Puerto Rico manages a perfect balance between two worlds. It is Caribbean in flavor with its salsa rhythms and languid beachside sunsets yet its amenities befit a bustling urban center, with top-tier resorts, glitzy casinos and a celebrated culinary landscape.
"Puerto Rico is not a typical Caribbean destination," says Ana Maria Viscasillas, president and CEO of the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau. "We have a range of hotels and venues where we can host events, small or big. There is excellent air access from the mainland—more than 900 direct flights on a weekly basis—your cell phone works like at home, there is no need for a passport, and the exchange rate is the same. You don’t have to come to another country to be in another world."
The island boasts four coastlines along the Atlantic and Caribbean, and is also home to El Yunque, the only tropical forest in the U.S. Forest System, as well as the Guajataca Forest Reserve, one of the world’s best examples of a tropical, dry coastal forest, featuring the largest bird population on the island.
Groups can also kayak or swim in the island’s famed bioluminescent bays—two located in the eastern region, Las Croabas in Fajardo and Mosquito Bay in Vieques. Another is located off the southwest coast near La Parguera and is one of the island’s most popular attractions.
On the dining front, groups can have dinner in a 300-year-old mansion in Old San Juan or at one of the former sugar plantations in the countryside.
San Juan
In the northeastern part of the island, Greater San Juan mixes Spanish history with ultra-modern facilities.
Old San Juan, settled in 1521, lures visitors with its fortresses and urban squares, as well as with its restored colonial homes and cobblestone streets. Just as tempting is its array of museums, art galleries, restaurants and shopping.
Top attractions include historic sites El Morro, a fortress built by the Spanish in 1539 at the eastern edge of the entrance to San Juan Bay, and Castillo de San Cristobal, the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World. La Princesa, constructed in 1837, was the first penitentiary on the island built to hold important political prisoners and currently houses the headquarters of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and a gallery featuring regional artists. The venue can be used by groups, as can the 200-year-old Casa Blanca, the home of Ponce de Leon and his descendants, which is now a museum.
East of Old San Juan, the tourist area of El Condado is abuzz with nightclubs, casinos, shops and restaurants. Condado, Spanish for county, features an oceanfront, tree-lined pedestrian walkways and hotels such as the Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza & Casino, which recently completed a $70 million renovation; San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino; and Radisson Ambassador Plaza Hotel & Casino.
The nearby historical district Miramar overlooks the Condado Lagoon, popular with joggers, kayakers and wind surfers. Miramar is close to the Puerto Rico Convention Center, now part of the Puerto Rico Convention Center District. The Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority is organizing a hotel zone to be built within the 113-acre development, with more than 1,358 rooms opening or in the pipeline.
The first of these hotels debuted in November, the Sheraton Puerto Rico Convention Center Hotel & Casino, with 503 rooms and a conference center offering more than 35,000 square feet of space. The hotel also features a 57,000-square-foot, four-story-high outdoor sundeck complete with panoramic views from Condado to the Bay of San Juan.
"With the Sheraton hotel and the headquarters convention center, we have been able to secure more groups and bring more association business to the island," Viscasillas says. "That market is gaining strength."
Additional hotels are beginning construction this year, including a 250-room Marriott Courtyard Convention District Hotel and another Starwood property, the 252-room aloft Puerto Rico Convention Center.
The 580,000-square-foot Puerto Rico Convention Center is the largest facility of its kind in the Caribbean.
Accessibility is also key. The Isla Grande Airport, close to the Convention Center District, will undergo nearly $7 million in expansions and improvements.
During the past fiscal year, the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau confirmed an increase in bookings of 20 percent over the previous year. Some 64 percent of the business booked is future business, arriving in 2010 and beyond.
The bureau recently launched the Smooth Attrition promotion in partnership with local hoteliers to assist planners concerned by group attrition rates. The bureau also started a new e-magazine, Puerto Rico Review, and has hosted over 150 site inspections in the past year.
"For us, seven out of 10 clients who come for site inspections book the island, so it is important to meet face to face," Viscasillas says.
For off-site venues, the Bacardi Rum Plant hosts groups, as does Roberto Clemente Walker Stadium, a baseball facility located in nearby Carolina.
The Isla Verde area is ripe with trendy restaurants and clubs as well as upscale resorts such as the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino, Embassy Suites San Juan Hotel & Casino, Courtyard by Marriott Isla Verde Beach Resort and The Ritz-Carlton San Juan Hotel, Spa & Casino.
Rio Grande Area
In the Rio Grande region to the east is one of the island’s largest secluded areas with beach access, Coco Beach.
It is also home to the island’s star attraction, the El Yunque tropical rainforest, where groups can take hikes and ride ATVs to the forest edge.
Another defining feature of the area is its expanse of upscale resort hotels, including the El Conquistador Resort, The Waldorf Astoria Collection, with over 100,000 square feet of meeting space, including its $42 million Grand Atlantic Conference Center. It also has its own private island, Palomino Resort, a spa and the new $12 million Coqui Water Park.
Other major hotels in the area include Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Resort and Spa and the Gran Melia Golf Resort Puerto Rico.
Other Areas
Ponce, the island’s second-largest urban area, features 19th century-style trolleys and horse drawn carriages, as well as an abundance of churches, plazas and colonial homes.
Highlights of the city include the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Ponce Museum of Art. The Serralles Castle Museum, a 1930s mansion, can also host events.
Holiday Inn Ponce and Tropical Casino, Hilton Ponce Golf & Casino Resort and Hotel Melia are just a few hotel options.
In the western part of the island is the town of Mayaguez, home to the 1909-built Yaguez Theater and the Mayaguez Resort & Casino.
On the north coast of Puerto Rico, Arecibo is best known as home to the Arecibo Observatory, which features the world’s largest radio telescope, operated by Cornell University. The facility can also host a variety of group events.
