My husband and I live in NY and decided to have our destination wedding at the Ritz in San Juan, PR. Initially, we chose the Ritz because of it's ideal location and stellar reputation for service and exceeding expectations. Needless to say, our expectations were not even met, much less exceeded.

Let me begin by saying that this was obviously the most important day of my life. More than a year of planning had gone into our wedding and the events surrounding it. We choose the Ritz because we have always had positive experiences in the past, were loyal customers and felt confident that we (and our guests) would be well taken care of. After all the plans and logistics were worked out during visits to the Ritz San Juan in both January and April of 2008, we had no reason to believe that our expectations would not be met and that our guests would have had less than a 5 star experience.

Two weeks before the wedding, as I was making reservations for several guests, I noticed that there was a posting that stated construction was taking place at this property. I immediately contacted the Ritz and was told that the construction was due to the installation of balconies on the rooms around the pool and that it was hardly noticeable. I was also told that the construction was covered with a white panel and not a problem.

Upon arrival we were given the run around by the staff regarding check-in and were told that we did not have a reservation. The service from the staff was hardly accommodating and not nearly as customer-service oriented as the staff at a typical Ritz. After a long wait following a longer flight, the staff realized that we were staying at the Club Level and we were finally redirected to the Club concierge. No mention of congratulations or special welcome, as we would be celebrating our wedding at the hotel in a few days.

After the poor and unpleasant check-in, we noticed the large eyesore of a sheet covering the construction and the noise from the construction that was taking place poolside. The construction was more than eyesore, especially when we listened to complaints from our disappointed guests. And despite the staff promising us that the construction would not be a problem, and guests’ rooms would not be placed near the construction, my guests and I we were awoken to the sound of jack hammering every single morning. We had over 80 guests that attended our wedding, several guests were inconvenienced and had their rooms changed, others checked into the El San Juan due to the construction.

During the week as we went to the pool... heavy construction noise drowned out the sound of the ocean. Construction crews did not work the day of the wedding, but they resumed working during the week. Hammering, banging, and drilling into concrete was audible and visible in the pool area. It is completely unbelievable that we were not notified that construction was taking place during the week that we were to be married. We had several events scheduled with the Ritz, a rum tasting at the beach side bar, the wedding ceremony, reception and full brunch on the beach. In addition, we reserved cabanas on the beach, as well as poolside every day. The construction was an eyesore and a disruption. A sheet was placed over the outer part of the hotel, facing the beach and pool, but it was still noisy and extremely unsightly.

As I stated earlier, we have visited Ritz Carlton locations on many occasions, having stayed in the Cayman Islands, St. Thomas , as well as several locations in the US . We have never been disappointed with the service and conditions like we encountered during our wedding week. My sister, who was the maid of honor had to change her room 3 times and after having an existing reservation for a Club level suite. My brother, who was also in the bridal party asked to change his room as well, because he was placed next to the construction and was woken up from the noise. My parents reserved a club level room, but were placed on the first floor with club level access.

After coming to terms with the disappointment on the construction issue, we had the horrible service to contend with. The service our first few days at the beach was terrible. I arrived to the beach cabanas to find hot fruit and melted ice laying out for our guests. After many complaints and requests for a water station and fruit on ice, finally the staff stepped up. I was embarrassed for the Ritz, it was more than horrible to witness.

In addition to room and hotel appearance issues, we had a horrible experience at the Il Mulino restaurant in the hotel. My husband and I wanted to take our immediate family out for a celebratory dinner after the wedding festivities. Nine of us had dinner at Il Mulino on Saturday, July 5th, six of us were violently sick after our dinner. My sister visited the restaurant the next morning to let them know of our situation. The manager was completely rude and suggested that she call the doctor so that food poisoning could be diagnosed, as the restaurant needed to inform their insurance company. Not once was an apology given, not even the slighted bit of compassion was shown by this man. A friend who heard the story, contacted the hotel manager, who contacted management at the restaurant. After a much deserved apology, the restaurant issued my sister a $200 voucher valid for a future visit to the San Juan establishment (our dinner cost over $1000!)! We all wondered if they were serious! Who in their right mind would go back to a restaurant where 70% of our party got sick and when someone brings it to their attention, all they are worried about is their insurance company!! So much for customer appreciation.

I could go on and on about the little things that just were not right during our wedding week stay. As the Bride, I had more than my hands full with preparations and last minute details, it was completely distressing to be stopped at the pool, beach and in the hallways about poor service and downright incompetence with the hotel and staff. We had heard horror stories from others who either had or were guests at destination weddings. We never thought we would have our own horror stories to tell about our wedding. After all, we spent top dollar to ensure that we wouldn't. The Ritz is not cheap and we thought we would have gotten what we paid for. Instead, we received third class service for a first class price.

In one fell swoop, the Ritz has lost my entire family as customers. Our Ritz wedding was completely disappointing and although we tried to make the best of things, it was an unhappy and mediocre experience for us. We do not plan to return to any Ritz location after this experience.

PS After our wedding, we honeymooned in Cap Juluca, Anguilla and were treated like royalty. We were proper l y greeted throughout our entire stay and everyone we came across acknowledged us with respect and congratulations. Every detail was thought of and the staff went above and beyond to make our honeymoon memorable. Our biggest regret is that we didn't choose that hotel for our wedding, too.

We stay at Ritz Carltons every time we travel.

I agree with other reviewers that this particular property is not on par with other Ritz Hotels, despite the $700 p/night (very small and umimpressively appointed) room.

The staff was accomodating enough, but not nearly as consistently cutomer-service oriented as the staff at a typical Ritz (and we're pretty low-maintenacce guests!).

Although our stay was enjoyable, we will consider trying another hotel on our next visit to San Juan.

The best thing about this hotel is the people! We stayed at the club level which I highly recommend. With drinks at $15 a pop at the hotel bar, the club level easily paid for itself. The staff in the club lounge was fantastic at taking special requests and giving information. Our room was beautiful, but housekeeping was sporadic. Definitely take advantage of the water sport equpment rental. The ride on the 13' hobie cat with a captain was amazing...and free. My only conplaint is that the pool allows you to reserve chairs by placing towels on them early in the morning. So there are a lot of chairs sitting empty, but you can't use them because they are reserved.

My husband and I enjoyed a 5-day stay at the Ritz over the 4th of July weekend. We have stayed at other Ritz properties before, but this was our first time to Puerto Rico.

We booked a standard room via the hotel's website and were upgraded to an ocean view room without asking. The rooms and grounds were not quite as nice as other Ritz properties, but were still very nice. Although the hotel is near the airport, we heard absolutely no noise in our room. All staff we encountered (especially the concierges) were extremely nice and accommodating.

The pool is beautiful and the grounds are well-manicured. All pool chairs were already taken by the weekend afternoons, but there were plenty available in the mornings and on the weekdays. The beach is public. The sand is not the clean, powdery white sand you see in other parts of the Caribbean. The ocean, however, is much prettier and blue-er than I expected. The Ritz beach service was very nice, as staff quickly set up chairs and a little table for us.

As expected, food and drink is expensive. Frozen drinks are $15, Continental breakfast of juice, coffee, and pastries is $17, and the restaurants are overpriced (we ate at Il Mulino). However, it was what you'd expect at a resort.

The fitness center was clean and well-equipped. I enjoyed a pilates class. Also included in the resort fee, are free bottled water, all the towels you want for the beach and for off property excursions, internet, and beach toys (floats, kayaks, etc).

We left the property to enjoy many activities. We had a great time hiking at El Yunque National Forest, took a beach/snorkeling trip with East Wind Catamaran Company, and toured Old San Juan (it is a $25 cab ride each way). You can walk to other hotels and restaurants in the Isla Verde area from the Ritz. The El San Juan Hotel has a great evening atmosphere with live music and bar in the lobby, good restaurants, lively casino, and a hip pool area. There is very casual, but authentic Puerto Rican and Cuban dining at "Metropol" across the street from the Ritz. There are a few other very casual dining options, but the nice restaurants are all located in the hotels along Isla Verde (the El San Juan, the Intercontinental, and the Water Beach Club). These hotel restaurants are steak and Italian. Nice seafood restaurants are located in Condado, which is a $15 cab ride from the Ritz. There is also a bike shop "Hot Dog Cycling" down the street if you want to join a group ride.

***Please note that there is currently construction at this property, as they are building balconies on the rooms around the pool. They did not work on the weekends, but they resumed construction on Monday and Tuesday. Hammering, banging, and drilling into concrete was audible and visible in the pool area. The construction is disclosed on the property's website and did not affect our enjoyment.***