Family Villa with Private Pool, Wonderful Beach, Beach Club at Palmas Del Mar

• family vacation

  family vacation

  • Guest Chuqui
  • Date of stay 06/29/09
  • Review Submitted 07/14/09
  Everything was wonderful, the house, the resort and the owner very curtious. My most enjoyable vacation to date.

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, romantic getaway, families with young children.

  Owner response: Thanks for your kind comments. We are very pleased you enjoyed yourself and your stay at our home.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 13/14

• Great family time

  Great family time

  • Guest Kate
  • Date of stay 04/06/13
  • Review Submitted 05/09/13
  > >Thank you once again for sharing your great homes with us, we had a >fabulous time at both your Villa Palmira and Villa Familia. Your >info on beaches and day trips was excellent. We especially enjoyed >your tip about the trip to Monkey Island, traveling out with Captain >Paco. He's a great guy! We enjoyed the snorkeling and decided to >make a second trip the the island during our stay. Both houses are extremely convenient to El Yungue rain forest, and Fajardo. In Fajardo we kayacked at the bioluminescent bay. We enjoyed our>time at the Palmas Del Mar Beach Club and used guest passes for the >health club as well. In addition, the Tiki bar was our favorite eating and drinking spot. Again, thanks for a great experience, your >houses are extremely inviting and comfortable.

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, age 55+, families with teenagers, romantic getaway, families with young children, girls getaway.

  Owner response: Thanks for your review. It's great when our guests enjoy Palmas Del Mar, but also venture out from the resort to experience the beauty of the island and friendliness of the people. When people do this, they have a most memorable vacation.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• Great Vacation!

  Great Vacation!

  • Guest Lisa
  • Date of stay 03/30/13
  • Review Submitted 04/21/13
  We had a great time! The house was perfect! Everyone said their beds were comfortable. There were plenty of bath towels and beach towels. The kitchen was well equipped and we enjoyed having access to the washer and dryer. We appreciated having beach chairs, coolers, sand toys and beach mats available. It made going to the beach, so easy. The patio had plenty of seating and we all enjoyed lounging in the pool. The tourist information was priceless! Having directions to the various sites, descriptions of the locations and driving times, allowed us to pick things we wanted to see without guessing where we should go. We ended up going to the beach at Palmas de Lucia and Seven Seas. We visited old San Juan and El Yunque. We had dinner at Los Bohios, which was wonderful! The owner was gracious, the food was excellent and the location was "one of a kind". The two things we did that you might want to add to you list were La Muralla, a roadside restaurant, which is right before you enter El Yunque and taking the bioluminescent tour at the Las Cabezas Nature Reserve. I had read on Trip Advisor that La Muralla had the best pina coladas and great shekabobs.So after hiking and swimming at El Yunque, we stopped at La Muralla on our way home and Trip Advisor was right. The pina coladas are made fresh from scratch and they were delicious, as were the shekabobs and other food there. We wanted to see the bioluminescent bay, but nobody wanted to kayak. Luckily, I came across a tour offered at the Las Cabezas Nature Reserve that is a walking tour. The tour consists of seeing the El Faro del Fajardo Lighthouse, which was built by the Spanish in 1880, walking the boardwalk out to the bay and having the opportunity use sticks to stir the water and light it up, and then we went to see a dry forest. It was a great tour! Everyone really enjoyed it and we all learned a lot. Our tour guide, Carlos, was fantastic!

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children.

  Owner response: Thanks for your kind review. We particularly like it when our guests embrace both our home and the island of Puerto Rico, as you have. We work hard to provide a great deal of info for travelers who want to see the "Enchanted Isle" and set out to do it. We are sure you have had a most memorable vacation. Thanks for the tip on the nature center bio bay tour; we have been there several times but until now have not heard of this new offering.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• best vacation ever!

  best vacation ever!

  • Guest Sharon
  • Date of stay 01/26/12
  • Review Submitted 01/30/12
  We stayed at Palmas Del Mar, and it was even better than the description. The home is very clean and ultra comfortable. Every need is anticipated with a full kitchen with more than enough dishes for large, family gatherings, and every appliance to make cooking easy and fun. I liked the size of the kitchen so group cooking meant lots of help. There were lots of "whiter than white" towels, and even beach towels for outside. Two outside showers were ideal for kids who lived in the pool. Comfy beds, too. The house has a very Caribbean feel with its bright colors and art work. There was more than enough room and furniture for everyone to sit around and talk, play games, and watch tv. We used the guest passes for the "club" and felt we had the place to ourselves. Great lap lanes for swimming, and two water slides; one for little kids and the other for big kids up to age 90. Table tennis, picnic areas and a fantastic restaurant for lunch. I liked that we could walk to the club in only 15 or 20 minutes, but I think most people would drive. In addition to the club, we went to two beaches and took a long hike to a waterfall in the rain forest. There was so much to do, yet lots of time to sit around and listen to the serenade of singing frogs. I will definitely be back. thanks for the best vacation we've ever had.

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, adventure seekers, tourists without a car, age 55+, families with teenagers, romantic getaway, families with young children, girls getaway.

  Owner response: Thanks for you comments Sharon. We work hard to have everything that guests need in our kitchen. We also find that our complimentary guest passes to the Beach Club are a big hit with families, who otherwise could not get in. Jim

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/2

• Everything you could possibly need!!

  Everything you could possibly need!!

  • Guest Sara
  • Date of stay 07/17/10
  • Review Submitted 08/02/10
  What a wonderful house, the owners have thought of everything you could possibly need, truly allowing me and my whole family to relax and enjoy our family reunion. It was so great to have a fully stocked kitchen, we ended up cooking most all of our meals at the house. We have rented other houses in the states and other countries and have never had such beautifully decorated and well appointed house. No laundering our own sheets, no replacing toilet paper before we leave. We will certainly be back in the future!! Thank you for making your rental house a home!

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway.

  Owner response: Thanks Sara, we work very hard to make our homes colorful and visually appealing. We think part of being on vacation is the pleasure of having surroundings that lift your spirits. We also endeavor to provide everything people will need, like folding beach chairs, beach towels and all linens. Our kitchens are well enough equipped for guests to cook meals for large groups. We know this save a lot of money, but also allows friends and family to gather, eat and relax without the formalities of going out. We're glad you are planning to return. Thanks again!

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 4/4

• Cheerful house with great pool!

  Cheerful house with great pool!

  • Guest Jamie
  • Date of stay 06/20/10
  • Review Submitted 07/29/10
  My family stayed at Villa Familia with our family in June, and what a great time we had. When we arrived, we were so pleased to find the house was better than we imagined, with nicely decorated bedrooms with comfortable furniture. The living area has a large open kitchen for us to gather for dinner. The house has a nice fence pool area that the we could go in and out of the pool and enjoy the private deck. We would go to the Palmas Del Mar beach and swim and sun most of the day. It's a beautiful sandy beach with natural palm trees lining it. There was lots to do inside the resort. We toured around on a rented golf cart and went to the shops and restaurant and beach -- which was fun for us all. There are many gorgeous homes inside the resort to tour around and see too. We also enjoyed our day trips outside the resort. We hope to return to Puerto Rico soon...and stay in your beautiful, comfortable villa again!

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway.

  Owner response: Thanks for the nice review Jamie. We agree, it is great to rent a golf cart to travel around at Palmas Del Mar. The resort is set up for golf cart travel. You can drive right up to the beach and even go to restaurants, shops and the tennis club. Golf cart rental are a great way to go inside Palmas.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/2

• We'll Be Back

  We'll Be Back

  • Guest Jeff
  • Date of stay 06/12/10
  • Review Submitted 07/29/10
  We were very pleased with our recent stay at "Villa Famila". The home is bright and colorful, uplifting. comfortable and relaxing, convenient to many activities and located in a fabulous resort. Our two young children loved have the pool right out the back door. It was very appreciated that the owners provided a pack and play crib for our one-year-old at no extra charge. We found the kitchen ready for cooking and saved a lot of money eating in...enjoying wonderful and relaxing breakfasts by the pool. From Boston, the home was only a four hour flight and 45 minute drive. So, we had arrived and were enjoying the resort the afternoon of the day we left. Staying at Villa Familia was a great decision...we'll be back!

  Recommended for: Sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway.

  Owner response: Thanks Jeff! We are glad you found our home well-equipped. We agree Palmas Del Mar is a great resort.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• nice but needs renovations

  nice but needs renovations

  • Guest 2luvfood
  • Date of stay 06/19/10
  • Review Submitted 07/04/10
  We had a family reunion of 6 adults and three kids and the places was large enough to suite everyone. The roof is in need of repair in some places and leaked throughout our first week of stay due to the heavy rains. The pool is nice to have for the kids and sunny days but the grout inside the pool needs repair my son cut his foot inside the pool. The kitchen is well equipped but the bbq needs to be replaced..it's all rusted out and leaked oil from the food we grilled. One of the beds broke at the end of our stay because the bed frame wasn't well made to suite a king size mattress. Overall it was a pleasant stay( we stayed two weeks) however, the place is in need of some renovations. The property was clean when we arrived but we needed to supply everything from soap in the showers to laundry detergent. The owner was very helpful with info about the island however the museums were closed due to renovations and the golf at Palmas del Mar is closed due to finance problems. You do have to drive and rent a car to get to most areas including the beaches. I would recommend the place only after some renovations have taken place because it was quite expensive per week.

  Recommended for: Families with young children.

  Owner response: The simple facts about our home, Villa Familia, are that 51 people have rented it since the fall of 2008 and 50 of them have appreciated the the hard work investment we have put into it. The renter who came to the house the day this reviewer left wrote this in an email to us: "Just wanted to let you know that I mailed out both sets of house keys to you yesterday... My family loved your home and everyone had a great time. Once again, thank you for renting out your home." MaryAnn R. The party that directly preceded this reviewer rented for one week, and then, called and rebooked for another week. Two of the 51 renters have ask to be contacted should we ever want to sell the home. We visit and stay in each of our Puerto Rico homes three times a year. When we do, we spend time and money to update, repair, and make an effort to keep each one special. At Villa Familia this May, we spent $3500 in May updating a/c equipment and replacing broken furniture. When we are not there, our manager does an outstanding job with cleaning, maintenance and repairs. It is completely unfair for the reviewer to claim that our home needs "renovations." We are disheartened to have this review appear, as we believe it is based on extreme exaggerations and is intended to be malicious, not helpful. Anyone who is considering renting our home and is put off by this review should contact us for a point by point refutation of this review, which we will not publish here. We will also provide many positive references. The reviewer began her vacation with 5 days of unseasonably heavy rains and this probably soured her on PR and our home. We might also mention that we assisted this renter with reams of advanced information on restaurants, day trips, and activities in PR. A week before her trip, apparently ignoring all we had provided, she wrote us asking what she could do to entertain her father, who hated hot weather and beaches! We should have said, "Keep him home and stay there with him," rather than providing 11 interesting and different ideas to keep him happy and out of the sun. (She criticizes us in her review for one of the museums being closed for a repair!) We are a retired couple, trying to make ends meet by renting interesting homes in PR. While we will never be perfect, 98% of our customers are happy customers. We are quite proud of this. This review only proves again what Abe Lincoln aptly said, "You can't please all of the people, all of the time."

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 8/11

• • Guest Christine
  • Date of stay 11/07/09
  • Review Submitted 11/07/09
  The Meighan's home, Villa Familia, met all of our expectations. Nicely prepared for our arrival, fully supplied and equipped for our stay, in a beautiful resort with a fabulous beach. We loved having the private swimming pool right out the backdoor; the kids were constantly in it! I particularly enjoyed long walks through the Palmas Del Mar resort and along it's lovely secluded beach. It's a small thing, but the art work in every room is colorful, interesting and reminds you that you are enjoying a great escape to the Caribbean. Thanks for letting our family enjoy your lovely home. We'll be back soon!

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/4

• • Guest Sandy S1
  • Date of stay 07/05/09
  • Review Submitted 07/05/09
  We rented this house in June of 2009 and our family loved it! The house was comfortable, clean and the resort it's in is beautiful. I also wanted to add kudos to the caretaker. We had a very long trip that day and arrived a few hours before check-in. He was still cleaning but was kind enough to let us put our luggage in a room that was finished. We then headed to the beach for the afternoon. He didn't have to do that, but it was GREATLY appreciated. My husband and I were so impressed by the house and area that we are planning to go again with friends in 2011 to the same house!

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/4

Minimum Stay 5 Nights: $2150; Six Nights: $2540; One Week: $2650; Two Weeks: $5200; Three Weeks: $650;
Extra Nights: $370 or less. Discounts offered Sept. 9--Nov. 1.
Email for a quote on any length stay.

Note: Until confirmed, rates are subject to change without notice.