PJ Travel Savvy

A completely different experience. The Copamarina, on Puerto Rico’s south coast, is a lovely, small resort, with not so much to do. You can kayak, mountain bike, or simply lounge on the pretty beach. The water is mellow. The resort has one fancy restaurant and one more casual. Half the guests were Puerto Rican, which made for a nice change. Ponce, about 45 minutes away, has great seafood restaurants on the water if you want to leave the resort. The Copamarina is a two-hour drive from San Juan, or you can fly nonstop from the US to Ponce. 800-468-4553.

A large gated community on the east coast of Puerto Rico with a hotel, villas, condos, etc, in several spread out communities with two golf courses, tennis, horseback riding and a marina.

Lodging

We stayed at the Four Points Sheraton, where we were upgraded to a suite. A little tired, and with no outdoor space of any sort, but it did have two closets and plenty of space (and a makeup mirror!). The lobby, partly outdoors, seemed OK, the pool pleasant and the beach nice excepting the constant noise of the wind and waves. More of a surfing than bathing beach and the undertow dangerous. Bizarrely, no umbrellas at the pool or beach. No children’s program in sight, so not too many children.

Eating

Two lunch places/outdoor bars, at the pool and beach. Pretty good, varied selection, but the one by the pool was SLOW.

Only breakfast place was a David’s Cookies shop in the lobby that served Danish, bagels and eggs (no table service).

The restaurants were pleasant, but with a laid back attitude. When they decided they had enough reservations, they just stopped answering the phone. Nonetheless, we didn’t starve. We had two good dinners at Caracoles, within walking distance of the hotel, behind the tennis center but down a dark unpaved road. Good Caesar, jambalaya, local preparation of chicken with garlic sauce and pizza (you have to ask for it specially). People ate early; at 9 p.m. we were the last diners to be seated. Another nice dinner at Candelero, nice salads (although bleh tomatoes everywhere we ate) and churrasco.

On New Year’s Eve, we ate at Chez Daniel, the chef being one of the well-known chefs of Puerto Rico, who emigrated from France many years ago. Good bistro food, although without the interest of the food we had in San Juan.

Lodging

Sheraton Hotel Perfectly located: in Old San Juan, where we could walk everywhere and on the harbor into where the cruise ships come. On cruise ship days it was very crowded; otherwise there weren’t too many tourists around. Hotel itself is adequate, no lobby because of the casino. Room was ordinary (much to my dismay, no makeup mirror).

Eating

The standout experience of San Juan was the food.

Breakfasts were eaten at cafes (Bomberia) that served a type of “danish” (mallorca) with powdered sugar and either plain or filled with ham & cheese and warmed. Coffee and espresso were uniformly mediocre in all the restaurants, no matter that it is grown in Puerto Rico.

We had dinner on Christmas at Tantra, an “upscale” restaurant. Indian-Latino cuisine, interesting but unexciting. Most of the restaurants used local ingredients, as did this one. Calle Fortaleza 356 787-977-8141.

We lunched twice at the Parrot Club, an informal place with a wide-ranging menu and our favorite mojitos. We had lamb in pita, empanadas with spinach and yoghurt (not spicy enough for me), chicken skewers in a good marinade with a salad of cherry tomatoes, avocado and onion. Calle Fortaleza 363 787-725-7370.

Next dinner at Pikayo in the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico. Beautiful contemporary space festooned with modern art. Very attentive service. Perhaps because a chef friend of ours had called ahead, we were greeted with a complimentary glass of champagne and salmon tartare on little rice cakes with a dab of peanut sauce. (then apps-sliced duck breast-a little fatty- with scallions, cucumber and a terrific sauce. Ditalli pasta with spicy crab. Main courses-shared a swordfish with veg and wonderful vinegary sauce. Dessert-cornmeal souffle with vanilla cinnamon sauce. 299 De Diego Ave 787-721-6194.

Another culinary highlight: dinner at Delirio (Alfredo Ayala’s restaurant), located in a lovely old house, modernized, with several small rooms. Very good service. (apps-divine crab cakes with beet, horseradish, yoghurt sauce and a little salad. Mutton in plantain, which looks like a sliced egg roll, cooks for 14 hours and was a local, very tasty presentation. Main courses-we shared a yummy black grouper with romesco sauce over fava beans with a bit of ham. Followed by small cheese plate with grapes, dates and quince mostardo.) Avenida Ponce de Leon 762 787-722-0444.

BTW, the wine lists in Puerto Rico were fairly priced; if anything, less-expensive than in New York.

Shopping:

Eminently forgettable, with the exception of a few exceptional jewelry stores. Particularly one called Bared.