Travel Reviews - Puerto Rico
You may have noticed my break from the blog (even this early in its existance). My entire family goes away together every year for ten days, usually in March/April. Approximately 40 of us travel. Like most family dynamics, I’m guessing, the trip is great for the first few days, decent for the next few, and by the end, I am counting the minutes till I can leave.
Every year we go to a different hotel, even if it’s in the same general locale. This was our 11th year going away and here is the geographic breakdown:
Puerto Rico - 4 years
Florida - 3 years
Arizona - 2 years
Las Vegas - 1 year
California - 1 year
Funny thing is that the best and worst trips both took place in Arizona.
This year’s trip was to the Gran Melia in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. The past three PR trips had been to the El Conquistador and twice to the Ritz Carlton San Juan. Four generations of our family travel and only the two oldest generations have a say of where we go. Father Expert is among the family leaders and usually has a large voice in the decision. This has its good points and its bad. The bad is that Mother Expert needs a beach (even though she steps foot in it like once or twice) and Father needs a large hotel room, even though all he does is sleep there. I believe it to be a status thing since there really is no other reason. The good is that he uses Trip Advisor well and the hotel and weather are usually perfect.
Our family is fairly well off and with that we expect things done certain ways, specifically our way. We can be very demanding, to the point of embarassment. Rude comments and actions are extremely common on these vacations.
So now that I’ve explained all that, all you need to see is the Trip Advisor review of the hotel to know that this had the potential to be bad:
Gran Melia
Three star average review is not something the family is accustomed to, especially where most of the negative comments involved service. I am going to follow this article with a Trip Advisor primer since I will use the site regularly in my travel reviews.
Since this is supposed to be a review of the trip and the hotel, let’s detail the good and the bad in bullet points:
Good:
Grounds are gorgeous and well maintained
Pools were great - large one for kids and parents, smaller secluded one for adults only
Rooms were large and each one had it’s own deck
Massage was one of the best I have ever had
Spa facilities weren’t very large, but nice and very clean
Bad:
Hotel is so spread out that you have to walk far to get anywhere
Housekeeping is abysmal (see Trip Advisor reviews)
The airport is about 45 minutes away from the facility
Close proximity to the rainforest does not leave for ideal weather (too humid, too hot or too rainy)
The Beach is tiny, rocky and full of kelp. There is literally nowhere to swim
Service in general - call for anything and you may have to call two or three times
You could not possibly get me to recommend this place. It is not by any means the worst place I have ever stayed at, but for the prices you pay, you can definitely do better elsewhere. In Puerto Rico, I would highly suggest the El Conquistador, specifically the Las Casitas section. Otherwise, skip PR and look for other destinations.