Hotel Review: Intercontinental San Juan

This would be our last night in the Caribbean after the most amazing birding adventure ever, the next day we would be off to mainland USA to see family.  I wanted something special, preferably free on hotel points – and I got exactly what I wanted.  Intercontinental San Juan was a spectacular finale to our epic trip and even came with some surprise birding but you’ll have to read the whole review first.

It was raining as we finally arrived at the hotel after a long and busy day so I wasn’t thrilled with the self-parking being across the street.

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The lobby is beautiful and elegant and the check in staff were very friendly and helpful.DSCN4516 DSCN4517

The room was large and very clean with nice amenities in the bathroom.  The wifi worked brilliantly as well.DSCN4518 DSCN4519

Maybe the carpet is old-fashioned but the beds were very comfortable.DSCN4520

And the view was awesome of the pool and the sea just beyond.DSCN4521 DSCN4522 DSCN4523 DSCN4524

Speaking of the pool, I knew where we were heading to relax and rejuvenate!  The small pool in front is a jacuzzi and some of the jets were very good back massagers!DSCN4525 DSCN4526

There are several restaurants, this one overlooks the beach.DSCN4528 DSCN4529 DSCN4530 DSCN4531 DSCN4532 DSCN4538

After sunset, we could see the city lights down the road.DSCN4539 DSCN4540

As I was walking back to the hotel, I could hear the distinctive and iconic Coqui frogs.  I searched in vain, never got to see one, even enlisted a few hotel staff but they couldn’t find one either.  This is what they look and sound like.

The next morning, I went back to the beach area and heard a familiar sounding squawk.  I looked up in the palm trees and lo and behold – a family of Quaker Parrots in a huge nest!DSCN4550 DSCN4551 DSCN4553 DSCN4552 DSCN4561

The perfect way to say goodbye to our Caribbean adventure!

These rooms usually go for $160-200 or 50,000 IHG Rewards but I used my annual Chase certificate so for a $49 annual fee, I got an amazing deal and we loved the hotel and would go back anytime we were in Puerto Rico.

Old San Juan For Tired & Lazy Birders

I’m going to preface this with the fact that we had the right to be tired and lazy since we got maybe 2 hours of sleep the night before due to late Liat and an early morning start to see Puerto Rican Amazon parrots.

IMG_8386So by the time we left Rio Abajo we were starving and stopped at the first shopping centre we found for the food court and also to try to find a prepaid SIM card that would work in the mainland USA as well.  This mall did the trick and we ended up hanging around until T-24 to do online check-in for Southwest and got A46 and A48 boarding positions.

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We were fading fast and decided just to drive around the old town and see as much of the fort and local area as possible from the car.  So fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride with us!  Don’t mind that I got lost until spotting a sign for old San Juan!DSCN4428 DSCN4430 DSCN4431

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The old town has some lovely old Spanish style buildings.DSCN4439 DSCN4441 DSCN4443 DSCN4444 DSCN4445 DSCN4446

The traffic was pretty bad and everyone was jockeying for parking so we had to circle around Castillo San Felipe del Morro a few times with angry motorists honking behind us.  I was trying to shoot photos out the window as much as possible.DSCN4448 DSCN4449 DSCN4450 DSCN4451 DSCN4452 DSCN4453 DSCN4455 DSCN4457 DSCN4458 DSCN4460 DSCN4462

I got closer on the second try.DSCN4470

Where did these people park?DSCN4464 DSCN4465 DSCN4466 DSCN4467

One last try.DSCN4468 DSCN4469

Cute trolley.DSCN4471 DSCN4472 DSCN4473 DSCN4474 DSCN4475

 

OK I give up, let’s just drive around the shopping area.  It was pretty crowded, might have been a cruise ship in town.  Maybe that’s how those people got there, shuttles from the ships.DSCN4479 DSCN4481 DSCN4482

The shopping area was pretty cool – cobblestone streets, interesting artwork and colourful buildings.DSCN4483 DSCN4487 DSCN4488 DSCN4489 DSCN4490 DSCN4491 DSCN4492 DSCN4493 DSCN4494 DSCN4498 DSCN4499

I do love a pina colada!DSCN4500 DSCN4503 DSCN4504 DSCN4505Wait, parrots have their own club?  We would have stopped in if we could find parking. DSCN4506 DSCN4507 DSCN4508 DSCN4509 DSCN4510 DSCN4511 DSCN4512

So that’s it, by this time we realized we were not going to find parking and were exhausted so time to go to the Intercontinental and relax!

 

Liat Late To Dominica, Surprise Airport Charges On Exit

Leaving St Vincent, I was annoyed (but not surprised when both Liat flights (connecting in Barbados) were late.  Especially because it meant that we would miss the last bus and have to get a very expensive taxi to the other side of the island.

It’s possible to get a good deal on this flight and the taxes are supposedly included.  This direct flight wasn’t available when we booked.  Dominica had been hit badly by a hurricane and some flights were curtailed for awhile.  It may look like taxes are included but there is an extra departure tax to be paid at the airport.  They want cash which I didn’t have since I had made a point of spending all our ECD save a few bucks for snacks and I knew there would be ATMs at SJU to get USD easily.  They finally took me upstairs to some kind of office and processed the fee on my credit card.

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Waiting in the departure gate area.  St Vincent Airport does have a small gift shop before security, nothing in the departure area.

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We had a longer layover than expected in Barbados but at least they had a good variety of fast food places that take credit cards.dscn4275 dscn4276 dscn4277 dscn4278 dscn4279 dscn4280

Some of the gates are in a different building down this long-ish hall.  The shops and restaurants are in the main terminal.dscn4281 dscn4282

Is this flight EVER going to leave?dscn4283

Boarding at rear only.dscn4284 dscn4285

You better put that backpack on the plane!dscn4286

By this time I had caught on and we were sitting in the rear.dscn4287

Goodbye Barbados!dscn4288

Hello Dominica!dscn4290

Another small airline.dscn4291

Yay, the backpack is on the truck!dscn4292

Outside the terminal, we met a man who had come to pick up his son and was headed our way so we paid him about half the taxi would have cost to take us to our hotel (which was on his way).dscn4392

After birding in Dominica (post to follow) Dr Birdy dropped us at the bus stop outside Portsmouth.  We waited about 15 minutes until a minibus arrived.  They dropped us on the road outside and we walked into the airport.dscn4394

Last minute birding outside the airport.dscn4395 dscn4398

Goodbye Dominica!dscn4400

Even after the airport tax hassle our troubles weren’t over.  The flight to Antigua was only about an hour late.  Much to my surprise, the flight from Antigua to San Juan left on time.  It was a puddle jumper that stopped at St Kitts and Tortola enroute.  It was in one of these islands that the schedule went all to hell.  We were stuck on the tarmac for 2 hours waiting for another late Liat plane which had passengers connecting to our plane. At first they left us sweltering with no AC or water until everyone on the plane was in near mutiny, then they turned the AC on and brought us water.  We finally arrived in San Juan just after midnight.  Already exhausted, I had to navigate a rental car to our hotel, finally arriving around 2am.