El Conquistador Resort

We had the best family trip. The view are STUNNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Breathing each and every time I stepped out side. Special special shout to Yajaira at the coqui water park desk. She was the friendliest staff member. We loved visiting her. Her hospitality was far beyond anything we could as for. We will definitely be coming back.

Avoid room 1235 - next to marina pool / water park (kids, music bass, 7a gardening equipment) - 15 min from main lobby (funicular + elevators + walk) - no hot water for shower (sink has hot water though; shower valve is broken), gave up asking for fix after being gaslighted for 2 days Front desk is ill-equipped to deal with large volumes of customers (spring break + conference), fixes, accommodations (basically regular hotel-type requests) On-site restaurant food is mediocre. Probably the best one is the Mexican restaurant by main lobby pool. In general, the serving staff is nice, the only bright spot of our stay. Ferries to Palomino Island are too infrequent (once every 60 min. Music bass at Palomino Island is too loud. There is a nearby beach outside the resort which is much lovelier & larger. We love Puerto Rico, but not this particular stay. We hope El Conquistador improves.

I am so disappointed about what has been done to the El Conquistador I could cry! My family started coming to the El Conquistador in the 90s. Back then it was Caribbean, it was Spanish tile and wood, it was LUXARY! People dressed up for dinner at REAL fine dining restaurants. This trip was my first return since 2013. Deeply saddened for the resort and the people of PR when hurricane Maria devastated the island. We didn’t know if it would reopen, and then Covid.. When we heard it was reopening we said, ‘we will return!’ Big mistake! The once 5 diamond award luxury brand is no longer. Seeing other reviews of people reminiscing of the ‘good old days’ validates my dissatisfaction. The decor is horrendous as another reviewer wrote, the ikea style ‘contemporary’ furniture and the black and white everywhere? Yuck. Looks like your local Hilton garden inn. Another red flag on our first night we went to cigar bar, locked. Walked to the front desk and was told ‘they opened at 7pm and nobody came in so they closed’. What?! On a Friday night at 8pm after dinner we can’t smoke a cigar? Absolutely ridiculous. From what we understand from the front desk everything is now 3rd party vendors and only open and operate when they want to, not what’s advertised. All the literature on TVs, pamphlets, website, it’s all contradictory. Nobody seems to know what’s going on. Fine dining? That’s a wild claim. As we wait to be seated and see the placard on the wall that says ‘pants and collard shirts’ as they walk in people in jeans and athletic wear. The food has been absolutely terrible. The hallway lined with local vendors looks like a flea market. The hallways used to be lined with exotic birds, so far I have only seen one and never out of its cage. Service has not been great either, not what I expected from the El Conquistador. So sad. The services are a sliver of what they used to be. They used to have Alto Grande in the rooms. Now it’s a cheaper PR coffee. But you can BUY Alto Grande if you want that. Palomino island used to have steel drums and Sala music playing. Today was some day club pop remixes, Madonna, Beyoncé and Luke Bryan. Really? Where am? I had to find the DJ and request something that at least sounded like I was in PR and not Miami. If you want luxury, choose a known brand like the Ritz or the Four Seasons, at least there is a standard, not whatever this is anymore. The new owners of this property don’t deserve to use its name.

Yajaira at the water park was fantastic. Her service and welcoming spirit was amazing. She was a great host and made our stay enjoyable.

The El Conquistador ("El Con") is an iconic historic brand and resort. We've been there since the early 90's when most of these Karens from the NE USA weren't born. The logo has been and always should be aquamarine blue. Get rid of the black and white sign. The furnishings always have been and should be wood, not white, Bahama style furnishings. The lobby area was full of treasured wood and should be today, not painted over white. The colors were always a warm cream and blue, with wood and terra cotta, not white and black. Just look at the beautiful tile floors and the entire place had the same look. The funiculars were always gold inside, not cheap chrome. When you go to the Greenbriar, or stay in Europe or any iconic historic world brand resort, you become part of the history, no "updating" is required. Unfortunately, too many Karens and foolish 20 something marketing firms from NYC thought modernization to current decorating trends is the only way to "update". In short, they ruined the El Con. brand by "updating" instead of just "refreshing". Look at what the NYC corporate updaters did to the Caribe Hilton's once iconic, timeless and treasured Breezes bar. Now it is unrecognizable but "updated" modern and the entire vibe is lost. You go to the El Con to travel to that brand, that place that is unique in all of the world. A fresh coat of paint of the same color does not require loss of character and brand. Who decided to paint over all the incredible wood trim with white? They should be banned from ever stepping foot on the El Con. There was never a need to "update" because the El Con was never and could never be "outdated". Adding flat panel tv's and usb ports did not require removing all of the rooms character with white ultra modern IKEA furniture. The look was always classic timeless Tommy Bahama, and that is gone by some "modern" NYC corporate hotel marketing genius. That's not "updated" it is a complete loss of character, brand, and history. The El Con itself deserves to return to the full glory of its history, where you were transported to a magic place that did not look like every other hotel room because it wasn't ever just an "updated" nameless Marriott hotel room, it was the El Con. with a history and pedigree unlike any other. For the Karens, complaining about "updating" there was a shuttle service to/from the airport, you were greeted with the aquamarine blue logo, welcomed to your adventure, with rum in the back. When you arrived, the birds were in the lobby, the casino sounds going, several shops and the wooden library style cigar bar upstairs (not painted white), with 3-4 really decent restaurants, and people dressed up to eat there like they knew they were in a special place. There was a night club, and no one cared if you smoked a cigar outside. The poolside bar wasn't packed with screaming kids, and there was a huge workout center in the basement area. All of that is gone, and with it the icon and history that should be there replaced by a 20something marketing whiz kid to make it "updated" while losing all of the history, charm, and glory. The loyal customer base is gone, because they kept coming over and over again, and then experienced the 20something marketing kids version and it wasn't the same El Con - and stopped coming and starting going somewhere else. Is isn't too late to return to the glory days of the El Con. Stop listening to the nonsense from Karens on "outdated" and keep the historic colors and decorating, all the El Con ever needed was "refreshing" to the same prestigious look and sense of place. The customer base didn't want to come to something "new" they wanted the El Con they always experienced, "refreshed", not changed by complete renovation that lost all its character and iconic brand. The El Con was a place that when you left, you were already planning your return.