My stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve in Puerto Rico was okay. There were a few hiccups but overall it is a nice property on the beach in the Caribbean.
I was visiting Puerto Rico for the second time, having stayed at the El San Juan during my first visit. I had two nights before my Virgin Voyages cruise. Having stayed in San Juan on my previous stay, I decided to try out the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve located near El Yunque National Forest on the northeast corner of the island.
The hotel opened as the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve in late 2019, just before the COVID pandemic. It was formerly the Gran Melia Hotel which was severely damaged in the 2017 hurricanes. The property was originally opened in 2004 as an all-inclusive resort.
The Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve is a Category 5 Hyatt property, meaning it costs 17k, 20k, or 23k World of Hyatt points per night if booking with points. During my stay, the base room cash rates were over $400 per night after 18% resort fee and taxes.
I booked a 1 King Garden View room using points (20,000 per night) and applied a Guest of Honor certificate.
Location
They Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve is located within the Grand Reserve development which includes a golf course. It is built on a small peninsula on the north coast.
It is a 20 minute drive to the entrance to El Yunque National Forest and about 30 minutes from the San Juan airport on an established highway.
Because the property sits on a private peninsula, there is no town within walking distance of the hotel. I would suggest renting a car unless you plan to stay on property your entire time.
Check In
I arrived around 4:30pm on a Sunday and there was a line up to check in; though I only had to wait about 5 minutes. I was assigned room 1712. I asked about any upgrades as a Guest of Honor and was told that I had been upgraded from a Garden View to a Garden View Premium. I asked about rooms with a view of the ocean and they said they were all booked.
It was also explained to me that I had self parking and breakfast included as a Guest of Honor. I could also have a late check out if needed. I was also given two vouchers for rum punch at any of the bars.
Room keys are plastic bracelets that once put on, you have to destroy them to remove them (like you might get at a concert). Globalists get blue bracelets while everyone else gets teal. Overall this worked well and would be great for families.
Room
Most of the rooms on the property are in one of 20 separate “bungalow” buildings around the property. Each bungalow has 24 rooms; all with outside entrances.
My first room (1712) was located in Bungalow 17, the closest building to the main pool and on the water. The room was on the second floor.
As you enter, the bathroom is on one side and an open closet area is on the other.
The main area of the room has a single King bed against a white leather-style headboard. While the bed was comfortable, the bedding was two flat sheets sandwiching the duvet; which always leads to the (likely unwashed) duvet against my face by morning.
Outlets and lighting are on each side of the bed. The bed has an automatic nightlight built into it that is motion activated.
The bed faces a wall mounted TV that is backlit.
Next to the TV is the coffee set up, mini fridge, and safe.
Against the window is a couch, chair and small table.
The sliding door goes out onto a small patio with two chairs and a small table. The photo below is of the room I was later moved to on the ground floor.
Here you can see the patio and room from outside.
Bathroom
I think the main difference between the Premium rooms and other rooms on the property is the bathroom.
The bathroom can be closed off with a barn style door. As you enter, the toilet is in a frosted glass area to one side with the single sink straight ahead. The “wet” area, which includes, a shower and tub, are to the other side.
The wet room is quite large and includes an overhead shower head as well as a shower wand attached to the faucet for the tub.
There is a glass panel between the shower/tub area and the bed. this can be closed with both a roller shade on the tub side as well as a curtain on the bed side.
The water pressure in my room was low. All the bath products were standard Pharmacopia in large wall mounted bottles. Packets of insect repellent were provided in the bathroom.
Property
The hotel grounds are large and well maintained.
If you are in one of the bungalows at the far end of the property, it is a bit of a walk to the lobby and restaurants.
There are many golf carts that zip around for maintenance, housekeeping, and to shuttle guests.
A couple of times as I was walking the path I was offered a ride.
The beach is just a few feet from the front row of bungalows. Lounge chairs and umbrellas are set up for guests. I didn’t see people swimming during my visit; the waves were pretty big and even on a still day there is a lot of seagrass. While there are kayaks available to borrow, it doesn’t appear to be great for swimming.
Pool
The main pool is a huge lagoon like pool complex with kids shallow splash areas, volleyball, and lounging. It is the main feature of the property and was very popular with families during my stay.
There is a swim up bar along with many cabanas available to rent.
There is a second smaller pool located mid property that is more traditional. Ideally this would be adults only but it appears to be open to all.
There is also a small pool at the spa.
Gym
There is a small gym located next to the spa. Considering the size of the property, I was surprised that the gym offerings were minimal.
There are also bikes and kayaks available to borrow, in addition to various other activities like tennis, pickleball, and a kids play area.
Restaurants
There are a number of restaurants on property. Unfortunately none of them are waterfront or even have views of the water. I can’t imagine why a property would design their restaurants with no views when they have so much waterfront property.
For dinner my first night I ate at Nectar, the Puerto Rican restaurant. The ambiance was lacking; it felt like I was in a strip mall as the only windows in the restaurant looked out at a wall. However, the food was fantastic. I had the chicken with bifondo (plantains and yuca). The entrée and a drink, plus tip, ended up being around $50.
I tried the pool side “food truck” as well. I had the chicken tacos for $14 plus tax and 16% automatic gratuity and they were good (though the chips were stale). The tortillas were clearly store bought, generic flour tortillas but the chicken and toppings were well seasoned.
The breakfast, included for Globalists or Guests of Honor, is served at Water’s Edge (the water in the name must refer to the pool because it isn’t on the ocean). It is a buffet, and if you don’t have included, it is $29 per adult plus tax and 16% automatic gratuity.
It was an okay buffet and I think it would be suited well for families. I was disappointed with much of the quality. For example, the orange juice was clearly the highly processed kind that is shelf stable and comes in a box. The scrambled eggs were the powdered variety; though there is an omelet station that had better quality eggs (though still not fresh cracked). The pastries seemed to be mass produced off site. The highlight was the selection of fruit. The only made to order option was the omelets.
Service
It is clear that the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve is not owned or run by Hyatt corporate. I was never wowed by an of the service; and most of the time I found the staff to seem inconvenienced by the guests. The staff that were friendly were extremely casual (which I like) but were not willing to go out of the way to help or make sure things were taken care of. The attitude was generally “that’s someone else’s job”.
I ended up switching rooms twice during my stay. My first assigned room was 1712 which was right next to the function space where a corporate event was to be held in the evening. Around 5pm the DJ started sound testing and the music was incredibly loud in my room even with all windows and doors closed. At first I thought it was music being pumped into my room through speakers inside the room. I could make out every lyric to the music. I can’t imagine why they would put someone in the room right next to that loud of an event.
I was moved to room 1813 which was just the next building over (with no noise at all). However, that room had no hot water. Maintenance came out but couldn’t fix it so I moved the next morning to room 1913 where I would be able to take a shower and wash my hands with hot water.
The general running of the property seemed chaotic. One example is the self parking. I was told by one staff member that my room key would get me in and out. Another staff said I would have to go the valet to get a special parking key that would open the parking gate. At the valet, they said they would need to validate my parking ticket but only if I had proof from the front desk that it was included in my rate. He told me I would need to ask the front desk to provide a letter to me that I would then bring back to the valet; even though the valet was only about 25 feet away from the front desk. The two times I needed to get my car out I ended up just pushing the help button at the parking gate and it opened without any sort of key or ticket.
When maintenance came to my room to try to fix the hot water, he said that he would notify the front desk that it wasn’t something he could fix and they would move me. This never happened, so I ended up having to call the front desk hours later to notify them.
Overall
I have heard that the service industry in Puerto Rico is lacking, and that the experience I had would likely be similar at any hotel on the island. This is the only full service Hyatt property in Puerto Rico, though a Centric is set to open soon.
I think you need to go in to a stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve with low expectations. It is a Regency after all. I think the property would be great for families just looking to have safe fun in the pools or some of the activities around the property. For those that don’t really care about the service or ambiance. I don’t think I am the target demographic.
I wouldn’t return unless I had a reason to or was traveling with children. If you have Hyatt status, do not expect much benefit.
I think this hotel would fit much better as a Category 4 property with rates around $200 per night. That way you are getting a good deal on a beach resort and wouldn’t expect much more. The pricing is that of an upscale property, and this simply is not that.
