USVI-On-Line

I don't even have my Anguilla trip report finished and I am already thinking about our next winter trip.

We are thinking about a stop over in San Juan on the way down to see the old city and that big fort on the ocean.

We can get to San Juan late morning so we are thinking about two nights which would give us that first afternoon and the entire next day to explore and then fly over to STT the next day (late morning).

Who has San Juan experience?

I remember Pia (I think) recommending this hotel a while back - http://www.elconvento.com/

We've been there a handful of times, usually before and after cruises that originated from San Juan.

I don't consider myself a "fort person", but was really impressed by, and enjoyed my time at San Juan's two oceanfront forts - El Morro and San Cristobal.

The nicest hotels we stayed at were in the Isla Verde area, out by the beach, but we also stayed in Old San Juan itself a couple of times. If you enjoy walking, looking at historic forts, churches, plazas, and the like, then Old San Juan will suit you to a "t"!

augie wrote:We've been there a handful of times, usually before and after cruises that originated from San Juan.

I don't consider myself a "fort person", but was really impressed by, and enjoyed my time at San Juan's two oceanfront forts - El Morro and San Cristobal.

The nicest hotels we stayed at were in the Isla Verde area, out by the beach, but we also stayed in Old San Juan itself a couple of times. If you enjoy walking, looking at historic forts, churches, plazas, and the like, then Old San Juan will suit you to a "t"!

We do, especially our little guy, anything that can, in his mind, be connected to pirates thrills him beyond belief.

Two nights should be plenty in Old San Juan. It is a really picturesque area - we've been there three times now. El Convento is one of the nicer places. I've stayed at Sheraton Old San Juan - it's just okay.

Definitely tour the two forts - it is worth your time. Just walking around and poking in and out of stores down there is fun. If you can avoid cruise ship changeover days (weekends primarily) that is ideal. It just gets really crowded down there. Weekdays are much quieter.

Do note that in January, if you go then, there is a huge street festival in OSJ during that month. You'd need to google it, I forget the name. We accidentally hit OSJ during that weekend one year and I would NOT recommend it for young children. Lots of drinking and huge crowds.

**UPDATE: Here is a description, SO MUCH TRAFFIC:
San Sebastián Festival
Held in the third week of January, this festival is one enormous outdoor party, and one of the biggest celebrations in San Juan. San Sebastián Street in Old San Juan gets absolutely stuffed with stalls, crowds, food, alcohol, music, arts and crafts shows, and general revelry.

It has been a number of years since we were there. With that said, here's my 2 cents.

We stayed in an old hotel in Old San Juan that was within walking distance of the cruise ships' dock on the south shore of the old city. I believe it was a Wyndham, but it is no longer listed. It's either gone or they sold it. When I look on Map Point it doesn't show a hotel in that area.

The great part of that was that we could walk all over the old city. We even walked to El Morro on the north shore. We used a walking guide that we got out of a AAA guide book. Take your little guy to the old governors home, and the gate that was used to import and export goods by ship. It is on the west side of the city. From there it is not much of a walk to the fort. Take the whole tour. He will love it. All of us kids do!

JIM

alw1977 wrote:
Do note that in January, if you go then, there is a huge street festival in OSJ during that month. You'd need to google it, I forget the name. We accidentally hit OSJ during that weekend one year and I would NOT recommend it for young children. Lots of drinking and huge crowds.

**UPDATE: Here is a description, SO MUCH TRAFFIC:
San Sebasti�n Festival
Held in the third week of January, this festival is one enormous outdoor party, and one of the biggest celebrations in San Juan. San Sebasti�n Street in Old San Juan gets absolutely stuffed with stalls, crowds, food, alcohol, music, arts and crafts shows, and general revelry.

I'll second that! On our first visit Leslie picked out a very unique, very interesting (but very NOT modern) hotel in Old San Juan for us to stay. It was once the quarters for Spanish officers and is now owned by a local artist and her husband, and a lot of her work is displayed throughout the place. We were thrilled to learn that we had unknowingly booked our stay while this festival was going on, and during the early evening of our first night we happened upon a little food and crafts fair associated with it.

It became less fun as the night and early morning wore on and the sound just outside of our window never abated - particularly when the late night music and singing became the early morning traffic snarl, complete with the requisite horn honking, cursing, etc!

One more thing. We were there on Good Friday. Everything in PR closes on Good Friday. We could not even find a McDonalds that was open.

JIM

We too have stayed in San Juan before/after cruises several times and really enjoyed it.

In old San Juan we've stayed at Hotel Milano-pretty basic place:
http://www.hotelmilanopr.com/

and at Da House, which was kind of artsy:
http://www.dahousehotelpr.com/

We've also stayed just outside old San Juan at the Hilton Resort which we got through priceline for a good deal:
http://www.caribehilton.com/
This is a beautiful property but more of a walk to old San Juan.

There's free trolleys for OSJ, but not sure their routes.

The forts are GREAT, and I'm not even a fort person-just beautiful views of the old cemetery and the coastline. Wonderful grounds in front of El Morro to fly kites-many families come here for that.


Have fun!

Old San Juan is a beautiful part of Puerto Rico. We go to Rincon (Northwest part of PR) every year to surf and stopped in Old San Juan on our way back to the airport 2 years ago. We toured El Morro, the huge old fort. I highly recommend doing this. It is so interesting and the views are amazing. Here are some photos we took while we were there in 09, mostly of the fort and some of buildings in the area.
https://picasaweb.google.com/1030961374 ... 98/OSJ2009#

how old is your son? I just went to look at the hotel that Augie and I stayed at as it had a lot of "character" and I loved the wine garden and the fun atmospshere that didn't feel like a hotel. It has definitely been upgraded a lot since he have been there including a pool. Not sure your style but if you want more info , let one of know if you want more info!

EagleRayLover wrote:how old is your son? I just went to look at the hotel that Augie and I stayed at as it had a lot of "character" and I loved the wine garden and the fun atmospshere that didn't feel like a hotel. It has definitely been upgraded a lot since he have been there including a pool. Not sure your style but if you want more info , let one of know if you want more info!

He will be 6.5 yo when we travel. I am interested in learning more about that hotel!

After four visits in eight years to old San Juan, I could go again tomorrow!
All trips have been business related and the Hilton Caribe was the venue for three, including one in early February. Nice pool and beach area, pretty setting, better than average hotel food in general, friendly staff, and typical Hilton rooms in the main building. This time we had rooms in the villas... worse Hilton room ever!! Don't go there. Yes, they have heard.
A cab from the airport to the Caribe is about $25. It is roughy 3 miles to old San Juan and a cab there from the hotel cost us $12.

The San Geronimo fort (not open) and a view from the Hilton Caribe:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridalin ... 982033189/" title="Condado Beach - San Juan PR by lprof, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2598/398 ... z.jpg?zz=1" width="640" height="473" alt="Condado Beach - San Juan PR"></a>

A little futher east from old San Juan are the areas of Condado and Isla Verde. I stayed at the Marriott Stellaris in Condado in 2004 if you have any interest there; I believe Chet recommended the Conrad San Juan, also in Condado in another thread.

I would like to expereince El Convento; I have been inside the lobby/lounge area but have not seen the rooms. The location is perfect for walking in any direction... San Juan Cathedral and a small park (mostly benches) are just across the one-way streets from the hotel. The immediate area looks to be mostly residential. A must for every visit is the Ben and Jerry's shop just steps up the hill... very fun decor!

El Convento Hotel
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridalin ... 489100041/" title="ElConveno by lprof, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5133/548 ... 4dd8_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="ElConveno"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridalin ... 489100591/" title="elconvenoprk by lprof, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5297/548 ... 3bed_z.jpg" width="480" height="640" alt="elconvenoprk"></a>

Near the El Convento
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridalin ... 475594202/" title="nearcath by lprof, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5138/547 ... b04a_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="nearcath"></a>

San Juan Cathedral
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridalin ... 474989281/" title="sanjuancathed by lprof, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5131/547 ... 51c9_z.jpg" width="529" height="640" alt="sanjuancathed"></a>

Of course, see the forts, El Morro and San Cristobal!
Ride the free trolly; go to the Children's Museum (I haven't been), eat... many good places; shop for a hat, santos, masks; just walk... see the color, the city wall, the plazas.
A few other thoughts... short showers may be frequent, homeless cats (fewer seen this year) may tug at your heart, traffic can slow to not moving at times in old San Juan.

I'm still working on photos and descriptions in Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridalin ... 489698018/

Happy to attempt an answer to any questions!

A couple of websites I like:
http://www.topuertorico.org/city/sanjuan.shtml
http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/old-s ... ng-tour-1/

PA Girl wrote:He will be 6.5 yo when we travel. I am interested in learning more about that hotel!

Here's their web site: http://www.thegalleryinn.com/

That's a good place to start. I believe we stayed there in January of 1998, so I'd imagine there have been some changes!