Two travelers from Europe (currently resinding in NYC & DC)
April, 17-24 2009

Yes, the Parador Costa del Mar has clean rooms, 12 of them with a terrific view over the lawn, the lush trees on to the marvelous blue-green sea. Over a busy weekend these rooms were taken and we got a dark "cell" to the side without above mentioned advantages; but the staff were nice and helpful and offered to move us to an ocean view room on Sunday night. The hammocks on the green lawn invite you for an afternoon nap. But do also climb downhill to the beach - a rope will serve as a handrail - and you will reach the ocean over the rocks. Breakfast was served Monday to Friday half a mile away at the Parador Palmas de Lucia, owned by the same family. This was principally not a problem but the surroundings have clearly seen better times: the littered beach and the welcome "team" in front of the Parador, in form of half a dozen stray dogs, were definitely less than inviting. The Parador Costa del Mare's address, Route 901, highly praised even by Lonely Planet, is in fact by no means as spectacular as described: Dense traffic, no scenic overlooks, an oil refinery and some industrial ruins as well as reckless drivers. And don't expect any nice restaurants on the road or in the area at large. We are surely not picky but all there is are beer halls galore exclusively frequented by male locals and not really the place to enjoy a romantic night out. We checked out the following restaurants in the neighborhood recommended by Lonely Planet: El Nuevo Horizonte, there they gave us a tourist menu with rip off prices - green salad for about 15 Dollars, smell of lobster stew - no way. The staff didn't make any effort to serve us. Forget also Paradise Sea Food Restaurant at Naguabo or Marc's at the Melia in Ponce, the latter one being shut down. What we can, however, really recommend is Palmas del Mar, a marvelous spot (gated community) nestled on a 3 mile palm shore about 10 miles away from Parador Costa del Mar. There you can choose between a few nice restaurants for lunch or dinner: a tapas bar, Bistro Rico, a French restaurant and the rather fancy Country Club, which closes at 7 pm on week nights and 10 pm on weekends.

All in all: Puerto Rico's East Coast can pride itself with unique natural beauty and a wonderful climate hence it is all the more sad to see the public infrastructure so run down.

PROS: Great view - amazing sunset. It looks just like the pictures. The lady working at the front desk is very nice and friendly.

CONS: Oh where do I start ... the place was pretty gross. Put it this way, we got our own plunger. Everything in this place is an "extra"... 25 cents for ice, you have to buy towels for the pool. In the 3 days we were there we only got hot water in the shower once. But, we were pretty happy with that considering on multiple occasions we got no water at all. That's right, no water in the sink, shower or toilet. When we walked over to the front desk (since our room did not have a phone in it - we were told it was broken and never replaced) the lady told us they were fixing some plumbing issues. For 3 days!? And, not to mention that the bathroom itself was pretty gross. It was in desperate need of calking all over, and the water (when it was working) went all over the bathroom. Our bedside table lamp didn't work. We were told it was fixed and never was. The TV is so tiny. You can get a better one free on craigslist... and it only got 2 channels (TNT being one). The wireless Internet... well, that you can ONLY get in a very very very small area. You have your choice of one bench or one tiny table. Not exactly what I was expecting. The pool was SUPER nasty. There were tons (like in the 1000s) of tiny worms in the water just floating all over. It looked like some other people didn't see them because they just jumped right in. YUCK! They do have a basketball hoop on a slab of concrete, but the basket was too low and they didn't have a working ball. The hammock was in a tree with dozens of gigantic caterpillars. EW! We didn't eat the food there, so I can't comment on that. We ended up going to the grocery store and eating sandwiches, since there are no restaurants in the area other than the hotel.

Overall, for 3 days I survived. The view was nice, and I was glad to be in warm weather. I won't however, ever stay there again.

We had a family vacation, my husband, and 3 children. I hadnt included the baby in the reservation who is an infant but I mentioned it at check in and they made me pay extra for him which I was quite surprised. I had a room with double beds. Rooms are nice but in my opinion a bit small. Resort was pretty clean and rooms got serviced most of the time. I believe one out of the six days my room was skipped. We had the pool to ourselves most of the time which the children enjoyed. It a nice place to stay if you want to be away from the city and the touristy areas. Its pretty remote and relaxing. Staff was overall pretty good. Breakfast was nice but mainly same things everyday. There is a great restaurant down the road called Rincon Familiar which has wonderful food. Overall my experience was good, its was pretty inexpensive so you cant expect more than that. The view is spectacular!

My best girlfriend and I were looking for a beach vacation where we could just recharge, reconnect (we live in different cities), and enjoy the sun. The Costa del Mar was PERFECT!

The hotel is small, but lovely, impeccibly clean, and we had a lovely little balcony over looking the pool, but more importantly, the ocean coastline. Sunrises were spectacular. While there isn't a beach on property, there is one very close by owned by the resort, and we got in a ton of beach time on a practically abandoned beach. The quiet was perfect, sometimes we felt like the only people around, which was exactly what we were looking for!

A rental car is a neccessity, but the streets of Yabucoa are easy to navigate, even when you get turned around (as we did more than once). It's a quick jaunt to many a city nearby, and my friend and I had many adventures.

Oh, and breakfast! Totally yummy, made to order everyday, and the best for recharging. The room has a fridge and a microwave, so snacks are easy!

The staff is super nice, they speak English, and are great with directions and recommendations. We really enjoyed our time in Puerto Rico, and if I go back, I'm going back to the quiet serenity of the Costa del Mar!