FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Marriott San Juan Stellaris Casino Resort [Master Thread]

Dec 29, 2007 | 2:48 pm

#32

USirritated

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: FLL

Programs: Delta GM, (fmr US CP/PP/GP!), DL SkyClub, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Avis Chairman's Club

Posts: 5,162

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryO3

Just got back from 2 nights at San Juan Marriott Stellaris and I have to give this property just :-::-: out of :-::-::-::-::-:.

Restaurants and bars: the Italian restaurant is very, very good and reasonably priced. The other one, no so much. The lobby bar charged me $9 for a single mixed drink

. The beach bar was okay, decent service but prices much cheaper than lobby bar (go figure that one!) -- 3 mixed drinks, a beer and tip = $35. - :-::-::-::-:

Gary, I am not a drinker, but I sure have paid for my fair share of drinks for others, and I long ago (meaning at least three years ago) have resigned myself to the fact of $9 to $12 mixed drinks in major cities and resort areas. In secondary cities and non-resort areas, such as say Greensboro, NC, I might expect not to pay those drink prices and get peeved if I see those prices, but not at a resort. If I get charged less, I say "WHOOPEE!!" and don't mention it to anyone, hoping that the hotel/resort powers that be will not realize that they are "undercharging" me and raise prices before the next morning! If you think that $9 is bad for a mixed drink, see how you will feel about $6 for fruit juice in many places in the US, and much worse in Europe! (I paid $12 in Paris for fruit juice two years ago, before the dollar sunk to nothing, and just two months ago, in October 2007, on a business trip to three different countries, it was $12-18 in Europe, depending on where I was, and remember I am talking about fruit juice!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryO3

Casino: (not sure if affiliated with Marriott, or just sharing space) very small in terms of typical casino (i.e. Vegas style) - 1 craps table, couple of blackjack tables and other table games. Fair # of slots and video poker. No live poker. Craps dealers did not understand some of the bets I wanted to make and charged strange VIGs ($40 lay the 4 cost $4 (10%) rather than $2 (5%) as is typical). Proposition bets had to be at table minimum rather than $1.... just very odd overall. - :-::-::-:

First to address your "not sure." Marriott International does not OWN any casinos because the Mormon religion does not permit gambling per se, so the casinos in Marriott hotels are operated by others. However, I am sure that there is rent paid that MI receives revenue from, though by what arrangement I do not know. This is SOMEWHAT similar to the Mormon stance on alcohol and pornography, yet as you know, you will find both in Marriott hotels. Now, on to "Vegas style," and what you saw as odd rules in the casino. I enjoy gambling very much, though I would not consider myself a serious gambler. However, since I visit Vegas once or twice per year on business, New Orleans the same, and other locations where there is gambling, including the San Juan Marriott and Stellaris Casino, other casinos in the Caribbean, and casinos throughout Europe, I can tell you that every location is different, with different rules. Some of the rules are set by the casino, and some by local laws, even within the US, but certainly in the Caribbean. Heck, just the difference of the dealer hitting or not hitting on a soft 17 is major (Vegas usually stop on soft 17, Caribbean hit soft 17), and whether the dealer takes the dealer's down card before or after the players take all of their cards really changes the odds (Vegas always takes the down card before the players take optional cards, Caribbean almost never does), both of which are generally common practice in the Caribbean, but not in Vegas. The Caribbean is not Vegas, Europe is not Vegas, heck, even Mississippi is not Vegas, and just because the casino in this Puerto Rican Marriott resort was not like Vegas should not reflect on the grade that the HOTEL part of the resort gets, in all fairness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryO3

Lounge: great view. Room smelled of.... I'm still not sure what, but not very pleasant. Honor bar total rip off --- $13 for a glass of Kendall Jackson Cabernet? $13? Are you kidding me? We saw the same bottle in a liquor store for less than $20 so wholesale has got to be less than $13. - :-:

Gary, the prices are the prices. Concierge lounges are not BYOB, but your room is. If you went into the liquor store, and saw Kendall Jackson Cab for $20 per bottle, buy it, and ask the hotel for a cork screw, or buy your own, the hotel will not say a word. As a matter of fact, when I travel I frequently purchase what I want for my room and I have "refrigerator" in my Marriott member profile so I can purchase whatever I want to, including food, and not be concerned about spoilage. Most FS, including resorts, and Courtyards, are quite good about this, and I find it quite convenient. Until the recent end of a personal relationship, we bought beer and stored it in the complimentary fridge, conveniently! When on business and I want to invite a client to meet in a CL, I don't care if a glass of wine or a cocktail is expensive, because it is a nice setting, and it generally impresses who I am inviting to join me. If you don't want to pay $13 for the Kendall Jackson, no one is holding a gun to your head!

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryO3

Check-out: of course, the bill had errors. First they charged me for the $50 credit that the front desk manager gave us. Then they charged me for 2 drinks in the lounge rather than just one. Went down to get this taken care of, and the desk clerk took 20 minutes to go find the paperwork for the 2 days to question me (more like an inquisition --- "well, the lounge indicates that you had 2 glasses of wine so prove that you didn't"). I've never had a front desk do anything other than fix the bill for me.... sheesh, at 100+ nights per year, and tens of thousands of dollars am I really going to try and rip them off for $13? C'mon. Also, no car or shuttle service to airport; had to pay for taxi (most Marriott's I've stayed in recently have car service available). - NO STARS.

I will be the first one to complain about too many errors on bills when I check out at all sorts of Marriott family hotels, and I hate having to spend time on it with the front desk staff. In your case, the $50 credit being charged to you is just about unconscionable, no question there. I am also on your side about the double billing on the 2 drinks. Several times on different threads on FlyerTalk, I have commented about getting bills corrected when staying in Caribbean hotels. It is a cultural thing that you just have to calm down and get used to, and it is NOT a Marriott thing, believe me, and there is NOTHING YOU WILL EVER BE ABLE TO DO ABOUT IT (I am not using caps to yell, just want to emphasize). In the Caribbean, the native peoples take the attitude that tourists want something that they are not entitled to, or something for free, and, they want you to prove everything, and they love to argue. It is not personal, believe me, it is cultural, and often times the only way that it will be resolved is if an American or European trained Manager wanders by. If you think getting a double billed drink removed from your bill is tough, just try getting telephone calls removed from your bill even if you never made any calls (I experienced this last year in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands).

Now, as for the car service or shuttle to the airport, no, I do not agree with you on this point at all. Unless the hotel is within a short distance to the airport, say less than 5 miles, or at least has "airport" as part of its' name, there was no transportation service to the airport included, and it would be unreasonable to expect it to be. If in doubt, I always call to inquire, and also to inquire if there is Town Car, limousine, or van service to the airport available for an additional charge, as there is from this hotel, which I arranged in advance. If you don't like that, rent a car, this hotel had Hertz available right on the lobby level.

Be fair Gary, not all hotels are the same either, and hotels are not the same as resorts. I am not sure what you are used to, and even though the Marriott in San Juan was not my favorite Marriott resort, it was certainly better than you rated it. No offense intended of course!