Beautiful property, but major operational issues It is with mixed emotions that I write this review. I really enjoyed the time at this property, however like most hotels during the COVID era, there are many challenges with service. Major changes are needed before I would consider visiting again and sadly, the overall quality of the St. Regis brand has been diminished to nothing more than a fancy Marriott which did not command the prices established for this property. Pros Property - The property is gorgeous and extremely tropical. The lush grounds, sounds of nature, beautiful lighting and beautiful stretch of beach makes a traveler feel more like they are in Hawaii, than in Puerto Rico. Beach – The beach is also great. It is wide with plenty of room to spread out and is not super busy. We walked the beach most mornings and rarely encountered other guests. The water is warm, but can be rough. The hotel puts up flags to indicate swimming conditions. Overall though I was pleasantly surprised with the beach based upon prior reviews which made it sound not suitable for swimming. Paros – The food at Paros was fantastic, but extremely expensive…not that we were surprised. This is a St. Regis afterall. The only downside is not all tables have a view. We had made reservations well in advance and asked for a good view, but unfortunately were seated at in inside table without much of a view of anything. On our second trip to Paros we sat in the room overlooking the beach and it was magnificent, especially as a major storm was rolling it and providing an interesting dining experience. Ocean front room – We stayed in a beach front room and the layout, furnishings, balcony and proximity to the beach couldn’t be beat. Definitely splurge for this room type when at this hotel. Breakfast buffet – The breakfast buffet is great. We had the Marriott breakfast amenity and upgraded each day for 9/per person to include the full hot breakfast and champagne. It was the highlight of our day. Nico also provided wonderful service. Cons Butler service – The signature service of the St. Regis which is regularly touted as their competitive advantage was a complete joke. Over one month prior to check-in I contacted the butler to assist with spa reservations, tours, dining reservations and cabana reservations. It often took at least a week for a butler to respond and in some cases, they never responded. At check-in, I asked about spa reservation requests and a birthday amenity that I had requested for my husband, both of which the butler failed to reply to several times. The butler (Ellerys) we met at check-in assured me that this would be taken care of, but sadly that was not the case. Additionally, beyond the trip to our room, we never saw our butler again. He told us he would give us a tour of the property which never happened. He told us he would give us a direct number to make requests of the butler team, which never happened. As a result, we were never able to utilize the butler services which was a paid component of our room. Spa – The spa facilities are beautiful and very Zen. The lounge area and plunge pool a treat and a welcome bit of solace, except for when they became overrun by unruly guests talking on their cell phones or young children running through. Multiple times staff observed this bad behavior breaking the rules of the spa, yet all staff failed to inform the offending guests and let the bad behavior continue at the expense of the other guests. Ultimately, I had to tell another guest to get off the phone in the spa (note … she was on facetime while in the locker room when other guests were changing which is a massive invasion of privacy). Scheduling with the spa was also challenging. The receptionist never seemed to know what their staff availability was, double booked my appointments, scheduled appointments at the wrong time and failed to follow up. I had to visit the spa in person multiple times to get everything straightened out. On top of all of this the services which were beyond expensive were horrible. I had a haircut where I told the stylist “no layers”. She argued with me for some time and told me that I didn’t like layers because I had never had a cut with someone who knew what they were doing … unfortunately after a glass of champagne I gave in and let her do the cut, but should have walked out. Nearly two months later, I am still dealing with the horrific “hack job” completed by “Edward Scissorhands”. I now also realize why they don’t include a blow dry in the hair cut … if she had dried my hair, she would have seen the nightmare of her work. My hair is a mess, completely uneven, chopped with various layers and the only solution now is time for it to grow out. Simply stated, do NOT get a haircut at this spa. The second service that I had was a massage. The rooms are serene with sliding doors that open and very relaxing. Unfortunately, that is where the relaxation stopped. My technician talked the entire massage. I know about his real estate properties, medical conditions, supplement lists and that he will not get the COVID vaccine. Candidly, this was the most alarming piece … how is this hotel allowing for unvaccinated staff in direct contact with guests in this manner, especially when I couldn’t even check into the hotel without showing my vaccination card. This seems a bit hypocritical and irresponsible. Construction – While we had a beautiful ocean front room, we were not able to use it most of the stay due to a massive construction project that started each day at 7am and ran until 5pm. The construction was so disruptive that I shot out of bed when the minibar glasses were clanging so hard that they nearly fell off. There was no relaxing out on the balcony … unless you call listening to construction vehicles and shouting relaxing. The hotel is very aware of this and it is part of the St. Regis residences that are being built. They kept the building closest to the construction vacant, however the construction was so loud and disruptive that it permeated most of the resort. This is definitely a disclaimer that should have been given to guests prior to arrival. I did consult the hotel and they acknowledged that this is a problem and provided a credit and Marriott points, however it was a dark cloud over our stay. Limited dining options – While the food at Paros and breakfast was good, the options were limited, especially if you are staying for a week. The hotel is also a good distance from outside restaurants and with limited options for cars and Uber you are basically stuck at the hotel for meals. The Beach Club also offers food options with are decent. The Beach Club guests – The St. Regis sits inside of the Bahia Beach resort which is an owners and condo community. All of the guests of the Bahia Beach resort can also use the St. Regis facilities, which means those condo owners who rent out their condos on VRBO or Airbnb to large groups who cram into a 2 bedroom are coming to the St. Regis to consume the pool and beach services. The “crowd” that we experienced at the pool was a bit rowdy and not the most respectful of other guests. Additionally, the influx of non-guests made wait times for service at the pool challenging. On our last day, after asking 3 staff for service and not receiving any, I ended up servicing myself and ordered food at the bar. When the food was finally delivered, the pool server in our area snarked at me for ordering from the bar and basically said she wouldn’t serve us … if we needed anything we could go up to the bar since that is where we started. Not exactly 5-star service St. Regis! Cabanas – We reserved cabanas for the bulk of our stay, however this was pointless. They were never setup. We essentially had to service ourselves most days. They were never stocked with the amenities that were sold with them (i.e.: no bugspray, no sunscreen, no iced tea, no bottled waters). The cabana servers were also servicing the other areas of the pool and since they were already guaranteed a 20% with the cabana rental, we never received any service. We seemed to be a burden when asking for anything. Golf – Communication between the Bahia Beach resort and the St. Regis resort is not great. We stopped into the golf shop to inquire about dates to play and found out the course was to be closed for several days without any notice to guests. My husband played with our son for a day and rented clubs. The clubs were missing a driver … how do you call yourself a golf resort and rent clubs without a driver??? On top of this the clubs were extremely cheaply made and probably 10 years old. Not exactly the experience you would expect from the St. Regis. We also visited the fitness center which is a Bahia Beach members club that St. Regis guests have access to. I inquired about yoga and Pilates classes which I was told they have, however were only offered to Bahia Beach members and guests and St. Regis guests couldn’t utilize the class services. It is important to note that the St. Regis is a resort within a resort. It is the Marriott branded resort inside of the Bahia Beach property, so many of the facilities are owned and managed by Bahia Beach and St. Regis guests can use if available however don’t have any priority or St. Regis services. Pool area – While the pool area is beautiful and one of our favorite parts of this resort, it was often not maintained. There were towels left everywhere from the prior day, dirty dishes left from prior days, paper and trash in the pool that never seemed to get cleaned up. On top of all of this there were lots of servers just standing around not even bothering to clean up the mess from days prior. There seemed to be an attitude of most of the staff not wanting to actually do their jobs. There was also a safety issue at the pool that staff seemed to ignore for most of our stay until the last day when someone actually got hurt. There was a broken tile around the pool area that was loose and if someone stepped on it, could get seriously hurt. I advised the pool staff as did my husband; however, we were ignored. Well surprise surprise, but someone stepped on the broken tile the last day of our stay and she sliced her foot open. Only then did facilities replace the tile. The sad part is this injury was completely unnecessary and probably ruined that other guests experience. Follow up from management --- We raised many of these concerns with management and found that management was extremely disorganized and inexperienced. I am still waiting on a follow up response from Reyda months later … guess what … I’m not holding my breath that I will ever get a response! We did ultimately get a response from another manager who offered us cash/points to make up for the stay. While that was nice, it didn’t change the experience.

Stunning, quiet private beach property This property is stunning. The well-tended gardens and beach are perfect if you want a luxurious, quiet vacation that the famous and not-so-famous enjoy. Our spacious room was absolutely sumptuous. Crawling into bed was like lying in the arms of an angel. My teenagers really enjoyed golfing and going to the gym. Neither was interested in the inflatable playground or going over to the aviary because the pool and beach was where they preferred to be. The ONLY drawback was the food. To be priced so high, it was shockingly middling. There was no pool or beach attendant (unless he ignored us the entire 4-day stay) to bring food and drinks, and there was no cafe to carry food to the pool or beach. Thankfully a few restaurants in Río Grande delivered to the hotel. We did not rent a car. Getting an Uber required a long wait, so we opted for the hotel’s preferred taxi service (Rafael & Linda). Rafael personalized the trip, staying in San Juan with us, acting as our tour guide, taking us to his favorite bakery, and then driving us back to the hotel. The staff was wonderful, and I would definitely go back (with my own Lawry’s and hot sauce).

Superb, Outstanding, THE BEST From the beach, to the bed linens, to the property and lush landscaping and fantastic employees (Oscar, Jonathan, Noel, Karen, Shaquelle to name a few) this resort exceeded expectations. My husband and I had the very best time and experience. We loved it and I almost cried when we left. We travel a lot but I've never felt more at home. No need or want went unmet by the St. Regis. Everyone is professional yet warm and fun to be around. I cannot wait to go back!

Loved it! I am shocked to see so many poor reviews of this property! My husband and I just returned a few weeks ago from our "adults only" getaway. The grounds of the resort are stunning and you really feel like you've stepped away into a rainforest. Our room was gorgeous, spacious and cleaned very well every day. The bed was very comfortable. The bathroom shower and tub were very high-end as well. The bathroom was huge and there was even a large walk-in closet for all of your stuff. The beach was beautiful. It's so nice that it's private! There was hardly anyone out. You never have to worry about getting a chair (unlike other resorts we have been to). Staff set-up the chairs and umbrellas for us. The surf was a little rough (red flags every day we were there). While it's windy, I never experienced sand blowing on us as other reviewers mentioned. The pool is also wonderful. The loungers are so comfortable and there were always plenty available. We also realized later in our stay that there is another adults-only pool over by the golf course /Beach Club area and it was SO pretty. I had a massage at the spa and thought it was a stunning spa. The outdoor pool areas were so tranquil. Due to social distancing, there are limited number of people allowed in the spa at a time. I was the only person in the ladies side! So relaxing! The massage was also wonderful. I never had any problems making an appointment (I called a few weeks in advance). Yes, the food is expensive, you just have to know that going in. I do wish there was a little more variety in the menus, but everything we ate was good. Our favorite was the Beach Club. The menu at the Bar restaurant is very limited- there are only two actual entrees (a burger and a vegetarian rice dish). I would go there Friday or Saturday when they offer sushi. Unfortunately, we did not get to try that. We enjoyed our dinner at Paros. Seagrapes was great at breakfast, but we did get a little tired of the lunch menu. My husband enjoyed the kayak and stand-up-paddle that is included with the stay. The inflatable waterpark looked like it would be so much fun for kids! The staff was always nice and very helpful. Yes, service is maybe a little shower than what we are used to in the US, however I thought it was still good (despite COVID impacts).

Remarkable Resort - Confident that Operations will Improve! Rating 4 stars to acknowledge some operational issues in the first days of our visit, but left extremely happy with the stay and optimistic service will improve in the months ahead. We are already looking at booking a return visit! In our stay, we experienced many of the same challenges with on-site bookings and varied pricing of menus as other travelers have mentioned but, a couple of days in to our visit, we met Myrna/Mimi who had just joined the hotel management and our trip turned around completely. After learning of the challenges we had experienced, Mimi worked with staff and completely turned our visit around. Mimi acknowledged the various issues and used the opportunity to guide staff in how to provide the services expected at such a property. We’ve stayed in many exceptional hotels in a number of places and managers can either blame issues on staff or, as in the case of Mimi, take responsibility of the issues and work with staff to collectively improve the service. Mimi demonstrated the later and, by the time we left a few days later, we could see the results. Training staff and getting operations back in order, particularly coming out of Covid (and for Puerto Rico… coming out of the rebuilding from the Hurricanes that immediately preceded the pandemic) will take time, but having seen Mimi and colleagues newly appointed to the property working alongside staff to address operational issues, we are confident the service will soon match the stunning nature of the property and deliver the exceptional experience that is expected of such a distinguished hotel chain.