The Hyatt Grand Regency is on the western side of a peninsula on the coast of Rio Grande. Because it’s right at the end, we could see the sunset and sunrise from opposite ends of the beach. The mountains of the El Yunque rainforest make up the southern backdrop. The large property is spread out with smaller two-story buildings, and we had a ground level garden view. Our king room was spacious and quiet, with a pull-out couch and huge bathroom.
Pool & Beach
The beach was rockier than we expected, and a reef surrounding the shore created a wave -ess swimming area. We found a lot of seaweed, but with that also brought a lot of sea life to watch in the clear water. One feature of the resort was an inflatable obstacle course, with climbing walls, slides, and swings. The beach area never felt crowded; we could easily find lounge chairs at any time of the day.
The main pool area was divided into multiple sections, with a swim-up bar, in-water loungers, and volleyball. For $75, guests could rent a cabana for a full day. There was a second “quiet” pool that was closed during our stay. This may be related to the other highlight of our stay; the filming of the reboot of the TV series Fantasy Island set to air on FOX in August. Some internet sleuthing led me to learn which stars were there, and it was fun to follow their Instagram and realize they were somewhere around the corner. Each night U-Haul trucks brought in a full filming set to another location on the resort, with huge cameras, lights, and cast lounges. I was excited to see an actor I’ve been familiar with for a very long time IRL. He wasn’t disclosing that he was filming this particular location or show, so I’ll keep his identity to myself until his episode airs.
Dining
There were plenty of outdoor common areas around the lobby to dine and relax. On our first night we at pizza al fresco at Water’s Edge. The two table service restaurants onsite didn’t seem extremely vegetarian friendly, so on our second night we chose take-out one night from the onsite café as a more relaxed choice for dinner. For a casual daytime option, we ordered from the poolside taco truck. We were most excited about our last dinner at the Caribbean restaurant, Pasion by Chef Myrta. Alex had the mahi-mahi, and I had my third vacation helping of vegetarian mofongo.
