My friends and I are looking into Puerto Rico for Spring break, anyone been?

Yes. Is there anything in particular you are trying to find out?

I was just wondering about locations, prices, etc.

what are you looking for? cheap/beach/golf/casino/EcoTourism/Party?

I married a Puerto Rican and we had our wedding down there. I've been probably 15 times now. My father in law owns two small hotels. If you're looking for a good location, but nothing fancy, let me know. Could probably get you rooms around $100/night.

There is a lot to do there, a little of something for everyone. Can be cheap or expensive, depending on what you do.

shoot me an email if you want more info...

rmcleroy@omnihotels.com

Cheap, beach, party, casino.

We'll probably be going Thursday to Sunday.

Some good general info about the island will be great. Just what there is to see and do.

Thanks again.

[This message has been edited by wealeat09 (edited 2/9/2009 11:49a).]

For such a short trip, I would stay in San Juan. If you can, a day trip to Fajardo to do a Catamaran/Snorkel trip or hiking in El Yunque.

http://www.saltydreams.com/

Make sure you dress up and go to the El San Juan on Friday or Saturday night. Great people watching, casino and dancing.

Another day or night trip would be to Culebra or Vieques (has an awesome Bio Bay). Amazing beaches and some great dive bars.

The Bacardi Tour is touristy, but neat. Although most locals drink Don Q, not Bacadi! I highly recommend the Don Q Gran Anejo. Wait until you leave to buy your rum at the Duty Free at the Airport. Its just as cheap there (not as cheap as you probably think) and you can then carry it on the plane. I only buy the Don Q or the Bacardi Gran Reserve ($80 bottle sold only at the distillery). The prices just arent that cheap to make it worth lugging around (you can buy Bacardi on sale here for the same price down there).

Do you have any links to the hotels you mentioned?

PUERTO RICO ROCKS!!!

Like I said, nothing fancy, but a great location in Old San Juan. Lots of bars, great places to eat, shopping, history, etc

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147320-d268431-Reviews-Howard_Johnson_Inn_Plaza_de_Armas-San_Juan_Puerto_Rico.html

send me your dates so I can see whats available. because the building is so old, a lot of rooms dont have windows. There are a handful of small suites that have windows and a balcony....

Have you been to Rincon? My friend has been looking into that and he is trying to talk me into it. I kinda want to see San Juan, but he wants a more laid back style.

Rincon is great! Surfing, laid back, etc.

I didnt think that was an option for you. But if it is, that is near one of the other hotels my father in law has. Its in Aguadillia.

http://www.lacimahotel.com

There is an airport there as well, so you might be able to fly in to there. But its only a 2 hour drive to San Juan. On the way, there are some great places to see like Arecibo and the Camuy river cave.

Rincon is a short drive from there, but there are several great beaches in Aquadillia as well. Crashboat is great, as well as a few other.

http://away.com/tripideas/rincon-horseback-riding-309130.html

Villa Montana is great, but pricey. The Lazy Parrot in Rincon is pretty cool as well (cheaper).

If you want even more laid back, try La Parguera. I cant get you a room there, but there are several cheap Paradors to chose from. No beach, but everyone goes out on boats to the mangroves. I do have a tour guide there, his name is Splendid. The entire town knows him. You can hire him to guide you around the bay, drink Medallia, etc. Highly recommend!

If you head down to La Parguera, the Cabo Rojo lighthouse and Playa Sucia (beach) are nice and not too far away. The lighthouse is near some cliffs and it's a beautiful setting. The beach is a short walk down from the lighthouse.

I don't wan thaat laid back. I would enjoy a bit of girls in bikinis.

If you could go into further detail about Rincon and whats along the way from San Juan I'd appreciate it.

What's the nicest casino property in Puerto Rico?

I havent been to some of the newer hotels, I always go to the El San Juan. The hotel has a lot to offer besides gambling. Great lobby bar, night club, etc. A lot of locals get dressed up and go there on the weekend. But then again, they get dressed up to go to the movies....

I gotta run to Softball practice, but I'll get back to this one later tonight. We did Spring Break there in 2007. Fantastic.

Awesome BQ, let me know all the details.

The pix are going to have to wait until the AM because they're on my other computer.

Here's the quick rundown from the end of March 2007.
On a Friday night, we took the redeye from LAX - SJU via a stopover in FLL.
Saturday, we got the rental car, drove to Palmas del Mar in Humacao.
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, we stayed in Palmas del Mar.
Wednesday, we drove from Humacao west through Ponce, then around the southwest corner of the island up through Mayagüez to Rincon. We stayed at the Rincón Beach Resort. That was nice, it had it's own private beach, but it was kind of isolated. If you wanted to go to the grocery store for instance, you pretty much had to drive back into Mayagüez. Really nice resort hotel though. Oh yeah, I tried to get online there. Forget it. Me and about 10 other people were sharing the crappiest Internet connectivity ever.

That reminds me, there were lots of New Yorkers everywhere we went in the major touristy areas. They thought it was weird that we were from California.

We only stayed in Rincón the one night before we headed back to San Juan. On the way back to San Juan, my wife and daughter did a horseback ride on the beach. They really enjoyed that. My other daughter and I went and explored Isabela. Then, we went to the Observatory at Arecibo. Yes I'm a complete nerd. But what's even more interesting is that one of my childhood friends is a former director of the place. Seriously.

Thursday night and Friday night we stayed at the Embassy Suites San Juan - Hotel & Casino in Isla Verde near the SJU Airport. From there we explored El Morro, etc.

Now, you noticed Casino in the name. Well, they listed a Poker tournament which I signed up for. I was pretty much the only person who signed up for it, so it never happened. I went over to the Intercontinental Hotel and Casino and managed to get in a 5/10 Texas Hold 'Em game there. I played with a few Puerto Rican regulars and a bunch of New York tourists.

I also proceeded to get bombed out of my mind on this Bacardi Hurricane pre-mix drink, plus beers while playing Poker. I dragged in really late that morning, but just in time to clean up and load the family in the car to head to the airport. We had a nonstop flight from SJU back to LAX. 8 hour domestic flight on a 767. This was right after AA started their no food on Domestic flights policy. I was dying. Fortunately my wife brought some chips and M&Ms on. I mainlined those and continued to dry out all the way back to LA. I think we headed straight for In'N'Out, or On The Border after we collected the car. That was a painful experience.

Anyways, we really enjoyed it. It's just like the US, but in Spanish. The beaches are nice, the people are friendly, etc.

Here are some pictures. Enjoy.

The rental car license plate.


The beach at Palmas del Mar. Strong undertow BTW.


Some of the condos at Palmas del Mar. I have some pix of the Golf Course, but I'm not a golfer.


Sunrise over Vieques.


The beach at the Rincon Beach Resort. Looking South.


Beach horseback ride near Isabela.


Clear water near Isabela.


El Morro.


Old Town San Juan


Those are some of the highlights.

[This message has been edited by HollywoodBQ (edited 2/12/2009 3:02p).]

Awesome share as many as you like.

BQ,

Which casino was nicer....Embassy Suites or the Intercontinental?

Also, the Rincon Resort looks nice. However, why are there no people on the beach in the photos? Is the undertow too strong to swim in it?

Rincon is one of the best surf destinations in the Caribbean. Current depends on what time of year you go. Winter is a little stronger, but also the best waves...in addition to whale migration.

As far as people on the beach, could just be the day of week or time the pic was taken. I've been to Vieques and had the entire beach to myself (during the week), then on a weekend, you'll be lucky to walk w/o stepping on people.

The Intercontinental was definitely a better Casino than Embassy Suites. But honestly, as I described earlier, I was on a mission that only included two things. Playing Poker and drinking. I was pretty oblivious that night to anything else.

In the Rincon beach picture, the reason there is nobody on the beach is because (as you can see the storm clouds in the distance) I snapped that picture between rain showers. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have stayed there a few more days. It was nice. Giant Chess set next to the swimming pool, swim up bar. The deal with that place is that it is a destination resort. So, it's not like they plan on you leaving. My family doesn't normally roll that way, so we were maybe a little out of place. We went into Mayagüez to do some shopping and eat dinner. That reminds me, this resort had a gated entrance with a security guard.

Ok we have secured lodging for Rincon on the 19th to 23rd. We are staying in Puntas at this place http://islandmon.com/rentals/coralreef.htm. Now all we have to do is secure a place to stay in San Juan on the 24th and find a rental car. Any suggestions on a local dealer in San Juan?

Also, could you give me a run down on the duty free process? Could we possibly buy alcohol at the duty free in Atlanta going to Puerto Rico, just curious? It is funny how the government considers it an international flight when it comes to taxes, because we got charged like $30 in international taxes. I'm just wondering if they consider international for duty free.

I rented from Avis at the airport because that's the corporate frequent renter program that I've used most over the years.

It's not quite as slick as at your regular major US airport. But, when they were checking out my Chrysler 300M (the phattest car they had in stock, I wanted a Caddy, but they didn't have any), they decided it wasn't clean enough and asked if I minded waiting a couple minutes while they washed it. No problem. We had just done the red-eye from LAX via FLL, so a few more minutes wasn't going to make much difference.

No Duty Free as I recall. But, like I said on the way there, I was really more focused on getting there. On the way back, I was so hung over... heck, I was still drunk probably. Not my finest hour. At least I haven't done that on one of the 14 hour flights between SYD and LAX yet. Yet!

they have dute free in San Juan. Cant remember if they look at your ticket or not. You might be able to pick something up there for the week. But I would just wait and buy it when you get closer to your destination. Remember, Don Q and Medallia Beer....

What kind of place are you looking for in San Juan?

And I wouldnt try to get to fancy of a car there. Driving there is an adventure in of itself. They dont know what driver ed is....just use your horn and you'll be ok!

We are going to get the cheapest car that will hold us all, 5 and our luggage.

I want to see the beach in San Juan, but I also want to see some sights. I think the plan will be drive back from Rincon on the 23rd fairly early either see sights or beach, then do whatever we didn't do the day before and get on our flight at 3:50. It may make it tricky because one person is flying out on Monday and he will want to take a shower if we go to the beach before his flight. Who knows, I getting pumped though.

wealeat09 - you are planning to go to El Morro, right? That would pretty much be the most important sight to see on the whole trip. It's not every day you get to see a 500 y/o fort on American Soil.

ttt

Thanks Mrs. 96CH53!

It sounds like Putu is the TexAgs expert on Puerto Rico. I think what my wife and I want to get out of the trip is probably different than the suggestions above for the 5 people going on spring break. Do you have any nice, romantic, or unique restaurant suggestions and things we need to do for the 2 nights we are in Old San Juan? We will be there on Fri and Sat night this coming weekend.


[This message has been edited by Clizz47 (edited 5/10/2009 9:54a).]

lots of great new places in OSJ. Some serve typical Puerto Rican dishes, some dont.

Some of my favorites:

Marmalade - Great Wine list, really good "fusion" food, trendy atmosphere

Tantra - Fusion as well, but with a Middle Eastern/Indian flare. Used to be able to smoke on Hukkah's there, but they have a smoking ban now.

Baru - Carribean, really good food, esp. the seafood and ceviches.

Dragon Fly - Havent been yet, but my father in law says its good...great location and lots of pretty people there everytime I've walked by!

Parrot Club - Good food, mix of Carribean/Seafood.

For Breakfast or casual lunch, try La Bombonera. On of the oldest bakery's on the island. they also serve traditional PR food which is really good.


As far as places to stay in OSJ, El Convento hands down. Great location, good service, upscale hotel with several F&B outlets. Pretty romantic as well.

hope this helps!

Putu – Since you have been elected as the Texags expert on Puerto Rico, I have a few questions for you.

It looks like my wife may be in charge of planning a bachelorette party in San Juan for a wedding this summer. Other than reading a couple of travel books she is at a loss for ideas. Our only experience in OSJ was a day stop on our last cruise so we did not get to experience the night life.

I am also friends with the groom but not a member of the wedding party. Althought, I am not sure what the guys are planning so far, I may be in the position to provide input for planning the bachelor party as well.

I have also heard from the bride and groom that at least for part of the night they may consider turning this party into a joint bachelor/bachelorette party since it is both a destination wedding and they have many mutual friends that will be attending the wedding events.

Do you have any suggestions for fun bars/clubs in the OSJ or Condado area? Maybe something on Ashford Avenue, within walking distance or short cab ride from Hotel? The wedding party is staying at the San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino. I am not sure whether strip clubs are an option but we are open to any suggestions. The attendees are in the mid to late 20s age group.

Thanks!