We were there for 2 weeks in August and they were still filming the Chilean soap opera! Maybe it goes on forever! It was fun watching them set up the scenes and it did not interfere at all with our stay.

Lovely hotel, and the choices for restaurants in Dorado go on and on. We were a group of 7 and ate at a different place downtown every night. All restaurants in town were excellent offering the freshest seafood. Breakfast at Dorado is great, lunch by the pool is OK, dinner, eh, could do much better, go elsewhere. I don't golf, but the golf course is lovely and full of iquanas and birds. There is plenty resort area to walk around and see, they have children's activities and everyone is friendly. Only swim in the marked areas, or sea urchins can be underfoot. Bring your snorkel and some fish food to sprinkle and fish will swim all around you.

My only quibble is the location of the massage room -- they have tiny room stuck in the basement in the back of the icey, cold fitness room. The Embassy suites could surely afford to create a small spa area upstairs where you could soak and have a sunlit massage. It just seems cheesy to go for a massage in a dingy basement next to an underground garage & noisy game room. Come on, Embassy Suites, get with the Spa scene!

We just returned from a 10 day stay at the Embassy Suites with our two children, ages 9 and 6. Storms in the Northeast kept us there for three extra days and the hotel staff was very accomodating in extending our stay. When we arrived late at night we were told the Embassy Suites was overbooked and we were moved to the Aquarius/Golden Sands rooms that are adjacent to the main hotel. The rooms in this building are larger than the Embassy Suites with more substantial kitchens (full sized fridge, dishwasher and a two burner stove). As Embassy Suites guests, we were still able to go to the free breakfast each day and the hotel happy hour in the evening. We ended up preferring the larger room and quieter building. The only con was the housekeeping services were basic - I would have liked a more thorough cleaning each day - two days the housekeeper didn't even show up.
You need a car if you plan on doing anthing in Puerto Rico besides sitting at the hotel pool. We rented one at the airport when we arrived along with a GPS which was a godsend. We visited the rainforest (beautiful), the Arecibo Observatory (we could have skipped this ), Languillo Beach(dissapointing, crowded and dirty) El Morro and Old San Juan (great day) and took an all day catamaran trip on the Spread Eagle II (not a joke) to Icacos, an uninhabited island off Fajardo - the trip was beautiful, but if you have snorkeled before you will find the fish/reefs a dissapointment.
The other days we stayed at the hotel and used the pool which is perfect for kids. The beach sand is coarse and not white, but most of the beaches in Puerto Rico are like that except for the off islands.
There are very few places to eat in Dorado and the places that were recommended were lousy. The Italian restaurant at the hotel, Oregeno, was the worst. The food took nearly two hours to come out, and one hour into our wait they came out to tell my husband he couldn't have the pesto pasta because they were out of pesto. My sons chicken strips were RAW in the middle. The hotel restaurant in the main building was ok, but don't expect to eat well on this trip. Lots of fried food with very few options for children. The pool bar was perfect for a late lunch in our bathing suits and the waitstaff was terrific.
We saw them filming the soap opera at the hotel, but there were never any areas closed to guests.
Overall, the value of this hotel is good. The people were very nice and bingo every afternoon was a big hit with the kids! This trip was not as "pampering" as others I have taken, but a smart choice for our family especially having a suite rather than a single hotel room in a major resort. If you keep your expectations reasonable, you won't be dissapointed.

We stayed at the hotel for 5 nights. The front desk staff was very pleasant and friendly. The hotel was very attractive. The location is great. Its a great place for families and kids. They have a lagoon pool a kids pool and a protected bay that keeps the waves minimal. The service at the poolside restaurant was very slow. One day when we ate lunch there we must have waited an hour to get our food. I think the waiter must have totally forgot our order because 30 min after we ordered he came back and told us our food would be a while. We also didn't get service of any sort for the first 15 minutes we were there and had to go to the bar and ask for service. The breakfast and happy hour are great bonuses. We did have a problem when we did some laundry on site and the maid who was cleaning the laundry room had used bleach to clean out the dryer. Our entire load was ruined. When we complained to the front desk they waived our resort fee which was nice, but that didn't really cover the loss of some of our favorite clothes, and some brand new things we had purchased just for the trip. Otherwise we had a pleasant stay and the room was spacious and clean.

This is our third trip to the Dorado area: one at the old Hyatt Dorado Beach (prior to children) and the last two at the Embassy Suites. As we have two your children (ages 30 months and 9 months), the Embassy Suites again lived up to our expectations. The family had a great time, as my sons loved the pool area and the abundance of other kids.

Transportation: As this location is 45 minutes from San Juan without traffic, I would highly recommend renting a car. Also, the restaurants in the hotel are somewhat limited so it allows freedom of choice for dining options. There are major roadways that resemble the US road and street system. The symbols are the same but the language is in Spanish. The speed limits are posted in Miles but everything else follows the metric system. If you can drive in NY, Boston, or Philadelphia rush hour traffic you will be ok on the roads.

Location: Dorado is a sleepy ocean town without much nightlife and no casinos at this time. The hotel is in a gated community in the middle of a golf course.

Hotel Facilities: Standard Embassy suites room with added bonus of balcony. We were thankfully upgraded to ocean front/view room on top room that had a great view of the small beach and medium sized pool area (pool side bar, restaurant, playground, baby pool, and numerous lounge chairs). The gym is outfitted with new Precor? equipment and does focus on the aerobic stuff with limited barbells. Also, there is a game room and coin laundry in lower level area. The beach is small but really hotel use only as access to the area is limited. The beach is protected but does get rocky about 10 or 15 ft out from shore.

Extras: Happy hour 5:30 to 7:30 and free breakfast is a great touch. The breakfast is a great bonus with youngsters. The

General Impressions: The staff was very friendly, welcoming and helpful. It is very family friendly resort (small kids). There are area restaurants and stores for food and supplies, as I will admit the restaurants are somewhat weak. As my son is very picky, we utilized the Applebee’s, Langhorne (Bayamon), and Chili’s (near Aricebo) as he seeks familiarity.