Posted 30 June 2009 - 04:02 AM
When Adam and I were looking for a location on the island, we didn't want something opulent. We had a budget, and we needed to try to stick within it. That meant that the Ritz Carlton, El Convento, and the El Conquistador were out, as lovely as those venues were. We just couldn't afford them.
We ended up deciding on having the wedding at the Caribe Hilton, specifically the Hilton Atlantic Gardens.
The room that we got was one of the Lagoon Villas. It had an ocean view, and it was very nice. From the other rooms of the guests that stayed at the hotel, the rooms range from very basic (and a little dingy, to be honest) to really nice.
The problems I had with the hotel:
The bedding smelled like fish when we first went into our room. That was quickly changed.
The maid service showed up late on the day of my wedding.
The hotel was very family friendly. That might be a plus for some, but it was frustrating for us. We are a young couple, and we are also night owls. Our neighbors, however, were not. They called in two noise complaints one night when it was just the groom and I in our room talking to one another. Combine this with the fact that the neighbors kids loved to wake up yelling and making a lot of noise at 6am did not help our relations to say the least.
They do not have laundry services on site. This means that if you need to steam your wedding dress, you will have to do it with an old fashioned iron yourself or you can use the bathroom shower to steam up the bathroom.
The staff switches around a lot. I had three different banquet coordinators in between October to June. No joke.
You pretty much need to take a taxi or drive yourself to get into the historic district of San Juan.
Nonetheless, there were things that I really loved about the hotel:
The ceremony site was absolutely.gorgeous. No ifs ands or buts. It was also just what we wanted--- something ocean side, but NOT on a beach. I have a father who is in a wheelchair, and he needed some terra firma to get around. This, really, was the most important aspect of the hotel for my purposes. I was not disappointed.
The fort at the location (yeah, the hotel has its own historical fort) is great for taking pictures. You cannot go inside the fort, but it makes a nice backdrop.
The lobby area is also really beautiful.
And I did not do this, but according to my new hubby the hotel has great snorkeling.
I loved the pool area and the staff overall was very accommodating. We sometimes tried to 'bend the rules' a little bit (like staying in the hot tub after nine pm), and our behavior was mostly tolerated by the staff. They didn't want the hotel to be held liable for anything, but they didn't want to ruin our fun either.
Oh-- and the hammocks on the grounds were to die for.
So overall, I would give the hotel a 3.5 out of 5 stars. If I were just to rate the ceremony site itself and nothing else, it would get 5 out of 5.
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