Embassy Suites Hotel Dorado Del Mar Beach And Golf Resort

Stayed here for one night using our Hilton Honor points. Nice pools (but unheated!), small beach (imported sand), good reception/breakfast.

We asked for a crib which was brought up within 10 minutes, and then a few minutes later the front desk called to make sure we had received it. The decoration is tasteful and summery. We loved sitting on the deck looking at the water. If you don't golf you'd need a car to tour the island, as you'd get bored at the hotel within a few days.

We just returned from a 9-day stay at the Embassy Suites in Dorado

(12/23-31/03). I was traveling with my husband and two kids (9 & 13)

and my parents. We stayed in two standard suites in the hotel. Overall,

we had a great time. The staff was extremely helpful. My mother is

disabled and travels with an electric scooter and the folks at the

hotel went out of their way to assist her.

Overall, we were happy with our stay, with some minor issues. The

housekeeping staff does not clean the rooms very thoroughly. They come

in and do a quick sweep of the bathrooms and they make the beds, but

that's about it. Although we noticed that they do carry vacuum cleaners

on their carts, they did not vacuum our rooms once during the entire

9-day stay. In addition, we had to repeatedly ask for additional soap

and towels as these were not refreshed (and they kept taking the towels

but only returning 2 which is not enough for 4 people). Most of the

rooms overlook the pool/ocean -- I wouldn't necessarily pay more for a

special view (both my parents and my family did pay more and although

my parents had a lovely view, our view from the balcony was blocked by

the roof of the conference/ball room.)

The breakfast buffet sounds great on the surface -- there is an

omelette bar (veggies, cheese and ham) each day, and then various

breakfast choices in warming trays. A large selection of pastries,

bagels and bread, hot cereal and cold cereal. The only issue here was

that the prepared food in the warming trays was always cold. We tried

the buffet early in the morning and late -- and it was always cold. By

the end of the stay, we were sticking to bagels and toast.

The pool area is quite nice, with pools cascading into one another and

a small children's pool. The beach is quite small-- you're on the

Atlantic ocean here and the surf can be quite high. The hotel has built

a breakwall of sorts, which is well needed. You must wear water shoes

if you plan on going into the ocean -- there is a lot of rocks, seaweed

and other mysterious things down there.

We were at the hotel over a holiday period and it was packed. We found

that if we didn't get out to the pool by 9:00am and put towels down on

chairs, forget it. Most folks were actually going out before breakfast

and putting their towels out.

They have a number of children's activities and a small kiosk that

rents floats ($5/hour or $15/day) and other water equipment (kayaks,

snorkeling, etc.) which were quite popular, especially in the ocean.

There is also the Manager's Cocktail party at the pool area each

evening between 5:30-7:30p. This is actually a pretty good deal -- they

have a full bar open and you can get as many free drinks as you would

like (considering the same drinks are $6.00 at the regular bar, this

can be a good deal). Snacks were popcorn and snack mix.

There is limited snack bar menu at the pool bar -- cheeseburger, tuna

sandwich, hot dogs -- adult portions were approximately $10/meal and

the kids menu, which was very similiar, was $5/meal.

The hotel has a small game room, excercise room and laundry room in the

basement. Small gift shop in the lobby carries emergency supplies as

well.

Since my mother was in an electric scooter, we braved it and both of us

rented cars. We used Hertz at the airport. We had both checked

thoroughly with our personal auto insurance carriers before leaving NY

and were assured that we were covered in the case of accident or theft,

so we braved it without additional coverage.

The driving is definitely different than the states. There does not

appear to be any traffic rules that anyone obeys. However, if you have

spent any time driving in Boston or NYC, you should be fine. Just be

careful and smart. The drive from the airport took approximately 45

minutes. Straight expressway driving. There is parking lot at the hotel

and the cost is $7/day for self-parking -- there was valet parking, but

we did not use it.

Having a car at this hotel I think is a must! There is one restaurant

in the hotel for dinner which is so-so. Average food and slightly

higher prices. We only ate there once. Right across the street is a

restaurant that is part of the golf club -- although the sign says

"Latin Grill" -- I believe the name is Aqui something. The food was

very good here and we would recommend it for dinner, especially if you

don't have a car.

Dorado has its share of fast food restuarants -- Taco Bell, Burger

King, McDonalds, KFC, Subway, Quizones Subs, Basking Robin. We had some

difficulty communicating at these places, but the local residents who

were eating in the restaurants were quite helpful. We ate at two other

restaurants in Dorado -- one was El Malecon (sp?) -- this was

recommended by a number of guide books as a low-priced, authentic

puerto rico restaurant. We, however, would not recommend this

restaurant. The food was not very good and the service was a bit slow.

(We also were bothered in the parking lot by locals trying to sell us

stuff).

We did, however, eat at a restaurant in Dorado Center -- El Ladrillo. (The town center is under construction and it was a bit of a round-a-bout to get to the restaurant but it was well worth it.) The restaurant has its own parking lot (which is needed in town) and the food was excellent. A bit overpriced (entrees were $20-$50) but the restaurant, whose name means "The Brick", is quite lovely and the service was excellent. Highly recommend this one for a special dinner.



We found the car to be quite useful -- we were able to shop in the

local supermarket (which rivals any in the States) and make a number of

trips to various areas of the island -- El Yunque, Ladrillo beach, Rio

Camuy Caves and Old San Juan. The road signs are not great -- but once

you get the spanish words down (e.g., Oeste, etc.) you can manage

without too much trouble. The caves and our subsequent trip into the

mountains was well worth the trip.

Overall, I would recommend a stay at the Embassy Suites in Dorado. The

price is very reasonable and the facilities are nice. The staff is

helpful and Dorado is a nice, quite change from the bustle of San Juan.

I stayed in the Embassy Suites in Dorado because all the good hotels in San Juan were booked because I waited until the last second to book. I heard decent things about the area and hotel.

First, there is no night life in Dorado or many restaurants other than Fast Food. The restaurants that are there are limited in cuisine and a little pricey for what you get. Second, it seems like a family resort since they had a ton of activities for kids. Third, the beach is small and not very pretty. Fourth, it is a pain in the butt to drive to San Juan from Dorado.

Other than that it is a very nice hotel. Surrounded by golf courses in a very nice and secure and quiet neighborhood.

It is a good place to stay if you are not going to do a lot of travelling into San Juan. Very close to Arecibo and Camuy and an easy drive to the Beaches on the west coast. I probably would recommend this place to families, but there are better hotels and locations I would stay, like near or in Fajardo or Culebra or on the west coast in Cabo Rojo, Boqueron, etc. If you want the nightlife stay in San Juan. San Juan is pretty much central to all the tourists spots like El Yunque, Camuy, Aibonito, Fajardo, Culebra, etc.

A note for the American Tourists. The traffic in and around San Juan is bad and very different to U.S. traffic. If you don't have experience in driving in different countries, I would get a tour operator that will transport you to places or get a taxi or other transportation. Outside of San Juan traffic is not bad, some of the mountain roads are a little scary and a lot of the roads don't have signs and all traffic signs are in Spanish.

I own one of the vacation condos right by the Embassy hotel, and from time to time I have stayed at the Embassy. Here are some helpful advises:-Dorado - This is a very small town. Not so much for historical background, but there's some (mostly Spaniard/slaves trade relations and sugarcane production history). Do not expect an exiting town with a great nightlife. This is not Dorado. Actually, the vast majority of the locals move to Dorado to avoid this, and to look for a quiet place to live. -Locals are mid-class to high-class income earners. You will see the expensive cars, the large houses (Chi-Chi Rodriguez and a couple of other celebrities own places there). Because of this, a lot of big stores and businesses are establishing themselves in the town. Meaning: Traffic is just a mess. And the local government will do nothing to fix the problem. Just get a bicycle.-Rent a car. There are only 1 or 2 rentals in the town. Get one at the airport. And make sure to have all the insurance you can get. Not only because of accidents, but car stealing is the national sport, especially in Dorado (one of the big car-stealing cartels is based in Dorado).-No, there are no decent, inexpensive restaurants in Dorado, other than the fast foods. Expecting an Olive Garden, Chili's or Red Lobster? Not in Dorado. Then what? Be adventurous! Alcapurrias, Bacalaitos, Piononos. Yes, it sounds like something from a dead carcass, I know. But, HEY!!! I tried Gumbo, and Peach Cobbler, and Moonshine, and I'm still alive! Worried about getting sick? Believe it or not, Puerto Rico is part of the US, and all Health directives and regulations apply there as well. So it will be as eating in Spokane, WA or Hickory, NC.- TRAFFIC Major problem in the whole island. Can you believe it will take you, during rush hour, over two hours to drive 15 miles? Meaning? Plan ahead. Early mornings (6:00am-9:30am) and Afternoons (3:30pm-7:00pm) are no-nos. And thats without any major accidents. Just take your time, relax. Thats why you took a vacation, right.Want more info: Just send me an email!!!!

We were booked at the embassy for 10 nights, june 17th. We checked out after two nights and moved to the Hyatt Dorado Beach. The hotel lobby is attractive, atrium with water effects etc. and the breakfast/ managers special are both great. The suite was very decent, though we paid $20 extra per night for a non-smoking oean view. The pool area was always noisy, either from a constant pnuematic drill somewhere behind the scenes, or from the crowds of people that were staying in the adjacent buildings(vacation club). The hot tub was constantly crowded with kids at was barely warmer than the pool. Pool area nice but getting a little tatty around the edges. The pool bar food was expensive ($5 grilled cheese sandwich kids meals no fries) and mediocre, and the drinks watered down. At night there were groups of teenagers with beercans in hand roaming around (again from the vacation club condos), they were harmless but annoying. Golf course was attractive/ challenging/ approx. $100. Teh place didn't have the right 'pampering' atmosphere that we were expecting. The Dorado ended up being $185 a night vs. $169 at the Embassy, and was a world apart!

My family just returned from a week-long stay at the Embassy Suites Dorado del Mar in Dorado, PR. It was absolutely wonderful! We stayed in the portion of the hotel called the Aquarius Vacation Club, in a beautiful suite. Our 2-year-old daughter was treated well everywhere we went and LOVED the pools, two of which were shallow enough for her to splash around in. The complimentary daily breakfasts were excellent and we enjoyed the evening happy hour as well. The beach was small, but clean. Food in the hotel restaurant was expensive, but excellent. Beautiful ocean breezes kept the temperatures comfortable.During our stay we also visited El Yunque rainforest hiking, Camuy Cave Park, and Old San Juan and would recommend any of these sites for those with or without families. Overall a very nice time!

This hotel staff is probably as friendly and helpful as any at the Ritz Carlton! Rooms are great and housekeeping does a great job.The pool is not deep enough to dive, but it is very large and pretty. The food is very good in the restaurant and the pool bar outside has reasonable lunches. Room service is reasonable and pretty good. The best features: 5:30-7:30 open barand the free breakfast. This is a real money saver.The beach is really not a good one for swimming or strolling (really small) , so if you're looking for that, this is not your place. If it's just to float on or look at, then it's fine. You can always take an excursion to one of the other beaches snorkling or whatever you want.Nice tennis and golf facilities and not crowded. Small, but adequate work out room. Take a taxi from the hotel and it's cheaper than airport shuttle unless you're brave enough to rent a car. The driving to and from the airport is a little confusing since the street signs are in Espanol.I think this place is great for a 4-5 day stay for a family get together. No night life if you're young and single as far as I could tell.I will go back someday to this hotel.

I just came back from a long weekend at the E suites dorado del mar. Overall, we had a great time but I was in the mood for a pretty casual vacation. We rented a car (I think that you need to) and despite the bad drivers, we had no troubles. If you have driven in NYC you will have no trouble driving here. The hotel is a resort in so much as it has golf and tennis but it is still an embassy suites so the service is only adequate not exceptional. Our friends had problems with the maid service not cleaning their room several times. The manager's special happy hour was a great way to save some money on drinks. We had gone over to the hyatt dorado for drinks one night and spent 80$ on 2 rounds of beers! So we took advantage of the free drinks after that! We also took advantage of the breakfast and then didn't eat a big lunch, or one at all sometimes. Our best day was a snorkeling catamaran out of Fajardo. Also we ate dinner 2 times at the golf terrace across the street and it was very good (This sounds so american but the hamburgars there are exceptional!) . Also ate at the parrot in Old San Juan which was EXCELLENT. Bacardi tour was just so-so. We had a good time but don't expect the Ritz - you are getting what you pay for.

We spent a week in the new Embassy Suites Dorado del Mar located not far from the two famous Hyatt Dorado resorts. Overall the vacation was pretty bad. Here are my impressions in no particular order:

1. The hotel itself has great rooms, just like any Embassy suites in the world. All the rooms have at least some view of the ocean. Some have better view (these are all king bed rooms).

2. At the time we were there, there was only one restaurant and one pool-side bar/snack place there. The expect to open another restaurant in Fall of 2002. The Paradise cafe that was open had Ok food but very high prices.

3. The service is excruciatingly SLOW and, because of that, there is always a long line at the front desk. This seems to be a disease anywhere in Puerto Rico.

4. Most important to us: there is no long nice beach!!! There is a tiny artificial beach with disgusting rocks and underwater grass. Sucks!

5. There is a great pool complex. That's where we ended up spending most of our time. It consists of several pools, two of which are kiddie pools.

6. There are no good, reasonably priced restaurants outside the hotel. The town of Dorado is a little hole with nothing to do or see. The only couple restaurants listed in the guide books are extremelly expensive and have terrible food. They are right next to each other: an Italian place and Brazilian steak house.

7. San Juan is way too far because of the terrible traffic (and dangerous drivers) on the highway that connects the two.

I would recommend to anyone considering a Carribean vacation to stay away from Dorado, and from Puerto Rico in general.

We had a great visit to the Embassy Suites Dorado. This isn't a super-luxury resort, like the Ritz-Carlton, Westin, or even the two nearby Hyatts, but it really is quite nice and a GREAT spot for a winter getaway, especially with kids. The staff was very friendly and helpful throughout our stay.

The rooms are very new, clean, and nicely furnished as they should since the place only opened in mid-2001. The Embassy Suites layout with two separate rooms is ideal for traveling with small kids. The upper floor rooms on the back of the hotel have an especially nice view of the beach and pool. Try to get one of these if you can.

The pool is nice layout with several levels which waterfall into one another. There is also a wading area in the main pool where very small kids can play. The beach is fairly small but quite pleasant and has a rock breakwater to nearly eliminate the strong north coast surf.

There was a strong breeze at the beach every day we were there.

Food at the hotel was mixed. There is a free cook-to-order breakfast each morning, which is awesome. We had great omelettes and fresh fruit every day. We saved a ton of money by not having to pay for breakfast each day. We also ate lunch at the pool bar and dinner at the restaurant and found the food to be just average. There is also a nightly happy hour with free drinks. It was quite loud on some nights, but still a nice perk considering that they usually charge $6 for a Pina Colada.

Dorado is a relatively nice area of Puerto Rico. It is far enough away from San Juan that you don't feel the urban poverty and seediness. However it's close enough to easily be able to drive into San Juan for dinner or sightseeing. Dorado itself is big enough to have a decent selection of restaurants and shopping options without having to drive very far (the El Ladrillo restaurant was expensive, but a real treat). The Embassy Suites is in a private, gated community, so it feels very safe in and around the hotel.

One other thing, there is a second building next to the Embassy Suites which is a vacation time share. The salespeople/barracudas circle the pool inviting people to take a tour of the facility. Best to politely decline. I thought the it was a waste of vacation time and they use some cheesy sales techniques once they get you into the tour ("you don't have to buy right now, but the price goes up $10K tomorrow").