Out of my Element

When we were there in March I don't recall there being Palapas that were bookable. There were a couple of covered spaces that could be considered Palapas, but they were well away from the beach and not at all appointed out.

platbrownguy

Who said anything about bookable palapas? (I didn't, and I've never heard mention of such.)

There are at least four palapas (numbered 12-15... 14 & 15 are in front of building 4). I think there may be others but don't recall. In normal times (and by that I mean during my prior stays ranging from August 2011 through Feb 2019), they are at least minimally serviced -- the pool/beach/bar staff would, for example, bring food & beverage to you. And last year, you could request drinks or towels or whatever via the app. Hard to beat that, lying under a palapa with the waves rolling in just yards away, the soft breeze blowing... and a cocktail on a silver platter materializing out of the blue whenever you want, at the push of a button. Magic.

Now, with covid, the palapas are still there but without any service. Same w/ beach chairs, they are there stacked up but they are not locked down etc., so some guests were using them and the staff didn't seem to mind.

Out of my Element

Ahhh. These were there during our visit, but I didn't notice numbers on them nor anyone using them except to jump under during a passing shower. They seemed a bit further from the water than we would have preferred, actually thought they might have a paid market for nicer ones closer to the water with services provided, as the pool cabanas seemed to do a decent business.

Milhous Gloriosus

Platbrownguy, loved your August review.

Did you mean the pool was closed or that the pool was closed at 7:00 pm? Beaches open?

Have been to San Juan pre COVID, but have never stayed at St Regis and don’t want to make trip to find everything closed.

Thanks in advance for any clarification!

platbrownguy

Watch the executive orders carefully. When we were there, the pools were officially closed, though the Beach Club (condo side) pool was at least unofficially open and available for St.R guests (at first it was officially open, then it was closed by a new order, but it remained open). Beaches were only open for "solo exercise" (no sunbathing, no groups or couples). But that wasn't enforced and it was no problem to take and use lounge chairs on a completely self service basis.

As of September 11, until October 2, things have relaxed -- beaches and pools are back open, I believe. Check PR news and government sites, or email and the hotel is pretty responsive with info. Keep in mind that numbers are rising again so if you go after October 2, the policy could be totally different. They don't typically announce the new policy until 1-2 days before the current policy ends.

platbrownguy

Came back here for a 3-night stay a couple weeks ago at 85,000 points/night (surrounding nights were 100k/night so we didn't feel too bad that we didn't do a 5-nights-for-4 deal, as that would have cost an extra 120,000 points vs. the 255k we spent). Resort fee is up to $99+tax/night, but they're still not charging for self-parking so at least there's that. And the big news compared to 6 months ago is that they're doing full food & beverage service at the pool and on the beach now from 11 to 6 daily. Including the 4 "palapa" structures on the beach that I discussed upthread (these are not reservable and most people don't really appear to use them, but they're delightful little huts with room for 2 chairs & a table, and they're free compared to the $$ cabanas by the pool).

Beach club restaurant was open and food was good but service was laughably bad, and you can't charge to the room there any more for some reason, so no points from eating there, which was a significant hit.

Everyone was wonderful and we really enjoyed being back. We were given a comp upgrade from the basic room to a St. Regis suite, #1123, which is a mirror image of the St. Regis suite we first had when we came here on our honeymoon in 2011 (that was #1022). These are the second-floor ocean-facing suites in the buildings just east of the pool area, which are very close to the beach but still nice and private. Housekeeping was provided daily and was excellent and everything felt like it really hasn't aged a day let alone lived through so many crazy hurricanes.

Business appeared to be booming with base rates above $1k/night, managers appeared thrilled about how things were looking over the next few months. We got lucky with the upgrade because we were there Tuesday-Friday; the place was fully booked the weekend before and after.

The main negative here is the food; Seagrapes is mediocre-at-best and overpriced, and the breakfast is no longer a $ credit for Plat-and-higher guests, you have to choose the continental (or pay $10 to upgrade to the St Regis breakfast, but that's the only upgrade option). For variety's sake, we both took the free continental each day and then simply ordered an a la carte egg dish to share (which were quite good--much better than the lunch & dinner items we tried). It came out to the same as paying the upgrade to the St. Regis breakfast but we got better variety and were happier about it. Anyhow, with business as good as it appears to be, it doesn't make sense for them not to open a nicer restaurant like Paros. We stayed at the Hyatt Grand Reserve for 4 nights after staying here, and while that property definitely caters to a lower-income crowd than the St. Regis, the food (and the variety available) was honestly much better there. See my review in the Hyatt forum for more comparison points.

James Fleming

This is a very helpful update platbrownguy - we're staying for 5 nights next week and it's great to hear things are opening up. We've never stayed at the St Regis before, but were fans of the Ritz until it closed for storm renovations, and have tried Dorado Beach and the W Vieques. All different crowds!

platbrownguy

Enjoy it! Hopefully you'll get weather like this every day:

quinella66

Thanks platbrownguy for the review. Haven’t been there since the SPG days and was wondering what the place was like since the hurricanes and covid.

When I went, I was consulting for Starwood and got a nice friends and family rate, which was supposed to mean that my platinum benefits didn’t apply. However, the staff gave me both an upgrade and free breakfast buffet for 2 + kid every day. It was a great beach destination, and we were thinking about returning.

DCADavis

I've got nearly the same trip as you platbrownguyplanned for June. Some of the recent reviews of the Bahia are downright bad, but expected if capacity is up and staffing is still down. May message you some questions...

platbrownguy

Yeah, the front-of-house folks are great and really do try to upgrade when it's available (I think we had one so-so experience where they reneged on a confirmed SNA, allegedly due to the ongoing construction at the time, but they made up for it both then and on a subsequent stay... I don't think they take SNAs anymore anyhow).

I think a lot of folks stay in the condos at Bahia Beach and expect St. Regis service (check airbnb/VRBO, there are always tons of units available). And I think the folks who run the Beach Club's pool area and the restaurant there have become more abrasive in dealing with that crowd (not that I blame them entirely). That said, the service at Beach Club when we went was just ridiculous... they kept saying "we have a new menu" but what they really meant is "we don't really have a menu at all, and the apparent menu that you're looking at is just a list of someday dishes, 90% of which we don't have, but we can't tell you which dishes we have until you ask for one and then we can go ask the chef." It took us 20 minutes to figure out which appetizer they actually had, etc., and 2+ hours for a simple meal. Hopefully that was just a fluke. I will say -- the whole fried snapper ("chillo entero") at Beach Club is worth every bit of the $50 "market price" they charge for it (and unless you're a light eater, get one per person!). Get the homemade pique (hot sauce/salsa) to go with it. That dish was the best thing we ate at/near the St. Regis for sure. I am still a little sore about not getting points for that meal though.

Also I failed to mention the spa above -- consistently great treatments (nails, massages) and the facility was fully open (large jacuzzi hot tub, small frigid plunge pool, steam room, sauna, etc.). You can use the spa facility even if you don't get a treatment, just make a reservation in advance because there are capacity limits. And they'll bring you a good brand of coconut water to drink, complimentary, while you're there if you ask them (or probably any other non-alcoholic beverage within reason).

Feel free to PM w/ questions!

svo242

Does anyone what the weather is like in early summer (June/early July)? Does the property get a lot of rain being next to the rainforest?

Out of my Element

This website purports to have historical weather info for the area

https://www.myweather2.com/Golf-Cour...e.aspx?month=6

Please report back on your stay. TA reviews have not been friendly lately. We are hoping to go back in October

9volt

Just to clarify, is the breakfast only a la carte now? Or is it still a buffet (behind panes I presume) with the $10 upgrade option?

platbrownguy

When we were there in August 2020 and March 2021 there was no buffet. The continental and St Regis options came individually plated.