Our check-in experience went very smooth. I booked the hotel with my Marriott points with an upgrade agreement of $50 per night for an ocean front. We have 2 small children and decided we wanted a suite. They could not accomodate us at first, but my daughter gave the front desk person her sad eyes and he went in the back for a bit and came back out and informed us he had a junior suite for $75 per night more. This room is $400 normal so I was happy with it. Wow! If you can afford the junior suite it is worth the money. Corner room with a wrap around balcony with beatiful views of Condado and the beach. Huge room!
Pool is beautiful and the water slide was a hit with my 2 year old. The only negative I have is the pool staff was not nearly as attentive as other resorts I have stayed at. bartenders acted like you were bothering them and were very unfriendly. I think there were supposed to be waiters roaming the pool for orders, but they all congregated behind the bar talking and rarely seen them out taking drink orders. It makes no sense, seeing that our last vacation was at an all inclusive where the drinks were free and they were pushing food and booze on me. You pay $8 per drink at the Marriott and can't get them to pay any attention. On the other hand, the staff at the activity "hut" were very friendly and made friends with our 2 year old.
Condado is a very busy beach full of resorts so if your looking for seclusion, you will need to travel to El Yunque or one of the off shore islands. I like the activity so Condado is perfect. Great beach and a lot to do within walking distance of the hotel.
As for food, my wife has family in Puerto Rico and when we go, we are looking for down home food. I was so full of Mofongo by the time I left, I began to swear that I was smelling it in my sweat. Here are some recommendations if you are looking for traditional PR food. We ate at Ajillo Mojillo and it was very nice and good traditional PR food. We ate at Jibarito in San Juan and I had great Pastella and rice and beans. Very good casual and traditional. We went to another highly recommended spot called Bebo's in Condado. Very casual, but very affordable and extremely good. We went to the Parrot club and had a good meal there also.
It was dumb luck that we happened to be there when they were celebrating Cinco De Mayo in Old San Juan and had a good time participating in the street party. We felt like we were the only non-locals there.
We went to visit my wife's grandmother in Quebradillas which is 2 hours west of San Juan. We rented a car from Charlie Car Rental. I would suggest paying a few more dollars at the Hertz desk in the hotel. Unproffessional experience, the car was not even swept, and the smell of Vanilla was enough to make you sick with the Charlie car. Had a great time with the family. The highlight was visiting Guajataca beach. This is an absolutely beautiful secluded beach with natural palms and cliffs on both sides. An historic sugar cane tunnel is cut through the cliff on one side. There was a party going on with a live band and a bar. It was really amazing.
At check out we hired a cab driver to take us to Pinones for some more tranditional food from a road side stand. Amazing Baccalauito and a great close to our vacation.
Also, we hired a babysitter almost every night while we were there after our kids were asleep. We used Nanny on Call. A GREAT service with wonderful employees. $16/hour - four hour minimum. Little steep for someone to watch TV while our children sleep, but well worth it to allow us to reconnect and have time without the kids. Great service and highly recommend them. Ask for Kathy. The concierge desk will connect you to the service.
Would definitely return!

We just returned from a long weekend in San Juan. We chose San Juan because it was a quick getaway and a direct, non-stop flight from Hartford. We stayed at the Marriott San Juan and Stellaris Casino in the Condado section. We have been to several islands and while this was not the best we've ever been to, it was a perfect long weekend. The area seems to be under a sort of rebuilding phase and there are several new hotels being built. The Marriott was extremely clean, which I loved. The rooms were impeccable and the staff was incredibly friendly. Take a cab from the airport - which is 10 minutes away - and it's only $16 or so. Definitely cab to Old San Juan to see the beautiful buildings, narrow streets and old forts.

We stay at this hotel every year for the last 10 years. The people are friendly. We have so much fun! We would never stay anywhere else!!

We stayed at the Marriott from Wednesday May 7 through Saturday May 10, 2008 and had a first floor pool view room which was perfect since we had a 2-year old that napped in the afternoons. We had no significant issues, room was great but we were not there to sit in our room. Bed was very comfortable. Overall the stay was above average and would suggest it to anyone. We were also there during the week when it was not so crowded but did start to get more crowded on Friday and Saturday morning.

Pools and Beach. There are 2 pools and one is 2 to 2.5 feet deep which is perfect for small children that cannot swim yet. Yes, there are problems getting sun in the morning but the beach has plenty of sun in the morning. By the way, I have read all the reviews about the rough surf - it is a beach and there are waves, nothing more than any other beach I have been. The sand is great and clean, plenty of chairs.

Food. We did not eat at any of the hotel restaurants as pricey. We did eat the hot dogs ($6) and hamburgers ($12) from the hotel which were good for hotel pool food. There are plenty of places up and down the street from the hotel including the Gelato place for breakfast - $20 for 2 adults and kid. Danni's and the Itialian wine bar - great pizza and good wine prices. We got pizza from the Itialian place and wine from the grocery store (2 blocks down from hotel to the left) and sat by the pool o eat - best meal of the entire trip. We also bought snacks and beer (Medialia is the native Puerto Rico beer and quite good) at the grocer store.

El Yunque Rainforest. About 3/4 mile hike on pavement to a very cool and refreshing waterfall. Definitely worth the 45 minute drive there.

Old San Juan. We ate at the Parrot Club in Old San Juan. $100 and not much variety especially if you did not want seafood but very good food. Suggest the chicken tamale dish but not the tuna steak.