My previous stay in Nov. 2006 when it was a Westin was a great disappointment. Wyndham has made many improvements. Below is a brief summary of the good, the bad, and the (still) ugly. When time permits, I may come back and add to this post, but for the sake of those who are taking advantage of all the great fares to SJU right now I will at least post something now.

The first change I noticed is in employee attitude. While we met at least five employees there that we remembered from last time, everyone was actually smiling this trip! Check in was swift and sweet- I asked that my WBR number be added to the folio even though I was on a non-qual rate ($84 night Priceline) and this was done without hesitation. (More on why to do this later in the post.) At $84, they could have put us anywhere- but instead was asked where I preferred to be! I said ground level near the pool, and was given a great room (1038) right near the doors to the pool, with a courtyard view. (1xxx rooms are slightly larger than higher floors, IIRC). Agent apologized that he didn't have any King beds avail on this floor, gave us 2 Q which was fine.

The beds and linens were new, and bath now has many more amenities than before, plus new curved shower rods. Furniture and area rugs are still the same worn Westin stuff (frayed edges on the rug, stains, etc.), but the new 37" LCD televisions weere nice! The refrigerators are just the old Westin mini-bar thermal syphon units, and useless. We bought an ice chest at the Sam's Club in Carolina, along with a case of Medalla, two bottles of Bailey's, a case of water, and lots of snacks. Ice is free and plentiful, so the ice chest was a good $26 buy. Housekeeping remained marginal (rug was not vacuumed when we arrived, nor would it be until third and seventh days) and the corners in the bathroom had some accumulation of dirt and hair, but not conspicuously so. On the other hand, housekeeping was generous with anything you wanted that they could give you, and they asked us each day if we wanted extra xxxx, instead of us having to beg for extra coffee, shampoo, whatever. A big plus is the nightime turn-down service they added, when they again change towels, replace coffee, and leave chocolates- as many as you want if you smile politely

They have pressure washed all the mold off the balconies, and stopped using the petroleum based cleaner on the tile floors that reeked so bad before. Common areas are much cleaner and more often maintained than before as well.

Pools and Spas are still quite good, although by night people have tracked in a lot of sand, which will be all gone by 8am the next morning. Beach is pretty rough this time of year with 3-5' swells and an undertow that pulled me down and put a bit of a fright into me. I never went out over my shoulders after the first day, and in November I had swam out beyond the buoys everyday. The rougher seas are bringing up a lot of debris, but we went beachcombing avery morning and found a lot of beautiful shells that a calmer sea would not have deposited. TIP: During the day (9am-6pm), pool towels have to be signed out like most resorts, but when the pool cabana closes at 6pm they leave stacks of fresh towels on the counter. We collected fresh towels each night, since we were on the beach at 7am each morning when no clean towels are available. Grab a few at 6pm and stash 'em in your room. Less hassle than "Room number? Sign here, please"

We only ate at Marbella in the resort, twice a day on average, and found it improved, but far from perfect. You never get the same meal made the same way twice. The sandwiches are the safest bet there ($13-$15 each, but edible everytime). The Bistec Encebollado which was great on Thursday was awful on Sunday. The "Short Ribs" which is actually one big rib, was incredible on Wednesday and inedible (literally) on Saturday. Complaining gets you apologies, but nothing else. On Sunday afternoon/evening they try to pawn off the leftover burned bacon from the morning buffet as fresh if you order the otherwise good "Wyndham Burger", so tell your server you want fresh bacon, not leftovers, on the burger when you order it. The servers are very good at trying to get the kitchen to fix what you request, or change the standard fare to your desire as in "I want the rice and beans instead of x, or the mushroom risotto, or what have you. The Churrasco was poor by PR standards. Better off going to the Chili's at Carolina (15 minutes) and getting a great Churrasco for $14 less. Do not eat at the Chili's in Humacao- it's pretty crummy.

The Coffee/Pastry/Ice cream place next to the Casino is pricey, but they make a decent milkshake for $6, and we had already bought muffins and such at Sam's.

The Casino is all new, and run by the same company that has the Club Bahia at the Sheraton Old San Juan- although the clubs are separate, and you need a different card. Points are not combined. Lots of fun new video slots, but only four Game Maker machines with video poker, and two of those are nickel machines. All games are set as tight as you can imagine, but I did hit one Royal for $1000, and had a few $200+ cash outs on quick-hits and hot-shot machines. Never approached the tables because I didn't want to play with a bunch of yelling 18 yr olds (Legal gambling age is 18) but if you want to brave the tables, take your room key to the player's desk and get $100 per day in table match play. YMMV depending on how new the clerk is, so ask for a supervisor if you need to- no offense will be taken AFAIK. If playing tables, show your Club Bahia card to get a ranking and earn points. All points earned can be redeemed for "free play", restaurants, or a credit on your hotel bill.

Parking: $15/day for self park. This can be avoided for much of your stay. Monday-Thursday the gate is left up on the Employee/Overflow parking lot, so you can come and go as you please. This lot is directly accross from the entrance to the under-hotel lot, where you are gonna pay. If you use the employee lot, you just have to drive out through the in gate, or wait for a friendly employee to wave their electronic pass to open the out gate. We did it both ways numerous times. On Friday about 8am they put the "in" gate down, and you won't be able to get in without the employee pass, but some employee will let you out if you are stuck inside. There are some great handicap spaces in this lot, too- so take your pass from home if you didn't leave it at the airport... or you have more than one If you will be going in/out on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday- you are best off using the under-hotel lot and paying the $15. An employee told me that you can get around this to some extent by going down the night before you leave and pressing the button for a new entry ticket so you only pay for one night, but I thought that was a little questionable ethically, whereas the employy lot doesn't bother me at all since it is still labeled "Overflow Parking" and the gate is left open. Besides, I had a HC placard with me, and they had HC spaces... The three nights I did "pay" for parking did not post to my bill, and so far have not been charged to my CC. This may be a WBR perk- as may be the internet that I agreed to pay $14.95 a day for, but also never had on my bill.

Internet: Super fast cable modem in room at $14.95 billed to room, but so far I haven't been billed for it EDIT: Yep, it is a WBR perk, and now that my folio is showing up on the website, it shows the charges, and then a "By Request" credit for the same amount (Thanks, The Lurker" for the clarification as well Slower-than-molasses-in-January wireless in lobby for free. Best signal is at/near the lobby bar.

Taxes/Resort fees: The 11% occupancy tax was paid through Priceline based on my $84 rate. The 14% resort fee ($11.06/day) as expected was charged at the hotel. If you booked this at expedia at $306 night, the resort fee would be $42.84/day or at Wyndham.com at $286 it would be $40.04. Understand that you will be paying 25% in taxes and fees total, which makes this place VERY expensive at the expedia/orbitz rate ($382.50) for the cheapest room. The resort is not worth that kind of money to me when I can get the Intercontinental in Isla Verde for $240/night ai on the same nights. The green fees for either golf course start at $135 for registered guests, plus cart rental and GOK what other charges. They are beautiful courses, but I can play great courses in PSP for less, and I didn't go there to play golf anyway.

Wyndham By Request (WBR): I had not stayed in a Wyndham for so long, my old account was invalid. I signed up online for a new one a few days before this stay, so I had ZERO points and NO status. The WBR manager sent me cheese and crackers on our second day, and Arizona brand Lemonade and Peanut M&M's the third. we received two greeting cards from her, with her extension number included in case there was anything she could do for us. Again, this recognition was given to a nobody staying on a giveaway priceline rate. We were most impressed- so if you are not a WBR member, be sure to sign up before you go. And, it appears at this point that I may have gotten free parking and internet as well- but I will update if that changes.

Overall: I can't wait to go back to Rio Mar if I can get it for $150 or less before taxes/fees. My next choice would be FP by Sheraton las palmas, which you can usually score for $140-160, but sometimes as cheap as $120 before t/f. Then it would be the IC in Isla Verde at $210 but I have gotten it on hotwire for $86 as recently as October 2007 (especially since the food there is great, and they have the second-best casino we have found in PR) and the newly remodeled Holiday Inn in Mayaguez at about $125 before t/f. Radisson Ambassador is decent, but only at a hotwire/priceline rate of $79-$89, mainly because I don't like the location and it is really nothing special, just a clean hotel with a decent rep.