We lodged in four different locations during our six evenings in Puerto Rico. We normally prefer to not move luggage and deal with checking in and checking out so frequently, but we did so in this case to more efficiently experience different aspects of Puerto Rico. In this post, I'll summarize our experiences from staying three nights in Fajardo (VRBO) and a single night each in Vieques (VRBO), Ponce (hotel), and San Juan (hotel).
VRBO in Fajardo: Seven Seas Beach Villa
As we first researched traveling to Puerto Rico, we quickly realized that Fajardo was well-placed for many of the activities we wanted to participate in while in Puerto Rico. We found the Seven Seas Beach Villa on VRBO. It looked like a great fit and it turned out to be as great of a fit for our family group as it appeared.
The multi-level condominium is located in a gated community and has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a kitchen.
It is a very short walk from the condominium to local Costa Mia Restaurant.
We loved its location! Not only is it close to the water, but it's also close to marinas and other activities in the area, but is a relatively quiet area itself. This photograph was taken from across the narrow street in front of the condominium neighborhood gate.
This condominium is spacious, attractive, clean, and has powerful air conditioners in each bedroom.
VRBO on Vieques: Casa San Juan Entire Apartment and Casa San Juan #3 entire apartment
We rented these two apartments from the same property owner (Manuel Carrillo). They are located close to each other on the ground floor of a small apartment building in the Isabel II area of Vieques. The location has great proximity to the "downtown" Isabel II area and is within easy walking distance of bakeries, restaurants, and more. In fact, the location of the apartments is directly between a great bakery and a scooter rental location.
The location of these two apartments is close to the water. The next two photographs were taken after a short walk from the apartment to the nearby coast.
When we arrived at the location, there were several iguanas hanging out in the yard. This one is munching on a mango and not too bothered by our presence.
We liked that these apartments are located in the heart of the less-touristy Isabel 2 (Esperanza is the more touristy side of Vieques). Both apartments featured two bedrooms each along with a bathroom and small kitchen/dining area in each and the room air conditioners worked well. The next photograph is of the bakery near these apartments.
We found it difficult to rent a Jeep on Vieques. Scooters and golf carts were available, but we preferred a Jeep for our group. One of the advantages of renting these two apartments from this VRBO property owner is that he offers an optional Jeep rental for people who rent his apartments. Normally, one would want to request this Jeep rental as quickly as possible because he has two properties, but we "cornered the market" by renting both apartments! His 2012 Jeep Liberty was perfect for us to use for our day on Vieques.
For our night in Ponce, we rented two rooms in the Meliá Century Hotel.
The lobby is inviting.
We loved the location of this hotel next to Ponce's Plaza Las Delicias.
The parking for Meliá Century Hotel is parallel street parking and it seems like it might be tricky getting spots when the hotel is busy, but we were able to find spots when we needed them. The elevator was not working during our stay and it sounds like it has not been working for a weeks or longer. However, we didn't find the wide stairs to the next level to be too difficult.
The Wikipedia entry on Hotel Meliá states that it's "the oldest continuously operating hotel in Puerto Rico" and the History of the Hotel Meliá page adds, "Hotel Meliá stands as the oldest continuously operated hotel in Puerto Rico."
Hotel CasaBlanca in San Juan
Similarly to the older architecture and great location of Meliá Century Hotel in Ponce, we chose two hotels rooms in Hotel Casa Blanca for its location on Fortaleza in Old San Juan.
There is no parking associated with this hotel (the price of its great location in the heart of Old San Juan), but there are two parking garages a short walk away that can be used.
The hotel has a panoramic elevator. It's a bit slow coming back down to the lobby level, but provides views of Old San Juan and Castillo San Cristobal.
One of the interesting things about the two rooms we rented is that one was newer or recently renovated and the other was older but had a tremendous view. The older room, 5A on the North Tower, had its own wrap-around balcony area and great view!
The other room was on the ground floor and was obviously newer or much more recently renovated than the other room. We enjoyed both rooms for their advantages.
The lobby had the movie Casablanca running on the television.
Conclusion
We were happy with all four of our lodging choices and felt that each offered nice advantages that were important to us for the particular area in which we were staying at the time.
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