My trip to the Ritz Carlton, San Juan was amazing. The Ritz is a wonderful hotel that met all of our expectations for a quiet, luxurious long weekend.
The service and ambiance was superb. I was taken aback when entering the hotel the bell man immediately knew our name.
The rooms were clean, welcoming and comforting.
We stayed on the Club level and were impressed with the plethora of gorgeous food and beverage presentations. I never knew what a great value the club level is, I will be sure to book Club for all remaining Ritz Carlton stays.
On our last night, I was fortunate enough to have a lucky hand at the Casino.
I would strongly recommend this hotel to all.

Our family stayed at the Ritz in San Juan from 3/18 through 3/24. Our overall experience was above average. Some notes:

Overall property: Landscape/Decor/Design/Rooms-B+/A-

Restaurant Service in Ritz owned restaurants: C-

Front Desk: C- Long wait the day we checked in 3 Hours + Desk Manager's appeared to be way over their head with check-in's

Pool and Beach Staff: A+ Ask for Juan and Joshua. Great beach. Pool is only 3 Feet deep. Beautiful pool, don't expect to do many laps. Also, try to get to pool area by 7:30AM to reserve your chair/chairs.

Bell Staff: A+

Bar Help: B+

IL Mulino Restaurant: A+ Excellent Experience

Casino: B+

Kid Friendly: C- Resort needs to cater more to teens. Lots of children between the ages of 12-16 and not enough activities. recommend Teen lounge w/activities-games-socials,etc.

People Atmosphere: C- Too many stuffy folks who need major dose of reality. Life is too short enjoy yourself. Materialism at its best.

NightLife: C- See above response. I highly recommend that you walk to the El San Juan Hotel for excellent Salsa Dancing, Music and Night Life......Great Bars

Resort Spa and Tennis: B-B+ Classes offered at spa were personalized and professional. Try the belly Dancing and Latin Salsa Dancing. Spa was excellent.

My wife and I just came back from a 4 night/5 day vacation on the Ritz. I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised at what a fabulous time we had considering many of the somewhat negative reviews here. The Ritz staff treated us like we expect from a Ritz. Everyone was polite and our room was very nice overlooking the pool. I asked for a separate fridge for the room & it was there waiting for me when we walked in. The grounds were beautiful, the food delicious, service excellent, and the beach better than expected. Live music every evening in the lobby was also a nice touch.
I want to address a couple of things that have been talked about in people's reviews. The noise situation from planes due to the close proximity to the airport was virtually non-existent. If you really listened for it, you could hear a plane for about 6 seconds a couple of times a day. This was basically a non issue. Also, I guess enough people complained that there weren't any/enough wait staff by the pool and beach to take drink & food orders. Well, mgmt must have listened because there were always numerous people to to take your orders without having to walk over to them. The restaurants were excellent - some people complained about the high prices. Well remember where you are staying - this is the Ritz not the Holiday Inn, Coming from New York City, I didn't think the prices were so bad. Besides, if you don't like it, there are many other choices of places to eat.
If there was anything to complain about, it was some very minor things. The pool temp was a bit on the chilly side as I dont think they have heat in it but rely on the heat from the sun. So in the mornings & evenings, the pool takes a while to get in for a wimp like myself. Also the hot tub temp was not hot enough. It felt a bit like bathwater. The he only other gripe I have is what others said which is that the windows of the room (outside window) defineltely needed some cleaning. Also something very minor is that no where on the hotel website does it say that there are two beautiful tennis courts with a pro that can handle any level player named Kamil. I wish I knew this ahead of time.
After having spent time at the Ritz and visiting the El San Juan Hotel, I think there is absolutely no comparison. The only way I would stay at the El San Juan is for a bachelor party or if I was younger & single & looking to meet someone. Other than that, I thought the El San Juan was old, dirty, & certainly attracted a different clientele than the Ritz. The RItz is definetely the place to stay if you are going with a significant other or with family, including kids.
One last thing I want to add was how nice I thought it was that guests have unlimited access to the business center computer to log on the internet free of charge. Many other hotels charge a minimum hourly rate so this was a nice feature.
Thanks Ramon.

We went with our 3 kids to the Ritz just last week and had a great time. We were upgraded to ocean view, which was lovely. And the staff at the Ritz was amazing. They were so accomodating at the pool and the beach and especially at all of the restaurants. BLT Steak was terrific - they went out of their way to make sure that our kids were happy so my husband and I could enjoy our meal. Mares restaurant was also so good. My son loved the Kids' Club and the other guests were very nice as well. It is defiintely a family-friendly resort, with lots of kids. Overall, the kids were very well-behaved, with a few exceptions. Our only negative experiences on the entire trip came when we ventured off property. The contrast in our experience at Mortons with BLT Steak was huge - Mortons was a terrible experience and BLT was wonderful and it was because of the service really. Same with a restaurant we tried in the El San Juan. We will definitely go back to PR and stay at the Ritz. Wouldn't stay anywhere else there.