Hotels FAQ

Question:

My fiance and I have a 5 hr layover in San Juan.  Does anyone have any suggestions for a good restruant?

Response:

5 hour layover in San Juan? With fiance’? Hmmm… Depends a lot on what you want to do. There is a decent airport hotel. No need to leave the terminal. The adjective ‘decent’ is chosen quite deliberately. Don’t expect much more than a room with a bed and a tv and an adjoining bath. Think of an Econolodge and strip it to the bare essentials, including basic cable tv. But what the heck, with a fiance! No more than about 15 minutes from the airport you’ll find a real Econolodge in the Isla Verde barrio. With a nice swimming pool, and no more than two blocks from a decent beach. And you won’t pay much more than you would have to pay for the airport hotel room. In fact, the last time I was there, the Econolodge plus cab was less than the airport hotel room charge. Now, venturing farther afield from the airport, you can head toward Old San Juan. It will take you 30-60 minutes to get there by cab, and you can easily devote 3 hours to just walking around and sightseeing, with a stop in one of the great restaurants. It will be a long time before I forget the Galician grilled octopus I had there. Excellent! Or, stop short of Old San Juan and swim on the airport side of the bridge to OSJ (the Radisson side, where there is a public beach). Shallow and plenty of schools of tropical fish, though little coral. Excellent for beginner snorkelers because it is shallow and not much current. Not much of a charge for experienced snorkelers, but it’s hard to do better within an hour of the airport. Or, go to one of the local casinos. Or, rent a car and head out to the rainforest or one of the more isolated beaches, about an hour’s drive in the opposite direction from Old San Juan. This would be a rush-rush affair, if all you had was five hours from plane to plane. You’d have to de-plane and get the car within one hour, take the hour’s drive to the rainforest or beach, drive around (or swim) for an hour or so, and then head back to the airport so that you made your flight on time after returning the rental car. Me, with a fiance, I’d skip the running around. Cheers! and have fun! J

Response:

If you’d like to try local cuisine, a very good restaurant is Ajili Mojili on Avenida Ashford in Condado.  Their telephone number is (787) 725-9195. The service is good and the food is excellent.  On weekdays they are open for lunch from 11:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  No lunch hours on weekends.  Dinner hours are 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekdays; 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday; 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Sunday. — Garet Juntunen http://www.paradise-vacations.com – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> My fiance and I have a 5 hr layover in San Juan.  Does anyone have any > suggestions for a good restruant?

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We’ve had the same layover several times. You can store your bags with the American Airlines baggage office for about $5 then just step outside and catch a cab down to one of the nearby hotels such as El San Juan. There are several good restaurants to choose from, a cigar bar, some shops, a beach, and a casino on site.  Have fun! — Paris Permenter & John Bigley authors of "Caribbean with Kids," "Adventure Guide to the Leeward Islands," "Adventure Guide to the Cayman Islands," and more **CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE: www.parisandjohn.com

Response:

> My fiance and I have a 5 hr layover in San Juan.  Does anyone have any > suggestions for a good restruant?

Try the Metropol Restaurant in Isla Verde, several miles east of San Juan, right on the bus line.  Great inexpensive Cuban food.  Seemed to be a favorite of the locals when we were there a year ago. — Claudie To e-mail me, remove REMOVE.THIS from my address Sleeping under a pile of housecats…

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