We went over Memorial Day weekend - and i have to say I was expecting to feel compromised (sp?) after reading the reviews. I thought the service was terrific, the setting was beautiful, and the peace and quiet was just what we wanted. The restaurant was pretty great - paso fino - it's a sleeper I think. There were alot of families but it seemed low - key what a relief not to have spring break crowds or people feeling hassled!! Vieques is worth seeing before it gets discovered - don't overdevelop it!! Of course that is a decade away anyhow. I got stung also by a jellyfish in the bio bay, and eaten by the tourist mosquitoes, but that is a story to tell one's friends anyhow, not a vacation ruiner. I remember the playa caracas especially as being all one could hope for, and the kind staff at the hotel were what I take back with me. I actually got a little relaxed here!!

My husband and I are in our late 20’s/early 30’s and just returned from spending five nights at Martineau Bay. As the last reviewer said, the ferry is NOT WORTH IT. I strongly suggest flying. Not only is it a beautiful, short, and inexpensive flight, the ferry is nothing but a tourist trap and you’ll waste hours of your vacation standing in a looong line in the heat. Upon arrival at the Vieques airport, Martineau Car Rental picked us up no more than 10 minutes after we called them. We had our new Grand Cherokee in less than 20 minutes and were on our way. We had no problems with the car other than...don’t get the key wet, the car won’t start. The hotel is right
across the street from the car rental.

Regarding the hotel, it is very nice. The grounds are lovely, as are the common areas, lobby, and buildings that contain the rooms. Everything was very clean, including our room. We arrived very early (around 11:00 am) and were told they would call our cell phones when the room was ready. They offered to hold the luggage and gave us information on the grounds and the island to bide our time. They offered a guest room to change and the showers at the spa. When we arrived back a few hours later, they provided us with an upgraded ocean view room that was absolutely beautiful. The room had a great soaking tub (no brown water as previously suggested), a minifrig, and
a huge bathroom with walk-in shower. The linens and furniture choices
were very nice. Our balcony overlooked the pool and the ocean. Our room was quiet, although the louvered doors did allow a good bit of light in the morning. Our phone did not work for a few days, but they explained the technician had to come from the main island and it was not a big deal. We had cell phone coverage on the island and at the hotel, except for the remote beaches. Note: the sun rose around 4:30-5:00 am here and set around 6:00 PM. We were not used to being so close to the Equator!

I wanted to make special mention of Carmiann (sp?) at the front desk.
Throughout the week every single person at the hotel was extremely friendly, but she really went out of her way to help us make reservations and navigate the island.

The pool and spa are very nice. Beach towels are plentiful and free. Both the pool and beaches were virtually empty, even on a holiday weekend. There is a swim up bar, but it is Expensive! ($8.00 a drink or more and $4.00 for a 10oz beer). We chose to buy a small cooler at the local grocery and keep drinks in our room or on the beach, or to go out. In my opinion, if the hotel just dropped their prices slightly, they would have made considerably more money from our stay. The restaurant and pool grill have good food. They are also very expensive. Hamburgers are $17, chips and guacamole $8, etc. The main restaurant was open for breakfast (approx $17.00 a person) and dinner ($30 pp and up). There is a small bar outside the restaurant/
lobby area. The bartender, Elijah, is excellent. Drinks are again expensive, but it is convenient. Isabel is only a few minutes drive from Martineau, but the nightlife there is non-existent, so you’ll have to drive the 20 minutes to Esperanza if you want to go out at night. We liked Duffy’s and Bananas in Esperanza for casual dinner and drinks. There are a couple of gas stations and convenient stores just down the street from the hotel.

The roads are narrow and driving is a challenge. People seem to stop,
park, turn, etc anywhere they want. By the end of the week I felt like I could handle anything!

Lastly, the beaches at Martineau are nicer than they appear on the website. They are not as nice as Blue, Red, and Playuela beaches. However, the proximity to drinks, food, and our room made it our beach of choice for most of the week. We spent 2-3 days exploring the island, then rented snorkel gear at Black Beard Sports in Isabel and spent the next three days at Martineau enjoying their beaches and the great snorkeling. There is also a great beach right beside Martineau Bay with good snorkeling.

We did take the ferry when we left Vieques (my husband doesn’t like flying) and it was very slow, pouring rain, and pretty much miserable. Fly!! It’s a $23 flight to Fajardo, $79 to San Juan.

Perhaps this review is a mute point, as the hotel will close at the beg. of August and will become the W Vieques.

My husband and I just got back from Vieques this past week and we both loved it!

Although others have complained about the condition of their room, even with high standards we were both very content. Upon a very friendly check in we were upgraded to an ocean view room overlooking the pool. The room was clean, the a/c worked perfect, and the shower may have showed a little age but was far from unacceptable. The room was very clean, no bugs in the room. Which sounds funny, but always concerns me in tropical locations at even the best of hotels. Only complaint, the fridge never seemed to get cold enough! Not really a problem, we brought along a small cooler for the beach which we used in our room at night.

Not many options for food at the hotel. If we chose to eat at the hotel, we ate at the pool during the day and ordered room service at night. We had the option of dining at the hotel restaurant just chose not to. Room service did send the wrong food to our room (once), however management quickly resolved the situation and provided dinner the following night free of charge. Drinks were expensive, we made our way to the grocery store and purchase our own relatively quick. We enjoyed eating in Esperanza, we especially liked Bananas for the atmosphere.

The pool and beaches were great. Not busy at all. The pool is open 24 hours. No hot tub by the pool which would have been handy at night. I got bit up pretty good the last night while we were hanging out by the pool, so remember to pack bug spray!

We arranged the Bio Bay tour through the hotel. It was more expensive. For both my husband and I we paid about $120 after transportation and taxes. Some people opt to follow the Publico van (which the hotel arranged) in their own car rather than actually purchase transportation, which I'm assuming saved them a few bucks. The tour was amazing (although 3 people in our group did get stung by jellyfish) and the van was waiting to return us to the hotel as soon as we got back to shore. It was worth every penny - jellyfish and all!

We did rent a car from Martineau Car rental which is across the street from the hotel. They picked us up from the ferry. The hotel does not offer a shuttle. We called as soon as we arrived and waited 55 minutes before being picked up. The Jeep was a bit overpriced and run down, but worked and in my opinion a necessity when visiting Vieques. Driving is a bit scary, really skinny roads and fast oncoming traffic. When returning the car they did provide transportation to the airport, which was very timely and made up for the 55 minute wait at the docks when we arrived. By the way, the ferry...although you may be tempted by price, I strongly suggest flying to and from. We took the ferry to and chose to fly back to San Juan (if that says anything).

We plan to revisit Vieques soon and both agree that it was a wonderful vacation. Everyone was friendly and helpful. Both the hotel and island are beautiful, peaceful, and remote.

We stayed at the Martineau Bay resort during April. We had a great time in the resort. The rooms have beautiful tile and the bathrooms are big. Our room had a hot tub that we never used. The restaurant has a new chef and we had a meal in the hotel. It was difficult to find restaurants that were opened during week when we went there. The hotel is closing in August for renovations and it is going to be an exclusive "W" hotel. The beach is small but very nice. There are so many beaches you can go to in Vieques and they are all great. Definitely visit the Bio Bay.