I just checked out of the ES in Isla Verde and into the Caribe Hilton. We got in at 11, and stayed the night to just see what it was like. Observations about the Embassy Suites, in no particular order:

-The hotel is in a dumpy location about 5 min. from the airport. The $12 cab fare (flat rate, airport "deal") is a big ripoff, but hey, $5 extra for no hassle late at night, who cares? The casino is small and sad-- at least on a Wednesday night late, it isn't exactly lively. The bar consisted of about a half dozen men, each sitting alone, and some staff who barely bothered to mix a drink for me. The drink, however, was fine.

-The rooms were standard-issue ES quality, which is to say pretty nice, and at least on my side of the hotel away from the airport, quiet. Two TV's, wet bar, king size bed (two half decent pillows and 4 really lousy foam pillows), and the bed wasn't particularly comfortable, but not bad enough to cause back pain. Bathroom was standard, nothing remarkable, nothing wrong either.

-Elevator service is spotty. Had to wait 8 minutes for a lift up after breakfast, as one or two of the cars didn't work. The pool environs looked clean, but unremarkable, maybe a little sad as they're kind of cramped, as the whole property sits on a postage stamp of land.

-Breakfast was complimentary, pretty lackluster, and closes PROMPTLY. Don't be late. Coffee was so-so, no capuccino, omelette good.

-The taxi driver at this hotel insisted on the "flat rate"$20 to take us to the Hilton Caribe---- what a monumental ripoff. This is the airport fare to the piers. My insisting on the meter resulted in him going to a buddy of his, who pretended to be some sort of supervisor, and who told him "nueve" which even I know means $9, then the guy backed him up and said it was some "new rule" that flat rates were to be used. This sort of ripoff is what keeps us away from Puerto Rico. I argued for a while, but it was pay it or walk. What a ripoff.

Meanwhile, sitting here at the Caribe, I've been told by the Diamond lounge that a room may not be available until 4. This is the same story we heard on the last trip--- nothing has changed, other than I chose to check in at the Diamond lounge instead. We'll see what they ultimately come up with. They did invite us to have breakfast. We're choosing to sit by the pool outside, and they took my cellphone to tell us when a room would be available. We generally like this hotel.