Normandie Hotel, San Juan

We stayed at the Normandie May 17 and 18, 2005. It has been going through some massive renovations and has an Art Deco theme. There are areas that still have the original paintings on trim, which apparently they were not allowed to paint because of the hotels historical significance. The check-in was a bit awkward. The rooms were quite big enough. The bathroom could have been updated more, but was adequate. I was surprised there wasn't a hair dryer in the bathroom and there weren't any wash cloths. An ironing board was brought up promply when requested. The carpets are a bit dirty in a lot of areas. But then they chose a very light decore for their theme which would require constant massive cleaning, and to have that done on Puerto Rican time...well I just don't know. I really didn't have any real complaints.

We were going on a cruise and this was a great choice for the night before the ship sailed. Excellant location - on the way to the port from the airport. Not far from Old San Juan. Very nice view of the water and a great little pool.

Despite the millions said to have been used to renovate it recently, more should have been spent on the rooms rather than just the atrium and facade, which admittedly are nice. Our introduction to this "historic" hotel? Mold on the bathroom walls (signs admonish you not to open windows and even if you did want to, our windows were rigged so that they would not stay open--you had to hold them open if you were that desperate for sea air--so moisture/humidity collected inside the room, naturally), looked to be water/fire damage on the ceilings peaking from beneath the drop ceiling (I shudder to think what was hidden beneath the ceiling tiles), both phones in room did not work and were not fixed despite a call to the front desk on the first day (of a 5-day stay; we ended up using our own cell phones and praying PR was within our calling areas :), wedding reception/party held 2nd night in the hotel 2 floors up was LOUD enough to be heard in our room--the atrium-like central area is nice to look at, but it becomes an echo chamber in the evening--and lasted until after midnight (when the volume was turned down, but not off), one of the two main elevators was out during our stay (making for long lines and the doors from the fire stairs lacked handles inside the stairwell on some floors!--so you couldn't walk down to the 1st floor or up to your floor even if you wanted to--also probably a fire hazard...). Check in was also a mess. We arrived around noon, so it was no big deal to be asked to come back sometime around 4...We checked at 3PM to see if anything was ready early but were told to come back at 4, but then at 4 it was: "Oh...just a while longer" (we ended up going to dinner and getting back in at 7PM). Some of issues mentioned in this paragraph will hopefully just be temporary: Horrible location right now: construction next door and the hotel's around the corner from a blind turn. We sat in traffic for 20 minutes, just 70 yards from the hotel the first day because taxis were dropping people off in odd places, contruction had closed off a lane, and people were double parking. Several police officers on bikes sat watching the fiasco nearby and did nothing. THEN we couldn't even park in the hotel lot to check in because the sign in front of the lot said it was "full" and the guard there waved us away (we later learned the lot was only "full" to nonhotel guests, but the guard hadn't asked us if we were guests). The location, for San Juan newbies, is also not that great. It's a 7-10 minute walk from the tip of the Condado resort/restaurant area and a hoof and a half from Old San Juan. So, because the hotel seems to have many pricing deals with travel sites, you can take it to lower some of your travel costs...just either be prepared to be more aggressive than we were in getting satisfaction (we were too busy running off to El Yunque, Vieques, and Ponce to want to waste time and negative energy arguing on our vacation or sitting in our room waiting for a no-show phone repair) or lower your expectations :)

I spent a week at the Normandie, and have no real complaints. I went sightseeing each day, and returned to the Normandie to sleep and shower. I appreciate the help Lester gave to arrange a visit to one of the local elementary schools!

The place is deserted........Nobody home! We heard while we were in PR, Hardrock Cafe will be replacing the Normandie. I have pictures of this hotel, not close to what it looks like!

We booked and prepaid for our room at the Normandie months in advance. When we arrived they said they were overbooked and had no room for us. They sent us to what was supposed to be a comparable hotel. IT WAS NOT. We tried to call the manager to inform him that the replacement hotel was not acceptable, but he would not even come to the phone. Our cruise vacation got off to a miserable start because of this unscrupulous hotel.

October of 2006 the 5 day stay at the Normandie was quite good. The service was good from everyone that works here with some exceptional service from several of the men at the front door. All were friendly and courteous. We found the location convenient w/super fast taxi service. Our room was alot larger than we expected and the beds were extremely comfortable. We really appreciated the all night room service from the dining room and thought the pricing was very reasonable. We wished that the Normandie had more filtered drinking water available. But we found filtered water in the 3rd flr gym, and the maid service provided 2-3 bottles a day and extra bottles were given to us when we asked for them. The hotel & room were clean, but the carpeting needs replacement at this time. We were told remodeling is coming soon. This is a 1939 built hotel, lots of character, we would return, I wouldn't hesitate.

My wife and I have stayed at the Normandie perhaps 6 times over the past 10 years. Never have we had an unhappy experience. Our rooms were always quiet clean and spaceous. The service has always been friendly and helpful. Does it have 4 pools, nine restaurants,6 bars and a flashy night life, no. But if I had wanted that I would stay at the Hilton next door and pay twice as much. Its location is close to San Juan, Viejo. Just a quick taxi ride. But why would you take a taxi when the bus stops across the street and costs $1.00? We love San Juan in January and will be there again in 2006. We will again stay at the Normandie. As an aside: Pat and I are experienced travelers and I lecture on the ins and outs of independent travel.

After having stayed in other Hotels in Puert Rico we tried the Normandie this time. Although the rooms are clean the service in the Hotel/Restaurant was just aweful. We had dinner at the restaurant - the food was below average and they had no bottled water. We had to wait 1.5 hrs for room service (1 cup of tea and a class of wine). On Sat night the atrium turned into a discoteque and our 3 months old couldn't sleep til 2am in the morning. In addition the hotel was just one construction zone. When we finally asked for a 1h late check out with our infant the Hotel Manager (Mr. Rubin) offered we could pay 1/2 day for the room. Never again!!

There was construction going on the entire week we stayed there. I complained to the staff of all the noise the workers were making every morning, not to mention all the junk we had to step over to get into and out of our room due to renovations. They offered to put us in another room but, it looked like one of the rooms that had not been renovated yet. They then offered to put us in a room on the seventh floor. It was absolutely beautiful! seemed like a whole other world up there, sort of like a spa retreat. Of course they wanted us to pay extra for them inconveniencing us. On a good note though, I liked our room it was very modern and clean and had a nice view of the ocean. I think this hotel has the potential to be a grand hotel but, in the mean time they need to tell people of the construction going on. By the way do not spend your money or time eating breakfast there. The portions were very small and the price was outrageous! Instead go to El Condado for places to eat.