Wyndham Grand Río Mar Rainforest Beach & Golf Resort

The Hotel

Río Mar opened in 1997 as a Westin under the Río Mar Country Club brand, became a Wyndham property in 2012, and was elevated to the Wyndham Grand sub-brand in 2018 — the parent group's small portfolio of higher-design Wyndham assets that includes the Grand Bay Singer Island and the Grand Bonnet Creek. The 600-acre site occupies a wedge of north-east coast where the El Yunque mountain mass meets the Atlantic, with a two-mile private beach on the Atlantic side and the two championship courses (the Ocean Course by Tom & George Fazio, the River Course by Greg Norman) on the inland side. The main building is a low-rise three-storey crescent that runs parallel to the beach; the 400 rooms and 19 suites are arranged so that almost every key has either a Yunque view or an Atlantic view from a private balcony.

The standard guest rooms are 475 square feet — larger than the comparable Hilton or Marriott category on the same island — with private balconies, walk-in closets, marble bathrooms with dual vanities, and either one king or two queens. The suite categories include the Junior, Executive, Hospitality and Presidential, with the Presidential occupying the building's south corner with views to both the rainforest and the Atlantic. The 2018-19 Wyndham Grand renovation rebuilt every public room, refreshed every guest key, added a beach-club wing, and rebuilt the resort's pool complex into a five-pool waterscape (the central infinity pool, the family pool with a 360-foot lazy river and a 110-foot slide, the adults-only Mandara Spa pool, the lobby reflecting pool, and a quiet pool).

The food and beverage programme runs eleven outlets — more than any other resort on the island. The flagship dinner room is Palio (Italian-Mediterranean) at the centre of the resort lobby; Marbella is the courtyard breakfast and Mediterranean buffet venue; the Shipwreck Bar is the open-air beach grill; Iguanas is the poolside Caribbean-fusion lunch venue; the Iguana Bar runs the sunset cocktail programme. The Mandara Spa — 11,000 square feet, 12 treatment rooms — runs an Asian-coastal menu and is the most ambitious resort spa on the east coast of the island. The casino — 5,500 square feet — is the largest in any east-coast property and runs daily until 4am.

The position is the resort's central proposition. The El Yunque entrance is 15 minutes inland; the El Conquistador and Fajardo bioluminescent bay are 25 minutes east; San Juan international is 40 minutes west. The resort runs its own El Yunque private-guide programme (the Mount Britton trail, the La Mina falls, the Yokahú observation tower) as a half-day excursion. The Atlantic beach is moderate-surf and good for swimming October–April but exposed during September hurricane season. The Tom & George Fazio Ocean Course is consistently ranked among the top three Caribbean public-access courses; the River Course is harder, longer and quieter. Río Mar reopened after Hurricane Maria in November 2017 — among the first east-coast resorts to return to full operation.

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