We stayed 7 days and 6 nights at the Gran Melia in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico and had the best time. The Gran Melia upgraded us to an ocean front room (which was beautiful and even had a jucuzzi tub on the balcony), sent champagne to our room on our "1" year anniversary night, upgraded us to the
Royal Service which includes a butler and happy hour every night from 6-9 p.m. They set us up with a rental car for 5 days at a great rate and the employees even helped us find a Catamaran/Snorkeling trip not even affiliated with the Melia. They could not do enough for us. The hotel is beautiful, the Room Manager was the best, the F&B Manager also treated us like we were the only ones at the resort. Everyone at the hotel from butlers, to chamber maids to waitresses to golf cart drivers treated you like kings and queens. The restaurants had good food, room service was good and very prompt. We had a great time there and have already recommended it to our friends (6) who have already booked for September. We are looking forward to going back and if you can stay longer, do it, there is plenty to do and see, I highly recommend this hotel and if you can stay longer than a week, I recommend at least 10 days.........

I've been to Puerto Rico, many, many times, and always like to try newer hotels. I didn't want to stay at the Grand Melia when it was an all-inclusive resort, but was very interested in trying it out when it became a regular hotel. For comparisons sake, I have stayed at the Rio Mar (when it was a Westin) several times and the El Conquistador many times as well. I'd put my overall experience at the Melia up there with both of those resorts.

The hotel is located about 7 minutes from the main road and there's a lot of construction going on before you get there, but once you get to the hotel, it's beautiful. I stayed in the Royal Service part of the hotel, so you have a dedicated check-in desk away from the masses, although they don't tell you that (I waited in line for about 15 minutes before I was shuttled over there).

My room was spacious, marble-laden, and luxurious. I appreciated the private pool and cabanas that are reserved for the Royal Service clientele. The restaurants were very good, and the sea bass at Nami, for $22, was a relative bargain and outstanding.

I had a late flight, and they accommodated me with a 3 p.m. late check out, even though the hotel was completely sold out that day. I'd stay here again in a heartbeat, especially if you can get a deal.

I do not even know where to begin, this was the best vacation my wife and I have ever been on. The whole staff was exceptional from the minute we walked on site after we were personally greeted by the manager Felipe. Jose and Melvin were the best, room service was great and the maid cleaned our room perfectly everyday. I am wondering if some of the negative reviews I read prior to going were written for the wrong resort. I must say the resort is beautiful as well as very well kept. Everyday the landscapers were hard at work keeping the resort in top notch condition. As you may have read swimming in the ocean off the beach can be done, but is not the best, consider this if swimming in the ocean is important to you, for me I prefer the pool so it was not an issue for me. As far as the people complaining about the prices being too expensive, come on folks you are on a beautiful resort, you get what you pay for, and if you think it is too expensive then maybe you should consider staying in a hotel and not on a resort. Getting around is requires a little work and research, Jose and Melvin were very helpful with this; I would recommend speaking with them prior to making any plans outside the resort. Things you must do are visit old San Juan, plan for a full day if you want to see everything, and rent a car for the day. I also say you must go to El Yunque rainforest, it is close by and a must do.

My wife and I stayed here from 29 Jun - 5 Jul. First of all, as I have learned from many reviews off Trip Advisor, don't believe everything you read. The only thing I have read consistently with any accuracy is the need to get a rental car.

Let's break it down. Rooms were spacious and well kept. The first night we arrived the maid never came by, but it was minor to us. We had plenty of towels and only slept in our bed for a night. I gave them the benefit of doubt and never complained, and to there credit we never had that problem again. They called us daily to see when we would like housekeeping to come by. Yes, the room had a bit of a musty smell, but it wasn't due to the lack of cleanliness. A candle fixed that. We even had an extra fridge in our suite so we were able to keep our own supplies readily cold in our room for consumption.

Property was awesome. We were in villa 924 with ocean view and yes, it was a bit of a walk to the main resort and pool, but that was how we liked it. We enjoyed our daily walk to and from the pool/resort. The scenery was amazing so we enjoyed taking in all of it during the walk.There was never a time that as we walked to and from our room, a staffer with a golf cart stop to offer a ride.

Never ate in any of the restaraunts since we had a rental and wanted to experience Puerto Rican food while in Puerto Rico rather than Japanese or Italian. We ate daily at the pool grill for lunch and it was decently priced. C'mon folks, a $9 Cheeseburger with fries is the norm. If you want a value meal, then stay close to a McDonald's. Same goes for the drinks. I don't know where some of the reviewers normally go, but where I am from and where I have been $5-$10 for a drink is norm. Bartenders took care of us and never skimped on alcohol content.

Try to stay during the week if possible. Service is different when the volume increases, but that's to expect anywhere. One thing I was frustrated by was the parking situation on the weekend. There was so many guests and so many people visiting guests, parking was non-existent beginning on Thursday and no one in the hotel seemed to care whether you found a spot or not. We ended parking on the other side of the resort. A small discrepany, but definitely something that needs attention. That Friday we had a problem at the pool grill too. The servers didn't have a grip (nor cared) on who had what tables so several families waited for some time to even get to order a drink. A couple next to us called management and to their credit the grill was swarmed with management and additional staffers within minutes. They personally stopped by our tables, took orders, and comp'd drinks and food for the inconvenience. Every resort working on that scale is likely to have problems. It's how they react and attempt to wrong the rights it is what counts!

There it is. Don't let such a great place/deal be overlooked because some people expect way too much even though they got a great deal. We thoroughly enjoyed it and because a few good reviews, we were prepared and it made our vacation so much better.