I stayed with four couples at the Pierre for two days after a cruise.

The hotel is basic, but fairly nice. The rooms are decked out in horrific oranges and tans, a bit of fake bamboo - you've seen the look before. They are spacious, and clean though.

We didn't try the restaurant - it was very expensive - $25 entrees, and Sunday brunch was $32. Kind of strange for a budget hotel.

Staff was friendly, but not exceptional. The pool is quite nice, although the hot tub looked like a big helping of man soup.

Temper your expectations for the continental breakfast - cold cereal, toast and some pastries. One day a hotel guest decided to grab about 50 pastries, cram them into a shopping bag, and leave with them. Free, indeed.

Now the bad part. The elevators have clearly seen better days. They always seem to stop short of the floor, and are slow and jerky. One night, nine of us were in the elevator, and it got halfway to the second floor and then just stopped. I've never been stuck in an elevator before, and man was it scary. Hot, crowded, and not a bunch you can do. After what felt like 10 minutes, but was likely more like 2 or 3, the elevator limped up to the second floor, and we got off. We took the stairs for the rest of the trip. Staff was suitably apologetic - no idea if any action was taken though. (FYI - listed capacity on the elevator is 2000 lbs, my quick estimate was that we were at 1500 or so)

Last year we stayed at the Coral Princess Inn which was better in all respects, but they seem to have cranked up the rates due to all the good reviews.

First off let me say that San Juan is beautiful and Puerto Rico is by far the easiest island to travel on. That being said, we stayed at the Best Western Pierre because our original hotel, the Acacia Seaside Inn, told us they did not have a double room available for us so we had to find somewhere else to go at the last minute. Therefore, we ended up at the Best Western. There is a lot of construction going on next door to the hotel but it did not present a problem for us so much as it is off the beaten path and a bit of a walk from the action. The lobby is clean and chic with new decor and a large flat screen TV. The rest of the hotel is just okay. The exercise room is the size of a closet and the pool is small also. However, for $112 a night, you get what you pay for. The morning breakfast didn't look to great so we ate out around the corner at a small local place called Bebo's each morning.
Our room was clean but just okay. However, that was fine because we didn't do anything but sleep and shower there anyway.
The hotel staff was very friendly but if you ask about doing any of the tourist stuff, just rent a car and don't let them talk you into a tour. The tours are expensive and not worth it. They tried to "hook us up" on a tour to the rainforest for $55 a person and $40 a person to the Bacardi Factory. For the two of us it would've been $180. When we got to both places they were free! Good thing we rented a car with a navigation system from Hertz on Ashford Avenue for $52 and did everything we wanted to do without paying all that money! We saved $130 and had so much more fun exploring.
Next time I wouldn't stay there unless I couldn't afford a better hotel but it did serve its purpose.

If you want a great budget hotel, this is it. Best value available in San Juan. This hotel has a very modern lobby with free Wi-Fi internet. Not even the 4 star hotels down the street have this amenity. The staff is good and they offer all that you would need for business or pleasure with a great price. I highly recommend this hotel.

The Best Western Pierre was a great choice! I have to admit, I was a little leery after reading some of the negative reviews but to my surprise almost all were exaggerated.
I will simply run through a list of positives and negatives:

Positives:
-Located 3 blocks from a beach
-Located 1 block from a local authentic restaurant (Bebo's cafe)
-Directly across the street from a supermarket (open 24 hrs)
-Located about 5 blocks from Charlies Rental Cars (they will pick you up from the hotel and you will be driving away in a car within 20 minutes)
-residential parking right behind hotel (no need to pay hotel parking fees)
-1 block from I-26 (one of the main highways in PR) easy access to Isla Verde (tourist area with high rise hotels) about 6 minutes from hotel off of I-26
- Jacuzzi and pool open late night
- Helpful staff that is extremely knowledgeable about the islands attractions.
- 10 minutes away from Old San Juan (I-26)
- 2 computers near pool area with free internet access and printer
- Wireless internet access in rooms

Negatives:
- The elevators seemed to be having some trouble first couple days of stay (it would take very long to arrive on each floor)
- Need a car since hotel is in a residential area, not a tourist area.
- Neighborhood is not Beverly Hills (remember you are not taking your pristine American neighborhood with you)
- Taxis are very pricey
- Some construction going on (if your not in the hotel much, you won't even notice)

I highly recommend this hotel to someone that doesn't require 5-star accommodations everywhere they go.