Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve

This is a beautiful, well maintained resort, overall great service but there were several issues with our experience that were less than 5 star. About 2 weeks before our stay we received a questionnaire from the hotel, this included “magical moments”, dietary restrictions and other information so the hotel can help you plan. We shared a lot of information about our trip (celebrating our 5 year anniversary, wanting nature experiences and in-room camping for our son, interest in private dining, family photoshoot, etc…) Several days after completing the questionnaire, a member of the guest experience team reached out and it was as if they never saw the answers to our questionnaire and re-asked if we needed transportation to/from airport and if so for flight information. This was re-provided. I also reiterated several things from the questionnaire that were most important to us including a family photoshoot, catamaran, and in room camping experience for our son. They ignored the in-room camping request and CCed the concierge to help for the other two requests. Had to send two follow-ups to the concierge and finally received pricing. Decided to book the photoshoot but never received a response back on availability until after we arrived and I asked our butler to escalate. Guest Experience team never addressed our in-room camping request (I know it’s offered at some but not all Ritz properties, but I at least would have an appreciated a “no” we can’t accommodate that vs being ignored in multiple emails or an alternative fun kids experience that they could accommodate). We arrived at the hotel and had a great check-in experience and our butler (Siarah) was very responsive to requests for sand toys and dinner reservations. There was a cake and lemonade waiting for us in our room to celebrate our anniversary and sandals, beach bags and hats. It really was an incredible room. We chose a second floor room on the west side and in building 5 we were close to the pool and restaurants and couldn’t have picked a better location on property. It was great waking up to palm trees and we loved the outdoor shower and massive bath tub. Our understanding was the there was about 4 individuals that were part of our butler team and that were part of the text chat who would support us from 9am-9pm. However it was frustrating that requests like extra ice and towels at turndown required a nightly follow-up. We never received a confirmation from the Guest Experience Team for our car service to the airport, so I checked with front desk and they had it booked for an hour later than we’d requested. I asked for it to be adjusted but received a confirmation email from car service for the wrong time. I followed up twice more with the butler team and ultimately it was corrected by the time we departed. We only met two of people on the butler team, and the second was as we were checking out. The first night at COA my husband inquired about a few items on the menu and the waiter generously brought out a free appetizer of one of the things my husband didn’t pick and specifically said it was on the house yet we were charged $37 dollars. We had a similar billing issue at COA a few days later when they charged us $13 for French fries that should have been included in our son’s children’s meal per their menu. The restaurant issues continued at Positivo when the waiter reconfirmed our dietary restrictions from the questionnaire and yet brought out my husbands appetizer covered in cilantro which was on the list and specifically discussed with the waiter before hand. The waiter acknowledged Cilantro shouldn’t be on there but did not offer to bring it back to the kitchen. My husband complained because why ask on a questionnaire or reconfirm while we were ordering if you weren’t going to take dietary restrictions or preferences seriously and waiter admitted his mistake and offered a free cocktail, my husband picked off the cilantro. The food was delicious at both restaurants, but we were disappointed with these experiences especially at this price point. Several restaurants onsite were closed during our stay, apparently Monday and Tuesday nights have limited dining options. We decided to eat off property two nights and appreciated recommendations from the bellman team. We were disappointed that restaurants onsite did not have more Puerto Rican/ Caribbean influence. I also had high hopes that as a Ritz Carlton Reserve that we’d had more nature experiences for our son, like their kids ambassadors of the environment program but nothing was shared before/during our stay. Siarah did let us know where there may be turtles on property and our son enjoyed checking on them and seeing lizards throughout the property. The only kids thing offered before our trip was to book time for our son at their kids club (seemed more like a daycare) which Guest Experience shared the wrong link to. When I did finally reach the kids club team I found out it was $180 for a partial day and needed to be booked well in advance. Only one day if our stay was even available and didn’t work for our schedule. I had asked our butler team mid stay again about the in-room camping or something special we could coordinate for our son, and though they did have a teddy bear, cookies, lemonade and a dessert voucher left at turndown mid-stay I was a disappointed because I had been prepared to splurge on a special experience for him. Hotel photographer did a great job and quick to provide photos. My husband loved his treehouse massage experience, and felt the spa and staff were excellent. Everyone we interacted with was super nice and playful with our son. We enjoyed the water park (unfortunately only open one day of our stay) and pool staff was great. Housekeeping/turndown service did a great job as well, but we felt like there was a miscommunication between them and our butler team since we did have to ask every night for the same things. We enjoyed the free coffee and muffins in the Livingston library every morning and meeting some of the people who live in the residences there and at Cocina Gourmet. Overall it is a stunningly beautiful resort and service mostly great but some requests were ignored or had to be followed up on more times than I’d expect for a hotel of this caliber.

Dorado Reserve Puerto Rico was truly the most beautiful resort I have ever stayed at. From the moment we arrived, everything felt luxurious, peaceful, and perfectly curated. What made our stay even more special was the incredible staff. They were so attentive, warm, and genuinely caring, every interaction felt personal and thoughtful. They went above and beyond to make our trip unforgettable, surprising my husband with a birthday cake and also recognizing our wedding anniversary in such a meaningful way. The grounds, the atmosphere, and the level of service are simply unmatched. This wasn’t just a vacation, it was an experience we will never forget. Also a special thank you to our amazing concierge staff to include Chen, Ingris and Siarah; who were a text away to accommodate anything we might need throughtout the day. We cannot wait to return!

We enjoyed our time here very much. We stayed in a two bedroom residence for a long weekend. The residence was clean and modern, complete with a spacious well stocked kitchen and comfortable living area and balcony that overlooked the ocean. The resort community is expansive, and we enjoyed riding around the miles of paths on the resident golf cart to check everything out. The beach is protected by a jetty and not crowded at all. The landscaped paths are beautiful, and the staff is friendly and works very hard to keep everything looking perfect. The service is a bit slow at a few of the restaurants and there were a few small glitches ordering groceries and booking a car, but other than that we were really happy with our stay. (Side note, I hope the wooden bathroom door gets fixed at the spa, because I was stuck in there for 10 minutes. I luckily had my phone with me to text staff to be helped out. The door swells in the humidity, which made it difficult to open lock from the inside. They need a better design, as I was told this happens frequently).

A fantastic resort in a picturesque location. Beautiful rooms, great service, excellent amenities. We had a terrific 5 night stay here. Pros: - Beautiful, spacious, well appointed rooms. The ocean front views were amazing. - Outstanding staff - Easy access to the beach from our west beach room - Very kid friendly ocean swimming - Beautiful pools - Great dining venues with sufficient vegetarian options (except for Coa dinner; they could do with some more vegetarian options) Cons: - Getting to the hotel lobby / restaurants was a bit of a trek from our room. Hotel golf carts / shuttles were hard to organize. - The copious amounts of bird poop on our terrace furniture (and terrace generally) wasn’t ever cleaned during our stay which made the space hard to use. - The Ambajadors were hit or miss in their attentiveness / response times to questions in our WhatsApp chat; after a couple days, we sort of just stopped using it. We would definitely stay here again.

A Beautiful Property, But the Ritz-Carlton Reserve Experience Has Clearly Declined As a repeat guest, I want to be fair: Dorado Beach is still a beautiful property, and there are still team members who are kind, hardworking, and doing their best. But there are a lot of small, meaningful changes that are very noticeable if you have stayed here before. Unfortunately, those changes add up, and the overall experience no longer feels consistent with the Ritz-Carlton Reserve standard or the price point. The most obvious issue is service. The experience feels like it has been redesigned to be more “efficient” for the hotel, not more luxurious for the guest. In practice, that appears to mean fewer staff and less attentive service. During my most recent stay, even members of the pool staff acknowledged that service is being impacted. One example: it makes absolutely no sense that a guest has to get up from a pool chair to order food from Positivo. At a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, poolside service should be seamless. Guests should not feel like they are chasing service at this level of property. There are also noticeable cutbacks in the room and bathroom experience. The luxury amenities are not what they used to be. Yes, I am specifically talking about the exfoliating sponges and other small touches that made the bathroom feel elevated. These may sound like minor details, but at a Reserve property, the details are the product. More concerning, the towels and robes had a mildew smell. That is below the standard of any serious luxury hotel. At a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, it is completely unacceptable. I have also seen other recent reviews and comments raising similar concerns about inconsistent service, cleanliness, slow response times, and the feeling that the property is not delivering at the level guests should expect for the cost. I agree with that sentiment. For the price, the service is lacking and has fallen over the last few years. Part of the issue may be that the hotel is only one business operating within a much larger property. It feels like the broader development is increasingly focused on the luxury home buildout, while the hotel guest experience is not receiving the same level of attention. That may be good for real estate, but it is not good for guests paying Ritz-Carlton Reserve rates. The golf experience also does not match the pricing. The West Course is well maintained, but it plays more like a very nice public course than a nearly $400 luxury resort golf experience. Dorado Beach still has beauty, history, and potential. But repeat guests can feel the decline. At this price point, the property should not simply be beautiful. It should be exceptional, consistent, and effortless. Right now, it is not.