[jennings]

Just book the Embassy Suites for our pre-cruise night in Oct. Thanks for the good info.

 

Carnival Tropicale 94'

Carnival Inspiration 96'

Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas 01'

Carnival Triumph 03'

Carnival Destiny 10/3/04'

 

Destiny!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

[teflonjeff]

Ok, I'm taking my first cruise in October on the Destiny, so can't speak from experience about getting on board.

 

Regardless, I've stayed at the Caribe Hilton and other hotels and offer the following:

 

Embassy Suites is in the Isle Verde area, along with other very nice, upscale hotels (El San Juan for one). The advantage of this area is going to be mainly the beach and tourist shopping, close to the airport (right next to it, really, so this could be a disadvantage), and several of the hotels have casinos and night clubs. It's a 15 - 20 minute cab ride to Old San Juan and the cruise port ($20 - $25 cab fare).

 

The Caribe Hilton is in the Condato Beach area. Next door is the Normandy (nice to look at, but don't stay there unless your on a very tight budget). Over the bridge is a Wyndam(sp) and Marriott. Though both are nice, I recommend the Marriott over the Hilton for several reasons. Both have great pools and poolside bars (the Caribe has a swim up bar). The Hilton has a beach cove, so if you like very gentle or no waves, it's good. If you like laying on a beach with the surf rolling in, Marriott's better. The Marriott has a casino whereas the Hilton does not. It's also centrally located in the Condato Beach area - you can walk to several other hotels and restaruants easily. The Hilton is across a small bridge and is a longer walk to anywhere.

 

You can't really go wrong with either the Hilton or Marriott. Neither with the brand hotels in Isle Verde.

Jeff

[DreadPirateRobert]

We stayed at the Embassy Suites one night last summer. I was pretty disappointed. The room was not as nice as I've seen at E-suites here in the states. Housekeeping was so-so. It just wasn't what I wanted to pay for so we switched to a Hampton in Isla Verde. We even stayed there for the night we got back from the Destiny cruise. It is nicer, newer and in my opinion a better value than the Embassy suites. There a couple of nice local restaurants within walking distance too.

[CrusinTime]

Hawaii

Here is a link to a review from someone that was at the Embassy Suites a couple of weeks ago.

 

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=4283041586&m=16210138

 

Someone else mentioned that it seemed like a place that the locals loved to frequent, so I imagine they have either great drink prices or a great atmosphere, or maybe both!!Sounds like a great spot!

 

Kansasgirl

If you click on my roll call link, you will see lots of other pics of the Caribe Hilton. It was also my first choice, but there is a huge convention held at the hotel the same weekend I needed. I got the Raddison Ambassador(Friday $75) Hyatt Dorado(Saturday $75)-pre cruise and Wyndham Old San Juan

(Sunday&Monday $60)-post cruise via Priceline.

 

Jeff

Jeff:

Great prices for San Juan. I tried to use Priceline but chickened out when they required my credit card and threatened me with "when the hotel accepts your bid your card will be charged at that time". do you get to see the hotel before they charge you or after? If after can you change it if it's not what you want? Also, I've heard of people being able to get the same hotel even though they book at different times. ie how can I be sure to get Caribe Hilton?

 

Sorry for all the questions but you named 4 different hotels that you got from Priceline so I figured you have to be the head guru. LOL

[cruisers04]

We just stayed at the Embassy Suites for one night pre-cruise on 9/17/04. We had a room booked at the Intercontinental but when we arrived at the door, we were told they were one of the few buildings that still had no electricity from the hurricane a few days before and their generator had blown as well, so they were rerouting all their guests to the Embassy Suites.

 

Our room was on the sixth floor. It was very clean and we were pleased. They had the two hour complimentary cocktail hour on Sat night and then the complimentary breakfast buffet on Sun morning. It is not directly on the beach (the Intercontinental is, which is why we had originally chosen it), but the beach is only a couple of blocks walk. The ES swimming pool was being renovated when we were there and could not be used--not sure if it was planned renovation or from the hurricane.

 

The lobby area was very pretty with fountains and plants. As I said, the hotel was very clean when we were there so we were pleased. I would stay there again.

[Hawaii697]

Thanks for the recent update on the Embassy. I've recently found out they offer 2 bedroom suites for $309 per night. Sleeps up to 6 comfortably. Can sleep up to 8. 1 bedroom is king bed, the other bedroom is two double and of course the good ole pull out couch.:D