We stayed at Ritz from Jul 01 to Jul 07 of 2008. The purpose of our trip was a destination wedding of a family member. There were 8 kids in our party, one of them belonging to us. Here's a quick summary and some suggestions:
1) We stayed at the club level and that saved us LOTS of money. The food at the hotel restaurants is extremely expensive. So are the drinks. A mojito at the lobby bar will cost you $16.00. Food and drinks are free at the club lounge and you can take drinks with you in a plastic cup...so lots of money was saved just by reserving the club level room.
2) The food at the lounge was not amazing although they did offer lobster and lamb chops, as well as giant shrimp. The deserts were out of this world.
3) My two-year-old daughter still takes her milk before bed and in the morning. There was absolutely no problem getting her warm and cold milk. Since they do not offer a great kid friendly menue, my daughter had milk more often than at home. Having access to free milk 24/7 came in handy:)
4)There are not too many activities for small children at the hotel. Other than the pool, there is nothing to do with a baby. Since there is no baby pool available, take floaties and other inflatable toys. Towels are always available and we've had no problem finding chairs at the pool (no matter time of day) and at the beach. The cabanas at the beach cost $50.00/day. However, if you ask one of the beach-employees, you can get a free cabana for your child if you indicate that it's not for you and tip him a few bucks. They will put your stroller in the cabana instead of the beach chairs and you'll have more privacy than under umbrella (which are available upon request).
5) Do NOT go on the rain forest tour-for $55.00 you will spend four hours on a bus that will make 3 or 4 20-minute stops. Not worth the time or money.
6) Since the hotel is under construction (they are adding new balconies), make sure to ask for a room away from the noise or else you'll hear very annoying sounds from 9am to 5pm monday through thursday.
7) Babysitting services are available for $18.00/hour for the first child, $3.00 additional for each extra child. If you decide to go with the service, ask for Mariza. She was amazing at taking care and putting to bed two little kids. My daughter had the hardest time adjusting to the hotel and new environment, bed time was a nightmaire.
8) Cribs are available upon request. I would suggest getting a crib once you're in your room. This way, the cribs are free instead of paying $30.00/night.
9)The junior suits and the standard rooms are not that different (except for the price). While the junior suit is much larger than the standard room, it still has the same design in mind. Thus, if you have a child, there is nothing to do after the baby is sleeping but read in your bed. Some parents were able to watch TVs in the room at bed time, but because each room has a big flat screen, the light from the tv made it seem like it was daytime and some babies kept waking up.
10) Our main complaints were: no kid-friendly meals, construction noise level, and limited amount of activities for babies/small children. The rooms are nothing special. If anything, storage space is lacking.
11) You cannot hear airplanes from the room, no matter how much you try. The only time we heard noise from the airports was when we were outside at night.
That basically sums up our vacation. This is not the best hotel in the area and is definately not the worst. I would probably NOT return there with my daughter, but would definately return with my husband for a romantic get-away.

**Also, several airport tips:
1)non-us citizens--only driver's license is necessary. So no need for green cards, visas, passports.
2)parents--we were able to take along milk and water in baby-bottles. Absolutely no problem to bring along snacks for the plane ride.

My husband and I stayed at the ritz recently for a work retreat. I think that may have affected a few things that happened while we were there. this review may sound like I am complaining, but I just want everyone to know what to expect. It is a standard ritz property. It is nice, but nothing spectacular. So, if you stay (and I am sure you will enjoy your stay if you choose this hotel), just know what to expect.

I arrived very late due to a four hour plane delay, and was given a room on the first floor. I asked for a different room, but was told that every single room was booked. I persisted a bit more, noting that I am a preferred member and stay at the atlanta property several times a year on business. no dice. I would normally be unable to complain too much about this - I mean, I booked a standard room and received a standard room, right? well, that is true except the person behind me then checked in and received a standard room on the 10th floor! umm? When I said something, the receptionist informed me that the person behind me paid a higher rate for his standard room. So I am being punished because my work negotiated a special rate for the 150+ rooms it booked for the entire weekend? not good.

Regardless, the room was nice. It was a standard Ritz room. Very nice king bed, nice large flat screen television, nice bathroom. Nothing surprising, it looked like any other ritz. I was a bit surprised - I thought it might have some special resort like touches or amenities? nope. it wasn't even outfitted like a beach hotel - there wasn't even a clothesline to hang wet swimsuits on! we were forced to throw them over the shower curtain (ick).

The property is very beautiful. Contrary to other reviews, I always saw beach chairs available by the pool, regardless of the time of day. Additionally, there are chairs available on the beach. My complaint with respect to that is that they only had one beach guy on Saturday (!) and it took twenty minutes to get two beach chairs set up. My husband got frustrated and tried to set them up, but no dice. the chairs are chained together so you can't have self service. The beach was nice and the water was nice and not rocky. We enjoyed it. I wouldn't recommend ordering food and drinks at the beach. we ordered lunch and drinks and they didn't even bring a little side table! we just came back from swimming and our drinks were sitting in the sand!

we had room service and beach side service. yes, the food is expensive - this is the ritz. my husband claims the burgers were AWESOME, though and never complained about the price tag. my food was good, too. nothing fabulous, but very good food. the property is far away from anything but a few other beach hotels. it is indeed about 50 USD roundtrip into old san juan. I didn't like this too much.

The casino is pretty small. I don't gamble, but plenty in our group did. They all said it was small, but the workers were friendly and they had a good time.

there is definitely some miscommunication on the activities among the staff. I called the front desk at 6am to try to book the snorkeling trip I learned some friends were on for that day. I knew it left at 8.30 and wanted to see if there were spots avialable. every time I called, I would be told the activity desk opened a half-hour later. at 6, it opened at 6.30. at 7, it opened at 7.30. at 7.30, it opened at 8! I refused to hang up at 7.30 and demanded that someone help me. finally, fifteen minutes later, I was called by the concierge and informed that I had tickets to snorkeling. he said he had been there since 7am and could have helped me. this kind of miscommuniation is inexcusable at a property like this!

Lastly, our plane was due to leave at 4pm the day we checked out. We called to get late check out - even asked to pay for late check out - and were rudely informed that our rate was already super cheap and late checkout wasn't avaialble to us. WHAT? Once again, I complained quite a bit and was able to get late check out (2pm) for an additional 100 USD. With the money my work spent on alcohol alone at this place (!) I think they made enough money off of us to not be so rude.


To sum it up, the property is standard ritz - which is of course nice! the beach is very nice. the location is very out of the way - close only to the airport (which wasn't too noisy for us. yes, you could hear planes on the beach, so don't stay here if you want the "deserted tropical oasis" feel). the staff was generally helpful, but at times uninformed and twice rude! I wouldn't complain if I stayed there again, but I wouldn't run to it either.

We stayed for three nights at the Ritz in San Juan. As far as San Juan resorts and hotels go, this is about the best there is. The hotel is located about 1/2 a mile from the Airport. This makes it very close by if flying in, but also causes some airport noise to be heard in the resort.

The grounds of the hotel are superb. The pool area and hot tub are beautiful, well kept and large. The beach of cleaned and the staff makes sure it is well kept as well. There are tons of chairs and umbrellas. No matter what time you go to the pool or beach, there were chairs waiting.

Service is superb. Whenever we needed something it was done quickly and professionally.

The casino is a decent size for a San Juan casino and the dealers are friendly enough. It had a few tables and was open 24 hours unlike some others.

The rooms are standard Ritz rooms. Marble baths, flat screen tvs, etc. This Ritz property, i'd put at the lower end of Ritz hotels. Its nor particularly modern or stylish but is comfortable. The bed was very soft. Our room, facing the airport (City view) had a view of a runway. We did not ever hear airplanes from our room though. The room had high speed internet which was included in the "resort fee."

As others have noted, food and drink are EXPENSIVE. Mixed drinks are around $14 each, beers $6 and food - $18 for a burger and $22 for a cob salad with chicken. That being said, a Dennys and other restaurants are next door if you want to save a few bucks.

Our only complaint was the humidity in the hotel. The hotel hallways had a certain mildew-ish smell and our room was very humid. No matter if we had the AC or not, it was unbelievable humid in our room to a point where all papers and clothing were just a wet mess by the end of our stay. We would have liked to see a de-humidifer or something in the property.

Other than that, no complaints at all. The Ritz made for a wonderful mini vacation.

My husband, 11- year old son and I had a great five day stay at this hotel. The service was fantastic-- at the pool, in the hotel, and in the restaurants. We met friendly people every day, and the atmosphere was very relaxing and convivial. We ventured off the property a few times to eat dinner and lunch in an effort to cut down on what are very costly meals "on campus" and found a couple of good places within a two block radius. However, the area is very quiet and there are very few options in walking distance. The restaurants at the hotel are quite good, especially Mare's.

As it was a school break week, there were tons of kids who found each other and dominated the activities at the pool. The pool is very pretty, but it is not very deep and there is no slide or anything like that. Didn't matter--the kids had a great time going between there and the hot tub (and the beach, with a parent tagging along behind them.)

We had a standard room with a pool view, although it felt more like facing an inner courtyard--albeit a pleasant one. The room was clean and well-appointed, but small, and the lack of a balcony --or even a window that we could open --was perhaps the one thing that drove me crazy. I felt hermetically sealed in.

I had read complaints about noise from the airport. While the sound is deafening outside the front of the hotel, at the pool, the beach, and in the rooms it is not noticeable at all, which is pretty amazing. We actually liked the proximity to the airport, made the trip very easy.

All in all, the Ritz Carlton is a lovely place, and one to which we would return.