At the time we visited Puerto Rico, our daughters were 2 and four. We decided to have a family reunion in Puerto Rico and stay at the beautiful, "El Conquistador Resort". Pictures do not do this place justice. It is the most scenic, beautiful resort
more +I have ever seen! Situated on a cliff, overlooking the ocean, all the views from the resort are breathtaking. We decided to save a bit and get the golf view instead of the ocean view rooms. We were quite pleased when we stepped out of our balcony and saw the mountains, as well as the famous "EL Yunque Rainforest". Considering the walk to the shops, pool, outdoor restaurants, waterpark all have water views, it was a nice change of scenery to return to our "very green" view out our balcony.
Regarding the food & restaurants, there are several restaurants to dine in - Japanese, Italian, American cuisine, a sandwich place, Ice cream shop and to my husband's delight, a Starbucks Cafe. There were at least two outdoor restaurants and of course bar areas. Since our travel party was large due to the family reunion, the service was not the best. Apologies were made and all was forgiven. There was an awesome buffet breakfast that you can purchase at $25.00 per head each morning (you could order off a menu for the kids at a lower price). This location overlooked the pool area as well as the ocean.
The Coqui Water Park - You can buy a package or a daily rate to the water park. Don't miss this attraction! Lazy rivers, steep slides, baby slides, perfect for young and old - all overlooking the beautiful surroundings. There was a main pool with a swim up bar if I recall correctly, near the breakfast buffet restaurant. We spent our days at the beach or waterpark so I cannot comment on the resort pools - they looked beautiful though!
There is a boat that you can take daily to Palomino Island (the resort's private beach) which is to die for. SO beautiful. You can have lunch there, drinks, hammocks and shade, should you choose to stay out of the sun. My niece's bathing suit strap broke while on the beach and she was able to buy a bathing suit at the store located there. The boat runs all day and can conveniently take you back at any time.
The shops back at the resort where wonderful. There is an upstairs balcony, all aligned with beautiful shops overlooking the sights that will take your breath away. Inside the resort, near the casino, there are more shops with beautiful artwork and handmade keepsakes. We are not gamblers so I don't have much to say about the casino, as we only went by in passing.
The lobby is amazing with it's spanish tile floors. There are parrots in large cages that will say "Hola" to you as you walk by (my kids got a kick out of them on checkout day.
There is a BEAUTIFUL marina that you walk past to get to the water park and the boat to take you to the beach.
This resort is AMAZING! Don't miss out. You must see it to believe it. This is one place that I would return to in a hearbeat. The kids loved it, we loved it. It is a huge place with unbelievable views - golf, marina, mountains, beach - it's got it all! We've traveled since and I have yet to see such beauty!
Date of Stay: 11/26/2008
Children in Party: 2
Accommodations 
Dining Kids Play Area Money Value Staff
We are a family of 5 with 3 children ranging in ages from 8 to 13 and we visited Las Casitas Christmas week 2009. When researching Puerto Rico, we initially ruled out Las Casitas due to the travel time required to get to the beach. However, after
more +looking at many other properties, our travel agent suggested we take another look here and we are thrilled that we did!
Rooms:
Las Casita are definitely they way to go versus hotel rooms at El Con. The hotel was crowded during our stay. The Casitas were always quiet and calm in comparison. Best of both worlds from my perspective. We stayed in a two bedroom Casita which was huge, comfortable and always immaculately clean. We were in the North Village a few steps away from the Casitas Café and one of the Casitas pools. My overall impression of the Casitas from the outside was that the South Village appeared newer. I did not see the inside of a South Village Casita, but they appeared to have some newer fixtures and newer front doors. Our Casita was, according to the front desk, refurbished within the last month. The kitchen/living room area had new looking furniture, granite counters, and stainless steel appliances giving it a great look. The cabinets appeared not to be new, but recently painted. The bathrooms were all clean, but the fixtures, such as the tub and sink looked older. Also the closet and cabinet doors throughout the casita were much older. So, while our Casita was lovely, it seems to me that the renovations were not as thorough as they should have been. This makes me wonder what the Casitas that have not yet been refurbished must look like. We enjoyed the North Village because it was an easy walk over to the hotel as well as the tennis courts/golf course and the Golden Door Spa area. We walked all around both the North and South Casitas and found that while you can walk to the hotel from the South Casitas, there are a lot of steps involved. Our refrigerator was stocked with water bottles each day. I wish I had known that before I dragged a heavy 24 bottle case of water in from the Supermarket!
Transportation:
We did not rent a car in Puerto Rico, but we went armed with the knowledge that if we needed to, we could rent one on property. We arranged for private transportation to and from the airport through our travel agent. I believe that the hotel offers a shared shuttle as well, but I think we actually paid a little less on our own. The private transfer was especially nice because we were able to stop at the supermarket on the way in so that we could stock up on breakfast foods and drinks. I assumed, based on prior reviews, that we would rent a little car just to leave the property for dinner once we got settled in, but we never felt the need.
Beach/pools:
For us, this was an extremely active vacation due to the travel time involved in getting to the beach. I really expected to go to the beach only once or twice, but we went almost every day. We even all enjoyed the boat ride over to Palomino Island. We loved the water sports at the beach (banana boat rides, kayaks etc). Keep in mind that EVERYTHING is ala-carte....even rafts at the beach, so it can get expensive. Water shoes are a MUST (even crocs do the trick) because there is a LOT of coral right off the beach. As long as your feet are protected, the ocean is awesome...warm and Caribbean blue with almost non-existent surf. We ended each day with an early evening swim in the Casitas pools which are not open to the El Con guests and therefore very private and relaxing. In the Casitas Villages, there is always plenty of fresh, cold water at each pool and lots of towels. They even brought around complementary fresh fruit-kabobs on hot afternoons. We did not use the main pools at the hotel or the water park - our kids preferred the beach.
Food:
As mentioned by almost all the TripAdvisor posts, the food is expensive. But, we found it all to be good. This is the Caribbean and my experience is that most resort food in the Caribbean is expensive. People always seem surprised by this...we just expect it. We ate at three of the four "upscale" restaurants on the property. Blossoms, which is a hibachi/Chinese restaurant, had good food and generous portions. It was extremely expensive and no different than eating in a hibachi restaurant at home. My kids loved it, but I could have skipped that one. We also ate at the Strip House (very good steak house) and Stingrays (excellent seafood). I liked Stingrays because it is located at the marina and we were able to eat outside and enjoy the beautiful Caribbean night. Blossoms, The Strip House and Piccolo (Italian...we cancelled our reservation) were all inside the main hotel. We also ate at a few of the more casual bar/restaurants sprinkled throughout the property. Their menu's were more limited, but always tasty (and in most cases, more readily accommodating to a picky 8 year old). They, too, tend to be on the expensive side but not nearly as much as the Big Four upscale restaurants. Plus, they are almost all outdoor cafe type places which is my vacation preference. My biggest criticism of the food would have to be the lack of local flavor. Most menus were very similar to those found in the continental US. I would have like to see some more local and/or general Caribbean options as well.
Service:
We found the service to be wonderful. Our butler checked in with us every day and provided us with a lot of helpful information. With very few exceptions, the staff was friendly, helpful and extremely accommodating everywhere we went on the property.
Resort as a whole:
This place is beyond beautiful. It is almost impossible not to be awed by your surroundings. The reason that I did not give this resort 5 starts (although I would have given it 4.5 if I could) is that there are a number of little things that needed attention. Most of them are easily fixed items. For example, our first night at the resort, I had to call maintenance and security about 5 times to fix little things such as our front door lock malfunctioning, lack of a previously requested roll a way bed and a safe that malfunctioned with our belongings in it. After that, there always seemed to be something just slightly off such as the way we had to space our showers to ensure that we all had hot water or the set of bi-fold closet doors that was constantly falling off track . None of these issues were insurmountable, but a true five star property would not have these issues.
The Bottom Line:
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Las Casitas and I would recommend it whole-heartedly to anyone considering Puerto Rico as a vacation destination. If we return to Puerto Rico, we will definitely stay here again!
Date of Stay: 12/23/2009
Children in Party: 1
Kids (7-9) Tweens (10-12) Tweens (13+)
We traveled with our grown son, his wife, and our 14 month-old grandson. The El Conquistador is a beautiful resort. Beach, pool, shops, private island, restaurants are all great. Rooms are not as nice as I expected for the 5-star ratings I had
more +seen for this resort. Staff is very helpful. Since we were there for the beginning of the off-season, some features such as the disco were not open. Resort is pricey, and it's "budget-friendly"; to visit the nearby Walmart for snacks, drinks, etc. There are also some excellent restaurants close by that offer more value for your money.
Date of Stay: 09/04/2009
Children in Party: 1
Accommodations Dining Kids Play Area Money Value Pool & Water Fun Staff
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El Conquistador Resort
