Service:
Check-in was quick and front desk staff was professional throughout our stay. Nothing special. The staff at breakfast was less than average. They just didn't seem to go out of their way for you like other hotels. Majority of them would disappear for long periods of time and the rest of the time they would be shouting/speaking to each other in groups. Again, the staff at the beach and pool were just average. Nothing special. The pool and beach staff is understaffed. It would be awhile before we would see anyone to order drinks and food. Overall the service here is not what I would have expected at a Ritz. I believe most of the staff needs to be retrained and should show some euthusiam when speaking to guests. Besides the doorman (Rafy), Venus (Front desk) and Alexis (waiter pool/beach) every other employee needs to be retrained. No one remembered our names after 4 days there and only 1 staff member said "its my pleasure"

Beach/Pool:
The beach here is magnificent. The water is clean and clear, no waves, no rocks to worry about and no seaweed. The water is so calm and the sand is like powder. This part of San Juan is called Isla Verde and it is considered one of the best, if not the very best, beach in Puerto Rico. For this reason alone, I would recommend the Ritz.
The pool is heated - very warm. It is nice and very clean. It is mostly crowded with children. The hotel offers complimentary use of floats for the pool and snorkling masks for the ocean. At both the beach and the pool there were plenty of lounge chairs and umbrellas to use. Yes people reserve them with their towels early but there was never an issue finding a seat.

Rooms:
We had an oceanview room with a balcony (#711). The view was beautiful. The room was very clean as expected. The bathrooms need to be updated. I was surprised to see a shower/tub combo and a shower curtain at 500 bucks a night. They are not luxurious at all. The towels were always clean, unfortunately they smelled like cigerettes everyday (am not a smoker). A reviewer once mentioned a moldy smell in the room, our bathroom also smelled musty but its due to a lack of a fan.

Food:
We had a great meal at BLT. Just like the one in the City. Tip: if you go for dinner between 6-7 pm, first bottle of wine is 50% off price - any bottle of wine from their wine list!! If you have dinner after 7pm, 1st bottle is full price, and 2nd bottle is 50%.
IL Mulino was just okay. Good service and average food. I feel its over-rated.
Breakfast at hotel was below average. We had a full breakfast included with our package and the options of the buffet were limited. I've seen better spreads.

Guests:
The class of people that were at the hotel was surprising. I wouldn't have expected low class behavior at a Ritz. i.e. People randomly cursing while they are passing by, mothers screaming at their children from 20 feet away, groups on the beach being loud and the characters at the casino were interesting to say the least.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend the Ritz to a friend. I was disappointed in everything except the beach especially for the money we paid. Hope this helps.

We traveled here for our honeymoon June 1-5, with a good deal from samsclub.com including breakfast and 100 dollars daily resort credit which we used for food/spa/gift shop very easily!

Gorgeous hotel...every snapshot we took looks postcard perfect from the exotic flowers to the huge, exquisite pool! We were upgraded to a poolview suite with an adorable balcony. The room was impossibly beautiful and luxurious and the bathroom had a heavenly seperate marble shower besides the tub. I have to be silly and mention the closet--big double doors swing open and the lights come on automatically to reveal spacious shelving, ample hanging space, two luxe robes, and an umbrella. These thoughtful touches were very characteristic of our incredible stay. They put rose petals on our bed, left us extra soaps and towels and plenty of free bottled water (there's also lemon ice water by the pool and fresh juice in the lobby).

The pool was amazing, sprawling, and incredibly lovely with plenty of comfy lounge chairs and polite staff who spread towels on the loungers, raise the umbrellas and will happily bring you the free ice water if you aren't buying drinks.

The beach is lovely and the towel stand attendants will keep your purse behind the counter if you are so drawn to the beach that you have armsful of stuff with you! Lots of shells and soft warm sand.

The Restaurants OH THE WONDERFUL RESTAURANTS! Our breakfast at Mares was included and the fresh fruits, pastries, juices, and meats were divine--we ate way too much and I really enjoyed reading the complimentary NY Times. We ate lunch there the last day and the pizza margherita and chicken wrap were both beyond anything we'd every eaten--just delicious and prompt and wonderful.
Il Mulino was the most lavish and delectable meal we've ever had--we were ushered to a rose petal strewn corner table and offered parma cheese from a big wheel, pampered with complimentary antipasti and bruschetta and three kinds of fresh bread before we even ordered. My husband got the caesar salad which was the best salad ever, he said, and the special which was a past with wild mushrooms and sausage that he still talks about. I got the penne rigate, which had a rich marinara sauce and pools of sweet ricotta cheese. The complimentary dessert sampler had terrific rustic cheesecake. It was the service that made it incomparable though. Our "team" of waiters apologized personally for the rain that morning, swept crumbs off of the table and replaced each used utensil with a clean one and congratulated us in three languages. THey were very warm and helpful and took photos of us together with our camera and did gave my husband homemade grappa with raisins as we left. PERFECT. and not nearly as expensive as we feared (about 35-50 each)

Johanna at the spa arranged our couple's massage lesson with Jason (very relaxing and good instruction) and my pedicure. SHe also took fantastic photos of us together and was terrific.

We also ate at 311 on fortaleza street in the old city. Such simple, authentic french dishes, very tasty and in a beautiful old building with iron chandeliers and magnums of champagne everywhere. When we were finished eating and could not find a taxi, the owner grabbed his cell phone and called the company and stood with us outside explaining it was a gallery night on the other side of the city which caused the delay. He called them back repeatedly, got disgusted with the delays and led us to the taxi stand two blocks away where we got a cab very easily! Everyone was so friendly and helpful.

If you go to San Juan, don't miss Castillo San Cristobal Fort (much better than the famous but rundown El Morrow that has pay toilets and no taxis). Shopping for souvenirs? Mi Pequeno San Juan on the corner Calle de Cristo and Calle de la Luna has the loveliest casitas, tiles, handpainted souvenirs, and is a charming sky blue shop--irresistable.

We decided to stay at the Ritz-Carlton, for the second time, during our trip to Puerto Rico in late May 2009. My mom was celebrating a big birthday year, and since we had stayed here in the past, we recommended staying here again to the whole group. There were a total of six of us, staying for seven days.

Upon arrival from the airport, which is only a 10 minute ride, it was about 4pm. Only one of our three rooms were ready for us. I believe that check in time starts at 3pm. It wasn't a big deal though..we stuck everything in one room and when the rooms were ready about an hour later, we just transferred the luggage from one room to the other.

The rooms were clean, and bright...just as I had remembered them. We had a city view room, but we were still able to see the beach quite easily.

On our second night there, we made reservations for Il Mulino, the Italian restaurant at the hotel. This place was worth EVERY penny that you spent there. Only four of us dined there that night, and the bill came to about $480, which included salads, apps, main course, wine, and desserts. The wait staff there was super friendly and super good. I don't mind paying for something if you are going to get something worth it in the end.

On our fourth night at the hotel, we decided to do a special dinner at the BLT steakhouse. This is where the "you don't always get what you pay for" comes in. We made reservations for six, were seated at a table right next to the serving window, and were given menus. We ordered drinks and were given time to look through the menu. A lot of time. We must have waited for 20 minutes or so before we could grab any of the waiters' attention. My husband and I ordered a $89 steak, obviously for 2, and a bunch of sides for the table. We ordered our steak medium well (and this was after asking the waiter what they consider pink throughout the middle), and it came out like a brick. A burnt, blackened $89 brick. I cut into the very middle, thinking that it might just be the outer parts that look well well well done. But no, it was cooked so well done that when you bit into it, it was like having a mouth full of saw dust. I'm not exaggerating. Finally, after trying to get the waiter's attention for another 20 minutes or so, we told him that the steak was too well done, and that we wanted to send it back. The look he gave us! It was like a "how dare you want to return this steak" sort of look. He took it without a word. And about 10 minutes later, another waiter brought over a new steak. Then he mumbled something in Spanish, and then in English about taking the steak from another table.

The service was terrible. Absolutely terrible. Our waiter only came by once to refill drinks, and never came back after the food was served to ask how it was. I would definitely NOT recommend going there for dinner.

The only other complaint that I had about the hotel, was about our final bill. There was a charge on there from BLT for a night that we weren't there. (we didn't charge any of the restaurant bills to our room) When I went up to the front desk to inquire about it, the front desk guy just looked at me and said, "it's a charge from BLT"....yes, I know that. I then asked for a copy of the receipt. He came back 15 minutes later, to show me that a shrimp cocktail and two drinks made up the bill. He showed it to me. I looked, and saw immediately that it wasn't even made out to our room, but another room on the same floor. I pointed out that the person didn't even sign it to my room. He looked at it puzzingly and then said, well, do you know Mr. blah blah blah? What difference does that make?!! Like, if I knew him that would be okay for me to pay for it? It then took him another 15 minutes to take it off my bill. All he said was "The amount has been deducted." There was no "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, or for our mistake." And then just flipped my final bill onto the counter.

I wouldn't expect that sort of service from the Ritz. I've stayed at Ritz-Carltons many times, and have always received the best service. I most likely would look for another hotel in San Juan, should I think about going down there again.

Stayed at the Ritz June 18th through 22nd, 2009. Great service and the hotel was very clean. However, the food and drinks were very expensive. $17 for a drink and $7 for a beer (Corona). My friend loved the mojitos. Breakfast for 2 was $55 before the tip. BLT restaurant great service. Food good but not worth the price. Definitely go to Old San Juan. Good deals at the Coach store. Great restaurant El Jibarito a few blocks away from the shopping. Have the pork mofongo. It's awesome. If you venture out of the hotel it's not so expensive. A few blocks away is the El San Juan hotel with a fun bar at the top of the hotel, outdoors. Great dance music when we were there. Authentic local music in the casino. We paid more for the ocean view room that had a balcony and it was worth the extra cost. An overall fun trip. It would have been even better if it was a little less expensive.