MisterNice

PR does have printed bus schedules but bus drivers obviously do get them or dont follow them. I go to a bus stop and wait. Its far easier than worrying.

MisterNice

dmacst

You are better off at the Caribe with the college daughter. Private Beach, nice pool, safe. I would base yourself at the Caribe. Rain Forest is about an hour drive, Viques or Culebra are all day trips but definitely doable, Bacardi Factory, Old San Juan and Ponce are all worth seeing. The best part of Ponce is the drive, you'll see the real island and beauty.

qazw1

I am not sure if Gold gains you access to the Hiton lounges. If not, you will save a bunch of money for food via the Marriott lounge.

Also, the restaurants around the Marriott are nicer and cheaper than what is available at the Hilton. The pizza place and the Mexican place is not bad, especially if you have kids.

I am always there for business so never visit the beaches. The Hilton does look much bigger and the pool/beach area seems much nicer than the Marriott.

TrojanHorse

you have hit the two things that attract me to each property

Marriott: the nice lounge and the cheaper eats around it
Hilton: the incredible beach/lagoon and great pool

TrojanHorse

dang dups

although I will use this as an opp to say anyone know what they charge for web access at the Caribe hilton (or marriott)

MisterNice

You get free wifi in the both the two Caribe Hilton exec lounges. You must pay in your room or other areas.

MisterNice

arizonawildcat

OK everyone, I have a trip to San Juan for work planned in mid-April and I am going to fly my family out the last day and turn my work trip into a vacation.

For work, I will be staying Monday - Friday at the El San Juan resort. On-line looks to be a phenomenal place, but with HHonors points to burn, I decided to stay 6 nights at the Caribe Hilton with the family (wife, 5yr boy and 3yr girl). Essentially, I'll check out of the El San Juan on Friday and into the Caribe Hilton that afternoon.

For the most part, we will be planning to hang around the hotel pool and the small private beach. Will probably spend a half day a couple of times out in Old San Juan and maybe even try to do the rainforest tourist thing.

Couple of questions for you all who have visited this property:
1. Should I plan on renting a car for my 6 nights there? I heard the horror stories of taxis and don't think I can make it all week if I want to do other tourist things there that will be driving distance.

2. Any chance as a Diamond Member that I will score an upgraded room? Maybe even a small suite? Would love something with a pull-out couch.

3. How is the Executive Lounge? Any restrictions on hours? What kind of food do they have?

4. Have they fixed the check-in mess that many have described? (rooms not available until after 5pm, etc).

5. Overall, is the hotel good for small kids?

Thanks in advance!

TrojanHorse

As I type this, SIX lines down was a thread titled (albeit in some type of code) "CARIBE HILTON" with a ton of answers to all kinds of questions.. edited to add after this bumped it to the top, the CARIBE HILTON thread is still 12 threads below this one

I take it that thread was not something you were interested in?? Did you even look on the 1st page to see if there was something along (just a little along) the same topic you were posting

troyintn

The hilotn has a hertz in it. So rent the car their as needed. The pool and beach are nice for kids. Upgrades, rooms etc are better answered in the other threads.

arizonawildcat

TrojanHorse -- I did see the other thread and it does have some information in it. Trouble is, the thread was started over 7 years ago and most of the details included in the almost 20 pages was before the hotel apparently underwent a significant remodel. Just trying to get some thoughts from those who have recently visited the hotel or area.

troyintn -- thanks for the tip on Hertz in-house. May be worthwhile if I can consolidate my day trips.

mnredfox

1. Rent a car. If you're there 6 nights, you'll want to travel the island. Go to places like Fajardo (&Culebra), Rincon, El Yunque, Areceibo, El Camuy, the Bacardi factory, etc. Taxi's? Are you kidding? They willl rip you off. Even my PR friends tell me they've been ripped off too.
2. UG's. I've been upgraded many times, and also I've not been upgraded many times there. All depends on who shows up and how "nice" they are. I've finally gotten to know a few staff down there (many biz trips) and that helps, but if you don't get it, you don't get it. I've tried to plead many times but they don't budge. What you want is an UG in the Hilton Tower (highest floor) and then hit the Exec Lounge on the 9th floor (or 10th, can't remember) of the main Executive tower.
3. Lounge in Exec tower is nice, great views. Lounge on 2nd floor of Hilton tower is very clean and newer, just not as good views. A little less busy. Food is pretty good - simple breakfast stuff in morning, finger foods/snacks/desserts in the PM.
4. The check-in there is ALWAYS a mess. Check in at the lobby of the Hilton tower, or go straight to the Executive lounge in the Exec tower. If I would you I would bite the bullet and do valet parking. Sometimes the driveway entrance there is plugged up with cars, I waited 45 min once...
5. You'll be fine with small kids. The beach area is nice and the pools are nice too. Pretty underutlized. Future consideration consider the ES in Dorado - many people will agree that's a very family friendly place and I would agree.

Ditto on searching other threads, but I hear you on recent info. FYI, I haven't been there since Oct 07.

infinityplusone

Wirelessly posted (My IV to the Net: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8703e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

As to questions 1 and 2...

1) I would only rent a car on the days I knew I would need it. As you said, try to consolidate your day trips to a couple days one right after another.
Having the Hertz on-site makes that easy.

2) There is always a chance you will be upgraded. I would ask in the comments section of the res. I would ask when I was checking in if they did not confirm. That we were upgraded.
If you have any doubt though and you really really want the upgraded room... just book it.
It is better to pay a bit / a lot more and have room to spread out then not pay any more and not get the upgrade and be disappointed.

mnredfox

No kidding. Evenings it's a zoo in there. It's one thing if there's a bunch of people in biz suits, another when it seems like a zoo with family's who I have a hard time believing are all GE/DE. The problem is they never watch the door. People just come walking in tailgaiting legit people. Oh well, as long as they don't go to only those on the Exec floors. I hate it when your a Dia or Gold and don't get upgraded AND don't get lounge access.

TrojanHorse

I'm confused as I thought the "executive" lounge was a diamond only lounge and that the staff at the desk of the diamond lounge was pretty stringent as to whom gets access.. am I wrong on both accounts? do golds get access as well and is it pretty easy just to tailgate in? I'm speaking of the 9th floor lounge just to be clear

TrojanHorse

Can you book (online) reservations for the Caribe hilton?

How do you input that location on the hertz site?