The St. Regis Bahía Beach Resort, a Paulson Co. property, leads Puerto Rico’s luxury hospitality sector by topping Travel+Leisure’s “World’s Best” resorts list, with two more of the company’s properties also ranking in the top five.
“Owning three of the top five hotels is a fantastic award that further highlights how well Puerto Ricans embrace guests and show off their rich heritage and culture. We’re thankful to all of our more than 3,000 employees for making us the best.”
Fahad Ghaffar
The St. Regis Bahía Beach Resort, the first five-star and five-diamond hotel in Puerto Rico, topped this year’s “World Best” resorts in Puerto Rico, as ranked by travel magazine Travel+Leisure.
The property is followed by two other properties owned and managed by Paulson Co., namely the Condado Vanderbilt — ranked third — and the newly opened adults-only hotel Condado Ocean Club taking the fourth spot.
The Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve ranked second and the Fairmont El San Juan Hotel in Isla Verde rounded out the list in the fifth position.
Travel+Leisure 2021 World’s Best Award list is included in its October 2021 issue. The survey was open to magazine readers who voted Jan. 11-May 10, 2021, as destinations around the world were lifting COVID-19 restrictions.
“Owning three of the top five hotels is a fantastic award that further highlights how well Puerto Ricans embrace guests and show off their rich heritage and culture. We’re thankful to all of our more than 3,000 employees for making us the best,” said Fahad Ghaffar, partner of Paulson Co.
With a score of 92.80, The St. Regis Bahía Beach Resort was recognized as the best resort in Puerto Rico. For the past 11 years, Travel+Leisure has recognized this property, including its commitment to the long-term sustainability of its environment.
“It’s with great pride and emotion that we receive the award from the prestigious travel magazine Travel & Leisure,” said José Torres, general manager of The St. Regis Bahía Beach Resort. “I share this achievement and dedicate it to our team who strive every day to provide a service of the highest quality and excellence, as well as to the guests and visitors who have made our hotel and its surroundings their favorite in Puerto Rico.”
The Condado Vanderbilt landed its third-place ranking with a score of 91.09, which Ben Tutt, the property’s general manager, said is “very valuable for Puerto Rico as a destination that our hotel appears in this publication of international scope since it allows many more people to know how well we-re doing and all the good that we have to offer them on the ‘Island of Enchantment’.”
The Condado Ocean Club got fourth place with a score of 87.86, less than a year after its opening.
