We just returned from a family vacation with our 2 daughters (8 and 11) from The Courtyard Isla Verde for 5 nights, April 5-10.

Remember that this is a Courtyard, not The Ritz, so if you're a "hotel snob" this may not be your first choice. However, The Courtyard made up for all of it (and more) by providing excellent customer service throughout our stay. For example, upon check-in, we were greeted by the Assistant General Manager, Alfredo who hooked us up with a room featuring a large balcony overlooking the ocean with an incredible view - (see pictures). We were also given $25 in match play coupons for the casino, a couple free drink coupons for my wife and I (try the Rum Punch with your choice of Puerto Rican rum) and 2 beach buckets, shovels and plastic sand molds for the kids.

It didn't stop there. After checking in and heading down to the incredible beach/pool area, we returned to find a plate of assorted cookies and a cheese and meat tray in our room complements of the staff. In fact, every staff members that we met were kind and helpful. This is a reflection on the incredible management team that runs this property. It's a perfect place for kids as well.

One more cool thing about the property is that it sits on the far East side of Isla Verde beach, so just to the West (towards Old San Juan) are a number of other hotels, however, just to the East of the hotel is an undeveloped beach area so the location kind of provides the best of both worlds.

Perhaps the highlight of our stay was renting a car (Martin, the concierge will take care of this for you) and driving East on 187 past Pinones. With no real agenda, we simply pulled over on a deserted beach which was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. We swam for about 2 hours and saw no more than maybe half a dozen people the entire time we were there. You will also have to go to Old San Juan and enjoy the European style feel the city has to offer. Don't miss out on visiting El Moro de Felipe fort which is an absolute must when in San Juan!

The only downside about the Courtyard was that there are not a lot of restaurants within walking distance of the property. Metropol (Cuban and Puerto Rican) was one but we thought the food was kind of bland. The other was Lupi's (Mexican) which was actually one of the best meals we had when we were there. Otherwise, you may have to grab a cab ($20 1-way to Old San Juan) or just eat at hotel restaurants.

Enjoy your stay at The Courtyard Isla Verde! We had a great time and can't wait to make it back some day.

It wasn't the worst experience, nor the best. I would have to agree with another reviewer about the Kids Club issue. The hotel staff did not appear to know anything about it. Finally, I was directed to the Casino where they told us that the lady who ran the Kids Club had quit. Obviously, they could not have necessarily known this ahead of time but it would have been nice if they had a backup plan. Having brought a child, it was my number 1 requirement for picking this hotel and the fact that I am a loyal Marriott rewards member. We realized that my 9-year-old would not be interested in a lot of the sightseeing and activities we were so we had our heart set on him having a club for activities so we could do our thing too. Imagine our surprise..no kids club..Their alternative consisted of hiring a babysitter at $15 an hour for a minimum of 4 hours. No thanks. Just another way to charge outrageous fees. So, in turn, we did not get to experience a majority of things that we felt PR would have to offer. We were reduced to hanging out at the hotel with a not so great beach. The water in front of the hotel was disgusting and garbage had washed ashore..and I mean garbage, cans, bottles, old sunglasses. I shutter to think if anyone would walk on the beach barefooted and get a cut. I hate to sound like a whiner but another complaint was the service. It was so slow. I feel everyone did the bear minimum, yet I am sure expected a tip. One night we went down to eat at the cafe and they had one person working and the place was full. Most people did not even get served so they left. We are frequent visitors to Mexico and we'll take our dollars there. I do have to say also that the taxi drivers were not friendly at all. They never said one word to us..NONE of them and we used several. I would also have to agree that all charged different rates to the same places so that was wierd. Just very not friendly. My impression as a whole is that Puerto Rico just does not embrace tourism like Mexico does. We won't be returning to Puerto Rico. Mexico here we come.

We (myself, my husband and 2 teenage sons) just spent 4 nights at the Courtyard during Spring break, March 26-30. I booked 2 rooms through marriott.com and then emailed Alfredo, the assistant general manager to request that the rooms be close to one another. Thank you Alfredo for the wonderfully located rooms. Breakfast and watching the sunset on the lanai was superb.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Courtyard. The staff were all very kind and willing to help you, especially the guys on the beach. We basically spent our days on the beach sunning ourselves and boogie boarding (we brought our own). As for the comments from others about the airplane noise--I looked at it this way, those on the airplane were leaving and we were still on the beach! The noise did not bother us.

In the evening our family would walk to the local restaurants and enjoy the local cuisine. After resting on the beach all day we needed a little exercise. On Saturday night we stayed at the hotel and enjoyed the buffet dinner at the Salsa Restaurant. We really enjoyed the roasted pig and other local foods.

Overall we had a great 5 days/4 night vacation at the Courtyard and would not hesitate on returning again.

This was my first trip to Puerto Rico and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I met up with some of my girlfriends for a relaxing time (to enjoy the beach, pool, and food) during the spring recess. The hotel, beach, pool, and restaurants were all clean and enjoyable. But, the restaurants were very expensive. Good, but expensive. No food or drink is "affordable" here. Also, no room service. At least it gave us something to talk about (expensive food that is). Also made a few calls to housekeeping since I was shorted on the towels etc but nobody ever came. Customer service doesn't seem to be their selling point. Maybe the staff is all too busy?