Gran Melia Golf Resort Puerto Rico

Beautiful resort, but...

Gran Melia Puerto Rico was a great resort, however we had to change rooms twice because the first room had no air conditioning (would not cool properly). The resort could not get that corrected so they moved us to another room, then that room had problems with no hot water at times. We upgraded to the royal service and then found out that they only had one butler for about 70 rooms. Great, great, great service when the one butler was on duty, hardly any service when that butler was off. We were there in October and not all restaurants were open every night, plus they are very pricey. Location means you need to rent a car to go to other restaurants and unless you rent the car at the resort they charge you for parking.

AVOID AT ALL COST!!!

Let me start by saying this is a beautiful resort! It all rolls down hill from here. Upon check in they palce a $100 a night hold on you credit card. Which wasnt bad considering you can have all your resort charges taken out of your deposit, BUT PLEASE BE AWARE!! CHECK YOUR BILLS! Every palce we ate at the resort we were OVER CHARGED! The resturant staff at the resort were very RUDE! If you are hungry I suggest you east elsewhere off the resort. You will wait at LEAST an hour for any meal except breakfast. And this was with our party being the only ones in the resturant! WE were charged for a tip twice for the same meal (and yes they add in their tips)one for $25 and one for $19. At another place we were charged for a bottle of wine we didnt order. I was charged $50 for 2 pieces of shrimp at the shrimp at the sushi bar (by the way they were supposed to be $3 each). My husband and I went Puerto Rico to be married in Old San Juan and celebrate our honeymoon here. We both were VERY DISAPPOINTED! We are palnning another trip(elsewhere) so we can erase what was supposed to be the happiest time of our life but turned out to be a nightmare! RUN FAR AWAY FROM THIS RESORT!

Traveler's tip

STAY ELSEWHERE!

Beautiful Resort in Puerto Rico

Great location with beautiful decor. I loved the many fountains and decorative pools. The villas were beautifully decorated in close proximity to the beach. Service was impeccable with very helpful and friendly staff. I would definitely go back.

Traveler's tip on local attractions

The Resort is in close proximity to the Tropical Rain Forest (EL Yunque), which is a must see. Also, close to the city of Fajardo where you can take a ferry to see the smaller island of Vieques.

The best in PR

Away from all the traffic and the craziness of San Juan I was here for 2 days then went to stay at the Ritz for 4 days the worse mistake I ever made. I went from total peace to being right across the street from the SJU airport and jet airplane taking off every 3 min. terrible.

Traveler's tip for business travelers

Yunque Rainforest Like Five Minutes away rent a car at the hotel so you can save on the parking fees.

One of the nicest hotel in Puerto Rico..

The Gran Melia was one of the nicest places of Puerto Rico i usually go once a year and for the first time i decided to stay somewhere else that was no in San Juan... I was happy i did.. this is a beautiful place.

Would go back!!!

I would go back and stay at this resort. They spoil you. We loved the free happy hour from 6-7pm. The food at the restraunts was very good. Very relaxing.

Traveler's tip on getting the most out of your stay

For anyone going to visit Gran Meli in Puerto Rico. I recommend getting the Royal Package. We were their in Sept.

Loved It!

Loved it! It was beautiful and well maintained. Spa, huge pool, 2 golf courses, tennis, etc. Every staff member was friendly and welcoming. Dragonfly Tour Company on property was very helpful. The Gran Melia has something for everyone. Would highly recommend.

Purto Rico’s little piece of Heaven

What can I say about this hotel - it’s elegance at it’s best. Most resorts pride themselves on their big beatiful pools; well the Gran Melia PR pool is not just enourmous, but it has everything you can think off. I believe it has 5 or 6 jacuzzi’s in it, a water fountain a wet bar ofcourse, a water volleyball area, lauch chairs built in it, live music ect. they don’t have single rooms, they start with Jr.Suits so as you can imagine the rooms are very spaceful, they have a living room are and of course a balcony so you can sit outside and enjoy the Carrabean Sunsets with a mojito and a cigar. If you enjoy golf, well the Donald Trump golf court is attached to the hotel! The staff is very friendly and knowleable of the area. This place really is a little piece of heaven on earth! If you are heading to Puerto Rico this hotel alone will give you memories of a life time.

Traveler's tip on shopping

Guevate is a small town in the south side of the island you can find hand made souveniers and paintings for half the price you’ll pay in Old San Juan. I purchased a painting for $100 dollars and tought maybe I paid too much. The next day we went to Old San Juan the same painting form the same artist was in one of the stores in Fortaleza St. for $375.

3 Star Hotel Trying to be a 4 Star Hotel

Our stay at Gran Melia was enjoyable. In particular, the bell staff was extremely helpful and friendly. The property, however, is a 3 star hotel trying to be a 4 star hotel. A few examples include the stacks of lounge chairs that could be seen walking to the pool, the broken towel holder in the gym (broken leg tucked underneath on the floor rather than being removed), and the untrained bartender at the swim-up pool bar (how do you make a mojito that tastes exactly like a margarita???). The disco in the lounge bar in the evenings was a bit much with extremely loud music (too loud to talk), particularly given that the majority of patrons are couples. Finally, you will need a car if you stay at this property. When we called the 800 number, we were told that the property had a free shuttle, which is not true. Once you get to the property, if you want to visit El Yunque (amazing!) or take the ferry to Culubre (highly recommended), you will need a car.

Traveler's tip on local attractions

When you visit El Yunque, don’t miss the Juan Diego waterfall. It is at kilometer marker ~9.2 and there is a small (and not obvious) path up to the falls. The path is at the second bridge and behind the trash can. Hike up to see an amazing waterfall, without all of the tourists.

Good Choice on our part.

Very good hotel. All services were top notch. Nearby hotels with same quality cost a lot more.

Nice Birthday Getaway

This hotel is immaculate, the service is wonderful and scenery is amazing. My first night there I dined at a benihana style restaurant where you had to make a reservation, the next night i chose to eat from their italian styled restaurant which was also nice. They gave us the choice to eat outside on a deck which sits on water. The pool is huge and beautiful and has a swim up bar. There were hotel staff memebers that drove us back and forth to our rooms being that the walk is a nice 3-4min from the main bld.

Traveler's tip

Remember to keep your money on your credit/debit card or put a nice amount of money on your room so that you can charge everything. Cash is not allowed...

puerto rico’s best hotel

very nice

Go elsewhere!

The hotel is impressive looking as you drive up, however after checking in, it all goes downhill. The desk sent us to our room, we had two. We were given our keys and none worked. It was humid outside as we waited for new keys. Upon entering the room, the pillows were in total disarray and the comforter was filthy. The restaurants were over priced for mediocre food. Our best bet was renting a car to get off premises to drive into San Juan. The beach was minimal and Luquillo was a better place to go. It is listed as a 4 star but their own books rave about it being a 5 start. In our opinion it was more like a 2 star establishment.

Heed the other reviews

At first glance, it is quite a beautiful hotel - nice grounds, nice rooms, nice pool, pretty poor beach. Service however is downright poor - very pleasant but no follow-through on your request. Waited 2 1/2 hours till almost 1am to get clean sheets after check-in (original ones were torn and blood-stained - and I don’t mean a little!) This after being told we could not get our reserved, confirmed room type. They promised management follow-up - never heard from them again - not even a simple apology. Parking’s a nightmare too due to large local groups and nightclub/casino visitors - no reserved guest parking. As if just to prove their non-responsiveness - they sent me an email survey asking about my stay. I told them honestly both the pros and cons and at the survey end, it asked if you would like someone from Melia to contact you. I checked "yes". Guess what - no response! There are much better places to stay in PR - try the Wyndham Rio Mar(formerly the Westin) nearby or the El Conquistador in Fajardo.

Traveler's tip on dining

The Coco Beach bakery/cafe near the intersection of Rt 3 is excellent and cheap.

Gran Melia Puerto Rico

Nice clean Hotel. Would stay again.

can’t wait to go back, Wish i can go back tomorrow.

The Gran Melia is an excellent resort. I recommend it to everybody. On a family vacation or business or just plain old lay out in the sun this is the place to be. Words can’t even start to begin to describe the beauty and the service that is given. 100% service.

Fabulous Family Vacation, A Couple of Minor Issues

Just returned 8/29/09. Vacation was fantastic,we were very pleased with resort/accomodations. Read other reviews, I was prepared for the lack of beach. Still lots of fun to be had there. Great beach combing for the kids, kayaking was lovely and there definitely were places where you could take a dip. Service could be a bit slow but everyone served with a smile. Restaurants were very accomodating; we were a party of nine, which included five kids. They did everything possible to ensure the kids had what they wanted, even brought the kids meals 1st, then served them dessert while the adults enjoyed main courses. Our room as spotless every day (a couple of dollars for the maid went a long way! Extra towels, turn down service with robes laid out, etc.) and the upgrade to the royal service was worth the small investment. Italian restaurant was not worth the money, the Asian and Spanish were fantastic. Stick with the seafood, fish and pastas. The Osso Bucco at the Italian was dreadful, served with a safron rissoto that was so salty it was inedible!!! You will have a wonderful vacation here and we would definitely return. We mingled with a lot of people at the resort and found that people, in general, just like to complain about everything. The ones who complained about the housekeeping, generally didn’t believe in tipping for this service.

Traveler's tip on dining

Richie’s Restaurant pick you up via free shuttle. Mofango with Lobster in Garlic Cream Sauce - awesome! Highly recommend Al Dente Restaurant&Wine Bar in Old San Juan. Best meal of the week. Try the escargot, eggplant, halibut or rack of lamb - all were fabulous and they have an outstanding wine selection. The manager, "Barbie" (his last name is Barbosa), took excellent care of us and, again, couldn’t have been more accomodating with the kids! It is an outstanding establishment.

not impressed!!!!!!

The hotel and room was nice,the food at the pool restaurant was not good,service was not good.I had to wait in line for a long time at the lobby they need more people in the lobby area.I didnt like the fact the I had to pay for parking and that I had to validate the ticket every time I went out of the hotel. What really got me upset was every time we came back to the hotel from shopping the guard at the entrance of the bungalows ask us what was in the bags,I told her they were souvenears and she didn’t beleived us and told us we weren’t aloud to bring food or beverages, I have been in many places and I have never gone thru this enberrasing moments.I have stayed at the Melia in Cancun and Cabo San Lucas and every thing was perfect!!!. Sorry but I will never go back to Puerto Rico.

I had a good time...

Hotel really needs to improve service. For the rest it was great, the hotel is extremely beautiful, the restaurant, the pool and the room was great. If you are looking for a peaceful spot to relax this is the one. Ohh the beach is not so good, it has a lot of rocks.

Nice place, but needs some changes in prize

Hotel ofered night atractions and recreational activities during the day, but much of the events although programed were not made. Unfortunetely all the food and beverage are overpriced!

Not worth it

One of the most frustrating things about this hotel was that the service was terrible. It took over an hour to check-in and check-out. Anytime we needed something from the front desk, there was a long wait. The airline lost our luggage, and the hotel continuously told us that they would bring it to our room once it was delivered. After repeated calls, we went down to the lobby where our luggage had just been sitting there all day. Another thing to note is that when we checked in, they charged a per-diem fee to my credit card which they will refund at the end of the week any unused portion. While it wasn’t a big deal for us since it was on a credit card, it is something to be prepared for if you use debit cards because they will temporarily take that money out of your account. The hotel grounds are beautiful, but very spreadout. So much so that they have golf carts to take you to the lobby, your rooms, the pool, etc. However, it was hard to catch one while we were there so be prepared to do a lot of walking. Finally, there isn’t much to do or see outside the hotel grounds and the restaurants at the hotel were very pricey. If you’re making a trip to Puerto Rico, I would definitely recommend staying in San Juan where there are more things to do.

Beautiful Place

I love the hotel. I really wouldn’t consider it a hotel actually. The scenery was beautiful, the service was excellent. A little pricey, but trust me it was well worth it. I would go back at the drop of a hat.

Was a decent stay

Resort was very nice and room was very clean. Could not enjoy the beach at all. Places to eat in the resort were not so good and expensive. Overall an average stay

Traveler's tip

Really need to rent a car to get around. Resort did not offer much

Would definitely return

We opted for the Royal Service as we wanted access to the adult only pool. We got free breakfast and happy hour with the Royal Service. All in all, we received great service and the only quibble we would have is that the maid service occurs later in the day than we were used to. Recommend renting a car as the resort is not within walking distance of shops or restaurants.

Traveler's tip on dining

Eric’s restaurant has excellent food and a fantastic deck that looks out over the Atlantic. They will send a shuttle to the hotel to pick up guests so just ask the bell men to make arrangements.

EXCELLENT FACILITIES BUT WORST SERVICE EVER

Great facilities but worst service ever. Not enough personnel. Slow service, check in at 3pm and room was not available until 4 hours later. No one seems to care. Need to improve their service skills. I will give a 4 star on facilities and 1 star in service. There are so many good places around for the same price with great facilities and first class service.