Will not go back
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 8/3/08
First time I've stayed in the caribbean without a view of the beach. The balcony in our room, overlooking the trash dumpster of the fast food restaurant, didn't quite do it at the Radisson. Rooftop pool was crowed with little kids, but from one corner there was a brief beach view. Bar was depressing. But then I find casinos depressing also.
Spent a lot of time down the street at the Marriott pretending we lived there. Their patio was a great place to eat, drink, and view the ocean. And their breakfast buffet was also far superior. But then so was Starbuck's breakfast. Radisson's dinners didn't get good reviews from fellow travellers so we avoided them. Buy water, rum, etc. at the little grocery down the street. Walgreens is handy also to the right on Ashford, a street we learned quite well.
Don't bother with Radisson's tour concierge. She only deals with Rich Sunshine Tours and they are different than Rico Sun Tours. We did wear comfortable hiking shoes on Rich's rain forest tour, fortunately. Our guide was great on politics, but evidently had never hiked the trail and his indication that this was a casual 1 1/2 hr. walk at a snail's pace, wasn't exactly what it was. But the waterfall was beautiful. Use the Mariott instead where the woman is quite knowledgable and told us about driving a rental car, the closing of the Ponce Art museum, and the folk dancing and jazz festivals down the street on FRiday and Sat. The Radisson staff appeared not to have a clue, even when we asked them specifically.
Take a 75 cent bus to Old San Juan and avoid the Rich tour there. Take the free trollies around OSJ. Then take the 50 cent ferry to the Bacardi Rum factory, where a taxi to Bacardi will cost $3. Bacardi was the highlight of the trip. Although Frommers and the AAA book evidently didn't list this as a holiday weekend, it was. Four days in fact,which meant a lot of art museums were closed.
Perhaps if I went back, rented a car, avoided the Radisson and their tour operator, and had a view of the beach I would feel differently. We did have great weather and if you only want rum and gambling this might be okay.