Category: Hotels

This is where you can find reviews & pics on cruise port hotels and more….

SAN JUAN ~ POST HURRICANES

 

 

The Caribbean was hit hard this last season as hurricane Irma & Maria blew through the islands…

Although many Caribbean islands were untouched by the deadly hurricanes this past season, a few islands were left in shambles of destruction.  One that took a massive hit was San Juan Puerto Rico.  With the injured victims and death count still remaining uncertain, now the island continues working at recovering its loses.

Now over 100 days since mother nature hit Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican government statistics show that 55% of Puerto Rico have had their power restored, although that still leaves a devastating number of over 660,000 that do not have power.  Most hotels, businesses, and restaurants are with power, many residential areas still remain in the dark.  It is estimated that power will be fully restored to all areas of Puerto Rico by May.

 

 

 

 

The Luis Munoz Marin Airport in San Juan is open, and providing service for 27 different carriers.  It’s accommodating over 70 scheduled international and domestic flights.  Some of the smaller airports remain with limited service. Continue reading “SAN JUAN ~ POST HURRICANES”

THE HAMPTON INN BUSH INTL. AIRPORT ~ HOUSTON

Our post cruise stay…

We recently stayed at the Hampton Inn in Houston by Bush International Airport on JFK Blvd for one night on a post cruise stay. We did our research prior to booking and the property received mixed review, so we decided to give it a try and give you an honest review of our room and the general areas of the hotel.

Let’s start with our room. We booked a room with 2 queen beds and the price was very reasonable. Our room was neat and appeared clean upon arrival. It did have a slight musty smell when first entering from the humidity, although once we turned the air conditioning on, the smell went away. The carpet was freshly vacuumed. We did notice later in the evening that the lamp shades were fairly dusty, but other than that everything was clean. The bathroom was clean and had the usual Neutrogena brand shampoo, condition, and lotion amenities. The shower head was nice and worked great. The beds were comfortable for a short stay. Not overly plush, although we slept comfortably. There was no microwave or fridge in our room, although we already knew this before arriving. I believe some of the larger rooms may have them. It did have an alarm clock and coffee maker. Also the TV included some movie channels such as HBO, and the greatest thing was that it included the direct TV NFL Sunday ticket, since it was Sunday we took full advantage of it. This was the first hotel we have ever stayed that included this with no additional charge. Continue reading “THE HAMPTON INN BUSH INTL. AIRPORT ~ HOUSTON”

Hampton Inn-Blue Lagoon Review

Hampton Inn – Blue Lagoon, Miami Pre-Cruise stay

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed at the Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon location in Miami on a Friday night before our cruise.   It was a perfect choice for a pre-cruise stay. The hotel was great. Quiet area, clean rooms, comfortable beds, free breakfast, and staff was very friendly and accommodating. Even better was the great location. Within walking distance to places to eat, a Walgreens, a CVS, nail salon (for those last minute pre-cruise mani/pedi’s) and a Publix grocery store directly across the street. This was perfect for any last minute items you need to bring on the cruise ship, like sunscreen, any toiletries that you didn’t want to fly with and the bottle of wine that you are allowed to take onboard the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We requested an early check in because our flight arrived early, at 9:00am. By the way they also have a free airport shuttle service. When we arrived they did not have any rooms available for early check-in, but they stored our luggage so we could go walk around, go to the grocery store, etc… They also told us that breakfast was still being served and to help ourselves to the breakfast buffet. So we grabbed some breakfast and walked around for a while. Within about an hour we received a call that our room was ready.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a perfect choice for a pre-cruise hotel stay. It isn’t they fanciest, but it is clean, comfortable, great location, friendly staff, pool, free hot breakfast and the make your own waffles, free airport shuttle, and reasonably priced. I would highly recommend this hotel for a pre-cruise stay.

Sharon at Sea

HILTON MIAMI AIRPORT BLUE LAGOON REVIEW

GREAT PRE/POST CRUISE OR ANYTIME HOTEL STAY!!!

We stayed at the Hilton Miami Airport Blue Lagoon for one night after our cruise. We had requested an early check in for Sunday morning so we could go directly there after getting off our week cruise on the Carnival Vista. We had plans to fly home the following morning on Monday. The hotel had been completely booked on Saturday night, most likely due to the fact that there were several cruise ships in port to leave on a cruise Sunday. We arrived about 9:00 am. We were assisted by Irene at the front desk. She explained about the hotel being completely booked the night before and we would have to wait until someone checked out and room was cleaned. She put our names on a wait list to be called when our room was available. We were able to leave all our luggage with the concierge to store until our room was ready so we could enjoy the facilities amenities while waiting. We decided since we didn’t have breakfast, we would sit by the coffee bar inside the hotel any enjoyed a morning snack and starbucks coffee. There were large comfortable sofas and tables and chairs all around to relax. About an hour later Irene called us with a room and we retrieved our luggage and were off to check out our room for the night.

 

 

 

 

We had a nice room with 2 double beds on the 6th floor. The room was extremely clean and the beds were comfortable. We settled in and then enjoyed the wonderful outdoor pool area for a while. There is also an outdoor bar area next to the pool, ping pong table, walking paths, and nice sitting area which looked over the lagoon and you could watch planes take off and land from then airport which was in close view straight across the lagoon. It is a beautiful property outside. Although you can hear the planes outside, when inside you did not hear the planes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have a restaurant inside on sight that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with reasonable prices for hotel restaurants. The food looked good as well. Room service is also available. Later in the day the morning coffee bar area turns into a regular bar and serves appetizers and small meals. We decided to sit around this area and enjoyed a light dinner there. We had the flatbread, along with Calamari. Both were extremely good. The flatbread was huge and enough for two people.

 

 

 

 

They also offer a free airport shuttle which is always a nice advantage. The shuttle starts at 5am and runs until 1am. We needed to be on the first 5am shuttle to catch our early morning flight so we went down to the front desk around 4:45am and the shuttle arrived promptly at 5am and we loaded up and were at the airport to check in within 10 minutes. The shuttle was newer looking and very clean and the driver was very friendly. It was larger and held several people. There were 10 of us on it and there were still several seats left.
I have been to Miami several times and have stayed at various hotels. This is definitely my new favorite place to stay and plan to return next time I am in Miami. Great room, service, staff, food, amenities, and location. There are also several places to eat in the area, including a Publix grocery store a short distance away. They are within walking distance, although the property is set back of the main street so you have to walk out a little to get to the street area. But also just a short taxi ride if you are not able to walk there. With everything this hotel offers you don’t really need to leave the property. This hotel is a great choice for a pre/post cruise stay or even a vacation. I will be staying here on my next visit to Miami.

Sharon at Sea