We arrived early morning at the hotel. We were lost for a few minutes since it was very hard to see the street signs at night. The front desk Manager and the bell guy took good care of us since they knew we were very tired. Our room was great and comfortable. It had several pillows just as I had requested. The services and hospitality superb. The hotel is one block away from the beach. The service was excellent. If any one is interested in eating real Puerto Rican food, there is a small restaurant called "La Casita Restaurant". It's located at the plaza next to the Holiday Inn on your right hand side, right on Isla Verde. We had the best "Monfongo with mix seafood." The restaurant is very clean, organized, and has style to it. At this location everything is near including the airport. Keep in mind parking is additional every where you go. You really do not need a car in this area. Unless you are visiting family. I recommend this hotel.

Excellent hotel for a pre-cruise stay.
Rooms appear a bit small, but bed is so huge, so there's not a lot of room to leave your luggage.
Bath removed so bathroom is now a (very) wet room.
DJ by the pool on Sunday afternoon.
Excellent pool with free loungers and pool towels.
Very handy for airport and beach with shopping nearby.
Would definately return.

My husband and I stayed at the Holiday Inn for a 3 day weekend. This is a great hotel if you are looking to get away for a few days but don't want to spend a lot of money on a resort.

When we got to the San Juan airport, we were shocked at how easy everything was. I expected that when I got there, I'd have to speak a little Spanish to get around, but it's simply not the case. Everyone speaks English, so no need to worry. We walked out to the transportation gate, and there are women standing at a desk ready to help you. You just tell them your hotel and they get a taxi to take you there. The Holiday Inn is literally, 2 minutes from the airport.

The hotel is very nice. Everyone who works there is bi-lingual and ready to help. There is a little shop in the lobby if you need anything and a cookie/coffee place. We stayed on the top floor with the upgrade. We received complimentary breakfast each morning in the lounge area. It was great to have that! The top floor is very nice. There is a workout room and you can also go out doors onto the roof decks for relaxing and sunbathing if you don't want to go down to the pool with the other guests.

The pool area is nice. There is a hot tub and a spray park area for kids. We don't have kids, but it was a treat for us to watch the other children play in the spray park. It was a big hit! The ocean is 2 blocks away. La Isla Verde beach is beautiful. On a sunny day, you can sit and watch people wind surf, parasail, and jetski. The water is clean but not as calm as other beaches I've been to in the carribbean. It reminded me of Ocean City MD. You can rent beach chairs and umbrellas if you'd like from the men on the beach, but we just took 2 towels from the Holiday Inn and sat on those.

Overall, our trip was great. The food was amazing anywhere we ate. The La Fantasia restaurant in the hotel, has everything and one night we had food from them delivered up to our room. They have bar type food and other selections that are a bit fancier. You can also eat at that restaurant outside by the pool.

While we stayed at the Holiday Inn, we took the city bus for 75 cents up to Old San Juan. The trip is worth it! make sure you have exact change and the bus stop is right behind the hotel across from the strip mall on La Isla Verde Ave. When you take the bus, you get to see San Juan at its best. The A5 bus takes you through the neighborhoods and takes about 45 minutes. But I would rather do that than take a taxi for 25 dollars. Old San Juan is beautiful and we really had a nice time sightseeing. I loved the San Juan cathedral where Ponce de Leon is buried and the El Morro fort where the Spanish settlers defended the island. What a great history lesson. Old San Juan is very charming. I got an icee from a vendor that shaves the ice right off of a huge block and has any flavor you can think of. We also ate lunch at a pub place that had the best fried chicken I've ever had!

Overall, our San Juan trip was excellent. It was great to just get away for a few days.

The only negative thing I have to say is that, the day we checked out, we left our luggage with the front desk because we had a few hours extra to relax before heading back to the airport. Well, it was the same day that many people were staying at the Holiday Inn to leave for a cruise and the taxi driver accidentally took our luggage with all the others for the cruise. It was a good thing I had my name and phone number on my luggage because the woman at the pier called me to tell me she had my luggage. If you leave your luggage with the front desk, make sure that they put it in the closet room, and not with all the other luggage in the lobby that goes to the cruise boats.

Have a great trip, and remember to wear sunscreen! I hope this helps!

I did a lot of searching on Tripadvisor and chose the Holiday Inn partly based upon this site (thanks!) and price.

I was a bit apprehensive about hotels in San Juan due to some horrer stories on this site about other hotels, but we were plesanty suprised upon our arrival. The hotel is about 1 block off the main street, so road noise is minimal. When you are outside, you can hear the jets taking off, but it was not too loud. The hotel has a bright and spacious lobby and very friendly helpfull staff.

Our room was 629 which was what they called a European room, meaning small. It was. The room had a very comfortable king size bed, 1 dresser, desk and a lounge chair. It was a bit small for the two of us, but we do not spend much time in our hotel rooms except to sleep. The bathroom was tiny and we found the toliet was plugged. A call was placed to room service and the problem was fixed in under 4 minutes. The room was very quite - we never heard our neighbors the entire 5 days we spent there. The rooms are worn, but clean and not out of line for the price.

The pool is small, but nice and there is a large hot tub in the court yard. We did not eat at the hotel resteraunts, but did have two expensive beers ($5 bottles of Corona) in the bar. You are better off seeking out some of the local food within walking distance.

Check out Mi Caritas about 1 blk away for great Mofungos. If you want to gamble, El San Juan Hotel and Casino among other hotels are nearby. There are several local bars such as El Taquito that serve cheap drinks and good Mexican bar food if you want to mingle with the locals who were all friendly.

All said, I would recommend this hotel to someone who is not looking for 5 star accomidations and has a budget, but does not like budget hotels.