Want opinions of various Marriott hotels in San Juan

hi, I've been reading past comments, but would like opinions of the pros and cons of these Marriott properties:

Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino

La Concha Renaissance San Juan Resort

Courtyard Isla Verde Beach Resort

Courtyard San Juan Miramar

We are doing a 2-night stay pre-cruise. We cruise out of the PanAm pier.

We want a nice pool and close beach

We do not want to stay in Old San Juan but DO want to go there and visit the forts etc

Appreciate your opinions!

hi, I've been reading past comments, but would like opinions of the pros and cons of these Marriott properties:

 

Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino

La Concha Renaissance San Juan Resort

Courtyard Isla Verde Beach Resort

Courtyard San Juan Miramar

 

We are doing a 2-night stay pre-cruise. We cruise out of the PanAm pier.

We want a nice pool and close beach

We do not want to stay in Old San Juan but DO want to go there and visit the forts etc

 

 

 

Appreciate your opinions!

We were on a cruise out of San Juan in May 2013 and stayed at the Courtyard Isla Verde Beach Resort for one night pre-cruise. I have no experience with the others you mentioned but I can help you with this one.

Pros:

Very close to the San Juan International Airport (San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International). I think the cab ride from the airport to the hotel/resort was five minutes.

Check-in was very quick and even though we arrived at the hotel shortly after 12:30PM, the room was ready.

The inside of the hotel is very nice and appeared very updated and clean.

Rooms were basic hotel rooms but large enough and clean. Bathrooms were nice, also clean, and small coffee makers are provided. We were on the 8th floor that wasn't ocean front, but ocean view, and the view was great from where we were. The balcony had a small table and chairs.

Located right on the beach. The beach there is also very nice, wide, and loungers/umbrellas are provided. There are also little flags on the backs of the loungers to use to signal for bar service. They will come to you, give you a drink menu, take your order and bring your drinks to you. The drinks were very good at a reasonable price. There are some really nice hammocks closer to the building as well. There is also a pool and it looked really nice but we never used it since we wanted to relax on the beach.

Checkout was at noon and we were happy about that as 10:00AM seems to be the norm for places we've stayed at in the US, and if you're going on a cruise this really works out since you usually can't get on the ships before a certain time.

Very easy to get a taxi from the hotel to the ship. We were on a Carnival cruise that was at the Old San Juan piers and that was a 20 minute ride. I believe the PanAm Pier may even be a little closer. It would also be easy to get a cab into Old San Juan/forts (about a 20 minute ride).

Casino! The Courtyard Isla Verde has one. We never made it to the casino but only because we were tired and went to bed at around 10PM.

Cons:

Since we were tired from getting up very early that morning, we decided not to venture out on our own to find a place to eat (I believe there are a few places to eat/shop off the hotel grounds), and decided to eat at the buffet. There was at least one other restaurant but it was pricy. The buffet was also pricey but I believe this is the norm for any resort, whether it be Marriott, Hilton, etc. We also went to the buffet for breakfast the following morning. The food was nothing spectacular, but you can go wrong with buffet since you can always find something good and load up.

Overall, we really liked the Courtyard Isla Verde and wouldn't hesitate to stay here again. I really didn't want to leave and would have been happy to stay here longer, but we had a ship waiting for us. :D If you're interested in seeing pictures of the beach area, the views from our balcony, a couple of the room/bathroom/balcony, I did a picture review of our cruise and included our pre-cruise stay at the Courtyard. I totally forgot to get pictures of the inside of the lobby area and walkways leading to the restaurants/casino/gift shop but it is really nice. The link to that review is in my signature (Carnival Valor cruise - May 2013). Hope this helps and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Thank you, that is very helpful info. It's just so nice to hear comments "first hand" from someone who has been there and not just reviews off the various hotel sites which i am not sure you can ever trust.

We do want to visit Old San Juan while there, so I assume time and cost would be similar to your taxi to your pier? We want to at least visit the forts.

Beach -- did you notice if the water was okay to go in or too rough? and did the loungers/umbrellas cost extra (other than tips for the person that helped you)

Thank you for all your advice?

Still would like to hear from anyone else that has been to any of the other 3 Marriott hotels mentioned below

Thank you, that is very helpful info. It's just so nice to hear comments "first hand" from someone who has been there and not just reviews off the various hotel sites which i am not sure you can ever trust.

 

We do want to visit Old San Juan while there, so I assume time and cost would be similar to your taxi to your pier? We want to at least visit the forts.

 

Beach -- did you notice if the water was okay to go in or too rough? and did the loungers/umbrellas cost extra (other than tips for the person that helped you)

 

Thank you for all your advice?

 

Still would like to hear from anyone else that has been to any of the other 3 Marriott hotels mentioned below

Yes, cost of the taxi would be about the same from the hotel to Old San Juan. Attaching a link with the "zones" for the fares. http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/getting-around-by-taxi/

The water was fairly calm when we were there, only smaller waves. There is also a sandbar that you can get to (at least it was there 2 years ago). When I was in up to my shoulders, I noticed people standing in knee deep water further out on the sand bar and I also went out to it. Pretty cool. I spent a lot of time in the water while there. I'm sure there are times it can get rough, but the water conditions would be the same on any given day for any beach in San Juan since they are all in the same general area.

No extra cost for loungers/umbrella for hotel guests. Wrist bands are provided to hotel guests which allow you loungers, umbrella, and a towel. I don't know if they rent loungers/umbrellas out to those just visiting the beach for the day or not.

We chose Courtyard Isla Verde because it was on the beach and because it was the least expensive of the hotels we were researching before our cruise. One was the Marriott Stellars and the other was the Caribe Hilton. Before our trip I'd seen some picture reviews by others here on Cruise Critic that have stayed at these two before or after a cruise and they've both been rated very well. Both were just a lot more than we wanted to pay for one night. La Concha also seems to be rated well in Cruise Critic reviews I've seen. Although not as many seem to stay in Isla Verde pre-cruise, the Courtyard Isla Verde has been rated well in a couple reviews I've read. Never saw any input in a review on Courtyard San Juan Miramar though.

What I do know about the other three hotels you have listed is that all are located in the Condado area, which is closer to Old San Juan, the forts, and the PanAm pier. Probably not walking distance but lower taxi fare and less time getting there. The only one of the other three you listed that is not located on the beach is the Courtyard San Juan Miramar.

Hoping others with first hand experience with the other three will share.

Thank you for the info on your hotel. Went on the link for your review and read what you wrote about the Courtyard. Very detailed and informative. We are planning to stay post cruise in December.

You mentioned a couple of times that you choose this hotel because the others were a little pricey. Even though it is now 2 years later, can you give us an idea of how much you paid and how pricey the other hotels were? Did you book directly with the hotel?

Thank you.

Thank you for the info on your hotel. Went on the link for your review and read what you wrote about the Courtyard. Very detailed and informative. We are planning to stay post cruise in December.

 

You mentioned a couple of times that you choose this hotel because the others were a little pricey. Even though it is now 2 years later, can you give us an idea of how much you paid and how pricey the other hotels were? Did you book directly with the hotel?

 

Thank you.

I'm so sorry I didn't answer your question sooner. I haven't been on CC for a few days.

We had the Ocean View room. I just looked up their room descriptions on their website and this is what is posted for the room we had: "These beautiful rooms provide a King-size bed with a Twin-size sofa bed or two Queen-size beds. Located from the 6th floor up to the 12th floor on the west side of the tower, they have private balconies that offer limited views of the ocean." We were in a room toward the front, so our view was pretty decent and we were happy with it. These prices start at $190.00 if booking directly, but my husband booked through Expedia for $157.25 per night, but there were taxes and service fees for an additional $42.37 per night, bringing our total to $199.62. Some of the others we looked at in the Condado area were $220 something, per night, and up, even closer to $300. I have seen reviews were those hotels can be booked through Priceline for much cheaper, but we're not familiar with Priceline and don't know how it works and wanted to be guaranteed in getting a room. We booked our room 4 months before actual cruise right after booking cruise/airfare.

I hope this is helpful to you and if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. I'll try to be better about getting into CC. :)

Thank you. We have never stayed in SJ before so have no idea what a reasonable price should be. Now I have an idea.

Our cruise does not arrive in SJ until early Dec so no problem that you did answer right away. :D Not ready to book yet. Just gathering info.

I have stayed at both the Marriott Stellaris and the La Concha. Both are right on the beach and are very nice. The La Concha is probably a little more modern. The main con with the La Concha was the late check in. Our 2nd room wasn't available until very late (after a late dinner). The pool was also very crowded at the La Concha. I won the hotels on Priceline, so was very happy with what I paid. I "won" the Marriot for $110 + taxes & fees (two times), and the La Concha for $148 + taxes and fees (during spring break). I would stay in either of them again, but would definitely go through Priceline for the better price.

We just got back from sailing on the Liberty out of San Juan and stayed at La Concha. We loved it! We were upgraded to beachfront, which seems to be usual when we use Marriott points. The whole property was a delight, including the pool, outdoor bar and grill, and beach area. We were concerned that we might be charged the resort fee since we were using points but we were not charged. Another plus to this location is the easy walking access to restaurants outside of the hotel. A quick walk across the street took us to a good Puerto Rican restaurant that served mofongo and drinks on an outdoor patio.

I wanted to add that although our room wasn't ready when we first arrived, they took our bags and we walked to lunch. When we got back it was ready, so the late check-in was not a problem for us.

Last year we stayed at the Courtyard at Isla Verde and enjoyed it also. It costs fewer points than La Concha and we would have stayed there again if they would have had points rooms available for our night. We were upgraded to a beachfront room, which we enjoyed. The beach was gorgeous. We also enjoyed the outdoor, beachfront restaurant for dinner and the party atmosphere in the lobby on Saturday night. We could not hear the music from our room.

In the end I preferred La Concha, but wouldn't hesitate to stay at Courtyard again to conserve points.

Here is a video my husband just put up with views of our room and the outdoor areas.

I'm looking at the Courtyard Isla Verde as well. Any issues with noise from the airport while sleeping?

I'm looking at the Courtyard Isla Verde as well. Any issues with noise from the airport while sleeping?

No, but we were upgraded to an oceanfront room, away from the airport side.

I'm looking at the Courtyard Isla Verde as well. Any issues with noise from the airport while sleeping?

We had an ocean view room on the western side of the hotel. We could hear the planes from the beach (while outside) and early evening from our balcony when they were getting ready to take off but I do not remember hearing any noise late at night.