Blogs from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Central America Caribbean

A full service resort located 10-minutes from the International Airport and adjacent to the convention center.While the surrounding area within walking distance doesn’t offer much, it is a convenient 10-minute taxi ride to old San Juan and Condado Beach and 5-minutes from the Panamerican Cruise Terminal. The lobby is chic with lots of ochre- colored marble and soft lighting that changes hues in the evening. A large bar/café extends from the check-in area and serves as an entry way into the casino. Check-in is efficient, except on cruise departure days, when large numbers of cruise passengers checking in and out at the same time, seem to overwhelm the housekeeping staff. This was what happened in our case, when we had to wait 2 hours past the 3:00 PM check-in time to get our deluxe king room ... read more

Like everyone else, I imagined PR to be just like the US (whatever that means). I’ve been told by folks who have been to PR that PR is very modern and at the same time underdeveloped.Well this is my opinion of San Juan, PR. To a certain extent, it can be compared to Miami. However, to me it is very comparable to any Caribbean country or the Caribbean coast of any Latin American country. Comparable in terms of the developed infrastructure in place for tourists, the vibe, the old town/colonial zone and so on. I stayed in the Old San Juan and I loved it. I am easily charmed by Old towns/Colonial zones. The architecture is amazing, people watching, shopping, good food, insightful museums and local attractions were all worthwhile. The architecture of the walls-castle-morro surrounding ... read more

Yesterday morning started rather leisurely - it is vacation after all! I brewed coffee in the room, we made a rough plan for the day, and eventually moseyed on downstairs to ask a few questions at reception. 1) What are our options besides walking an hour to Old San Juan? 2) How do we get to the Bacardí rum factory and 3) Can we make a reservation at Pikayo, the hotel's famed restaurant? As it turned out, buses ran just up the street to Old San Juan for only $.75! The catch? There's no schedule! Thankfully one came within 20 minutes, and we much preferred the modern bus to sweating to death walking or a $15 cab ride. Once in town it was too late for breakfast and almost early enough to justify lunch, so since ... read more

We wake up really tired in the morning and it has almost nothing to do with the late flight that we came in. Our car rental went ok, we navigated San Juan ok, we found the parking garage in Old San Juan relatively fast and we arrived at the hotel at about 1AM ready to go to sleep. So why didn't we sleep well at night? Well - it was Saturday night and it is party time in San Juan. Even as we walk to the hotel with our luggage we notice the people everywhere going to a club or just enjoying the night outside dressed for a night out. And unfortunately our hotel, Hotel Milano, is close to a nightclub which is blasting loud music all through the night which keeps us awake till almost ... read more

Awoke in San Juan and realized the ride thru paradise was over. Today (in the heat) we will endure the long lines in the cruise terminal, the long walks thru 3 airports, the comical banter with the customs guards to make it home. Our trip covered 2500 nautical miles, lots of great meals, buckets of Bombay Sapphire and hours at a slot mahcine. Every island had something different to offer and we didn't have enough time to see it all. I would think that a littler later in the season would be better to get slightly better weather. I am going to include my favourite pictures in this blog and look forward to the next trip.... read more