Dorado Beach, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve

Dorado Beach is a truly remarkable piece of paradise, with a primordial beauty to the landscape, despite the fact that the resort's just 35 minutes from San Juan. The 1,400 acres of grounds include impressive nature trails, and all the rooms, including the restaurants, are close to the fabulous 3-mile coastline.

In the '60s, the Dorado Beach Hotel – a 1,400-acre resort on a former citrus and coconut plantation on Puerto Rico's north coast, 30 miles west of San Juan – was a tropical playground for Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Crawford (not to mention an occasional getaway for John F. Kennedy). This was another modernist hideaway conceived by Laurance Rockefeller, who saw Puerto Rico as a fitting alternative to post-Castro Cuba and was one of the first to bring a mid-century design aesthetic to the region, which was dominated by a more traditional, colonial-inspired look.

The level of luxury at the Dorado Beach resort sets a new standard for Puerto Rico, from the delicate shell designs reflecting on the sand at the outdoor Positivo Sand Bar to the spacious suites and low-lying bungalows extending out to private plunge pools and terraces. ... An 80-year-old ficus tree marks the entrance to the spa, which is like a mini-resort in itself with a pineapple garden, soaking pools, a lily pond, and two tree-house treatment platforms.