Old San Juan hotel vs. other areas

I was going to book the old San Juan Sheraton for the night before our cruise as we don't fly in until 6:30 pm and figured if we wanted to spend the day at the beach, most hotels would probably kick us out by noon anyway.

I thought it would be a great opportunity to try local eateries and use the trolley to sight see instead... But sadly OSJ Sheraton is booked :(

Does anyone have any alternative suggestions?

I think ESJ Towers is a nice hotel I have not been their for years. I really like Embassy Suites Dorado. I think Dorado is about 45 min drive from the airport.

The Sheraton often imposes a two night minimum. We had luck in booking just the one night we needed thru hotwire.

if your heart is set on a beach resort, why not call & see if they will allow u to at least store your bags and let you shower/change in health club. Perhaps you can be granted a late check-out or additional day rate, never hurts to ask.;)

We have always had good luck bidding on priceline. Have gotten Caribe Hilton (awesome place with beach and great resort) and Condado Plaza (pretty nice resort style with a beach also) From both you can take a cab in to OSJ or the really cheap ($.75 each way) bus. Or staying out in the Isla Verde area has nice beaches but a little farther from the port (a lot closer to airport)

I just went to book my room at the Sheraton also and was saddened to see the "not available" on the site... :( I looked at SJ suites, its seems decent (since its only one night) but if you find any other places, please let me know.

Was also looking at Sheraton in Old San Juan and it said not available, but if put in 2nd night it is available.

Is there other hotel recommendations in Old San Juan. Want to see it before our cruise, do not need beach- we can do that while on cruise- or sit by the pool on the ship.

We are staying at the CasaBlanca hotel in Old San Juan for one night only after our cruise is done on Saturday Nov 15th and we booked it on hotels.com and no problem booking for just one night, it looks like a great quaint little hotel and it has gotten great reviews on tripadvisor

http://www.hotelcasablancapr.com/our_rooms.php

I was going to book the old San Juan Sheraton for the night before our cruise as we don't fly in until 6:30 pm and figured if we wanted to spend the day at the beach, most hotels would probably kick us out by noon anyway.

 

I thought it would be a great opportunity to try local eateries and use the trolley to sight see instead... But sadly OSJ Sheraton is booked :(

 

Does anyone have any alternative suggestions?

No other suggestions, but perhaps you can book a cancellable room elsewhere and keep checking the OSJ Sheraton to see if things open up.

We had previously booked the Radisson with points, then I found out our ship would leave from the in city pier, rather than Pan American. That pushed a look to change to OSJ Sheraton. I had looked at rates, but waited a week to book...dang it was sold out. Kept checking and it opened back up ....but at higher rates. Despite the higher rate, booked it for the convenience to port.

We lucked out a few years back as the Sheraton Convention was booked and they put us at the Sheraton OSJ for just one night. Last time we couldn't get in there for just one night. Tried online, called directly, called Sheraton booking nada :(. We ended up at a boutique that was 'okay'. Very noisy all night long outside as OSJ can be quite the party town. Then when it finally quieted down boom the trash trucks started beeping at 430am!

Needless to say we are now arriving 2 days early and booked at the Sheraton OSJ.

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We took a cruise in Carnival Valor out of San Juan in May 2013. Had been to San Juan twice before but never got to go to the beach, which was a "must" this time. We stayed the one night pre-cruise at the Courtyard by Marriott @ Isla Verde Beach, which was 5 minutes from the airport. Our flight was in by noon and we were on the beach shortly after 1PM and spent the afternoon there. We were really impressed with the beach, nice and wide with plenty of loungers and also palm trees and hammocks. I don't know about the other hotels in Isla Verde, but the Courtyard had bar service that would come right to the loungers. The check-out is noon, but I'm sure it could be arranged to check out of the room and still be able to use the beach/pool for a few hours. When we checked out of the hotel, we easily got a cab (they are out there waiting or hotel staff can call for a cab) to the cruise pier and it was about 20 minutes. Our driver let us know that it would be a little longer since he had to go five minutes out of his way that day due to a Cinco de Mayo celebration on his "normal" route, so his normal time may have been 15 minutes from hotel to pier.