San Juan, P.R. a real tourist gem

The Hotel El Convento is a San Juan gem.

DATELINE: SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – I arrived in this U.S. outpost yesterday and prior to boarding my Seadream yacht for a week-long cruise in the Caribbean Sea, I decided to tour the city’s Old Town.

Wow! This is Quebec City on steroids.

Being the second oldest city in the Americas, San Juan has plenty to offer history buffs like myself – lots of old forts and narrow streets crammed with colourful buildings; some dating back to the city’s very beginning in the late 1400s.

One of the most delightful places I discovered on my walking tour was the Hotel El Convento, a Small Luxury Hotels of the World property hidden away on Cristo Street across from the stately San Juan Cathedral. I wish I had known about this property before booking a room at one of the city’s newer, overpriced and undervalued hotels (no names please) near the airport.

The chic hotel started out as a convent back in 1651 and was saved from the wrecker’s ball in the 1960s, when it was turned into the delightful hotel property it is today. Go to www.elconvento.com to learn more about this treasure.

There’s many surprises awaiting you on the old streets of San Juan – San Francisco and Cristo were my favourite streets and very close to the city’s landmark old fort which offers visitors spectacular sea and city views.

San Juan is the Rodney Dangerfield of cities – it gets very little respect – but after spending a morning walking around this delight, I know I want to spend more time here.

I'm now a 'Trusted Traveller' folks!

I can see the future of travel folks - thanks to my new NEXUS card.

Yes, I've become a proud member of the NEXUS club, which allows me to avoid the long lineups waiting to see a U.S. Customs agent at Pearson International Airport and go directly to a kiosk, where my eye is quickly scanned and I'm allowed to go to security without having to see an agent.

I'm now what they call a "Trusted Traveller."

No more having to play nice with a custom's officer when I'm in a bad mood early in the morning. No more having to line up like cattle. No more pushing and shoving. No more delays!

I must confess, I'm breaking a promise to my fellow NEXUS friends who asked me not to write this blog for fear others will rush to get their NEXUS cards and lineups will soon start forming in front of the easy to use kiosks.

But hey, I have a responsibility to my faithful readers.

Getting the NEXUS card was easier than I thought. Just applied online, got a invitation for an interview (I took the one offered at the Fort Erie border crossing because to get one at Pearson International would have taken months instead of the few weeks I waited) and a few weeks later I had my card!

You have to go through two same day face-to-face interviews with U.S. and Canadian customs officers (hence the visit to Fort Erie) but that took just over an hour. When I visited Fort Erie, I was struck by the number of autographed photos of sports personalities the Canadian customs officer had displayed at her desk. "The sports guys are all getting the NEXUS card because they don't want to line up, either," she told me.

I can use the card coming into or out of Canada - even when I'm arriving from overseas destinations. The card can also be used if I'm driving into the U.S. - everyone in the car must have a NEXUS card or you'll have to go through the regular line, though - and the Rainbow Bridge crossing at Niagara Falls has been converted into a NEXUS only facility. Talk about being privileged!

Of course, the conditions attached to the card are strict. If you're pulled over randomly for a check by a customs officer and they find you're bringing something back that you've not declared, you'll lose the NEXUS card right on the spot and a black mark will appear beside your name for seven years.

Going to the States looks a lot brighter now, though, thanks to my new NEXUS card.