WELL TRAVELED

SUNNY SPOT

For swimming or lounging, the pool at The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort is an allout affair.

SUITE LIFE

The spacious Governor’s Suite at The St. Regis offers both indoor and outdoor living areas.

WELL TRAVELED

Puerto Rico

The eco-friendly destination lets Solaris Technologies CEO Evelyn Torres-Gomez swap city life for a luxurious natural getaway.

story by BIANCA R. MONTES

TRANQUIL GARDENS

The resort’s design was inspired by the Earth’s four elements. GLOBAL FARE

Paros’ executive chef, Jose Miguel H. De la Puente, brings the flavors of Greece to The St. Regis. LOCAL ART

A restored mural by Puerto Rican artist Arnaldo Roche Rabell hangs above the St. Regis Bar.

WALKABOUT

Explore historic Old San Juan to see towering masonry walls, built in 1783 to defend the island.

ATLANTIC VIEWS

The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort offers more than two miles of secluded shoreline.

T

two hot trends in luxury tourism are destinations that give visitors space to breathe and highlight all that Mother Nature offers. Fortunately, getting away from it all no longer means roughing it. That’s certainly true in Puerto Rico, just under five hours away on a direct flight from Dallas. The U.S. territory offers numerous upscale, natural tourism experiences, from sleeping in a treehouse to staying at a coffee plantation B&B—and some seriously luxe accommodations.

During a recent trip to the Caribbean island, I had the opportunity to peek beneath ocean waters and explore the area’s coral reef, hike through the only tropical rainforest in our national forest system, and sleep at a resort with a gold-certified Audubon sanctuary. Rebounding from 2017’s devastating Hurricane Maria, the island is a testimony to the positive impact of ecotourism and a tribute to the resiliency of its people.

My sister and I began our trip by exploring Old San Juan. We stayed at Palacio Provincial, the first hotel to open in the historic district in decades. Set within a storied Colonial-era building, the 43-room boutique venue perfectly blends cosmopolitan vibes with a rich history of serving important government officials, thinkers, artists, and other guests.

Next, we headed to The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort in the municipality of Río Grande. The luxurious property sits on 483 acres of lush landscape, nestled between the El Yunque National Forest and Espíritu Santo River State Preserve. It offers a 10,000-square-foot spa (where I had the massage of my life), a seaside pool, posh dining experiences, and an 18-hole golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., one of the world’s pre-eminent golf course architects.

Once the site of a coconut plantation, The St. Regis is flexing a recent $60 million renovation led by San Francisco-based Hirsch Bedner Associates and Puerto Rican designer Nono Maldonado, who took influence from the surrounding pristine beach, ocean waters, and even river cobblestones for a more colorful and contemporary look.

Although the property is expansive, it manages to feel intimate, with just 139 spacious rooms housed in small buildings and separated by treelined, wooden boardwalks. St. Regis also spent $3.8 million restoring its grounds, which, because of a commitment to conservation, make for a great place to spot rare birds, such as the Puerto Rican parrot. My sister and I were lucky enough to have the resort’s marine biologist lead us on a tour of the grounds before taking us to El Yunque National Forest. Despite its small size—about 28,000 acres—the rainforest contains great biological diversity. We saw waterfalls tumbling over volcanic rock and learned that the island is about 200 million years old (compared to Hawaii, which is about 60 to 70 million years old). And if amphibians are your thing, it’s a great place to see and hear the Coquí frog—something you can only do in Puerto Rico and Hawaii.

For additional experiences, visit Toro Verde Adventure Park for one of the world’s longest zip lines; swim in a bioluminescent bay, where dinoflagellate plankton gather and thrive; or snorkel near Icacos Island. We sailed on a 54-foot catamaran to explore the uninhabited island and spent a lovely afternoon peering into the crystal-blue water at beautiful fish and spectacular coral reef formations. It was about as far away from big-city life as one can get.

WILD LIFE About two-thirds of the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort is made up of nature trails and a wildlife sanctuary. TRAVEL TIPS

Connecting with Mother Earth

The daughter of Puerto Rican parents, Solaris Technologies CEO Evelyn Torres-Gomez has been traveling to the Caribbean island with family since she was a young child. She says she enjoys its laid-back atmosphere, eclectic food, and natural landscape. And no trip is complete without a nighttime swim in the bioluminescent bay. “It’s a natural wonder of the world, and not many people know about it,” she says. Her pro tip? Go to the bay when there is no moon, because you can really see the illuminations of what looks like thousands and thousands of lights in the water. “It’s almost like you’re under electricity,” Torres says. “It’s so beautiful— and it’s free.”