I went to the Copamarina for my honeymoon. This is a great estate, situated on a really remote portion of Puerto Rico (a 2 1/2 hour drive from San Juan International Airport). The landscaping and scenery are second to none, my new wife and I loved all of the beautiful scenery and the laid back atmosphere.

However, we did feel a few crucial pieces were missing to give this resort a better grade. First there is NO room service, so do not plan on taking a morning off and just relaxing in the room. You must go down to one of the two restaurants to get your meals. Another drawback was there is no "honor bar" or wet bar. So, you cannot continue a party back in your room or enjoy a nightcap before bed without going down to the bar and grabbing another drink, which is quite a walk I might add, especially if you're on the second floor of building three. These are minor drawbacks, but when you pay that much money for an "all - inclusive" package, I expect some of these extras to be there, and when they are not it is disappointing.

All in all we had a good time. We had a set back with the snorkeling trip to Gilligan’s island. We went into the surf shop to book a trip for the morning, and we were told that, "the boat was being worked on, so there are no trips." This was fine, what are you going to do? The man also added, "It wouldn’t have mattered anyway, you need a minimum of 6 passengers for them to make the trip." It just so happened that the resort was VERY secluded this particular week, (which I enjoyed). So we cut our losses woke up and rented a double kayak and paddled around all morning instead. When we returned we went up to our room, changed, and then went down to eat at the Las Palmas Cafe. While we were sitting there enjoying our lunch and drinking pina colada's we saw a couple walking out on the dock with snorkel gear. Then, a snorkel boat floated over from the other docks, picked up the TWO passengers and headed off, all this while we sat and watched infuriated at the scene, and of course we weren’t in our swimming gear so running out and stopping them wasn't an option. So they did take as little as two people on the boat, and obviously it wasn't broken. I went in the shop to figure out how this miscommunication could have happened, and of course the guy that fed us the line of B.S. wasn't working that day, and we were leaving the following morning.

So all in all the service is sub-par. A lot of the staff is friendly and a handful of them tend to look at you as a pain more than a customer. The resort is unbelievably beautiful. I have been to the Bahamas and Cancun, and this is as good or better in terms of quality landscaping. Nobody had written about the lack of services for the prices you pay to stay here, and that would have been a factor in my decision to stay here if I would have read that prior to booking this trip. Great getaway location, but the service needs an update.

-RAJ, NH

We loved the tranquillity of this property. I would say that it is definately worth it to get the all inclusive package. We didn't realize how secluded it was and found out that there was really no other place to go out to eat or shop near by. We loved snorkling and being at the beach and pool though, and enjoyed it so much.

We rented a car in San Juan and drove to Copamarina. Just before Ponce we detoured to Tibes to see the very interesting native museum and reconstructed village. The guide was very knowledgeable. It's a challenge to find with few road signs but it's worth the effort and a visit.

The resort is down a very narrow, twisty, hilly road. Once you finally get to the hotel the grounds are beautiful with manicured lawns and lots of flowers and Palm trees. The parking lot was full but the resort never felt crowded. There was enough room for everyone to spread out and find a quiet spot. The many beautiful pictures people have posted of the grounds are accurate.

On the other hand, there are few pictures posted of the rooms which tend to be dark, small and rustic. We had an ocean front room in building three on the second floor with a balcony. Being an old resort the walls are not very thick so it's possible to hear conversations in the rooms on either side of you. There are vent windows over the shower in the bathroom that open onto the walkway and people should know their conversations in the bathroom can be heard by people passing by. Since we were on the second floor we didn't hear anyone walking above us but that might be a problem in the first floor rooms. The bathroom had obviously recently been renovated and was nicer than the one we had in San Juan with a big tiled shower. The room furniture could stand an updating. And as someone previously said the pillows were small, foam and not very comfortable. We used a back cushion from the chair as a pillow and that worked better.
The balcony fan didn't work and two requests to have it fixed were ignored. The balcony furniture was stained and the privacy dividers were lattice so they gave little privacy. However, the view from the balcony was lovely.

We ate dinner both nights at the Alexandra Restaurant. Usually we'd go off site after the first night but the resort is fairly isolated and the thought of driving the twisty road in the dark to return to the resort after dinner discouraged us. On the other hand, we had excellent meals both nights at the Alexandra. We ate one of the chef's seafood specials each night and each was delicious. They were of equal or better quality to the dinners we had in San Juan and of comparable cost. The buffet breakfast at Las Palmas was good with a cook making omelots and waffles but at $16 per person it was expensive for what each of us was able to eat.

The pools were clean and beautiful and it was great that there were two adult pools, two kids pools, two whirlpools, as well as the beach. The water in the pools and at the beach was very warm which I really liked. The beach was very shallow which was fine for me but swimmers walked to the end of the long dock to find deeper water to swim in.

We took the ferry to Gilligan's Island Saturday morning. The ferry and the island were very crowded. Even though only 200 people are allowed on the island each day it's a small island and it fills up quickly. It's a favorite daytrip for local extended families and they know the best places to go early to set up their grills, chairs. etc. There are no services on the island so you need to bring everything you'll need. The resort doesn't rent folding chairs but that would be very helpful since many of the areas have roots and stones which are not particularly comfortable for sitting. We snorkeled along some mangrove island roots and saw lots of Yellow Jacks. The current was very strong but we drifted with it so it worked out okay.

All in all, the resort was pretty much what we expected as far as the rooms but the views, landscaping, and Alexandra's were better than we expected. Copamarina was a restful, quiet break from the hubbub of San Juan. I'm glad we decided to explore the south side of the island. It's a beautiful and peaceful area.

We drove from San Juan to Guanica on our week-long trip to Puerto Rico. (Neither of us had been to PR previously.) We stayed at the El San Juan hotel in San Juan, and this was quite a different experience.

The rooms are, shall we say, 'rustic' and not big at all. The hotel grounds are lush and beautiful, the restaurant Alexandra is excellent and the outdoor, more casual restaurant is very good as well. You really do feel very secluded here. The beach itself is not that great. We were looking for a more tropical beach and decided to take the boat trip to Gilligan's island. We did it on a Sunday and it was super-crowded. We realized that it's a locals hangout on a weekend--and that's fine, but get there early if you want a spot. It would be best to do it during the week and also with water shoes so you can walk through the shallow water without hurting your feet on the rocky bottom. The 'adult' pool was very nice--it wasn't crowded, so it was a nice and peaceful place to relax.

For a low-key atmosphere and a place to relax without all the glitz of a big city hotel, this should fit your needs.