Location

The resort sits on a massive, gated beachfront property that is situated on the edge of a nature preserve. The beaches are not crystal blue beautiful waters, but a relatively average looking beach. The nature preserve is very stunning; however, it is a bit detached from San Juan. This is fine if you want to mainly enjoy the resort, however it would be a bit annoying if you want to go into the city a few of the nights, especially since the roads are not the best. There weren’t really any good local spots close to the hotel to visit either. The property is about 21 miles away from the airport (SJU) and took about 40 minutes by car. We were able to grab an Uber from the airport to the hotel. The roads to get to the resort for the last 20 minutes were a very bumpy. We had the hotel arrange the airport transfer at the end of our trip. This turned out to be a better choice as the vehicle and service was much better for the same price as an Uber Black. The resort also has a very beautiful golf course; however, we did not play and will not be reviewing the course in this review. The resort is in a beautiful area and feels very private once you’re inside the gates, however outside the resort, it’s a bit remote and isn’t much to do.

Rooms

This is where St Regis hits it out of the park! The villas are BEAUTIFUL and are newly renovated. We were in the 1 bedroom Astor suite with a garden view and at ~1295 sqft, the villa was huge. Since we had a garden view, the room was on the ground floor and felt like we had a very private space even though we were very close to the pools and main hotel. The suite had a very large living room with a half bath and walkout patio area. The bedroom was spacious and beautifully decorated colored with neutrals and bursts of aqua. The bathroom! This was a huge space. The bathroom shower was so large! Literally could fit 5 people comfortably. If we wanted to be nitpicky, the bathroom while large and spacious, the dull beige marble felt a bit dated and disconnected with the rest of the suite decor. A bit more modern bathroom décor would have bumped up the room score. There also was a separate beautiful bar area in the living room and TVs in both rooms. The whole suite was perfect and airy. The modern beach décor was perfect and really felt like a tropical escape.

Dining

I think while the food I ate here was solid, this was the most disappointing part of the experience. I really wanted to eat some Puerto Rican food as it was my first time here but there was none available at the resort! Breakfast was complimentary for Marriot Bonvoy Platinum and above members which is a nice perk (this is one of my biggest complaints about Ritz Carltons, since they don’t offer it). The breakfast was in the main dining area Seagrapes. The breakfast had items you could order as well as a buffet. The breakfast was great, with many pastries, breads and parfaits. This is also the main place for lunch in the whole property, which felt a bit disappointing. The breakfast options here were far superior to the lunch menu. For lunch, there are standard burgers, pizzas, salads, and such available, again no classic Puerto Rican food here either. The food feels a bit unexciting as you’re eating here breakfast and lunch every day. Given that you’re in a bird sanctuary, its understandable that there are a lot of birds around in an open area food setting. However, you’ll be trying to eat at your table while trying to protect your food from a bird stealing it. The birds that were at the restaurant were a bit aggressive and would suddenly flock your table to steal food if you got up to get more food at breakfast time. It was a bit stressful! We had to always have a person at our table to protect our food from the birds. Maybe because they were used to them, the restaurant staff also was doing very little to shoo away the birds. The lobby bar during lunchtime was empty but we did stop by for dinner for sushi . The food was great, but the ambience and views were even better! On our last night we went to dine at Paros, this is the resorts formal restaurant. The food (I ordered lamb chops) and ambience were great! The restaurant was on the second floor, and the views during sunset were gorgeous. While Paros was really delicious, it felt strange to be eating Greek food since there were no Puerto Rican food options available.  The last day, we decided to get room service as we weren’t really excited about our other options, the food was solid and I wish we had ordered room service more during our stay. I expected more from a St Regis in terms of variety and flavor. If you’re detached from area with lots of food options outside the hotel, you best be sure to having amazing food at the resort. The dining options here felt like an afterthought and can definitely be improved.

Spa Services

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9/10

Overall

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8/10