Puerto Rico - Hotel/Restaurant Recommendations

[plumedeb]

Flying into Puerto Rico a few days before cruise. What is your favorite place to stay/eat? Any not to miss activities?

Thanks!

 

[yowcruiser]

Depends what you are looking for. Old San Juan/Downtown San Juan is close to port and more "historical". This is where you will find resort hotels such as Caribe Hilton and Marriott Stellaris. Closer to the airport, you have the Isla Verde area with some nice beaches and more casual dining options (feels a bit less local). Good hotels in this area includes Curio El San Juan, or family/budget friendlier offering such as Embassy Suites,

We stayed at the Curio last year ahead of our cruise and loved it. Staying at the Embassy in 2020 ahead of our cruise out of San Juan

 

[Indy_Disney]

Highly recommend the Decanter Hotel, a boutique hotel with nice rooms, great service. Right in the middle of old San Juan, great location to walk about the area.

 

[CaseyCruiser]

We are staying at the Marriot Stellaris for two nights before our January cruise. Last year we stayed at La Concha and had a great time. If you stay in that area there was a great little coffee shop right next to La Concha called Pannys. Really good coffee and breakfast about one third of the price at the resort. For dinner we took a cab to Old San Juan where you will find a lot of really good restaurants.

 

[bumbershoot]

When we went before a cruise, we stayed at the Caribe Hilton for reasons I can't quite remember now LOL. We took a proper taxi from the airport and back. We used Uber to go into town and back a few times. We walked to a restaurant. We relaxed at the resort.

If I'd wanted to be closer to a proper beach, I would have stayed at the Embassy Suites Hotel&Casino.

If I go there again I'll stay at the Hotel el Convento. It was gorgeous from the outside, and I just wanted to be in that neighborhood.

 

[DonnerB]

We stayed at La Concha in Condado for a couple nights before our Merrytime cruise. Had a great time on the beach and also made use of their great pools. The location was good too - maybe a ten minute drive into Old San Juan. The only thing we didn't like was the poor quality of the pull out couches. We ended up sleeping three sisters to a king bed because none of us would sleep on it! Didn't really bother us and we loved the rest of the resort (and room).

Food was a big focus for us on our short visit. We had dinner at José Enrique the first night (walked from the hotel). It was awesome. This restaurant and its owner played a big role in José Andrés' book We Fed an Island about the Hurricane Maria recovery. Was fun (and delicious) to taste the food in person. On a coworker's recommendation, we also tried Raíces in Old San Juan. This was a little more touristy, but the food was still yummy (we all ate mofongo - a must).

We did an Old San Juan Walk & Taste tour through Spoon Food Tours as well. One restaurant we stopped at that I remember was Deaverdura. We also had popsicles at Sr. Paleta and liked them so much we got them a second time at the location across from our hotel.

Honestly, the food in PR is so good. Have fun, ask around and get the opinions of locals. You'll find the best spots!