flygirl555

I am making a MR to SJU on 10/29 - 30. Arrive at 9:30 pm - leave next day at 8:45 am. Need a clean place to stay for one night. Any recommendations?

ohioflyer

If this is a pure MR the obvious answer is the Best Western right inside the airport. Anywhere else will add taxi costs and dilute the value of your miles. Plus Best Western does earn miles in most programs. If you want to enjoy some of San Juan you will still find restaurants open and things to do, even on a Monday night. If this is your plan, the Isle Verde area is closest to the airport. The cheapest place I have stayed there, that I would visit again, is Green Isle Inn.

johannesj

Flygirl555,

Ohioflyer hit the nail on the head. I would recommend getting away for the Airport and experience SJU (Isla Verde) if only for a short time.

Green Isle Inn is cheap and you get what you pay for but hey it is not a vacation just a spot to rest your head and have a shower.

Go for it.

ROW2Aisle

If you have Hilton hotel points I think there is plenty of award availability near the SJU airport. I'm doing LAX-JFK-SJU RT on the same day (10/29) you are for $202+taxes (total=$260) on AA. The price was too good to pass up for all those miles and as it looked like there was plenty of FC/BC upgrade availability I decided to do a three day turn around instead of a pure MR.

First night 10/29 is at Embassy Suites near airport for 35,000 HHonors points for a two room suite with breakfast and then the next two nights at Caribe Hilton for 40,000 points/night for an oceanview room with balcony.

The Puerto Rico Hilton properties command more points than the average ones because of the resort location. They also add on a 9%-10% resort tax for sundry items. Yes the use of hotel points dilute the value of a MR but I'm looking at this trip as a short vacation.

flygirl555

Thanks for the suggestions!

I arrive at 9:30 pm and leave at 8:45 am the next day...not much time to see PR, but I hope to return someday soon...

MisterNice

I have never stayed at the Green Isle Inn but I have walked by it 100 times. It is 50 ft from the busiest highway (SJU airport to San Juan city) in San Juan, appears to be a old worn paint-peeling cinder brick building so I have always wondered how anyone could ever sleep in that noisy located place. I would try do a priceline.

MisterNice

ohioflyer

Never had any problem sleeping at the Green Isle Inn. Maybe I couldn't hear the traffic over the clanking of the air conditioner.

No one is suggesting that anyone spend their vacation at Green Isle Inn. But for a late arriving/early departing MR or island hopping it makes sense: friendly, mostly clean, and quite economical.

I'm curious about your priceline suggestion. I gave up trying to priceline SJU 18 or more months ago, because nothing ever happened. Have you enjoyed recent success?

MisterNice

As I said I never considered staying there but I am VERY sensitive to noise but YMMV.I have been getting great prices (and redeemed HH points too) at the nice Caribe Hilton and love the hotel and location. My last successful PL was over a year ago.

Sorry your PL tries were unsuccessful. A brief check of BFT and betterbidding.com indicted others had much better luck lately. Hotwire has places starting at $69. How much is the Green Isle Inn? I see no website and hotels.com cant find it. For cheap in the Isla Verde area the OP might want to try the BW Pierre, BW Airport (no taxi costs), Comfort Inn, the La Playa, etc. Good luck.

MisterNice

flygirl555

Thanks again for all your great suggestions.

FWIW, the Green Isle Inn recently changed their name to Coqui Inn.

Maybe they painted too?

prpilot

I like the Tu Casa guesthouse or the courtyard marriott ( a littler farther away from the Condado hotels, but should be cheap).

1K_From_SNA

Well it looks like 10-29 is a busy day for SJU MR's. I am leaving 10-29 LAX-IAD-SJU on UA arriving on the 30th around noon.

I am staying two nights, so it isn't a pure MR. As of right now I am booked into the Sheraton (old SJ) using points but I've been looking for something else since it is a cat3 at 10K per night. I have Marriott points too but they didn't look that cheap as far as using points either. I looked at BFT and didn't see much that was much under $100 a night. I tried Priceline 2 1/2 stars at $55 and no luck. I am going up $5 every time it sends me a message and tells me I can try again. At some point I will just keep my SI res.

My MR cost $46 as I had a $200 CS coupon, so I couldn't resist.

mkt

I was just at the Sheraton this morning, and it's in quite a good area if you want something to do. It faces the Port of San Juan, and there's a back entrance through the Casino that opens up into the old city. I've spent several nights there after having a little too much fun on a Friday/Saturday night

If you have any questions about the city, let me know.

flygirl555

Thanks again for all your suggestions - the information provided was very useful.

Arrived late Monday night and stayed at the Borinquen Beach Inn. For $70 AI, it was just what I needed for a MR - clean, convenient, safe, and quiet. Staff was polite and helpful. There were many restaurants (fast food, bars, seafood, etc.) and a 24-hour Walgreens within a short distance.

I wouldn't stay there for more than 1 or 2 nights, but if you are doing a MR and are looking to go cheap, it may be just the thing...