My wife and I stay at the Rio Mar from April 20th - 25th. We arrived late at night and was happy to see that the front desk staff had already made up our keys, maps, etc for our arrival. (We got a great upgrade to an ocean view suite).

We opted for the self-serve parking ($15/day) instead of the valet and that worked out great....a bit of inconvience to go to the valet desk to validate our parking ticket everytime you leave the hotel garage.

Room was nice. Large comfortable room with a real nice balcony with table and chairs....great for enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning. Housekeeping did a great job everyday and we got turn-down service everynight.

Beach was great. Seas were NOT rough at all. I've seen much bigger waves in Rhode Island....nothing to worry about here. Always lots of chairs and umbrellas available all day long. Pool (adult) also nice...quiet in contrast to the kids pool which got pretty crazy at times....lots of kids at the resort the week we were there.

We only ate at the resort one day at Aqua Luna.....pretty good seafood, not a huge menu. But excellent service and good wine list. (~ $120 for 2).

We also ate at the following local restaurants:

Richies - good PR food -- 4 minutes drive from hotel-- good view (not sooo great at night though...go for lunch) ~ $100 for 2

Metropol - OK PR/Cuban food - 15-20 mins from hotel -- ~ $75 for 2.

Don Pepes -- VERY good PR food -- 5 minutes from hotel -- ~ $80 for 2.....don't be afraid of the surroundings.......safe area!

At at Raices in Old San Juan one night..........Local PR food (more upscale) better food at Don Pepes -- ~ $110 for 2.

Took a drive up to the rainforest one morning....highly recommend the trail to Minas Fall...about 1.5 miles roundtrip....well paved trails.....nice hike!

We also went to Amigos grocery store (ask front desk for directions) and picked up beer, snacks and a small cooler and brought down to the beach everyday. Drinks at the pool/beach are $10.50 each....not really worth it...but what you would expect at a large resort.

The hotel is very good,is about 40 minutes drive from the airport, is better to take the toll road , takes you faster, there are a lot of police in the streets , given tickets for speeding, so watch it, (i got one) also they stop cars, to see if they had drinks and are driving!!! The hotel is specially good if you want to get away from noise and city live and want a quiet beautiful get away. You get better rates when you book it directly instead of "expedia" at the end, we had to pay$30 extra for every night. The parking for the hotel is very expensive ($18 night) and you DO Need a Car!. The hotel was offering 1 night free, something that we couldn't do, beacuse we used "expedia", so we actually payed more money that what the hotel actually charges.!
Was always clean, good room service, the only thing that bother us it was, that they accept small pets, and we had a barking dog one night. the hotel is beautiful, private with an huge beautiful beach, the service is very good, they have recreation in the beach and in the pool area, food in the hotel is very expensive as well as drinks, but there are 2 good place to eat nearby the hotel, the first one is as soon as you enter the road to go to the hotel in the right hand side, is small, but food is really good, breakfast and luch prices. (Don't mistake with bakery, but bakery has decent breakfast)
The second reaturant is going up the hill passing the hotel entrance there is a restaurant call :" Ritchies Place" the view is Oustanding, the attention and food , very good.
We loved to go there at nigh and at sunset to have dinner.
Don't forget to visit the Bio Bay in Vieques make the reservation with plenty of time of advance and make sure you visit in days of no moon!. it's the best thing I have ever seen along with the visit to the caves. Drive to the caves yourself is not need to pay $84 dollars for the preschedule tour dollars. Vist the fortresses and Old Sanjuan, they are so worth it to see!

The Rio Mar Beach Resort was the perfect getaway for our family since we were looking to relax by a pool and on a beach. The pool(s) set-up is terrific offering volleyball, water aerobics and other activities for the kids as well as an 18+ adult only pool. Only hedges separate the pool area from a beautiful beach front making it easy for the kids to go back and forth. The sand is clean and the waves make for great fun. Valet, housekeeping and restaurant service were all terrific. Front desk and concierge need work... Concierge especially was lacking in information and not very knowledgeable. Minutes away from the El Yunque Rain Forest which was worth touring.

European couple spent 4 nights at Rio Mar from April 12th-16th. Booked trip through Expedia. First time to Puerto Rico.

Rio Mar is very expensive for the somewhat mediocre standard.
The whole resort is of usual 4 star carribean standard, but service/management is of higher quality than in 'spanish' carribean places.

We got a free upgrade from resort view to ocean view, in main building. Write them in advance.
Room was alright - almost nice, but not great. Bathroom was roomy, however, the handyman must have had 10 thumbs and no ruler when doing the installations/tiling.
Floor cold as ice, conditioner noisy and could not do heating. On positive side there were no mosquitos/bugs on this time of the year. :)
Great bed!

The problem with Rio Mar is that you have to pay for what-ever move you make.
25 USD for breakfast buffet, plus some times the waiters add 15% gratuity on the bill.
15 USD per day for wifi in the room.
20 USD per day for parking for rented car. You do want to rent a car to get around. Valet staff have the slowest 'walk' I have ever seen.
Food and beverages are quite expensive, e.g. 5 USD for local beer and 10 usd for cocktails which arent all that. A good lunch or dinner for two will set you back 100 usd plus wine/alcohol.
A dinner in the japanese restaurant scared us off from eating anything else than breakfast in the resort. I cant recall having tasted more bland sushi/rolls/salads anywhere else.

Pool-area was nice, but sunbeds were only good in the adult section. Not enough sunscreens. 150 USD for renting a poolside cabina/tent-roof per day - crazy!
The iguanas were funny - suddenly running down the palms - even moved around near the pool. Do go for iguana feeding at 11.00 - especially if you are childish or have kids.
The beach was nice too, but somewhat windy. Surf probably too big for kids younger than teenagers. The beach could look a lot nicer with better sunbeds, sunscreens and decor, but as it is now, its not attractive to lie there.

You need a car to get out of the resort. We had diner at Richie's app. 1 mile up hill to the right. Fantastic view, friendly service and very nice food. Generous portions.
The best food we had was at La Parilla app. 10 minutes drive on eastern beach. Perfect seating for having dinner and watching the sun go down. Really nice food, with a good local touch, but huge portions. Friendly service and reasonable priced. Many regulars. Probably a busy area in week-ends. Dont get scared off by the local touch of the many kiosks there.

Do drive up El Younqe rain forrest. Fantastic to drive uphill through the jungle, great views, water falls, fantastic nature. Unfortunately, it was raining cats and dogs when we were there, so we didnt go walking on the tracks.