My husband and I had a great holiday at this luxurious resort. The location was amazing, as well as the food and the service. We will definitively go back for a longer stay.

We stayed at the Rio Mar for a business conference Mar 15-22, 2008. Overall a very nice resort. Staff is friendly and accomodating and they always greet you with a smile. Service at the beach bar a little slow during peak times. Food very good but overpriced. For a good meal, take the cab ($20.00 round trip) to Don Pepe. Some days it was hard to find a lounger by the pool as many people have reserved with towels early. Nice long, not crowded beach. Walk the beach to the right of the ocean and there is a private, uninhabited area with a lagoon of water with rainforest in background. Just beautiful. Beach was closed for three days while we were there (high tidal waves) but on the days it was open, it was great for finding shells - especially sand dollars (found at least a dozen of those). We stayed in East wing, kind of a far walk to the ball rooms but good exercise. Housekeeping is good. Front desk is responsive to needs. Only disappointment was that we requested a king size bed and had two doubles. Not too romantic! The hotel was booked and they don't have many king rooms, so they weren't able to switch us. Iguan feeding at 11am daily is cool. Food is good, nice variety but very expensive. We recommend you take a cab to an authentic PR restaurant. Great pina coladas and other frozen drinks at Rio Mar, but priced at $10-12 each.

After staying at the Copamarina and the El San Juan, this hotel had quite a different feel--all three did in fact. The hotel is very grand and sprawling, but it feels a bit impersonal and cold. The room was spotless and not a complaint could I make. The grounds are lush and gorgeous. The beach is very nice and well-kept--ie the sweep the seaweed away from where people sit. The pools are gorgeous and very, very well-kept. They are hosed off every morning and regularly cleaned and maintained from any debris that gets blown into them during the day.

There are limited dining options here. In fact, 2 of the restaurants were not even open when we were there. We ate at "The Palm" -- the steakhouse at the golf club one night--it was expensive for the portion that you get, but still a nice meal. And we went 'off-'campus' to a local restaurant another night. The breakfast/lunch restaurant is nice, lower key but expensive. What they don't tell you at breakfast is that a cup of coffee with no refill is $4, but if you buy the pot of coffee, that's $7. The buffet looked beautiful, but it was just too pricey to tempt our palate. You really don't have much of a choice however unless you're willing to hop in the car and drive to Luquillo or somewhere else--but who really wants to do that if you just want to sit poolside and relax? Our fave find was the gelato in the Italian pizzeria.

My husband was originally scheduled to play golf there at the resort, hence the reason for us staying there, but it was just too windy while we were there and spending $175 for a round of golf that was not going to have optimal playing conditions is hard to justify. I turned down a massage at the spa for price reason alone.

What is great is the proximity to El Yunque. We spend a lovely day hiking there. Note that some of the trails are not well-marked, so it's a good idea to ask someone.

My boyfriend and I booked a 6 night stay through Cheapcarribean.com at the Rio Mar in March. We had a wonderful time! The room (standard) was beautiful and spacious. We didn't have an ocean view, and we didn't mind at all because the view of El Yunque from our balcony was breathtaking. The pool and beach areas were clean, and well maintained. It gets crowded fast, so if you want lounge chairs or an umbrella get there early or send someone ahead.

The breakfast buffet was incredible, but it was around $25 pp and if it hadn't been included with our room we probably would have gone else where to eat. The restaurants on the resort were all pretty expensive, same for the drinks at the bars around the pool area. I would highly recommend renting a car (valet $20 per day) to venture off to local restaurants. Richie's was fantastic, we ended up going there 2 times. Also Brisas del Verde was a great cheap lunch option (I think we paid $12 for a chicken, 2 sides, and 2 beers). The kiosks near Luquillo beach were great too, in particular we liked La Parrilla. Isamar bakery was great for sandwiches.

If you have the time and the patience, do the timeshare talk! We got free massages and a free 3 night stay at any Wyndham hotel. The staff at Rio Mar were very friendly, and helpful with recommendations and giving us directions.

Just an FYI, there isn't much night life out in Rio Grande. Rio Mar has a small-ish casino, and a bar area open late, but outside of that it came to a lull. We didn't mind so much though, after a long day of being outdoors, we were happy with the down time.