Completed an enjoyable stay at the HR Grand Reserve PR over the long weekend. 3 nights on 3 FNCs. 2 adults + 2 young kids. Booked a double room garden view from Fri-Mon.

Check-In
In-app was upgraded two levels to their highest level rooms (since suites are clearly not bookable anytime) to the oceanfront double room. However app-check in did not work and required check in at the front desk. We were the only guests checking in when we arrived at 4:30p and it was very quick and smooth.

Hard Product
There are 20 two-floor buildings for guests, with 4 of those buildings along the waterfront. The waterfront buildings offer 12 units per floor, so assuming they are all laid out in similar fashion, this means that there are a total of 24 "oceanfront" rooms, 24 "Oceanview" rooms (second floor facing water), and 432 "garden view" rooms.

Oceanfront basically means you can walk out your patio straight out onto the beach. But it isn't that close. Doesn't make it inconvenient, and doesn't really affect the quality of the view too much, but what it does is potentially place many more strangers between you and the water. It was pretty routine for folks to be lounging in chairs directly in front of our patio. Didn't bother me much, but my wife didn't like it and I guess it does detract from the feeling of isolation and tranquility.

I am far from a seasoned resort-goer (or high-end hotel guest). I can count on two hands the number of resorts and/or the number of 5-star hotels I've stayed at. From that perspective, this hotel seems like an excellent property. Overall I felt it is maintained very well, there are few signs of aging (yes it is recently remodeled so it should look nice), I live in a nice area of Miami and yet I thought the combination of weather and natural aesthetics here in Puerto Rico and particularly at the resort would attract me to come visit more. The common areas are very elegant and the rooms are nicely appointed for my taste. Pool is very grand...actually annoyingly so lol. When you have little kids and are trying to gather lots of belongings and move around...I almost wish there were bridges or walking paths to cross the pool rather than walk all the way around. The views all around are quite impressive...especially from the vantage points where you can see the ocean from the pool.

I now regret not walking around to explore more of the property...being in the first building from the facilities I never walked beyond our building. I understand there is another pool on the east side, as well as the notorious villas. Fitness Center was adequate but to my dismay the cardio machines aren't connected to the telecom so the TVs on them don't work. Didn't utilize the spa area but as noted there's a small, secluded pool here as well. Got a peek at the conference area, this does seem like a nice property for a conference or a wedding. Lots of other ballrooms and outdoor dining/reception spaces as well.

Regency Club Lounge
Lounge was ok. Still in its soft opening so only available 1-7p, with some hors d'oeuvres served from 4-6p. They promptly pack up at 6 as I saw a few sad folks miss out walking in just past 6 on a few occasions. At other times they still have a few soft drinks, coffee, tea and water, and some nuts/chips/bars, as well as beer and wine for a fee. Ate at 787 Prime once, made the reservation online pretty easily. Was a bit surprised by the prices but again maybe my perspective is skewed (ordered a $95 ribeye). Probably could have found the menu online first. No worries though, our restaurant bill came to just under $200 and it makes me feel better to have something on the hotel bill after a luxurious award stay lol.

Globalist Breakfast + Parking
Speaking of...since lounge isn't serving breakfast yet, the breakfast is available at the Water's Edge restaurant. We had the buffet every morning, I never inquired if there was an alternative option. Buffet is supposed to be half price for my older kid and free for my younger kid. We were only charged for two adults (no kids) on two mornings, and on another morning we were charged for 2 adults and 2 kids. I never said anything since I figured it wouldn't really matter to me.

I think self-parking was $17 per night while valet was $24ish?? Globalist free parking is only available for self-park and not valet. However the self-park lot is actually closer and more convenient to all the rooms than the valet/lobby location.

Checkout
I forgot to request a late checkout at the time of checkin, so I was somewhat at the mercy of the front desk and "availability." The online checkin offered me up to 4pm checkout but as I mentioned, online checkin failed. I asked the night before checkout and was told to check back the next morning. I didn't mention my globalist status, and since this is a resort I don't think it is required anyway. The following morning I requested and was granted a 2:30p checkout. All breakfast and parking charges had been wiped off the bill proactively.

Service
We are fairly low-maintenance and didn't really have a lot of needs or all that much interaction with staff. All front desk interactions were very friendly and helpful, bellboys were solid, service at 787 Prime was extremely good, service at Water's Edge breakfast varied from good to excellent depending on the day. Service in the lounge was good. The one and only time we almost ordered a drink from the swim up bar, there was no one to take our order and by the time someone showed up several minutes later we'd decided not to get any drinks. But on the whole the service was above average from my experiences.

Value
This has been part of a long visit to Puerto Rico, and perhaps our feeling is influenced by the overall great time we're having, but I 100% expect to be back in the future assuming this remains a cat 4 (it wouldn't surprise me if it doesn't). My son told all the workers at checkout that we would see them next year. It is definitely worth a Cat 4 cert or 15k points.

Miscellaneous
-Will be so much better for us if/when they open the Camp Hyatt Kids Club. They have the location and the signage, so it seems like the intention eventually is to make this available.
-My wife (who is very susceptible to bug bites) had some of the worst bites she's had here at the beach and pool. For her, this was a major negative of the experience. Hotel does provide bug spray in the room and we had our own as well, but still not enough. We all suffered quite a few bites actually.
-It's been mentioned many times but I'll reiterate, this resort is very isolated so you need to have a car (or hire a service) to go anywhere off property. It was a 10-minute drive to get to the main road where the nearest business of any kind is located.
-Wifi was decently fast and seemed to cover most of the property, at least wherever I went.