Everett Potter's Travel Report

W Retreat & Spa Vieques Island

What’s the Deal: Starwood Caribbean Hotels & Resorts  are dropping their rates for affordable escapes to the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Aruba. Rates start as low as $139 at the following Starwood Caribbean Hotels & Resorts: Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort & Casino, Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino, The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico, The Westin St. John Resort & Villas, W Retreat & Spa – ViequesIsland, and The Westin Resort & Casino, Aruba.

Fine print: You must book by Feb. 22, 2013 The rates are bookable by entering the rate code SNOWESC for travel through April 31, 2013. Please note that these rates do not include taxes and gratuities, are based on availability, and blackout dates do apply.

Details: Visit www.starwoodcaribbean.com.

Puerto Rico

In 1493, on Columbus’s second trip to the Caribbean, he came upon the island of Puerto Rico. Along with Cuba and the Dominican Republic, it quickly became a Spanish stronghold in the Caribbean. Not only is Spanish the official language, but Spain’s influence on Puerto Rico is still seen today in churches and other historic buildings that date back to the 15th century.

Start on the cobblestone streets of Old San Juan, founded in 1509 by Ponce de Leon. You can still see glimpses of the blue stone, adoquine, brought over in ballasts by Spanish ships. Walk the towers and ramparts of Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, otherwise known as El Morro, a fort that was originally built in 1540. Then wander over to the Historic District, undoubtedly the best preserved neighborhood in the Caribbean. More than 400 Spanish-colonial buildings dating from the 17th century have been restored around the outdoor cafes and restaurants. For a taste of Spanish food in San Juan, stop at Picoteo at the Hotel El Convento. Tapas and paella, chockful of fresh, local seafood, are washed down with tasty and strong sangria.

If you have time, take a day trip into the mountains to visit San Germán, a smaller version of San Juan without the congestion. Founded in 1512, the town is the second oldest on the island and its historic zone houses a wonderful collection of buildings, spacious plazas, and monuments.

Once you’ve had your fair share of the city, head 45 minutes from San Juan to the Wyndham Rio Mar Beach Resort. The 672-room resort takes full advantage of its ocean locale, offering scuba diving, sea kayaking, sailing, tennis, a Greg Norman-designed golf course, a 3-mile jogging route, or just plain beach lounging. Don’t miss the opportunity to snorkel and sea kayak in nearby Bioluminescent Bay, which emits a neon blue color from the microorganisms found in the water.

  Steve Jermanok As a columnist for National Geographic Adventure, adventure travel expert at Budget Travel, and regular contributor on outdoor recreation for Outside, Men’s Journal, Health, and Sierra, Steve Jermanok has written more than 1,000 articles on the outdoors.He’s also authored or co-authored 11 books, including Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England and Men’s Journal’s The Great Life. His latest book is Go Now! Put Your Life on Pause and See the World. He’s currently an adventure travel expert at Away.com and blogs daily at Active Travels.

Dorado Beach reborn with Ritz-Carlton Reserve

By Ian Keown

My introduction to Caribbean resorts, ‘way back in the Sixties, was Dorado Beach Hotel on Puerto Rico, and for someone who grew up in moist, misty Scotland, as I did, this was like arriving at the gates of paradise. That long estate-like driveway through massed coconut palms!  Those gleaming fairways!  That art-filled lobby and the breezeway leading to the beach and that oh-so-inviting sea!

In those days, the 100-room Dorado Beach was the showcase of that unique trio of Caribbean getaways crafted by Laurance Rockefeller’s RockResorts, designed to blend low-key, understated luxury with a serenely natural setting — 1,500 acres of a coconut and citrus plantation – a combination that promised the kind of exclusivity that appealed to Sixties’ jetsetters.  More recently, years of drifting from operator to operator have taken the gilt off Dorado, but the current owners have called in the savvy pros at Ritz-Carlton to upgrade and manage what will be, in effect, a whole new resort. While retaining more or less the footprint and many of the acclaimed features of the original it will introduce new levels of luxury, many of which might have startled Mr. Laurance – like rooftop swimming pools, pool cabanas with TVs and i-Pod docks and a spa that’s measured in acres rather than square feet.

Rendering of the new Ritz-Carlton Reserve

When it opens in December next year, the new “Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve,” to use its formal title, will consist of 100 guest rooms and 14 one-bedroom suites plus 13 one- and two-bedroom condominium residences in two four-story buildings that top out above the palm trees (a no-no in Laurance Rockefeller’s era).  The most newsworthy holdover from the earlier resort will be Dorado’s four legendary championship golf courses (guests will be competing for tee times with 1,200 local members, many of whom be available to make up foursomes with visitors who like to team up with players who know their way around the courses).  New features enhancing the nature-oriented setting with its three miles of beach and man-made lagoons will a water park, six tennis courts, 11 miles of hiking and biking track and a Jean-Michel Cousteau Wind and Waves eco-adventure center (which has proved so popular with both adults and children at other Ritz-Carlton resorts).  And then there’s that mammoth spa — 24 treatment rooms (including two “tree-house” suites) and an 8,000-square-foot fitness center with dramatic soaring architecture deployed over five acres of gardens awash in tropical blossoms and greenery.  It may not be my paradise of yore but it looks like Ritz-Carlton Reserve is set to vault Dorado Beach once again into the elite of Caribbean resorts.  (For information: www.doradobeach.com.)

Ian Keown is currently a contributing writer for Caribbean Travel & Life. Over the past 30-odd years his byline has appeared in Travel & Leisure (as a contributing editor), Gourmet (as contributing editor), Diversion (as contributing columnist), Departures, ForbesFYI, San Francisco Examiner, Worth and Opera. His guidebooks include his own series of lovers’ guides: Guide to France for Loving Couples, Very Special Places: A Lover’s Guide to America, European Hideaways and Caribbean Hideaways (which the Miami Herald called “the bible.”).   He is the recipient of the first Marcia Vickery Award for Travel Writing and the first Anguilla 40 Award for in Recognition of Outstanding Contributions to Anguilla Tourism.

Our giveaway contest for a three-night ” Getaway for Two” at San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino in San Juan, Puerto Rico (three (3) nights accommodation for two (2) adults in a deluxe ocean front room, airport transfers, daily breakfast in the 21st floor Executive Lounge and one dinner for two (2) people in Ristorante Tuscany) has just ended, and a lucky winner is already making plans for their San Juan getaway.

But don’t give up — our newest contest, a three night getaway for a family of four to the Gran Real Resort & Casino in Cancun, Mexico, has just begun. Click here to enter – and remember to enter daily!