Royal Isabela

My wife and I just finished a 3 night stay at Royal Isabela. I had wanted to come here for a long time, but before I could do it Hurricane Maria happened, then the Pandemic happened, but, finally, we were able to make it work. The setting is really impressive. A very large property with impeccably manicured grounds and a challenging golf course on top of cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. There are only 20 casitas here, so, even if the hotel is fully booked you rarely see any other guests and at times it feels like you have the entire resort for yourself. I recommend booking a Royal Suite with Ocean views. The Presidential Suites are bigger and more expensive but don't offer direct unobstructed ocean views from the room itself. The location of the resort is perfect to make it a home base for a multi-day tour of the northwest corner of Puerto Rico: Arecibo, Isabela, Aguadilla, Rincon, the Gozalandia Falls. Plenty to do in this area. Highly recommend renting a car if you are going to stay here. Is about a 1h20 min to 1h45min drive from the SJU airport. Much closer to the Aguadilla Airport. They have a full service restaurant, Jota, that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with a varied menu. They also offer room service. Food was really good. Service was not always the most efficient, but we found it very friendly and useful. You will certainly experience the famous Puerto Rican hospitality here. We loved our stay, and will definitely come back. However, there is some room for improvement. The casitas have not been properly maintained. They are very close to the ocean, which means that the salty air corrodes any exposed metal parts and those need to be replaced frequently. That has not happened here. That resulted in our room having door locks that didn't lock, French doors to the patio that didn't fully open, sliding room divisions that were stuck and a shower head (one of 3 in the shower that didn't work). Also, our wooden deck obviously had not been retouched/repainted in many years. The "distressed" look did not work. This resort was sold last year. Hopefully, the new owners will invest more in proper, and much needed, maintenance,

It’s hard not to appreciate being away from home in Chicago but a getaway to Puerto Rico was just what the doctor ordered. With my partner and newborn (6 months), relaxation and minimizing efforts was key. Royal Isabela is well perched on top of the terrain with breathtaking views of the ocean and a manicured gold course to experience. The heat is to be expected with minimal time spent in the sun, where fighting for shade or the pool is a must. Not being a golfer was a disadvantage as I would have liked the course but much less the blazing hot sun. Our on-site resort excursion, as a result, was only limited to the long 177-step trek down to the ocean beach. Quite exhilarating to experience along with the feel for lots of foliage surrounding your descent and an amazing feeling of seclusion, like being in the deep forest. However, reaching the beach was a very desolate and seemingly uncharted zone. No chairs, or amenities to support this arrival (No water, chairs or towels) so you’re on your own to just experience the view and waves and trek back up. However, there are some things not to be desired at Royal Isabela. At this price point (+$500 paid), one of the most expensive around, housekeeping should happen more frequently, automatically and not after 12/1pm. We would wake up, have breakfast, head to the pool and then see housekeeping knocking on our door. Our response was always, come back, you had your chance all morning, it’s time for the baby’s afternoon nap. Similar resorts in Mexico have housekeeping multiple times a day voluntarily, and with staff that is overly friendly in greeting guests. Also, bringing the room towels, refreshments and water in a large plastic clear bag was also super low-class service that are found typically in a seedy cheap motels. Food at the Resort restaurant was very, very, tasty. My favorite was the Brioche French Toast, prepared to perfection along with the toppings for a new flavor experienced. However, the WAITING & WAITING around for service was simply absurd. While having breakfast, a coffee refill takes 15-20 minutes, and we were the only guests eating. How is that possible anywhere for a resort restaurant, and this lasted for our entire four-day stay. Even the memory of the same server to constantly ask for the same repeat request for coffee at the start. Asking and requesting everything is how they operate, nothing is proactive done on your behalf as a guest. I was told that it’s the Puerto Rican way, which in that case, save lots of money and find a decent hotel elsewhere with better service. The porters near registration were fantastic as they were alerted of your arrival at the parking lot, to provide pickup and drive you to the room in the cart. Quite helpful usually with a sleeping infant on the hilly terrain. Overall, An “A” Grade for the view, grounds, accommodations and experience of being away. An “F” Grade on the service, housekeeping, and interaction with the staff

I have been coming here since it first opened. It has not been the same since the hurricane. The owners never put the needed money back into it. But this last visit the rooms have really degraded. In my 5 day stay I could not get an operating safe. I also had a door that you could not lock; not a great combo. I was told I could put my valuables with security but that would have been an effort. There is a lot of walking required when staying here. In the room the shower leaked a lot constantly. There are 2 TV's one did not have a remote that you need to operate the TV the other was locked on one channel. Bathroom is big but the towels are small. There are beach towels in the room but none at the pool. For service to the room was about 50/50 for ice request. We took to getting our own. I had wash cloths the first day but could never get another fresh one. The room ran out of TP. Floors need to be redone, Outside cushions need to be replaced, some lights did not work. I tried to speak to Maria the hotel Manager. She was not there when I check out and did not return my call. The restaurant was very good. Allow an hour for breakfast regardless of the number of people sitting. If you want a quicker breakfast there is a grill by the pro shop that is quick and good. Staff at the restaurant is very good. Raymond and Sofie took good care of us. The golf course is stunning the best design in the Caribbean. About 80% of what it was upkeep wise pre hurricane. Before the hurricane it was one of the best courses in the world and a well kept secret. I paid about $750 per night. If everything was 5 star the casitas would be worth twice that. At this time they probably are not worth the 750. I know the place recently changed hands and plans probably are not finalize on how to make the resort profitable. But things like refreshing the casitas and restoring the golf course have to be done regardless of any future design. There is no evidence of any money having been put into the place. I will be back but I hope to see some changes and would love to hear the plans the new owner are making.

Incredibly beautiful property with gorgeous views from all over. The casitas are spacious, well maintained and have incredible bathrooms. Rooms have a plunge pool on the deck and a huge shower that opens onto the deck which we loved Soft drinks, water and beer were restocked daily in our room for free The service at the restaurant can be a bit slow, but the food is very good and reasonably priced for a resort of this caliber There are several pools around the property and one tennis court. The golf course also has great views on many holes and some fun layouts. It was not in tip top shape, but we rarely saw another group when playing so it’s a fun resort course for players of all levels The only drawback here is that the beach is a bit of a trek Overall this is a very lovely, relaxing and enjoyable hotel for couples

Positives : 1). Let’s start with our room- we had the presidential suite: number 20. It’s the largest and has a walk out balcony that ends cliff side and has lounge chairs with a view of the beach below. The walk in showers are fantastic. The oversized private hot tub is great . The grounds are nothing short of phenomenal. By far the nicest in all of Isabella. Sunsets galore and ocean views that go on for miles. 2.) This casa is very private- (and has the only real private walkout deck terrace of any room on the property). Your private grounds around suite 20 are ….Absolutely stunning— Wild birds, hermit crabs, iguanas. All Pristinely maintained and what you would expect at a golf resort. It’s like you have a slice of the rainforest in your backyard. In summary : If you want to come here stay in 20 and not interact with anyone, order room service and hang out at your 1000 sq ft suite, take dips in your private hot tub and then wash off with open doors to the nature under a rain head shower …..then this place is phenomenal. I would come again, but only under these circumstances. Let’s first note that I read all the reviews on the property before I booked here. I chalked the negative ones up to just “temperamental guests”….. Unfortunately, I was proven wrong. During our stay I tried to continue to tell myself that this is island life”, “things here are on island time” ….”they probably have a hard time with retaining of employees” (among other excuses). —— But then I came to realize, I’m still paying 1000$ usd a night to stay here plus meals…That being the case - it’s not acceptable at any level. I’m tired of making excuses for bad service in the service industry and continually lowering my expectations so as not to ever get upset. Now, we get to the issues this property has. (Individually they are small but when you encounter one after the next over a week it ends up in this big and mainly frustrating review.) Negatives: 1.) Child friendly!?!: (why ? …. this is a golf resort and has no childcare or child amenities.) What I encountered is the opposite of my expectations. parents bring their children here by the heard. We couldn’t seem to get away from crying babies at dinner every night. This isn’t acceptable when we paid over 100$-250$ for two people at each sitting to eat. Yet Management just accepts this !?!? Night 1: we had to watch a father change a dirty diaper on the golf course in front of our ocean view at dinner! Yumm! Night 2: we had to move tables to escape the same crying infant. Take your crying baby back to the room! Annoying ! Night 3: we had to ask for another table to make sure not to sit next to the same baby at diner (again crying). And yet again… the father proceeded to change the diaper again on a communal sofa right behind us at the restaurant. Situations like this are not stellar experiences while eating lobster and steaks by the ocean. I would expect this type of behavior at a Sandals Resort but not her

Royal Isabela is breathtakingly beautiful, but my experience trying to plan a wedding there has been HORRIBLE. I filled out the online inquiry form multiple times and never got a response. I called the office and was told they were "in transition" and so I should wait a few weeks to hear from a guy named Eugenio Matas. I was given his email and he responded to me asking how many people I was expecting. He didn't answer any of my initial questions or congratulate me on my engagement. After I told him how many people we expected, he ignored my email for over a month even while I sent follow ups. He only responded after I called he front desk asking if he still worked there. Shockingly, he wanted to know if I could meet that exact same day, as if I should rearrange my entire schedule after being ignored for a month. Because I was so curious about the venue, I did. We scheduled a phone call to discuss wedding packages (I still had zero information - no brochures, menus, prices, etc.). I sent him a list of questions I had and a link to photos from a previous wedding there that I was hoping mine would mirror. I called multiple times at the scheduled time and got no answer. I left a message for him at the front desk and he never got back to me. I emailed him asking if he was having trouble reaching me and gave him my number again. Still, no response or apology. The level of unprofessionalism and unresponsiveness I have received from Eugenio is shocking for what is supposed to be a luxury resort. Please don't waste your time trying to plan an event here or working with him.