My husband and I booked this trip as a graduation present for my nephew. We selected Ponce, due to its location on the Caribbean side of Puerto Rico. Overall, the hotel was clean, the staff was extremely accommodating, and we enjoyed our 6 day stay. It wasn't perfect in all respects, but setting proper expectations for the ages and interests of those in your travel party could help when deciding on this property. Below is a recap of our experiences.

Staff- Excellent. Upon arrival, we were given a standard room in the Executive Tower. (2 double beds and a single person sofa bed -all in one room) for my husband and me and two 18 year olds teens. We booked a two room suite, so this was unacceptable. After much hard work from Rose Maria Alvarez, the hotel day supervisor, she rectified our situation and we were given side by side rooms. Kudos to her for recognizing the importance of honoring reservations, providing good customer service, and maintaining the loyalty of a Gold Hilton Honors member. We were also impressed by the valet staff that drove us to the Golf club each day, and the activities staff member at the club who helped us push our kayaks (and assist my nephew in getting back in).

Food and Accommodation - Stay in the executive tower if you can. It is newer, and you have access to the Executive lounge. A continental breakfast was free each day, and they also had free drinks while you were in the lounge (sodas, waters, juices, etc.) The food at the hotel is average at best. Bar food at the pools, or two buffets (one at the hotel and one at the golf club). For lunch, the buffets are $22. We purchased a buffet discount coupon booklet that provided 10 lunch buffets @ $13 a piece. We would check out the items on the hotel buffet first and then decide if we wanted to ride over to the Golf Club buffet for another option. In general, the food and the view are better at the Golf club.

RENT A CAR! We did, and ate dinner out near the mall in Ponce each night. It is about 5 miles away, but you'll want to leave the property as there is nothing else to do around the hotel. While there is a mini mart and gift shop on the property, we bought snacks, soda and water at a store near the mall. The rooms had refrigerators, and with sodas at $2.25 a pop at the hotel, you'll save some money.

Activities - My husband and I planned to dive using a shop in Ponce and a shop in Guanica. Unfortunately, not enough divers for EITHER shop to go out, so no diving for us the entire week. This was extremely disappointing and bizarre for the Caribbean. My husband played golf at the resort on 2 days. I spent most of my time at the Golf club pool and beach, which is much nicer and quieter than the hotel pool and beach. Despite being on the Caribbean side of PR, the water is not crystal blue as you would typically expect if you've been to other Caribbean destinations. Sand is brown/gray. Not great, but ok. We also used the fitness center which has old equipment, but has everything you need from machines to free weights. In short, this was a relaxing break from work, but not the dive trip we had hoped for.

The 18 year olds in our party struggled a bit. While there was tennis, basketball, table tennis, and the pools, they became somewhat bored after a few days. There are no planned activities (like volleyball games and other activities that you typically find at beach resorts). There seemed to be a lot of locals there that were part of a "summer club" and weren't too accepting of the guests. With nothing around the hotel to do either, they "relaxed" a lot. :)

Despite this, we are not too hard to please and enjoyed the time away. I hope this information helps those reading to determine if this is the best setting for you. At the end of the day, the hotel was clean, offered good amenities, and is the right choice for those wanting to simply get away and relax.

The hotel only has one pool that was extremely overcrowded with people, the other pool was in the golf club which is about a 5 minute drive, I would recommend the golf course, it was beautiful. But the actual hotel looked like it hadn't been renovated since the 80's, & it was not very clean, our room smelled like a bad car freshner, we didn't even have a duvet cover on our bed there were just two sheets wrapped around the dirty comforter, the food was just OK, I guess I just expect more when you are paying 250 a night.

My sister, my 2 year old daughter and I stayed at the resort for 8 days and 7 nights. We had a room in the Executive Tower. The rooms were nicely furnished. I was impressed with the marble bathroom and the removable spray shower heads (note there are no bathtubs in these rooms just showers). The beds were cozy and the linens were nice. We had a wonderful time and we were impressed with the facilities and its grounds. The pool was very big and one day we even visited the other pool on the property (by the golf course) and that pool was gorgeous as well. Note: the resort provides a free shuttle to transport you between the two. Also there’s not a lot of natural (i.e. tree) coverage from the sun there. The beach was beautiful, clean and safe, note there’s not much waves, if you want waves beach on the San Juan side provide this. They have a playground for the kids with included things like a jungle gym, swings and sea-saws. My daughter enjoyed them. We ate a late buffet lunch daily in the restaurant, the food was quite good and the selection was also good. We rented a car which allowed us to drive back and forth to San Juan and downtown Ponce as needed. I would definitely recommend renting a car if you stay on this side of the island. You’ll be glad you did and you’ll be able to get around and come and go as you please. Downtown Ponce left a lot to be desired, many of the buildings were closed or under construction. I would recommend checking it out one night when there’s less traffic and you can see things better. This way you can plan and decide what you want to do and then come back another day to do it. There as a nice ice place downtown Ponce across the street from the fountain. All in all we loved it and we would go back.

We stayed at the Ponce Hilton for six nights. The hotel was easy to get to from the San Juan airport. The hotel staff was very friendly. The room was very large and clean. The king size bed was very comfortable. I would recommend staying in the Executive Towers because you have access to a continental breakfast and the Internet in the executive lounge. I highly recommend eating at Sancho's Sushi at the hotel. They have the best sushi and the service was awesome!

Definitely rent a car when staying in Puerto Rico. There are so many beautiful beaches around the country within several miles. There are tolls on some of the roads so make sure you have quarters. Driving is simple as long as you stay on the main highways. Once you start getting off the main highways the roads are very narrow and scary.

Puerto Rico is a beautiful country.