San Juan: the Ritz Carlton

We stayed at the Ritz Carlton San Juan for four nights and it was a lovely experience. The hotel itself is clean, modern, and the staff is v. friendly and always ready to get you what you need. Our room was on the smaller side, but it was still nicely furnished, had a large bathroom with the toilet in its own room (which made getting ready in the morning and evening easier), and a big television.

The room rates aren't crazy extravagant here, unless you want a fancy suite, but a fancy suite in most hotels will set you back anyway. If you want to stay in the Isla Verde area, there are many hotels right on the beach with comparable rates so I suggest you stay here.

Here are some photos shot in and around the hotel.

our first drinks on the island

we had just checked into our room and within a few minutes, it turned into this mess

j being our bartender / getting ready to go out

3-shot burst "photoshoot" x 2

another 3-shot burst photoshoot

flying high on the beach (water was so lovely and warm)

more jumping

sipping coffee by the pool / posing in front of the pool

I should tell a little story about this last photo. Puerto Rico has no squirrels (though they do have mice/rats, as we saw one early on in our trip while we were eating dinner outside). But, they do have lizards all over the place and the most disturbing ones are these huge iguanas. Since they're cold-blooded, they'll creep out of the bushes and then sit where it's sunny for a few hours to warm up and it's the most bizarre thing because they aren't afraid of people (unless you actively chase them). The best iguana story: D and I were half-sitting in the pool, trying to stay cool while reading our respective book and magazine. D moved over to the ledge of the pool where there were also some bushes, folded up a towel and leaner her elbows on it to get more comfortable. Meanwhile, I had just gotten out to dry off a bit and to re-apply sunblock when I heard D yell, "OH MY GOSH," and jump up and drop the towel in the water. That's when I saw the iguana. It had popped up and stuck its face just a few feet from D. It was hilarious. The iguana below isn't the perpetrator from the story, but they look pretty identical. This little guy was just hanging out, trying to get some sun.

iguana!