Puerto Rico - we’ll be back

Country: Puerto Rico (US, commonwealth status)
Place: Puerto Rico
Visited in: 2001

I enjoyed an all-paid for 4-day holiday in Puerto Rico with my partner in 2001. 4 days was just too short a stay, but we still had a wonderful time and both left Puerto Rico hoping we will be able to return one day.

El Conquistador Resort & Golden Door Spa

We stayed at the El Conquistador Resort & Golden Door Spa on the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico. The resort is made up of 4 main areas: The Grand Hotel, Las Casitas Village, Las Olas villages and La Marina Village. We had a wonderful room in La Marina Village with a small, private terrace overlooking the marina. La Marina Village is connected to the other areas via a funicular, which offers fantastic views over the ocean.

From La Marina Village you can take the free water taxi to the private Palomino Island, which is the only beach at the resort. But what a beach! We spent a wonderful day there just basking in the sun, and only got up for the occasional snack or drink. Do be careful though, if you’re as pale as I am, the sun can be lethal! I did a little too much basking in the sun and left very pink, if not purple!

The resort boasts an 18-hole golf course, fantastic swimming pools, tennis courts, a casino, a shopping area and various restaurants, cafes and bars. Our room was clean, spacious and well furnished. Room service was great. They even left us treats like a spa basket, drinks and a Swarovski figure. I think these treats were arranged by my partner’s employer, though.

We were also treated to a pirate theme night on Palomino Island. Not something I would normally go for, but we had a good night and we are still raving about the pina coladas now 5 years later.

El Conquistador Resort & Golden Door Spa is fantastic, if you are into resorts. I personally feel a little like I’m trapped in a bubble in places like that, but for 4 days paid for by someone else, who am I to complain!

El Yunque Rain Forest

The Caribbean National Forest, better known as El Yunque Rain Forest, was heaven on earth. El Yunque lies 56km east of San Juan, and stretches over 28,000 acres. We opted for a guided walk by a very knowledgeable guide. The different trees, colourful flowers and the amazing sounds made the rain forest a very unique experience. You can read more about the rain forest via the link at the bottom of this article, but El Yunque really must be experienced.

San Juan

San Juan is the capital of Puerto Rico and a major port of call for cruise liners. It is hard not to fall in love with the colonial architecture and the cobbled streets of Old San Juan. We only had half a day there, so we visited Fuerte San Felipe del Morro, or El Morro fortress, and spent the rest of the time just wandering around Old San Juan.

El Morro fortress is part of the San Juan National Historic Site, which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983. The fortress was built to protect San Juan from any attacks from the sea. It is definitely worth a visit, although most of us tried to sneak away from the VERY talkative guide at the end of the tour. If you are not into tunnels and dungeons, visit anyway, you’ll enjoy the amazing views of San Juan Bay.

Photographs

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External links

El Yunque Rain Forest: http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/caribbean/

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