what about Puerto Rico?

Where did you stay, what else is there to do there? Are there good restaurants and stuff?

Still trying to find a place to celebrate our 1st Anniversary.

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

i stayed at the Marriot (i believe.. cant really remember) at Cerromar beach. it was beautiful there- about 1/2 hour- an hour fromt eh rainforest and about the same to Old san Juan. my favorite experience (besides strolling around old san juan and shopping) was Renting a bike at cerromar and riding a backroads path to Dorrado beach- it was Gorgeous, and i felt like i was in a movie (despite being attacked by a flock of Roosters, and almost riding right into a random horse that came out of nowhere )

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

hmmm a flock of roosters? THAT sounds like a story..

I have heard parts of San Juan are a little unsafe?

Bike riding- not an option for me.. never learned how to ride one

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

old san juan is nice....but NOT AT NIGHT.

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

is it like a city-- San Juan- where you can go out at night and have a lot of restaurant and different types of nightlife, or are you confined to your hotel?

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

We went a few years ago and stayed at the Ritz. I liked the hotel, but not the island. I would go some place else instead. There is not much to do, the food is not great, water is not that blue, and the beaches were barely adequate.

Check out The Caves in Negril. Its not like other places in Jamaica. It is very small. I think there were only 6 other people when we went. Its a special place. www.islandoutpost.com

I also LOVED barbados. Great food, water, and beaches.

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

We stayed in the InterContinental Resort and Casino...it was GORGEOUS! Every room has a balcony and you need to have a bracelet on to be on their private beach. There was lots of security there.

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

i went to puerto rico in 2004. we stayed in isle verde at the ritz carlton. it was very nice. we went into old san juan at night. it was kinda dead there at night though, not much to do

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

The Ritz Carlton in San Juan is awesome. Hotel is beautiful, food is great, Piña Coladas by the pool are to dye for and there is also a casino in the hotel.

Here is a pic that we took from our room window.

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Message edited 12/21/2005 12:41:30 AM.

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

I stayed at The Ritz when I went, beautiful hotel. But basically every night we ended up at The El San Juan Wyndam Hotel. It has a ton of restaurants and was just a lot busier and had more going on than the Ritz.
At night, It gets a little shady, but in the resorts it is totally fine, we just took cabs at night and didn't walk around then.
The Ritz, El San Juan and Intercontinental are all right near eachother.
When I went there was a ton of people there from NY.

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

We stayed in San Juan for a couple of nights. There really is very little night life there. It's not very safe to go out at night. Infact, we ended up in some weird transvestite bar one night in a REALLY BAD part of town, and I didn't think we were going to make it home alive
However, during the day, Old San Juan is great. I would suggest looking into more remote parts of Puerto Rico if you feel comfortable with that. We also drove across the island and stayed in Cabarojo.

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

look into stayin in Rincon, its on the other side of the island away from san juan. its beautiful and quiet.

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

My husband and I stayed at the Paradisus Hotel in Coco Beach in Puerto Rico for our first part of our honeymoon since we were leaving on a Royal Caribbean cruise to the southern Caribbean from there.
The hotel is on beautiful grounds and located 45 minutes from the airport. They provide free transportation to and from the airport.
The hotel is the only other hotel that I know that belongs to the All Inclusive leading hotels of the world.
It is absolutely amazing. The food is really good (they have 7 restaurants)....the rooms were immaculately clean and spacious.....The property is just really beautiful and the staff cannot accomodate you enough. I loved the pool. It was awesome.
They really don't have much of a night life but if you are just going to relax....it's the perfect place.
My husband and I absolutely loved it.
We would recommend this hotel in a heartbeat to anyone.
Here are some pictures I found on the internet.....

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Re: what about Puerto Rico?

my grandparents are from PR, my grandma just came back from visiting her sisters and she was horrified at the crime, safety, and she said the island seemed filthy. she was so upset. I heard the hotels are beautiful but you have to stay at them and be back before sunset if you venture out, not my idea of a vacation

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

Re: what about Puerto Rico?

Although we didn't stay there, I'd recommend the El San Juan. I've heard it's beautiful. DH and I were in law school so we were on a budget when we went to PR. We stayed at Mariott Courtyard, which was really nice. It was a couple of hotels down from the El San Juan and I believe the Ritz. We had an ocean view room, which was really nice. It's right on the beach. The only thing that may be annoying is it was near the airport so you heard planes go by. However, I didn't notice the plane noise in our room at night. We went to the El Yunque rainforest, which was pretty. We ate at 2 really good restaurants in Old San Juan (need to take a taxi into San Juan)-the Parrot Club and Aquaviva. Both are owned by the same people (along with Dragonfly) and they are all located on the same street. Have fun on your trip.