Best Western Condado or Sheraton Old San Juan

[Dismomx5]

We are two adults in our mid/late 60's visiting San Juan for the first time and we have a couple of days to explore the area prior to our cruise. I've narrowed our search to these two hotels. Can someone with experience give us pros/cons for each of them? Thanks a lot.

[ARandomTraveler]

I haven’t stayed in either, but have the Sheraton booked because it is in the heart of Old San Juan, making it easy to walk around and explore the forts, the shops, the restaurants etc, without needing a taxi. That is the pro for that one. Con is price (although I don’t think it’s much different than other hotels). Another con is that it’s not near the beach (as far as I can tell).

 

I haven’t researched the Best Western Condado, but from reading other posts about hotels it seems like a lot of people like the Condado area hotels because they are on the beach. So my guess is that the pro for that hotel is beach access. Con would be the need to take a taxi (probably $20+ each way) to get to Old San Juan.

 

We stayed at a hotel in Isla Verde last time, which was near the beach, and I was disappointed in the fact that we didn’t explore Old San Juan much because it was so expensive to go back and forth (about $50 round trip from our hotel). If we wanted to head out to the forts, then come back to the hotel to rest, then go back out to eat, it was a $100 expense, and a major hassle. Our friends rented a car, and we tried going to Old San Juan to walk around one day, and parking was impossible to find, so we went back to the hotel. None of us wanted to pay the cab fare to go back, so we missed out on Old San Juan. I vowed that on our next visit, we’d stay in Old San Juan, which is why we chose the Sheraton.

 

Our cruise takes us to lots of beaches, so I didn’t care about having a hotel on the beach for Puerto Rico.

 

 

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[Dismomx5]

I haven’t stayed in either, but have the Sheraton booked because it is in the heart of Old San Juan, making it easy to walk around and explore the forts, the shops, the restaurants etc, without needing a taxi. That is the pro for that one. Con is price (although I don’t think it’s much different than other hotels). Another con is that it’s not near the beach (as far as I can tell).

 

I haven’t researched the Best Western Condado, but from reading other posts about hotels it seems like a lot of people like the Condado area hotels because they are on the beach. So my guess is that the pro for that hotel is beach access. Con would be the need to take a taxi (probably $20+ each way) to get to Old San Juan.

 

We stayed at a hotel in Isla Verde last time, which was near the beach, and I was disappointed in the fact that we didn’t explore Old San Juan much because it was so expensive to go back and forth (about $50 round trip from our hotel). If we wanted to head out to the forts, then come back to the hotel to rest, then go back out to eat, it was a $100 expense, and a major hassle. Our friends rented a car, and we tried going to Old San Juan to walk around one day, and parking was impossible to find, so we went back to the hotel. None of us wanted to pay the cab fare to go back, so we missed out on Old San Juan. I vowed that on our next visit, we’d stay in Old San Juan, which is why we chose the Sheraton.

 

Our cruise takes us to lots of beaches, so I didn’t care about having a hotel on the beach for Puerto Rico.

 

 

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Thanks for the input. Those are the two things that I am wrestling with as well. I appreciate knowing the taxi costs, since I know that those are standard costs. Debating between the beach and OSJ. I think that it would be fun just to meander through there. We did a tour the last time we were in SJ, and didn't have a chance to walk it.

[Denise Ann]

There is a bus stop across the street from BW. $.35 for seniors.

[idahospud]

We've always been happy with the Best Western when we've stayed several days in San Juan. Like Denise Ann said, the bus is right across the street. It's easy to use to get back and forth from Old San Juan. The beach is across the street from the hotel, too. And just down the street is our favorite San Juan restaurant, Orozco's. We eat some of our meals in Old San Juan but mostly we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Orozco's. Yummy.