dmacst

I'm down here at the Caribe today, 9/6/04. I'll let you know.

InHoc

dmacst & US1@ORF-

Thanks for the help. I'd be surprised if Morton's offers the discount, but would be delighted if they do.

I've booked 2 GLONP rooms for Spring Break next March. After 3 years of Waikoloa, we thought it was time for a change. I think Puerto Rico will offer my kids a different experience than Hawaii for less than half the flying time.

dmacst

Morton's was closed in honor of Labor Day. Will get back after work.

dmacst

Palmera's the restaurant in the lobby by the pool accepts the discount, The outside grill accepts the discount, room service accepts the discount and MORTONS DOES NOT. As of 9/7/04. Palmera's is pretty good.

InHoc

Many thanks. Safe travels and enjoy your stay.

OU812

Did a search on this forum and did not see answers to my questions:

How do this hotel rate overall?

Is the hotel surrounding area safe for a woman travelling alone to a conference?

My S/O will be traveling there March 12 - 15. Does she need to worry about spring breakers then?


Any other tips would be great.

Thanks.

Rip...

dmacst

dmacst

I'll try to help. Stayed there every other week for the past 18 months, except Christmas and Easter weeks I get a break and its every three weeks.
Rate: Compared to other Hotels in the area, I consider it above average.
Safe: Never heard of any problems with safety.
Spring Break: Less crowded than Isla Verde Hotels. More family oriented than teen agers and early 20's.
All depends what you are looking for. Sounds like maybe your looking for a clean, safe, fun place for your wife.

I find it one of the cleaner major hotels in the area, safe and big enough to walk around.
The Beach is clean and private. You are not going to get a private beach at Wyndam, Marriott, Intercontinental, Wyndham El San Juan. When it is open to the public, safety becomes more an issue. Keep in mind those other hotels do have spotters keeping an eye on things, but the beaches are not private like the Hilton.
Hilton has no Casino now. So if you are looking for a casino, closest is the Wyndham. 10 minute safe walk. The only entertainment at the hotel is at the bar where they will have a singer(s) every night of the week. The bar is a nice bar.
Not seeing reference to Gold or Diamond Club Membership. If you are, the Executive lounge is nice with free continental breakfast, appetizers,wine, beer and liquor. Located on the 9th floor.
I see you are referencing a stay of less than a week. Hilton will probably be a good choice. If it was a full week or more you may want to look elsewhere, there just isn't alot to do at night at the hotel.Closest nice restaurant away from the hotel is a 10 minute walk. Day time great pool, scenery, beach, tennis courts, open air lobby and ok Health Room. Restaurants are good but not enough choices for a weeks stay. Go to Old San Juan on Sunday or Tuesday. More entertaining and Cruise Ships come in on a regular basis.

arctictraveler

We're headed there in a couple weeks for the first time - will post a report when we get back. Actually if you do a search in this forum under "hilton caribe", "san juan", etc you'll find quite a few posts about the Caribe. Most of them are favorable and it sounds like Diamonds are treated well.

BumpMe!

Be prepared to pay a "Resort Fee," even if you never set foot near the pool.
The front desk calls it a tax and isn't the best about advising you upon check-in.
It was $10/day last I knew.

I thought staying there was a mistake.
The only redeeming quality, if you have access, is the executive lounge.
...that's about it, in my opinion.

royster747

Considering a trip to the Caribe Hilton, in Puerto Rico. Anyone stay there? How is the facility, resturants, etc? Anyone getting upgrades as a Diamond?

InHoc

I'd be careful with this property. I'd planned to submit a full report, since I had a less than perfect award stay that ended exactly one week ago, today.

In a nutshell, (1) mandatory resort fee which is around $13.50 per day but includes nothing (I was not informed about it at check-in, and since it doesn't even cover local calls, they said it was really just a "tax"), (2) we had old "garden wing" rooms for our first night which were pretty awful (2 award rooms), (3) it took exactly 4 telephone calls and 9 hours for them to locate and move our luggage to our new room on Day 2, (4) were refused the Executive Lounge for reasons that didn't seem to hold water (Juan Carlos at front desk said as of January, new policy was no Diamond access on award stays; later denied by Asst. Mgr. Noemi Claudio who said it is limited to people only on the 9th and 10th floors for capacity reasons; then over the next 3 days I proceeded to meet families on floors 3, 4 and 7 who all had access to Executive lounge), (5) were sequestered to the 2nd Floor HHonors lounge which was standing room only at breakfast, (6) was asked to leave the HHonors lounge during the cocktail hour since my children were with me and the sign said "Please, no children in the lounge during the cocktail hour" after complaining to Noemi about items 1-5 (and there were other children still in there who were not asked to leave) and (7) housekeeping left our rooms open and dark one night while I was out on an appointment and my wife and children were downstairs at Palmera's eating dinner.

There are a few redeeming features of this hotel, like a fitness center that was above average, 50% off children's meals at select restaurants and fairly decent food. We found the pool and beach area to be a little worn and lacking, but, to be fair, had just completed a stay at Hyatt's Dorado Beach resort which was superb.

As I was checking out, I overheard another Diamond member checking in with his family who was also being denied access to the Executive Lounge. He was far more vocal than I was, but I'd still be surprised if he succeeded in getting access.

I realize that I won't sound very genuine, but I really don't complain. This stay was just the worst stay I can remember ever having. Once I circled back to let Noemi and the HHonors Mgr., Gladys Santiago, know about items 6 and 7, they went silent on me.

nytaxguy

I just returned from the Caribe Hilton and was very disappointed that diamond members were barred from the lounge on the 9th floor. I understand that the property has the right to change the rules as it sees fit, but the sign on the 9th floor lounge door (the one that would not open for me) clearly stated that it was for Executive floor guests AND diamond members. When I pointed this out to the front desk manager, I was given an immediate apology and told that the problem would be corrected- not by letting me in, but by changing the sign. I was a bit embarrassed since I had been explaining to my wife how lousy the 2nd floor lounge was compared to the 9th floor. That'll teach me! All in all, it seemed like a very strange way to treat the chain's most loyal customers. I'll be back to PR, but not to this property.

nytaxguy

Oh, and the restaurants are way overpriced. Better bet is to rent a car. You'll save more on meals in the long run and enjoy some authentic island cuisine instead of standard hotel fare.

cordelli

Wow, totally different then my stay there in August, where I was treated, well like a Diamond member.

Chapagne and fruit in the room on arrivial, access to the loungs all day, very nice upgrade, etc.

I would hate it if they changed all that.