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Hotel Class: 
3 Stars - 3 Reviews and 258 Opinions
1 Mariano Ramirez Bages, Condado, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00907, Caribbean
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of people enjoy staying here
261 Opinions
jamesdalphonse
User Rating
great place to stay in Condado, San Juan for short term stay.
Unique Quality: convenient location
Holiday Inn Express San Juan Photo: Condado
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rraaxx
User Rating
ralphhu
User Rating
Helpfulness
The Holiday Inn Express was reasonably priced (about $100), clean and the staff were friendly and helpful. The provided breakfast included cereals, bagels, toast, milk, orange juice, coffee and fruit. It is about a block from the beach in Condado. I would recommend this hotel.
Unique Quality: Close to the beach, very good breakfast.
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We stayed precruise in March 2005. We were a little nervous because some of the reviews we had read. There is a lot of construction in the area so it does look a little messy when you first pull up, but no worries it was a nice hotel for the money. It has a small pool, is walking distance to the beach, has a nice breakfast, and the staff was friendly. If you go not expecting the RITZ you will be fine. We went with a group of 8 and all agreed we would stay here again.
I stayed here for two nights at the beginning of April. My room was spotless (despite what some reviewers have written), and while the bathroom was small, the shower itself was roomy, the hotel bath linens of very good quality and a working iron and ironing board in the closet.
The staff was very friendly, very helpful and willing to work with a little Spanglish if communication broke down. I, for one, like not being in a property facing Ashford (it was much quieter) and still less than a block from everything on Ashford.
Breakfast every AM in a room facing the pool (which only gets sun in the AM BTW) was good with pastries, juice and coffee. All in all, more than I expected from a Holiday Inn at a reasonable prepurchase rate.
My wife, my child and I all liked the hotel. Upon being dropped off by the cab from the airport, I was hesitant. The hotel is down a very narrow street half a block from the beach, surrounded by new construction on three sides. Once inside, we found the Staff very friendly. For example, they stored at no cost our extra luggage while we went off to Culebra for a week.
The rooms were perfectly fine: good beds, good mattesses, clean linen, and towels, clean, working tv. (But a very tiny bathroom. Clean but tiny. OK though.)
The complementary breakfast was perfectly adequate: pastries, cereal, juices, coffee, bagels, bananas. In a cheerful room. No complaints. I ate there every morning.
The pool is tiny and surrounded by construction. (See the photo supplied by another guest). It was fine for eating breakfast at one of the tables, and kids playing in the pool, but we certainly didn't fly to PR to stay in a hotel pool, and didn't.
The hotel offers two computers for free internet service off the hallway down from the breakfast room, but there was usually someone else using them, and one didn't work properly, during either or out stays a couple weeks apart. However, I did manage to get onto the internet and use it.
during our 16 days in PR, we stayed in hotels ranging in price rom $80 to $340 a night. For the money spent, this was the best deal. The $340 a night room was nicer, and in a premier location (the Sheraton across from the tour ship docks), but I'd rather keep the extra money and stay at the Holiday Express.
Holiday Inn Express is a joke. It is located next a couple of construction site. Doors are paper thin; I heard knocking on doors until 4 o'clock in the morning. I paid $110 from their web site, and $15 tax. It is basically a motel-6 with a fancy name.
Inside is about the size of a big closet. 2 beds fit okay. View is to a constuction site. They call it a deluxe room. Bathroom is about 5'X5'.
The "swimming pool" is small with constuction debris on top. Who on earth wants to swim in there? I wouldn't let me children walk out of the glass doors.
Complained to the Duty Manager, Carmen, and although a sign in Room said Satisfactory guaranteed, she said what you see is what you get.
If I were you I would walk 15 min. to Caribe Hilton and pay about $30 more. You get 4-star service there. Here in Holiday Inn Express, you get 1-star service and also, no sleep and no rest.
I won't go back if they offer me a free room.
This was a nice clean hotel. Two double beds, which were cleaned and made everyday. The bathroom was brand new, with new soaps, shamoos and towels everyday. We were on teh 7th floor, and from the end of the hallway you could see a view of the ocean.
The continental breakfast was basic, but very adequate. Cold cereal, milk, juices, hard-boiled eggs, bread, bagels (and a toaster), with cream cheese, butter, and jellies. I would recommend hot tea, instead of the coffee.
There were two free internet computers in the lobby, and there were always taxis outside. $12 to Old san Juan, flat rate. We took the bus (21B?) back and it was only 25 cents. The bus stops at the corner.
They are undergoing a major "renaissance" of the Condado area, and so there is a lot of construction, but still a nice place. Besides, the work stops at the end of the day, and at night there is no noise. Two blocks from a 24 hour Walgreens.
Overall, a clean, nice place, that I would return to if I were there again.
Oh, and if you walk to the left on the main street, right past the Wyndam, is the best beach on the condado. It's got a place to rinse your feet, and you hear the musical entertainment from the Wyndam, and there are trees to sit under and the water is shallow there.
Nice amenities, but since I came here on business, I needed an internet connection in my room. That service was sorely lacking. Not only that, the connections only worked in the lobby where people had to jockey for position to use them. This may sound insignificant, but for a hotel that bills itself as a "preferred business address" and has no internet and no business center, this hotel gets a big fat zero. Not only that, but the management seemed to not care less when i voiced my concerns. at the very least, i should've been comped for my use of the cyber cafe a few blocks away
After reading some of the reviews on this site, I was a little concern about staying at this Holiday Inn Express. I normally stay in 4-star hotels but I was with a group that booked at this 2-star. We came in a day earlier to catch a cruise ship out of San Juan.
The hotel appeared to be quite clean and orderly. I especially liked the lobby area. Although small, there were comfortable chairs and some kind of artsy waterfall piece. They have free internet which I used quite often. They have a nice pool and jazuzzi area but there is a lot of construction around this hotel. So if there are workers in the buildings they will definitely see everything you do at the pool. We arrived on a Saturday night so no one was out there. There is a candid pic of the construction around the hotel on this site. It is exactly as the picture represents.
I had a double bed room. As soon as I opened the door, I gasped because the room is so small. I never been in a hotel room that small. It kind of remind me of European style hotel. The bathroom was very small.
I had a roommate so it was a little difficult with both of us moving around the room. A good guess is that the room is about 8 x 10' or 12. The furniture in the room was nice and well maintain. The beds were quite comfortable. The TV was probably 19" to 21". The picture was sharp.
My only two complaints about my room it was too small for two people to move around in. And, the air conditioning was a joke. I never quite cooled off in that room. We had the air conditioning on high and cool/cold air was coming out but the air was stale. The humidity in the room was high. I felt sticky most of the time in the room. I am not sure if the air conditioning needed to be cleaned out or what. The room temperature would never get right. We were hot then cold at times. It was a weird experience. I think some folks on this site mentioned the same thing about the poorly functioning air conditioning in the rooms.
I couldn't wait to leave that room. And, like someone mentioned on this site, it is only good for one night. I agree with that statement. If the air conditioning was working properly, the room would have been acceptable and I would recommend it to others but due to the substandard air conditioning system, I will not be back again.
There is construction everywhere off the main street this hotel is on. But I think once all the renovations are complete, it will be quite a nice area. There are other hotels which are in walking distance. The beach is also in walking distance and you can see it from the hotel.
All the hotel staff that I encountered was helpful and nice. You also receive a free continental breakfast. It had the basics such as cereal, whole fruit such as apples, bananas, and oranges. There were all kinds of fruit juices and breads. The coffee was excellent. The continental breakfast was in a room off the pool area. It was extremely cold in this room. I think that is where all the air conditioning is going too.
The exercise room had two treadmills, if I recall correctly and filtered water. Advice: Don't drink the faucet water; it is awful. Our shuttle driver all suggested we not drink the water. I used the filtered water in the exercise room whenever I needed water to go. I had a water bottle.
Off the main street (can't think of the name), you cannot see the hotel which is down a side street. Which kind of reminds me of a neighborhood. I felt safe walking around there. There are not enough eateries within walking distance of the hotel. We ended up about a 1/2 mile down the road at Chilis.
There was a couple in our group that had a bad experience in the hotel. When it was time for them to go to bed, the pull back the sheets and it appeared the sheets had not been changed. They said the sheets had stains and the sheets were nasty. The hotel changed their room but would not compensate them in anyway. The hotel gave them a 1800 number to call for complaints.
If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to email me @ luv4ubaskets@bellsouth.net
Close to the beach, very good breakfast.
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Address: 1 Mariano Ramirez Bages, Condado, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00907, Caribbean
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