San Juan Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino in Puerto Rico

The San Juan Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino delivers with a full service hotel complete with a secure beach, a fun, if sometimes shady, pool area, and smoke-free casino. The sun is a virtual guarantee just a short flight from the cold winter.

The San Juan Marriott provides the spot for the perfect quick getaway from the winter doldrums. When you first walk into the hotel, the lobby is cool and inviting, with a spacious bar area complete with large, widescreen TV for sports viewing. Partake in the excellent cocktails mixed by experienced and friendly staff during cocktail hour, or while live entertainment is presented on the weekends.

The rooms are reliably clean, tastefully decorated and complete with all necessary amenities, including a small refrigerator. The staff is consistently courteous and helpful. The upgrade to the concierge lounge ($25 per person per night for singles, $30 for doubles) is an excellent value: continental breakfast, small hors d'oerves and desserts are served daily in the comfortable Executive Club lounge, which boasts a flat-screen television and tables where foursomes are often spotted playing cards during cocktail hour (honor bar charges can be applied to your room). We especially enjoyed the balcony seating with ocean views for breakfast.

The Condado Beach location is convenient to many of Puerto Rico's attractions, but separate from the hubbub of the urban center. The hotel -- and the area in general -- had no nightlife during the week, however, so you'll need to plan on staying Thursday through Sunday if you want to partake in San Juan's famous dance clubs and other entertainment.

The beach itself is well kept, and there are plenty of lounge chairs for guests, obviating the frantic need at some beach hotels to get up at the crack of dawn to secure a chair and a spot on the sand. Security was evident, but not intrusive.

Because the hotel is a high rise, portions of the pool area are in shade during the day. This wasn't a problem, since the beach can get extremely hot and the shade is a pleasant alternative to the blazing sun. A separate kiddie pool with slide kept everyone happy.

The casino has all that a player could want, with slot machines, video poker and table games, and table limits were low enough for anyone to take a chance on getting lucky -- or at least have fun trying. The hotel's fitness center has sufficient cardio machines, weights and a floor mat area and was very clean, with water and towels for guests.

If you are the kind of person that enjoys escaping to the sun, without the hassle of a sprawling resort to contend with, with the beach steps out the back door and local restaurants just outside the front, the San Juan Marriott is the place for you.

As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary services for review purposes. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our Ethics Policy.