A FRAMILY TRIP TO PUERTO RICO

In NYC when you are single in your 20's, 30's and 40's you pretty much escape the city on the weekends in the summer and go out to Fire Island, the Hamptons or the Jersey Shore. Throughout these summer weekends you become very close with friends that you plan every summer house together and these friends are no longer just friends, they are Framily (friends that are family).

When summer ends and our tans begin to fade, it's time to plan our next framily trip. The tricky part is planning where and when to go, and then all of the questions start…

• How many days of work can you take off?
• Can we say at a hotel on the beach?
• Can we go somewhere without a passport?
• Can we stay at a luxury hotel and be spoiled?
• Can we find a hotel that has everything on site that includes restaurants, bars and a spa?

After taking everything into consideration we finally settled on going to Puerto Rico. Six of us decided to go for five nights in November. Our next decision was finding the perfect hotel. We researched and read reviews and agreed that the Condado Vanderbilt Hotel was the outstanding luxurious resort that we wanted for our framily trip.

The trip started out perfectly with a glass of champagne before takeoff in the sky club then on to the plane for some more cocktails. We landed in San Juan after a quick flight in the new designed airport that was easy to navigate and grabbed a taxi. As soon as we arrived at the fabulous oceanfront hotel and walked into the magnificent lobby we knew we had made the right decision. We were welcomed to the hotel and given a glass of champagne to start off our vacation. The super friendly staff made checking into the hotel fast and easy. Within minutes the bellman escorted us to our room on the first floor, which was super spacious, luxurious and conveniently located to all.

Since we arrived late at night on a Thursday night we decided to stay at the hotel and grab a quick bite and cocktails before bed. We checked out the dining options and we decided to meet at Tacos and Tequila inside of the hotel. As soon as we walked into the restaurant we knew we picked the perfect place for our first dining experience in Puerto Rico. We sat outside which was well lit and had the Atlantic Ocean behind us. We soon discovered our favorite drink of the week – the cucumber margarita, which was super light and refreshing.

The Condado Vanderbilt Hotel was an amazing hotel. It was originally built in 1919 and is now completely refurbished. The unique grandeur and historic elegance remain, now with all the modern amenities that make this hotel fabulous. We enjoyed relaxing massages at the beautiful spa which had impeccable world class service and tanning at the pool.

Each day we faced only a few decisions that had to be made; which were sitting by the pool or beach, what to drink, when to nap, when to go to the spa and should we move dinner to a later time. The nights were super easy since we made all our reservations for dinner before we got on site. After dinner was pretty much going to the casino next door at La Concha and switching off between playing craps, blackjack and slots or going late night swimming at the hotel since the pool is open for 24 hours and the hotel has security all over making us feel super safe. One of the easiest decisions we had was we all agreed on doing the live music bottomless Sunday brunch, we sat at the table for hours and loved the day

Condado is the best part of San Juan in my opinion, showing off the best that the island has to offer. The Condado is super safe and walkable, lots of restaurants, bars, luxury shopping, hotels and casinos. Our stay at the Condado Vanderbilt Hotel was a great first framily trip. We all can't wait to return to the hotel next year.
Condado Vanderbilt Hotel
1055 Ashford Ave San Juan, PR 00907
(787) 721.5500 | condadovanderbilt.com