has anyone been there recently? we are looking to travel there in december/january, and i can't seem to find much info about it anywhere. we usually stay at hyatts because we travel enough to cash in our points frequently, and are happy with the chain in general - especially the regency floors. however, the prices for dorado in january were STARTING at $675 per night according to the hyatt website, and that seems a bit ridiculous. they were much cheaper in november/december, but some dates were already sold out, and we would like to go as late in winter as possible, and miss the christmas rush.
generally we are looking for a large resort, with lots of food choices, golf, scuba/snorkel, big pools with plenty of staff, a great beach with clear water, and a locale with things to do outside the hotel. i also like to go jogging whereever i travel, so if anyone has insight on that, please share! i read some good reports of old san juan and the rain forest, too, so any advice on those places will be helpful! we are traveling with a then-2-year-old, as well.......

by the way, if anyone posting has questions about any other hyatts, just ask - i've been to maui, kauai, park hyatt chicago, hyatt reg. chicago, grand cypress, new orleans.

THANK YOU!!!

This may not be helpful but I am staying there from 2/27-3/5 and would be happy to report on your questions when I get back. Have you taken a look at tripadvisor.com? There are some recent reviews posted.

darn! i can't believe i forgot about tripadvisor! thanks!

We are owners at Hyatt Hacienda Del Mar, the sister resort of Hyatt Dorado and we love the entire resort which is really three resorts in one -- HDM, Dorado and Cerramar (although the rooms at the Cerramar are currently closed, but all facilities are open). Five years ago we spent a week at the Dorado and loved it so much we bought the timeshare at HDM. It's a great resort, tons of property, jogging/bike paths, etc. However, there is no way we would pay $675 a night. Those are Four Seasons level prices and the resort is nice, but the service and facilities are not Four Seasons caliber (I was at the 4S Punta Mita last winter and paid less than that for a package with breakfast and unlimited golf) I know there are deals to be had on priceline and through travel agencies. However, if you are bringing a young child, I highly recommend you stay at Hacienda Del Mar, which is the condo section of the resort and a great place for kids. Kiddie pools, kids club, river pool, water slide, hands down our kids' favorite destination. Search on tripadvisor for Hyatt Hacienda Del Mar. You can book rooms through Hyatt Vacation Club.

bumping this to the top......

We are traveling to Hyatt Hacienda Del Mar in March an would like a current report of anyone who has recently stayed at the resort. Thank you in advance.

We just returned Saturday from the Hyatt Dorado and had a very nice stay there. We stayed in one of the Su Casa rooms and the ocean was literally 50 feet from our patio (we were on the ground level). The room was decorated very nicely - I loved the large walk-in shower. I had read that furnishings were "tired" or needed updating but we did not find this to be the case at all. There were some service inconsistencies but nothing major (my main complaint would be that I was there partly for a business conference and the hotel was very ill-equipped for business travelers). If you eat at the Su Casa restaurant, do not order the duck. Mine was overcooked and dried out. Everything else there was good. All of the other food we had at the resort (and at the Japanese restaurant at the Cerromar) was very good.

I would be happy to answer any questions. We also stayed 2 nights at the Marriott in San Juan and I would be happy to answer any questions on that as well.

It looks like you stayed at the Hyatt Hotel. Did you talk to anyone that stayed at the Hacineda Del Mar next door?

They are both Hyatts - We stayed at the Hyatt Dorado. I did not talk to anyone who stayed at the Hacienda del Mar. We went over there to eat - it seemed really deserted in the evening, except for the casino. The Japanese restaurant was very good - the service was brisk - it seemed like they wanted everyone out of there ASAP and it was not full. The food was excellent though.

Alex, What did you think of the Marriott in San Juan. How's the location, and the beach there?

We all liked the Marriott there (we were with 2 other couples). I had read bad things about the location - it is true that there is some construction going on around the hotel but we found the location to be very convenient for walking to restaurants and things. It is also convenient to the airport (about a 7-10 minutes cab ride - I think it was $13) There is music and dancing on the weekends in the lobby area which is very fun. I had read that the rooms could be loud because of this but none of us could hear it (we were all on the 7th floor and up). We thought the beach was nice - there is a strong current but my friends and I had no problems swimming in the ocean. We never even laid out by the pool - we spent all day at the beach. I liked the little cafe in the lobby - you could get a good coffee and bagel or pastry and take it out to the beach with you in the morning. The gym is pretty nice too - several treadmills and ellipticals, as well as weight machines. I do not know if I would have wanted to spend a whole week there unless I was using it just as a base for exploring other places (rainforest, Old San Juan) but for 2 nights, it was perfect. We found that the bartender in the casino made better drinks than the ones at the lobby bar (bigger and stronger for the same price).

Just for reference, we are all in our early 30's, professionals (lawyers and doctors), and well-travelled.

"well-traveled" - I hit post too quickly

Alex, thanks for the info. We are a family of 4 (2 teens, 14 yr old boy & 16 yr old girl) and will be there for there for 5 days. We do plan on doing some site-seeing, maybe renting a car for a day and visiting El Yunque and other parts of the island. We also plan on exploring the local area (Old San Juan), but mostly relaxing. I requested a room on a high floor because I did read the lobby area can get noisy.

As it turns out I have some Marriott reward freebies, and that's partly why I picked this hotel. I also wanted to be walking distance to town and restaurants and was afraid Isla Verde may not work as well for that (I don't really want to eat in expensive hotel restaurants with my kids).

Are lounge chairs readily available at the pool and beach, or do you have to be up at the crack of dawn to secure them?

We chose the Condado area because one of my friends that we went with has family in Puerto Rico and is a frequent visitor to the island and she really prefers Condado to Isla Verde. It is closer to Old San Juan and we could walk to lots of restaurants, shops, etc... I am glad we stayed in Condado. Isla Verde seemed nice as well but it's pretty close to the airport (frankly, anything seemed better than February in Chicago). The weekend we were there, the Marriott was completely booked so I don't know what the "norm" is but generally, the pool chairs were filled much earlier than the beach chairs. There were tons of loungers at the beach and they would put them anywhere you wanted. We also rented an umbrella for $12/day. I would recommend this if you plan to spend the day at the beach - the sun is strong! On Saturday, we went down to the beach around 10 and there were no pool chairs left (you walk through the pool area to get to the beach). On Sunday, we went down to the beach around 8:30 and there were still chairs by the pool. It seemed like it was a very popular hotel for pre- and post- cruise passengers. We saw lots of people with nametags and luggage tags for cruise lines and tour groups. Overall, we were very happy with our choice of this hotel. I would definitely stay there again. Oh, there is a Walgreen's right down the block (go right out of the hotel) - we bought water and snacks there. Go a little farther and there is a Wendy's (much cheaper than the burgers for lunch at the hotel). There is a Starbucks and an ice cream place right across the street. The two nice restaurants we went to were Trattoria di Parma, which was a tapas place (very good) and Ajili Mojiji which is Puerto Rican (also very good). Both are walking distance (go right out of the hotel). We went to the rainforest and loved it and then went to Luquillo Beach (very close to the rainforest) and it is beautiful.