Destination Wedding - Puerto Rico

My FI and I are going next week to Dorado, Puerto Rico, in hopes of booking a destination wedding at the Hyatt Dorado Beach and Country Club. Has anyone ever been there? We're very excited -- we love the photos and the information listed on the website, and it looks beautiful. We have an appointment to get a two hour tour of the hotel with a wedding coordinator so we can see all guest rooms, restaurants, activities, etc. We've worked with a great travel agent from this site (FM if interested) and hopefully everything will go very smoothly.

Does anyone have any advice for us before we head down to PR and hopefully book a date for our wedding?!?!

TIA :)

Chrissy

Aw, I am so jealous!

I grew up in the next town over from Dorado and went to Elementary school there...it's a nice beach town. Simple and clean. About 1 hour away from the San Juan/Metropolitan area which is nice, I personally dislike San Juan.

The Hyatt is such a nice property and the food is supposed to be great (but I'm biased because my aunt used to be a chef there).

The beaches are really nice in that part of the island (the northeast coast)...Cerro Gordo is nearby (in Vega Alta) as well as Mar Chiquita (in the Manati/Vega Baja vicinity).

It's a small island, you could get anywhere easily and the signs are easy to follow. Just don't drive at night (anything past midnight)...it's not the safest.

As for what to do...Vieques and Culebra island are great one day trips...El Yunque (our very own Natural Rainforest and the largest in the Caribbean). There are lots to do and yet you could still do nothing at all!

Check out Go to Puerto Rico

Feel free to FM me if you have any specifi questions...good luck!

ETA: In the picture below...Dorado is between 'Manati' and 'Bayamon'


This site is helpful: click here

Thanks so much for the info.

I sent you a FM!! :)

I have family near there (in Vega Baja) so I will call them and see what they recommend.

Also check out tripadvisor.com and do a search on the hotel. You might find some reviews in there of other couples who had their destination wedding there as well.

PS The beaches in that area are beautiful, and I agree with the not driving after midnight rule. Although the roads are better now with the Autopista (Highway) which was not there years ago!!!

Also be very careful on side roads!!!! A lot of them are barely wide enough for 1 car let alone 2 cars in both directions!!!

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Posted by BKtoLI
I have family near there (in Vega Baja) so I will call them and see what they recommend.

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I grew up in Vega Alta...small world!

Yes it is, I went to my cousin's wedding in Vega Alta I think. I wish I had my scanner, I would scan the pics!!!

All I remember is that winding white knuckle drive of winding roads off the highway and around the mountain to get off by Almirante (I think my grandmother is in Almirante Sur all the way near the top of the hills) and having to go 20mph because I was scared to death of going too far to the left and driving off the cliff!! I do remember seeing a small waterfall on the drive.

I went there last year, and next time I have to go, I'm letting FH drive!!!

Thanks, BKtoLI!! I'm happy to see that there are some LI brides on here originally from the area -- you are obviously the best ones to ask about places to go, things to see, etc....

I'm very excited -- I've never been to PR, and we originally were going to stay in San Juan, but I did some reading about Dorado, and it sounded beautiful.

I will be sure not to spend too much driving after midnight. I wouldn't want to break down in a 'shady' area. What is Dorado like at night? Is it a safe area?

Keep the feedback coming :)

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Posted by BKtoLI

Yes it is, I went to my cousin's wedding in Vega Alta I think. I wish I had my scanner, I would scan the pics!!!

All I remember is that winding white knuckle drive of winding roads off the highway to get off by Almirante (I think my grandmother is in Almirante Sur) and having to go 20mph because I was scared to death of going too far to the left and driving off the cliff!! I do remember seeing a small waterfall on the drive.

I went there last year, and next time I have to go, I'm letting FH drive!!!

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OMG I so don't want to hijack CS020604's post...but I lived in many places during my childhood (my mom moved all over Vega Alta)...Bajura Almirante being the very last one! For the last 2 1/2 years of my PR life I lived there...how crazy is that? On top of a mountain so steep that it was nearly impossible to drive there. Yes, I know the winding roads very well...whenever it would rain and we would get flooded we were sutck at home.
The waterfall! OMG...that's right as you're leaving 'el pueblo' and going on that tiny street onto Bajura...how cool!
My aunt lives in Maricao which is even steeper and windier (is that a word?! LOL).

Anyway...nice to meet you...I see you have great taste in halls!

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Posted by CS020604

Thanks, BKtoLI!! I'm happy to see that there are some LI brides on here originally from the area -- you are obviously the best ones to ask about places to go, things to see, etc....

I'm very excited -- I've never been to PR, and we originally were going to stay in San Juan, but I did some reading about Dorado, and it sounded beautiful.

I will be sure not to spend too much driving after midnight. I wouldn't want to break down in a 'shady' area. What is Dorado like at night? Is it a safe area?

Keep the feedback coming :)

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Dorado is beautiful...it's a beach town so it's slow paced...but because of tourism (the hotels and the beach brings in a lot of tourism) it's relatively safe and clean. It's not a 'shady' area at all.

The thing about driving at night is not the area, but rather carjackings. And they do that anywhere. There's actually a law that past midnight, provided there are no cars coming, you don't have to stop at red lights. It's that bad.

But that's because it's a small island and our youth is lost and has nothing better to do. The 'barrios' or ghettos are like in every place...scary!

Like I wrote earlier, Fajardo (El Conquistador) and Dorado are in opposite sides...Dorado is sort of a more 'native' route. It's actually known for golf since it has pretty good golf courses. Fajardo is closer to San Juan, El Yunque, Vieques, etc. everything 'tourist'.

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Posted by CS020604

Do I have to worry about being out in Dorado at night? Or should I just becareful driving late at night in general (not that we would be anyways)....I'm just trying to get a feel for the area for our future guests... :)

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The island in general.

The Dorado area is nice and quiet...but the carjackings are island wide...I don't want to scare you, but I have to be honest.

If your guests are partiers, can I recommend having the wedding at one place (say in Dorado) and then blocking rooms in San Juan and Fajardo? It's not far and I'm sure you can arrange transportation...although you can pretty much from Dorado to San Juan/Fajardo in 1 to 2 hours with no problems.

But don't listen to me too much...go and see for yourself...see which place you're leaning towards and then I'll give you 'tips' based on that place.

About El Conquistador...yes, they do have to take a ferry to go to the beach but according to my best friend and brother Palomino Island (their own private isle) is completely worth the 10 min trip...and it's included. Plus there's always the gorgeous pools!

Wow -- I didn't realize car jacking was that prevelant down there -- thanks for the advice. It is scary, but I'd rather be informed than be sorry. I'll be sure to tell FI, and we'll make sure that we don't do too much driving late at night. Is it okay to drive at night (early) though? I'm a little nervous now -- but I do appreciate your honesty.

We're going to see how things go in Dorado at the Hyatt -- if we love it, we're going to block out rooms there for our guests. We're going to check out El Conquistador as well to leave our options open. We definitely want to take the ferry ride to see the beach to see if it's 'Worth it'....we hear it is :)

I'm so excited now!!

Can you recommend anywhere affordable to eat?? Is it okay to drive off the hotel resort and venture into the town to eat? (safe, I mean..)

Oh yes, and make sure you have CHANGE!!!!

It felt like every 6 exits or so on the Autopista there was another toll of 25 or 35 cents.

I have heard about the carjacking and not stopping at a red light rule as well, so it must be that my grandmother was not making this up.

My mother has always raved about the El Conquistador. I haven't been to either hotel yet.

What's the not stopping at a red light rule??? Not stopping during the day? night? Geez, I must be honest, I'm a little scared now!!!

Yes...lots of change! The tolls are 'cheap' but they're everywhere! LOL

Definitely go off the beaten path to eat...I'll ask my best friend about places to eat...she did that a lot (I always eat grandma's cooking! ).

Driving is safe at night...it's the 'past midnight' thing that gets scary.

And yes, I don't think you'll be displeased with either the Hyatt Dorado or El Conquistador...although EC is more visually appealing and the fact that it sits atop a cliff can't be beat.

It is safe to drive at night, just be aware of your surroundings and try to be where you're going no later than say 11pm.

I drove around last year, and there were times we didn't get back to the house until 11pm or midnight, and we had no problems, nor was I ever nervous about driving at night. (Other than the damned winding roads up the mountain next to the crazy speeding drivers, but you might not have to contend with this.)

As for restaurants, I don't know many, I was spoiled on home cooking (and I wish I had some right now!!)

There is also a wealth of information on the travel boards on Fodors. I find those people to be extremely helpful all the time.