Never Mind About the Airplanes Overhead, It's a Great Place to Stay
Written: Jan 16 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean and attractive, good breakfast, attentive staff
Cons: Location and some airport noise
The Bottom Line: This hotel is a very safe pick for the budget conscious traveler flying in to San Juan.
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| chelledun's Full Review: Hampton Inn & Suites/ San Juan,Puerto Rico |
Mr_chelledun and I booked a room at the Hampton Inn San Juan for our pre-cruise San Juan stay based on online recommendations, reasonably low price, and attractive website photos. We had the unusual circumstance of arriving in San Juan on January 5th, the eve of the major holiday Dia de Reyes. As a result, hotel prices were bloated beyond imagination, and staying on the Old San Juan area was out of the question. We paid around $140.00 for our night at the Hampton Inn. You can probably get a better deal if you opt not to stay during a major holiday.
General Information and Surrounding Area
The Hampton Inn San Juan is located in the Carolina district of San Juan. It is within sight of the airport, and can be reached from there via a $5-$7 taxi ride. Visiting old San Juan requires a $16-$20 taxi ride, depending on traffic. We took a rather exciting local bus back from Old San Juan to the hotel at one point. This cost just 75 cents per person, but took, um, two hours, including wait time.
The Hampton Inn San Juan sits along Isla Verde Avenue, flanked on one side by various chain hotels and the other by a giant globular structure advertising Cock Fights. While the area surrounding the hotel is not exactly quaint, some decent restaurants are within walking distance. Upon the hotel’s recommendation we had one of our best meals of the cruise at Platos across the street, which featured Puerto Rican cuisine. My husband had a traditional Mofongo and I had a great pork and fried potato dish. We also stopped in for gelato at the kitschy shop nearby. A variety of American chains can be found in the luxury hotels along this strip, but that’s pretty boring on vacation if you ask me.
Hotel Public Areas
The Hampton Inn San Juan does not look like a typical moderately priced chain hotel. It has a bright, colorful lobby with lots of seating, which was attractively decorated for the holiday season when we visited. I loved seeing the Christmas tree next to a potted palm tree. Directly off the lobby, an office center offers four computers with speedy internet and (gasp) free printing! We visited to print off a coupon for an attraction we would be visiting. Shockingly, we made use of the gym during our stay. It was limited but sufficient, with an elliptical, bike, treadmill, and a weight machine.
This hotel makes a noble attempt at a tropical pool area, complete with umbrellas and a swim up bar. You can get drinks, hot dogs, burgers, and quesadillas at the little tented snack bar. There is, to be honest, some noise from the airport near the pool. A plane went overhead about every ten minutes during the day, but the noise only lasted a few seconds. I actually kind of laughed when it happened as everyone would pause their conversation as the plane flew by and then resume when it was gone. This is the price one pays for airport proximity, I guess. Despite the rainy weather, lots of guests were using the lounge chairs and hot tub during our stay.
The hotel staff sets up a breakfast bar each morning in one corner of lobby. I saw many online reviewers raving about the free breakfast before my stay, and it did not disappoint. The breakfast regularly includes cold cereals, fruit, toast, muffins, pastries, juices, and milk. Each day brings a different hot item as well. The day we arrived, this meant some type of egg, bacon, and sausage combo. Much to my satisfaction, the next day when we ate the breakfast, french toast sticks and syrup were on the menu. This breakfast gave us all the energy we needed for a full morning of touring San Juan in the pouring rain.
Our Room
Standard rooms and suites are available. We found our room at the Hampton Inn to be much more attractive than expected. It looked recently renovated, decorated in subtle hues of green, white, and brown. We had a very comfortable bed with thick comforters and a little tray for working in bed. Other amenities included a desk, chair, table, and television in a wood cabinet. I will take the hotel’s word that free wireless internet was available as we did not have a computer with in this trip. Thankfully, we did not really hear any airplane noise from inside our room. We also had a coffee maker and iron, two objects relatively foreign to me. I understand some folks might enjoy using them.
The spacious and very clean bathroom included lots of free toiletries and an efficient wall-mounted hairdryer. Water pressure was good and the shower easy to use and adjustable.
Service
I have not a single complaint about the staff at the Hampton Inn. They gave us suggestions for eating and traveling in to Old San Juan and gladly held our luggage in a locked storage facility for hours after check-out. Check-in and check-out were extremely quick and efficient although many people were trying to do so all at the same time. Other chain hotels could take a lesson from the Hampton Inn San Juan about offering personal and speedy service.
Overall…
This hotel was a great value in an expensive city. We saw huge numbers of business people and airline employees, so it appears the Hampton Inn San Juan has a large percentage of return guests. The biggest downside to this hotel is the location. We ended up spending a good chunk of cash and money getting into and back from Old San Juan, although we still saved overall. If we can afford to, we will try to stay in the Old San Juan area on our next trip to San Juan. If not, we will gladly return to this Hampton Inn.
Recommended:
Yes
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