I stayed at the Wyndham Rio Mar fourth of july week 2006. I booked it through cheapcarribean.com and expected an amazing resort according to the reviews and pictures, and thats exactly what i got. However, there were a few things which i wish i would have known before going:

1. Everything costs money there, and a lot: Food there is really expensive, even the bakery which is advertised as inexpensive, charges about three dollars just for a plain bagel. Room service is pretty expensive too, however, their food is really good. Same with the restaurants and alcohol, expensive but good. Also NOTE: if your planning to rent a car or have a car there, they charge $10 a day to park, something we did not know, so i dont recommend having a car, u really don't need it unless you want to go to the local outlet mall.

2. There wasn't much to do onsite: When i went the hotel had just been switched over from a Westin hotel to a Wyndham hotel so the casino was shut down, however they did give free tickets to the casino in a nearby hotel. There is an arcade in the hotel for kids, I'm not sure if they charge you to play but probably do. The pool and beach are great and are probably where you'll spend most of your time. Though i didnt get a chance to go to the spa, the prices weren't too bad, around the same prices as hear in the states. Other than that there's really not much to do on site.

Recommendations:
1. Take some tours: i did the horseback riding, bacardi tour and san juan tour. Their like $90 to $125 each but worth it. The bacardi tour especially is nice and has a gift shop which is very affordable. The san juan tour is really nice because you get a chance to visit san juan and explore. The horseback riding is great because it takes you through the jungle which is literally next door to the hotel.

2. Shopping: if you can, go to the mall a few blocks away- all the stores are outlets, and especially if you need to get gifts you can get some nice stuff for a cheap price.

NOTE: if you leave the hotel i.e rent a car, shopping, just note that in the town no one speaks english-not in the stores, the malls, not even the people at the toll booths so have a map and a dictionary in case you need help. BUT, is san juan everyone speaks english so don't worry.

Stayed here for a reward trip for my husband and we loved it! The staff was so friendly and warm and the food good. The property was beautiful and relaxing. THe only thing I would change would be to have carpet in the rooms. Our room had one area rug on a tile floor. Other than that, it was just perfect.

My wife and I stay at the Rio Mar from April 20th - 25th. We arrived late at night and was happy to see that the front desk staff had already made up our keys, maps, etc for our arrival. (We got a great upgrade to an ocean view suite).

We opted for the self-serve parking ($15/day) instead of the valet and that worked out great....a bit of inconvience to go to the valet desk to validate our parking ticket everytime you leave the hotel garage.

Room was nice. Large comfortable room with a real nice balcony with table and chairs....great for enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning. Housekeeping did a great job everyday and we got turn-down service everynight.

Beach was great. Seas were NOT rough at all. I've seen much bigger waves in Rhode Island....nothing to worry about here. Always lots of chairs and umbrellas available all day long. Pool (adult) also nice...quiet in contrast to the kids pool which got pretty crazy at times....lots of kids at the resort the week we were there.

We only ate at the resort one day at Aqua Luna.....pretty good seafood, not a huge menu. But excellent service and good wine list. (~ $120 for 2).

We also ate at the following local restaurants:

Richies - good PR food -- 4 minutes drive from hotel-- good view (not sooo great at night though...go for lunch) ~ $100 for 2

Metropol - OK PR/Cuban food - 15-20 mins from hotel -- ~ $75 for 2.

Don Pepes -- VERY good PR food -- 5 minutes from hotel -- ~ $80 for 2.....don't be afraid of the surroundings.......safe area!

At at Raices in Old San Juan one night..........Local PR food (more upscale) better food at Don Pepes -- ~ $110 for 2.

Took a drive up to the rainforest one morning....highly recommend the trail to Minas Fall...about 1.5 miles roundtrip....well paved trails.....nice hike!

We also went to Amigos grocery store (ask front desk for directions) and picked up beer, snacks and a small cooler and brought down to the beach everyday. Drinks at the pool/beach are $10.50 each....not really worth it...but what you would expect at a large resort.

The hotel is very good,is about 40 minutes drive from the airport, is better to take the toll road , takes you faster, there are a lot of police in the streets , given tickets for speeding, so watch it, (i got one) also they stop cars, to see if they had drinks and are driving!!! The hotel is specially good if you want to get away from noise and city live and want a quiet beautiful get away. You get better rates when you book it directly instead of "expedia" at the end, we had to pay$30 extra for every night. The parking for the hotel is very expensive ($18 night) and you DO Need a Car!. The hotel was offering 1 night free, something that we couldn't do, beacuse we used "expedia", so we actually payed more money that what the hotel actually charges.!
Was always clean, good room service, the only thing that bother us it was, that they accept small pets, and we had a barking dog one night. the hotel is beautiful, private with an huge beautiful beach, the service is very good, they have recreation in the beach and in the pool area, food in the hotel is very expensive as well as drinks, but there are 2 good place to eat nearby the hotel, the first one is as soon as you enter the road to go to the hotel in the right hand side, is small, but food is really good, breakfast and luch prices. (Don't mistake with bakery, but bakery has decent breakfast)
The second reaturant is going up the hill passing the hotel entrance there is a restaurant call :" Ritchies Place" the view is Oustanding, the attention and food , very good.
We loved to go there at nigh and at sunset to have dinner.
Don't forget to visit the Bio Bay in Vieques make the reservation with plenty of time of advance and make sure you visit in days of no moon!. it's the best thing I have ever seen along with the visit to the caves. Drive to the caves yourself is not need to pay $84 dollars for the preschedule tour dollars. Vist the fortresses and Old Sanjuan, they are so worth it to see!