During my recent trip to Puerto Rico, I was invited to spend two nights at the Condado Vanderbilt Hotel in San Juan, an independent five-star property that is part of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts collection.
The resort as viewed from the beach
The property is right on the beach (one it shares with several other hotels, including the La Concha Renaissance next door) and is only a quick drive away from Old San Juan. There are five pools on property along with sun decks and plenty of chaise lounges to sunbathe on. One of my favorite areas was the adult-only pool complete with hot tub and a mini private beach area enclosed by rocks and tide pools. By far though the pool I enjoyed the most was the small infinity pool off the edge of one of the sun decks. When we arrived the first night, we barely made it out in time to capture an amazing sunset over the infinity pool. While the pool is indeed small in size, the view more than makes up for it.
The room we stayed in was on the smaller side, but that is to be expected from a hotel in the city. Otherwise, it was clean and nice, with a lovely ocean view and complimentary wi-fi for guests. We were also lucky enough to tour their top suite, the Vanderbilt Suite, which was luxurious with amazing panoramic views over the ocean, beach, and city from its two balconies. If you’re ever looking to splurge on a penthouse suite in San Juan, you can’t go wrong here.
The view from the Vanderbilt Suite
Thanks to the Condado Vanderbilt Hotel for hosting me on behalf of Luxury World Traveler. While this was a comped stay, my opinions are my own.
![Have you ever heard of the “Hawaii of Europe”?
The Canary Islands (Spain) and Madeira (Portugal) are both located closer to Africa than they are Europe and are often called the Hawaii of Europe.
With their jaw dropping volcanic landscapes, it’s easy to see why the comparison is made.
On our 8 day cruise itinerary with @windstarcruises [hosted], we departed out of Lisbon, first sailing to Madeira before hitting up several of the Canary Islands - Tenerife, La Gomera, and Lanzarote are all featured here.
It’s honestly too hard to pick a favorite! The cruise was a great way to get a taster of each island and hit up some of the most iconic spots, like Timanfaya National Park on Lanzarote and Teide National Park on Tenerife.](https://readysetjetset.net/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
