The St Regis Bahia Beach Resort is considered one of the top luxury resorts in Puerto Rico. While it’s a very different product from Dorado Beach, a Ritz Carlton Reserve, our favorite luxury resort on the island (check out our review here), it’s still a wonderful option for couples or families looking for complete privacy and luxury on their vacation. Here’s our review of St Regis Bahia Beach Resort in Puerto Rico.
St Regis Bahia Beach Resort review
The resort is about a 30-minute drive from San Juan International Airport (without traffic! We were lucky enough to have a straight shot).
The resort is located inside a certified Audubon nature sanctuary sprawling 483 acres and adjacent to the famed El Yunque National Forest. It is the Caribbean’s first and only certified Gold Audubon Signature Sanctuary, Puerto Rico’s first AAA Five Diamond resort and a Forbes Travel Guide Five Star resort, which speaks volumes of the resort.
Guests are literally immersed in a protected rain forest where it’s not uncommon to see iguanas chilling at the pool or species of rare birds in the wide blue sky. St Regis Bahia Beach resort is also pet friendly, just like Dorado Beach, so I brought JetsetRuby. She loved it here, and there was another small pup with another couple.
There’s a three-tiered outdoor pool, three food and beverage outlets (Paros, St Regis Bar and Seagrapes), Iridium Spa, Robert Trent Jones Jr golf course and hiking trails. Art lovers will appreciate the four Fernando Botero bronze sculptures throughout the property. Botero, a famous Colombian artist, is one of my favorites, so i was incredibly excited to see his original works on site.
Here’s a short video of the pool area to give you an idea of how large it is.
The glamorous resort hugs an incredibly scenic, 3-mile beach with unobstructed ocean views. One thing to know: it’s always breezy on this beach. Some times, the breeze is super light, some times it’s pretty breezy (according to staff we talked to), so always expect a breeze.
There’s also a hidden hot tub between the pool and the beach. It’s surrounded by shrubs and bushes, so you have to really look for it.
There are only 139 guestrooms and suites at the resort, ensuring an intimate experience without crowds. Every guestroom is its own building cluster, and there are only two floors per cluster.
Our suite was extremely glamorous. While it doesn’t feel immersed in the destination, it’s still extremely glamorous and bling-y with a jewel-box feel.
The suite comes equipped with a gorgeous bar (that also has coffee and tea).
As well as a second bathroom — *with* another shower, which was nice to have.
Our suite had a king bed and arched ceiling.
I loved that the bedroom looked out into the lawn and ocean. One thing about the suite is that it has a double outdoor balcony, but you can only access it from the living area. The bedroom has a floor-to-ceiling glass wall (no sliding glass door).
The bathroom was massive with double vanity sink, back-lit mirror and rain shower and separate bath tub. I’m not sure why they frosted the window because it’s dark in the bathroom with no outdoor light, but I was glad that it did have a window.
The double balcony was incredibly spacious and looked out to the sea.
I loved the sprawling lawns, including the lawn our balcony looked over. It was equipped with hammocks and floating beds under swaying palms.
Here’s another view.
I was surprised that there were only guestrooms and suites, all within a cluster around the main resort area. There are no high-end villas or bungalows, which is a shame because the resort has almost 3 miles of beach, and they could easily have premium-category, stand-alone accommodations for guests who want to splurge. Luckily, the resort does offer two over-the-top residences that are completely secluded and right on the beach (but they come in 4 and 5 bedrooms, so appropriate for big parties, not honeymooners, for instance).
There are three restaurants. Breakfast was served at Seagrapes, the outdoor terrace.
You can also have dinner at the St Regis Bar (there are outdoor tables but it was too windy to dine there).
There’s a full menu at St Regis bar.
The bar is beautiful.
There’s the upscale Paros serving Mediterranean. Paros is located above the St Regis Bar.
The spa is just next to the main house. It’s a nice little sanctuary with tons of products for purchase.
There’s a separate men and women’s section, each equipped with a hot tub (it wasn’t working the day I was there, the water was cold, so I treated it as a refreshing pool).
There is also a cold plunge pool if you want something colder.
I loved chilling out in the waiting area. It was so calm and peaceful.
The beach is where we spent most of our time. There are only two cabanas, and it’s less breezy in the back, so we tried to get this whenever we could.
Otherwise, there’s the main beach area with plenty of sun!
More beach. There were one or two pool attendants that helped with anything we needed.
One of the perks of staying at St Regis Bahia Beach is that the beach is nearly empty and seems to go on for miles. Some locals told us it was actually 3 miles, and not 2. Either way, we basically had the beach to ourselves every day.
The water was refreshing, and we got in often despite strong waves.
The morning we were leaving, the beach gifted us with a beautiful rainbow.
More Travelbinger stories:
Review: Dorado Beach, a Ritz Carlton Reserve
Here’s everything required to visit Puerto Rico right now
Gallery Inn review: best budget hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico?
The cheapest hotel rates in Puerto Rico are on Hotels.com
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