Alex

OK, so I may have spelled Bio..wrong..but I'm interested in knowing if anyone out there has something positive to say about El Conquistador hotel/resort. Also, if I'm going in November, should I just forget about PR all together and try St. Lucia (further south). Please help, its for a honeymoon and we want some privacy, good service, and to feel we have it all right there. THANKS

Diane

I think that would be a fabulous honeymoon. You will be away from San Juan's craziness (which is pretty cool if that's what you WANT) and the El Conquistador resort is magnificent. It is a hop away from Vieques and the bio-bay. I assume you can get the hotel to arrange a trip over for you and your bride. From what I hear, they take care of any of your needs.

ken

Alex- check out the forum at caribbean-on-line.com for travelers info on St. Lucia. <BR> <BR>I've done both islands pretty extensively, and depending on your preferances, either place is great! If you want a fast paced ,cosmopolitan nightlife,you would want to be in San Juan. If you want relaxation on probably the most beautiful caribbean island, then you want the Soufrierre area of St. Lucia. If you want a little of both, stay at Conquistador,party in San Juan, take day(or two or three) trips to the spanish virgin islands of Culebra and Vieques their beaches are astounding especially, Flamenco and Zoni on Culebra, which is a little less contoversial than Vieques due to recent protests over the military base there. That said don't miss the biobay on Vieques!www.biobay.com <BR> <BR>My personal choice for a honeymoon would be Soufrierre, choosing among Anse Chastenet,Ladera, or Jalousie-Hilton. Their prices are on a par with El Conquistador-steep! You will hear about Sandals(2 locations)on St. Lucia, they are in the northern,more cowded,less beautiful part of the island. But if you want to be in an all-inclusive couples only location Sandals might be your place. Any specific questions,contact me at my e-mail.

Louis

If you want an large isolated resort rated 4 diamonds by AAA that is part of the Wyndham chain that has just about everything, I don't see how you can miss. It is situated on about 500 acres in a rather remote area of Puerto Rico on a 300 foot bluff. It has around 900 rooms, a large number of casitas and 11 restaurants. You have all water sports, horseback riding, golf and its own island with transport. Their honeymoon packages appear to be a good value since they include the 21% tax. If you want real isolation you should consider a casita. From your location you are not easy distance to other parts of Puerto Rico but you may have everything you want right there. You are not walking distance or inexpensive taxi distance to anywhere. I don't know how your bioluminescent bay got into the act as I know of only two areas. One is on the other side of Puerto Rico and the best one in on the island of Vieques. Where you are located is not far from the ferry to Vieques. However you need to stay there overnight if you want to visit the bay. If it is still operating, the Casa Francis is a real funky place to stay where one boat operation to the bay originated at one time. When I say funky I don't mean anything grand. Also it is not on the water. The only good beaches on Vieques are on US miltary property and you need a car to get there. I don't know of anything equivalent to El Conquistador on St. Lucia in size that has such a large variety of activities or facilities.

Susan Park

El Conquistador is a dump! I was there in October of '99 and the room was so outdated, the bed was awful, they keep the hotel lobby and restaurants at about 60 degrees. We were there with low-capacity and they would not change our room because the bed was so soft so they put a board between the springs and box springs for $365 a night! The promote the view which is nice but the rooms need updating. We were sorely disappointed and so were our friends but the pool area is nice. That is the only good thing I can say about it. I wrote two registered letters to the managment group in Texas and both letters went unanswered. What does that tell you?

Tom

Do not let Susan scare you. There may be advantages and disadvantages of staying at El Conquistador, but I can assure you that it is not a "dump." Granted, I haven't been there in 3 years, but I do not know how the rooms could be "so outdated" since the hotel itself isn't all that old. <BR> <BR>El Conquistador is a large, self-contained, expensive, beautiful and fairly isolated resort. The pool area is very nice, as is the private island. The views are excellent and I had all positive experiences with the restaurants. While I did experience a problem with the package on which I was booked, the hotel was very accomodating and was more than generous in its response. <BR>As I have not been to St. Lucia, I cannot compare the two islands.If you decide on Puerto Rico, depending on how much time you have, you may want to consider staying for two nights in San Juan just to experience all of the restaurants and nightlife it has to offer.