The "Fabulous Vacation Digs" Story

The Intercontinental Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

It was an ordinary day.  Walking the grounds of the Intercon- tinental Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico taking photographs of the amazing property.  Arrived at the hotel mid-afternoon and was greeted by someone who opened the taxi door for us and immediately grabbed our luggage and welcomed us to the hotel.  Put tags on all our bags and ushered us into the lobby for check-in.  Now, this is a first class hotel, I thought to myself.  

The grand staircase leading from the pool are to the hotel.

Carol and I traveled from Baltimore, Maryland via a direct flight to San Juan with our long time traveling companions Jerry and Just Sue.  Can't remember how many trips we have taken trips together since Jerry and my retirement from Manheim Township School District in 1999, but it has to be close to 15 or more trips to picturesque and romantic locations around the Caribbean Sea.  This is our first trip together to Puerto Rico and we chose the Interconintental with the recommendation of our travel agent, Karen, from Liberty Travel in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  

The main lobby with check-in on the right.

The Intercon- tinental opened in 1967, but as part of the Loews Hotel chain and at first it was known as the Americana of San Juan.  The 15 story hotel was owned by American Airlines when it opened and became the 2nd hotel constructed in Isla Verde after the El San Juan Hotel.  In 1977 the hotel closed due to union problems and didn't open again until 1980 when it was opened under new management and was known as The Palace Hotel.  

View of the pool area from the hotel.

In 1983 it closed again and was opened by the Pratt Corporation in 1987 as the Sand's Hotel & Casino.  The hotel remained under the same name, but in 1991  was purchased by the Flagship Services Corporation.  In August of 1997 the hotel closed once again for a $15 million renovation and opened two months later with a new name, The Sand Juan Grand Beach Resort & Casino.  

The waterfalls area.

Three years later Intercon- tinental Hotels & Resorts took over the property and renamed it and again and spent $20 million in renovations.  In 2008 the Intercontinental underwent yet another $42 million makeover.  And that, my dear friends, is why this place looks amazing.  

Waterfalls area at night.

Everything is clean and shiny and the service is remark- able.  I don't think I saw a single employee who didn't have a smile on their face or a welcoming greeting every time I saw them.  I met some of the nicest people at the resort who I have featured as part of my "Faces of Strangers" stories.  Follow along with me as I show you the place through the lens of my trusty camera.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

View from the outside bar looking toward the water. 

Lower level restaurant where we ate breakfast every morning.

View of the entrance from our 15th floor balcony.

Hallway leading to our room. 

The elevators are beautiful with this painting in everyone of the three elevators.

Upper lobby area that seemed to be used very little.

Everywhere you looked there was fantastic seating and lighting with large artwork.

Doorman was always ready to open the door and help you.

The view from our balcony looking away from the water.

Another view of the hotel from the water side.

The cafe that is on the ocean at the rear of the property.

Our room.  Notice the animals made of towels that were left everyday for our return from the pool or traveling. 

Being that the airport is closeby, I got to take some great photos of jets landing. 

Interesting photograph.  The two employees are walking across a lobby in front of me and you can also see them in the mirrored ceiling above the lobby.  Click on any photo to enlarge it.