The Conquistador is a lovely property with beautiful, scenic views. The pools are nice, as are the main lobby and common areas. If the true cost of staying at the hotel was what was quoted (for me, $279 per night on the hotel website), I'd have little to complain about. However, given all of the *extras* the hotel charges you (resort fees, airport shuttle service charge and the like), this resort is not a great value. For over $400 a night, I expect better-maintained rooms and better, friendlier service from the staff. In addition, I expect better dining options, rather then the over-priced and mediocre food that the hotel has to offer. For the amount of money I paid, I expected a much better experience.

We stayed for a weekend looking to wind down in family, my wife and 3 year old were with me. The package included one free breakfast and tickets for the water park. We were accomodated in the rooms that are close by the Water Park. The weekend was spent on the sunny beach of Palomino and at the Water Park and one night at the pools located right next to Las Vistas and open up to late in the night. We snacked at the hotel $$ but decided to eat outside of the hotel area. The service was great, the room was clean and my wife and daughter enjoyed every minute we spent at the hotel. HINT: If you are looking to stay and make the purpose of the vacation visit the private island (Palomino) and the Water Park of El Conquistador ask if there are rooms available on the lower level (La Marina). You have to take a short ride to these rooms but being so close to the Water Park and where the boat docks to go to Palomino (if you plan to go to the island, GO EARLY the lines tend to get very long after 9am) is worth it.

This is my second trip to this impressive hotel. The views are spectacular and you have rooms for all types of guests. The place is so large that a lack of maintenance is evident in some places of the premises. I went to the spa which I like very much and the gym is very well set. If you want a easily accessible beach.. you are in for a wait as you have to take a 10'15 minute ferry to Palomino Island, but once you are there you can forget about the ride.
I would come back to this resort with my family ' although I would not look forth to the commute from the airport to the hotel which is at least 45 minutes.

My wife and I were looking for a beach getaway in the Caribbean, and after extensive research settled on 2 nights in San Juan and 4 nights at El Conquistador. After reading dozens of reviews for the hotel, I was a little leary of whether we made the right choice for a couples spot. The El Conquistador exceeded our expectations, and Palomino Island is probably the best hotel amenity I have ever seen. Here are a few tips that benefited us:
1) rent a car. Being able to tour old town San Juan, and hike La Mina trail in El Yunque were two of our most memorable parts of the trip. El Yunque is only 30-40 minutes from the hotel and we ate lunch at La Parilla in Luquillo, which made for a fantastic day trip. Try to get to La Mina trail at El Yunque by 10am because it becomes crowded.
2) eat dinner outside the resort. we had several breakfasts at Cafe Caribe and a couple lunches at Bella Vista that were decently priced and good quality, but the dinner restaurants are highly overpriced for the quality. We had dinner at 3 nearby restaurants in Fajardo and all were delicious and service was exceptional. We ate at La Estacion, Di Yukas, and El Varadero and appetizers, two entrees and several drinks was never more than $100.
3) for couples, there is a secluded, clothing optional beach on the far side of Palomino Island called Hidden Cove. It's a bit of a walk, but more than worth it. We had the beach to ourselves! That being said, there are no beverage services at Hidden Cove, so you will need to bring your own drinks (not exactly approved by hotel but we were discreet and had no issues). There is a Walgreens in town and 12 packs of Medallo were $9 vs the $6/beer you pay at the resort.
4) Las Brisas ocean view rooms were very nice. We were upgraded from a garden view room due to hh gold status. We had two minor maintenance issues that were fixed very quickly.

We are not typically fans of returning to the same vacation spot, but will certainly make an exception for the El Conquistador!