I stayed at the Caribe Hilton from May 5th - May 8th. I liked a lot of things about the hotel (the open-air lobby, the Starbucks, the cleanliness of the rooms and the tropical garden) but there were a few issues:

1) There was no one at the check-in desk when I arrived. If you were Hilton Honors or a VIP your line was staffed but there was no one there for normal check-ins. Not the best first impression.

2) Room service trays and garbage were not picked up promptly from the hallways. When my next door neighbor had dinner his tray of half-eaten food remained outside the room until lunchtime the next day. This happened more than once.

3) Beach service was spotty. One day there was someone taking orders but the next day there was no one to be seen. I don't mind getting up to get my drinks and food but sometimes you just want to veg out and not move.

4) Food and drink prices are extraordinarily high. $10 for a Bud Light! That's ridiculous.

5) There needs to be a higher level of attentiveness to guests from some of the staff. One evening when I tried to get a cab to take me to the casino at the El San Juan Hotel, it took 5 minutes of standing around before the staff stopped chatting with each other to ask if they could help.

All in all, I had a great trip because the weather in PR was wonderful and the beach at the hotel was really all I needed for a relaxing stay. Would I stay here again? Maybe if I found a really great rate but it wouldn't be my first choice.

My husband and I stayed at the Caribe Hilton in Puerto Rico from Monday, May 5 - Friday, May 9th. We had done some investigation and knew that this is the begining of the off-season. The crowds are less and prices drop some. We arrived at the hotel around 3pm. I am a Hilton Honour Silver member and was shown to a private registration desk attached to the Condado Villas. No waiting and we were able to check-in early. We had a King Villa on the 7th floor (7720) that over-looked the lagoon in which we saw a sea turtle!. The room had a full kitchen which was a little much as I didn't plan on doing any cooking. We utilized the refrigerator and we stocked it with beer, cheese, wine, etc. which was convenient and cost effective. The freezer had an icemaker which was great. There was also a table with four chairs for eating and the balcony had 3 chairs and a table. The lagoon was very pretty, but if we looked to our right there is new construction being done. The construction started around 7am. and is quite noisey. This was not an issue for us as we were off and running by 8am everyday anyway. The bathroom had a nice size shower (no tub). Closet space was sufficient. The king bed was excellent. Pillows were perfect and comforter was cozy. If you are a Hilton Honours member you can access the Executive Lounge which stocks water and soda pop. We only went there one time and grabbed some bottled water. It was nothing special. The Villa Lagoon area has a small pool which is by the garden area. It is was very quite. The main pool is nice with plenty of lounge chairs to be had. The Atlantis swim up bar makes great Mojitos, however they are $9 each. My husband and I liked to relax at the private beach area. The water is calm and the sand feels nice. It is perfect for small children as there is sufficient shallow water to play in and no waves. There are about 6 different restaurants attached with the hotel. We ate at two. Morton's Steakhouse for dinner one night and on the last day of our stay we ate at the breakfast buffet. Morton's was very good and we expected it to be pricey. The breakfast buffet was average and the bill was $50.00. Not worth the money. We had rented a car and did a lot of sight seeing..so we didn't stay and hang around at the hotel very much. But we managed to return everyday around 3pm and spend 2 hours on the beach. Perfect! Old San Juan is very close and you have many choices for dinner if you don't want to eat at the hotel. The staff at the hotel was very helpful with directions and the parking attendants were fast in retrieving the car. (Note: $20 a day for valet parking, $15 for manual). The Caribe is in a good spot to explore the North and East side of Puerto Rico. Side note: There is a great parking garage in Old San Juan. Follow the signs to the historical sites (forts). Drive up and around until you see a water fountain. The first street past the fountain turn left and the parking garage is on the left. $1.95 an hour. It is too hard to park on the streets in Old San Juan.

Stayed at the Caribe Hilton from April 17-21 & LOVED IT! We got room 824 (original bldg) & don’t understand what another reviewer is talking about when they say there is smell & noise from the extractors belonging to the restaurant below. Maybe we were lucky (it was breeze the whole time), but never heard or smell anything & we sat on the balcony multiple times every day, at all hours. Service was great & very friendly. The room was a good size (junior exec rm-1 king bed) very clean & in good condition; the beds, pillows & linens were so fluffy, soft & comfortable. Normal size bathroom, especially compare to most European ones.

We stayed on one of the executive floors, worth the extra money. Those floors are elevator key access only, good for extra privacy & security. They also give access to the lounge which has a wonderful buffet type cold breakfast, in the late afternoon-early night they have free appetizers & drink for half of what the hotel bars charge, during the day they have free sodas, water, cookies, fruit, nuts, etc.

Didn’t try any of the restaurant, but the menus looked VERY pricey…….

The pools & grounds (not as expansive as when I was a child) still wonderful. The small private cove-beach is perfect, no waves to knock you off your feet, crystal clear water & the peace of mind that we could snooze off without being concern with our belongings. My only complaint is that the hotel didn’t have enough large beach umbrellas & the “other” ones they were giving us (2-3 to cover two chaise lounges) were this $9.99 pieces of garbage way below the stature of a Hilton. We are a couple with no children but the hotel is perfect for families’ w/children. And last but not least, don’t miss feeding the fish (even if you are not a kid)…………

We stayed in January for 1 week. (7 people 3 rooms)

It was terrible. Stay somewhere else.

The food at the hotel was adequate. Pool burgers ($15) were Ok…..salads were better. Best deal poolside is the large hot dog with a side of salad for $8.00. The lunch buffet looked just fair and overpriced at $26. One ice tea looked like mud and it was easily substituted with Arizona Tea.

We went to the Italian restaurant in the hotel. It was Ok….even Ok++ The gnocchi and veal got the best vote. Service was very good.

We went to Morton’s in the hotel. It was good…..but it was freezing cold. Most of us had a collared short sleeve golf shirt on and it was a little brisk. Someone should have done something about the screaming 3 year old in the center section booth. The 60 minutes of screaming pretty much ruined our 7 meals. I would blame the parents first, and then the staff. The ice tea was, “as thick as mud,” and was sent back. We ordered the $8.95 side of baked potato and it never came out, but we did get to pay for it. The bone in rib eye was quite good, as was the Filet Oscar. The fillet looked Ok, but recieved very good reviews tableside. The sautéed mushrooms were outstanding, as was the overall service. We dropped $400 for dinner (without tip), 7 people, 2 beers, no desserts. It was good, overpriced, and I left unimpressed. You might find it better.

A can of local light beer (Medalla) at the pool-side bar was an outrageous $6.96…..add a couple of dollars for a tip and you are at $9.00 per beer. Surely not worth it, and the hotel management should “wake up” and change the pricing. Medalla is similar to our Miller Light here in the states. The little Mini-Mart 85 meters from the lobby probably does a booming business.

The marketing genius that suggested to management to charge $20 per unreturned towel has shown that he has never stayed at a good 4 star hotel. Nor, more than likely, will he ever be employed by one. Yes, you want your cheap blue and white towels back, but don’t beat us up. It will get mentioned by people that rate your hotel.

The concierge service was a cut above even though they were in the process of physically moving the desks and rebuilding. It took several days of tearing out and measuring, more tearing, and more measuring for everything to be moved. After the concierge desk was moved, they put up white plastic from floor to ceiling in the lobby, and began to fire nails through studs and into the concrete floor. The gun shots sounded like 9mm’s being fired a distance of 5 meters with 40 mils of white plastic protecting customers that were walking down to the HonorsTower. We all ducked when the random shots were fired. The first time through was a little scary. They took good care of the two large parrots in the lobby, but let the customers walk past what sounded like a shooting range at a close distance. It was funny watching people duck.

To finish with the concierge, they were extremely helpful. We dealt with at least 3 or 4 of them. They were all very good. One stands out as a “can do” hustler type that went the extra yard for us and was very professional. I approached him at the desk and he was excellent in highlighting the way to the Bacardi Factory Tour. (tour was Ok) I didn’t get his name, but he is the only young thin large guy there that is 6’ 5” tall. He’s got the right “can do” attitude and is extremely professional. They were quick to make things correct…..should have been more proactive…. than reactive.

All 3 rooms had some degree of mold. Our room stunk like mold. This really ruined the stay for me. My wife is allergic to mold and we had to request the maid service to clean the mold from the shower ceiling. (It works better if you pay to have an extra service completed) We were told the renovations were done 1 year ago. It sure didn’t look like it. The carpet looked like it was 5 to 10 years old. The sliding track balcony door didn’t. The paint was slopped over all the outlet switches.

The air conditioner appeared as thought it was original. (30 years old) It was filthy with mold…..and no filter. These types of conditions are unacceptable. The air conditioner was hard-wired to the slider, so that if the balcony slider was open, the air conditioner wouldn’t work.

So you had a choice, either a cool moldy room…..or a hot fresh smelling room. Two poor choices for spending $5m on 3 rooms for 7 days. Portions of the hallway ceiling were cutout (drywall pull through holes) and remained unrepaired. This is unacceptable. Two of our rooms had nightstand lamps, one room didn’t. A good Red Roof Inn would have been better than this. We got a 30 year old concreted moldy room that had been painted about 4 times. Furniture looked like it was 20+ years old.

The 1.6 gpf toilet still had the tattered label on the front of it about 6” off the floor. The plumber never took it off….nor did the maid service. This is the sign of a dirty room. Ironically, it was a modern low gallons per flush toilet….but ours had a slow leak all day. (it is leaking right now)

The small shampoo’s and mouth wash contents were horrible. The boxed bar soap was fair. I have traveled for over 30 years…..and this was some of the worst. Tasted and smelled like they were bulk packaged and poured out by bucket in the basement. You may like them, but ours stayed behind.

The hallway ceiling drywall had "pull throughs".....square holes every 20 feet. (probably to pull cable through) Never fixed.

Some in our group were at this very same location 30 years ago when it was new. (and this was the 3rd visit for them!)

It's my last visit.

Did I mention the loose stainless steel outdoor handrails outside the towers. No one cares! Probably broken for 20 years!

As you can tell, I was unimpressed with this hotel, as well as, the entire island.

If you like "dirt" go visit there. It's as close to 3rd world as I have ever seen.

Rainforest was Ok.

Taxi's were Ok.

Several pictures attached. (pictures don't lie)