First Look: Wyndham Palmas Beach & Golf Resort

On the southeast coast of Puerto Rico, the area’s only resort hotel, the Wyndham Palmas Beach & Golf Resort, is welcoming guests to its newly renovated property. Noted for a portfolio of hotel projects in the Americas and the Caribbean, Carolina Keimig and her team at Ba Haus worked with the owners to update the beloved terra cotta-roofed hotel, which reopened with its new look in May.

Redesigned in the boho chic style, the hotel’s spacious lobby is light-filled and airy. Indoor lounge areas feature seating areas with low-slung cream couches, midcentury chairs and side tables, rope-wrapped columns, rattan pendant lighting, tropical plants, and immense windows to welcome in endless sunshine. Local art will be added throughout the hotel. The 107 guest rooms and suites, offering views of the Caribbean Sea or the lush tropical gardens, embrace the pale tones of the hotel’s neutral palette, from a blue, grey leaf, and floral wallpaper to a sea-blue coverlet.

There’s an endless array of distractions for travellers who like to be active: the Costa infinity pool, Beach entry family pool with lazy river, and secluded beach access provide plenty of water options, while the Palmas Athletic Club includes 20 tennis/pickleball courts and access to two championship golf courses designed by Rees Jones and Gary Player. Guests can join community yoga classes in the adjacent Pterocarpus Forest, surrounded by 44 species of flora, go horseback riding with Hacienda Buena Vista, or rent one of the house bicycles to cycle beneath the property’s palm trees. They can also rent cars on-site to head to the famed El Yunque National Forest to see the biodiversity via various hiking trails, and the resort’s marina welcomes guests arriving by yacht and also has boats for rent.

Dining options include grab and go coffee, cold drinks and snacks from Café 1736, or tapas and cocktails at Botica, while the Costa Pool Bar is an adults-only zone for snacks and libations. The flagship dining room is Trova Coastal Kitchen. Overseen by chefs Jeff McInnis, Janine Booth (James Beard finalists), and Puerto Rican chef Julio Cartagena, it features a menu blending Puerto Rican flavours with fresh ingredients, including vegan and vegetarian choices.