We just got back from the Villa Montana (stayed there 4/16-20). We were a little nervous when booking the hotel, and there seemed to be two types of travelers – those that had a wedding there and loved it, and those that stayed there not during a wedding and thought it was so so.

QUICK SUMMARY.
Great location, Amazing grounds, good rooms, Restaurant not worth the cost. Definitely would stay there again. Had a great vacation- came back totally relaxed.

PRE-VACATION
I was extremely worried before our trip. I emailed to ask about a couple of their services and never heard back from them. How hard is it to answer an email?? I wanted to request a couple of the more expensive services and just never heard back—weird and not a good start.

GETTING THERE
We flew into San Juan. The drive to the hotel was about 2 hours but it was an easy drive--- pretty much a straight shot. There’s this one point, when you first see the ocean in front of you (going down a hill near Isabella) and it’s like you’re entering another world. Note if you have a gps, it will get you to the villa but it thinks the road is unpaved but it’s paved.

THE GROUNDS
We need to start out by saying that this was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever stayed at. The grounds were amazing. The pictures do not do it justice. The resort is small so everything is within easy walking distance. I can’t say it enough, this is one gorgeous place. Wild birds (including a family of parrots) are right on site.

***Pools***
There are breathtaking two pools, one by Eclipse with bar & rest rooms and one a short walk away. Both pools were breath-taking with the best lounge chairs I’ve ever used. The pools were quite, had plenty of shade and sunny spots. We ended up spending most of our time at the pool not near the Eclipse. The shaded area had two double lounge chairs and a hammock! Hubby spent most of his time there. So relaxing!!!!!

***Beach***
This is a surfers beach so don’t expect to swim here. However we did have a number of long walks along the beach. Slightly to the right of Eclipse restaurant you can walk over some rocks and find the Blue Hole snorkeling area—we’ve heard. However, we were never able to find it, however it was April and the ocean was rough—not the resorts fault.

The Beach resort area had about 20-25 lounge chairs (NOTE TO MANGEMENT: you should get more).

The grounds staff do a great job keeping the beach clean and free of debris (I totally don’t understand a few of the reviews).

THE ROOM
We stayed in one of the garden view rooms, #3062. It was about 11x13 (maybe) with a queen bed, coffee maker, small dorm refrigerator, tv & vcr, iron & ironing board and closet organizer system (note no in room safe). The bed was extremely comfortable and covered in white linen—so comfortable we had no problem sleeping at all. The room was nicely decorated with terracotta tiles and dark wood furniture. There was a ceiling fan, personal room air conditioner and two side tables with lamps. Even with the three lights, the room was dark (think more mood lighting than regular lighting)

The room had the ability to open up to a larger room (think of adjoining room hotel rooms). So the room had a funky ‘extra’ door on the way to the bathroom. I can’t think of any additional way to state it. The bathroom was a good size (larger than some NYC apartment bathrooms). The bathroom was dark too—I think the bulb wattage was too low.

There was a large French door that overlooked a small slate patio that had two chairs and a small table.

There were a few minor issues with the room. When we first got to the room, the A/C sounded like a wind tunnel. The bell hop said he would send maintenance. After an hour, we called the front desk and was told maintenance was gone for the day. However the bell hop came back and did something. However the A/C wasn’t sounding loud by that time-- Maybe it was the start up issue. So it became on non-issue. It worked and kept the room at a constant temperature.

The other issue was with the hot water. Three times the hot water just stopped. The hot water wasn’t really hot so I would take showers without any cold added. I swear the water stopped – no trickle- no cold water just me standing there with soap in my hair and no water. About 4 minutes later, it just started back up—weird.

ROOM SUMMARY
Overall it was a charming room, and more than met our needs. If I had a family I would definitely want to rent a full villa with kitchenette. The personal patio definitely made it worth it. Next time, I would want to have a balcony room (verses the patio) but it definitely was pretty great. The patio was a favorite addition, every morning we had coffee & breakfast there.

THE RESTURANTS
The website claims to have two restaurants, the Eclipse and the O. However the O is open only Saturday nights—so really the only restaurant is Eclipse. We never did eat at the O, but did have our first dinner at Eclipse. The restaurant is beautiful! It’s right overlooking the beach, long white curtains flowing in the breeze, lanterns handing throughout. Absolutely breath-taking. The food was a disappointment. We’ve traveled throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Europe and live in NYC. We ordered the bruschetta, sushi tuna appetizer and then shrimp tortellini and a meat dish (the first meal my husband wanted wasn’t available—which I thought was weird it wasn’t a big menu to begin with). The only thing that was really good was the tuna appetizer, the bruschetta was on this cracker thing, the tortellini wasn’t cooked enough and the meat was ok. However for the quality, we felt the meal was over priced almost $90 inc tip without drinks (we had water and no alcohol). This was the only meal we had there. I did look at the lunch menu and it looked like for two it would be $30-40 w/o tip—not worth the gamble.

Also double check your bill, be were charged incorrectly for one of the appetizers.

RESTURANT SUMMARY
Service wasn’t as bad as some posters had; we completed our meal in about 2 hours (more European/Caribbean pace than US). We liked it. However, value for the price makes it not worth it.

THE STAFF
Didn’t see the staff too much. There did seem to be some disorganization in the processes. For example, we came out one night to see an entire family sitting outside (one was holding a very young baby). They apparently locked themselves out of their room (you’re only given one key??). They said they have been waiting for over ½ hour to be let in because no one had a key. (how did housekeeping get in?). Don’t bother going to the Eclipse restaurant (next to a pool and the beach) for towels, go to the front desk—the restaurant didn’t have any when we went. I guess this may be an overall thing—as of today still don’t have a response to the email I sent to the resort.

RESORT OVERALL
We would definitely stay at this resort again. The quite atmosphere made it feel like we were the only one’s there. There were two or three weddings during our time there and we never felt that it overshadowed our time. Wouldn’t eat at the restaurant again. If we were to go again, I would have the resort purchase items for the fridge ahead of time (it’s an option on their site).

I think if you think of it as a hotel verses a ‘resort’ you’ll be happier. The term Resort is means activities, activity coordinators and helpful staff. It’s hotel, where you need to make your own fun and if you need constant entertainment, this is definitely not the place for you. If you are a person that like to plan your own stuff (guidebooks, internet etc) this is perfect for you.

Oh side note to mention, I didn’t get any cell signal there (Verizon wireless) so if you need to be constantly connected—note this. I did see others using their cell so maybe it was just Verizon.


SUPERMARKET
After dining in the restaurant, we chose to go to a supermarket to buy snacks, stuff for breakfast and lunches. About 10 -15 minutes away you can find the Economico (or something like that) supermarket. Large, clean and plenty of parking

*directions:
The supermarket is located on the west side of Isabella _ you can stop there on your way to the resort even. Otherwise from the resort take 4466, to 466 E to 459 E. its on your left right has you enter Isabella

TREBOL BAKERY
We had breakfast here our second day. Great espresso coffee and ham & cheese sandwiches. Its to the East of Isabella -- Take 459E to Carretera 113 (parking is in front).

AMANDA’S
This place had amazing Monfungo (mashed plantains forming a bowl, filled with shrimp, chicken or meat (your choice) and peppers, onions and a red sauce.--- mmm our best meal—great appetizers and good wines.
Directions: take 4466 to Carr 110. Address is 8.8 km Carr 110.- 10 mins away.

OCEAN FRONT RESTURANT
This was really good, on Carr 4466E about 5 minutes away. Large wine list for the Caribbean. Walk in, and walk though the bar to a clean, efficient and yummy restaurant. We had dinner there and it was awesome. Definitely a good meal. While you’re waiting, you can go outside and watch the ocean on their private deck or you can eat outside in the outdoor restaurant.

HAPPY BELLIES
Slightly farther down Carr 4466E from the Ocean Front, total dive bar atmosphere on the ocean. Beer, burgers, fries, excellent quick eats. Kids will defiantely like the food here, but us adults did too. Cheap cheap eats-- $30 inc tip beer burgers and appetizer.