falcon9xr

This is a bit old, but I had a 3 night stay here about 4 weeks ago. Largely echo what SilverGoat has shared, outside of the following:

• No issues when I checked in on the reservation confirmation
• I didn't have any cert extension issues

Did not receive a suite, they were not available for booking either. I did try to use a suite upgrade cert when booking, but was told that no suites were available.

Would echo the recommendation for a car. If I did not have a car, I would not consider staying here again.

I wouldn't mind staying again in the future though (again with a rented vehicle).

Warriorconcept

Considering a night here next week and you and the entire thread are right, no suites available! Even searched for October!

anzi709394

As explorist, has anyone tried to use a club cert on this property? If the lounge is only open 1-7PM, does it mean no breakfast even you get club access?

lyst

Right, no breakfast unless you are Globalist. Not sure if you can apply lounge cert.

Cara332

I went to this hotel pre-Covid and just looked up some dates for next year. I remember it having a lot of rooms, but most dates in January and Feb have no free nights available for 3/4 consecutive nights. Do you think this is a popular option to use points/Cat 4 certificates or are they playing games with all of their room types? I'm hoping to keep an eye and availability may open up.

MechMachine

Cara332 this property definitely plays games with award availability. In fact; before this property officially came online they technically had standard suite availability which was the villas which have since been hidden/impossible to come by. I also think, however, more people have became aware of the hidden gem status of this place. Pretty sure when it first came out it was a category 3 and moved up to a 4. Wouldn’t surprise me for it to go up to a 5 eventually.

also everyone I stumbled across this short YouTube video — someone managed to bag a stay in the villas and recorded the inside of one of these. Note they have been remodeled from the previous property since the Hyatt reflag. All the information available online previously had the older pictures pre renovation. (Albeit really fast paced and edited but looks pretty nice). Would be curious if the creators shared how they managed to book; via direct with the property cash rate, award booking; some other means etc.

iahphx

I've fiddled with some days this winter, and it seem impossible to book a room on points. But I see that they have "1 King Bed Garden View with Balcony" rooms available on the website. Isn't that just a standard room type? Any good way to complain to Hyatt about this?

Duane Haas

look on maxmypoint.com for Hyatt award stay calendars. Great new website I was just told about.

Lots of dates are sold out the next 3-4 months.

iahphx

Thanks. That website did help with this hotel. I guess the game this hotel is playing is that some of the "garden view" rooms don't have balconies (they are larger than the ones WITH balconies, so that space must be interior in these rooms). You need the non-balacony rooms to use points.

iahphx

This actually seems better for Globalists as I assume they get a full, fancy buffet in the main restaurant, but also get the club lounge later in the day. Usually with a lounge, it's a trade off for Globalists: you get food all day, but a worse breakfast.

cswriter

Stayed at this property four nights in early October, few weeks after Hurricane Fiona. Was going to cancel but manager urged us not to do that, no damage, etc. He was right, and it was a great stay. Globalist came through in a few ways here, although as others said the suites are not happening. Instead of standard garden view room we were upgraded to ground level room opening right onto the beach. Be advised these are double beds not queen, so if you really need queen stay in those queen-specific rooms. Due to very low occupancy that week, the breakfast buffet was not open until the last day, but every day ordering a la carte was comped per globalist (including gratuity), and we really enjoyed it.

Lounge was restricted hours that week and closed two evenings. After mildly complaining to desk, we got a $30 credit to room each of those nights to use at any venue on the property. The poolside food truck, bars and restaurants are very pricey here, though I took some of the sting away from those with a $100 Hyatt eGC I had been saving, plus 2x$50 credits from Chase Hyatt biz credit card (had to ask them to apply those charges to folio during stay to get the credits). When the lounge was open, the food selection was OK but not enough really to sub for a meal. But got great tips on area food and activities from the desk and other staff.

Staff very pleasant though a little inconsistent I think in part due to the then-recent hurricane.

Pools are massive as are the grounds. Plan to walk a lot or as we did call for a cart to take us to and from our bungalow building.

As others have said, you really can't stay at this hotel without a car, and we had a good Sixt rental to do some limited exploring to El Yunque rainforest, San Juan beaches and El Morro, plus some nearby pizza and traditional food experiences.

Globalist also got free self-parking; late checkout irrelevant due to midday flight home.

I was frankly surprised this was still a cat 4 Hyatt. Seems unlikely it will stay that way, it's a luxury resort in most ways.

Be advised this is a sheltered (no surf) beach due to a reef (?) 50 meters or so offshore. Not a soft sand beach or very swimmable. But lots of options on the north shore of PR for that when you want it.

Planning to go back.


This last morning rainbow was kind of amazing.

Not a huge room but great beach access.

Walk-out beach access hard to beat.

scubadu

Thanks for the great write-up. I continue to be on the fence about this property. I will want to will myself to visit it, but still not completely convinced...

Regards

iahphx

Best thing this hotel has going for it is that it's pleasant and easy to get to. From my previous visit, there was nothing extraordinary about it, but I've never found a Puerto Rican hotel to be extraordinary.

With the advent of competition from the ULCCs and the absence of nasty int'l taxes, flights to SJU seem about 1/3rd the cost of other Caribbean islands. That said, the hotel seems to offer less value than some of Hyatt's all-inclusive properties in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

BTW, since you need a car to visit, i would recommend staying a night or two in San Juan before and after staying here as car rental taxes are like 4x at the airport, so it's much cheaper to rent a car in town. Also San Juan is a good contrast to the quiet of this hotel. If you have Hilton points, I'd recommend the Caribe Hilton.

Cara332

I just noticed that villas are available on the Hyatt site now. There are not any details if they are a standard or premium suite, so curious if you could use a suite upgrade. I would love to go during February, but only a day or 2 available on points. More consecutive availability in March.

Illinwu

I called the Globalist line couple of weeks ago trying to apply a suite upgrade award to a March reservation; I was told that I cannot use the SUA on villas.