Amazing resort with unbelievably delicious food.

I stayed here for a week in May and can honestly say it was one of my most enjoyable vacations. The rooms, the resort, especially the staff were all incredible. Bernardo was very helpful and always friendly. He made us feel very welcomed during our stay and went above and beyond to make our stay more enjoyable. The resort is still close enough to the city that you can go in to enjoy the local culture, but honestly the food here was amazing it was hard passing up a meal by being away somewher [... read more]e else. There's plenty of activities on the resort as well and the event staff was fantastic. We don't speak Spanish but felt very included in all the games, Angel was awesome and we had lots of fun playing volleyball with him. There's not much of a night life here which we were happy with since we had busy days and just wanted a nice resort to relax at night. We had a great time and I'd recommend this resort to anyone.

Amazing resort

My bf and I spent a week at Samba Vallarta. The food was absolutely amazing and the staff were very helpful and resourceful. Want to give a shout out to Bernardo specifically who was very helpful. He was fantastic and he always checked in on us. We had a fun time and made a lot of friends. One thing I noted was that the activities ended at 6 everyday so we were unable to engage in vball and other activities later in the night. Other than that it was great. However it does seem this resort is mo [... read more]re for families versus a young couple.

Not good

Well, we got food poisoning here-quite badly so that knocked 3 days of 7 as AWFUL....and I mean AWFUL. The pool is LOUD from noon to 1:30 AM (the pool restaurant acts as a disco at night). and this is all center of the hotel so it's loud. There is no swim up bar OR quiet (adult pool)....so the place is loud. It's old and VERY dark too. On the other side of the resort is a loud RIU pool so it's always loud. Fine if that's your thing. We di pay $80 more American for a room out front which was a bi [... read more]t nicer and a bit quieter.

Not bad

Amenities were pretty basic and the food wasn't great. Beach was excellent. Staff was very friendly. There weren't that many guests, so few line-ups. Check in was very fast. Lunch: there is only one restaurant open and it is not self serve. There was only one server so the line up was very long. Poor resource management. Our elderly parents with mobility problems requested a ground floor room and they would not accommodate that. Instead they were on a third floor room and had to negotiate sta [... read more]irs. We also asked for adjoining rooms with them because we had a toddler and they were helping us out. They did not accommodate that request either. Our room was on the north side of the hotel and every night we could hear the extremely loud disco from the Riu resort next door. This made it difficult to sleep.

Pretty good.

A relatively small resort. Built in the 1980s, so it is starting to show it age. It's an excellent beach for walking at low tide, flat with firm smooth sand. There's only one pool so it is very noisy with activity people yelling into microphones. The beach is much quieter. The ocean is silty especially near the shore. It's often very good conditions for boogie boarding. If you have a choice do not stay in ground floor rooms because they are very damp. The kitchen adds meat to many food items.  [... read more]It's a difficult place to eat vegetarian or vegan. There is a very good bike path in front of the hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel bicycles are in poor condition. There are bicycle rental places a moderate distance away. It's about a 20 to 30 minute walk into the town of Bucerias, either by pathway or by beach.

Wonderful relaxing place to ring in the New Year.

We were at the Samba Vallarta on a fairly last minute deal to ring in 2020. They hosted a wonderful outdoor white party for New Years Eve with an awesome, extensive buffet, live band playing, dance area, party hats, etc... and fireworks and champagne at midnight. The beach is lovely although there was a storm there on New Years Day and the water was quite rough so not many people were in it the rest of the week. We always found beach chairs and we had a great guy keeping our drinks full and [... read more] cold. We didn't really spend much time by the pool. We waited out the storm in the small lobby lounge listening to karaoke... there are not a lot of places to go at the Samba that are sheltered other than your room. There were beautiful hummingbirds on the walk to breakfast every morning. I'm not picky so could always find something to eat on the buffet. Beach bar burgers and dogs were good. We had two ala carts - Mexican and Italian. Both very good. The Mexican is on the beach so you can watch the sunset. We did go into Bucerias and Puerto Vallarta for 3 of our 7 nights so don't know how good the night shows were. Room was okay, older but adequate. Never spend much time in the room anyway.

Beautyful resort

We liked very much everything was great the weather to and also the staff is very friendly the food is mostly Mexican the sweet table only 3*** but we wood go back any time and send friends to we burn to crisp

Welcoming resort with amazing staff

The staff make this a great resort very friendly and always trying to make your vacation special. The grounds are very well maintained, the rooms themselves are a bit older but clean. I was disappointed that the bar fridge wasn’t restocked daily nor was the coffee, but easy enough to go down to a restaurant and pick up yourself and bring back to the room. The resort is on the smaller side, the buffet restaurant is on the smaller side as well. Easy to get reservations to the al a crate restaura [... read more]nts which were both excellent.

Comfortable, enjoyable stay.

The grounds and pool areas were immaculate. Meals in the Mexican and Italian restaurants were enjoyable. Buffet food was amazing - lots of food and lots of variety. The rooms themselves are outdated but kept exceptionally clean. All staff were very friendly and accommodating - AMAZING staff in all dining areas provided excellent service and kept the food and drink coming and coming .... :)

Amazing Quaint Resort

This is a beautiful resort. It is small and very family oriented. if you are young and looking to party this is not the resort for you. The staff are so very very friendly at this resort. They bend over backwards to make your stay enjoyable. The resort is clean. They don't allow people to eat around the pool which I really like. The rooms are a bit tired but you don't spend much time in the rooms anyway and the rooms are clean. We kept on hanging up our towels each night so that we [... read more] could use them the next day, but they gave us fresh towels every day. The food is good. There is enough variety that you don't get bored. They had fresh pineapple, tomatoes and cucumbers every day. We only tried the Italian a la carte and it was amazing. If you want a fancy resort, fancy lobby, millions of people and want to party this is not the resort for you. This is my third time going back and I will go again next year. I have finally found a resort that I want to come back to year after year. Just make sure that you pay for the balcony because if you don't you will get a room without.

STAFF IS AMAZING

Room was BIG. Loved the balcony. The OVERSIZE KING bed was HUGE and VERY COMFORTABLE. Very nice having a fridge and safe in the room (at no extra charge). The food was GREAT with lots of CHOICES. Enjoyed the night SHOWS, especially "THE MICHAEL JACKSON SHOW". Lots of PREMIUM ALCOHOL choices. Bartenders very knowledgeable and friendly. Grounds very NEATLY KEPT. SERVERS/WAITERS WERE AMAZING (especially "LUIS"). He had a chef make us a SPECIAL PASTRY PLATE for our Anniversary then took a pictu [... read more]re and sent it to our e-mail). So much appreciated. ONLY NEGATIVES: Music TOO LOUD by the pool. NOT ENOUGH PUBLIC WASHROOMS & STALLS TOO SMALL.

Cozy, friendly resort!

All of the staff are so friendly, and I love the size of this resort. The food is great for what we paid, and the view and courtyard is beautiful. It’s always easy to get a chair around the pool, and the ocean is usually okay to swim in.

Excelente!!

Eight days of cloud (2 of those rain :(), and one day of sun. 🤷🏻‍♀️ But.... still had a lovely vacation. The Samba is a small but such a friendly resort. Walking distance to Bucerias, which is something I did almost daily along the beach. The rooms are large and the cleaning staff does a wonderful job. I appreciate the fridge and the safe, (at no additional charge). The grounds are kept nicely. But the staff.... the best in Mexico I’m sure. Salvador, Martin, Carolina, Bruno, John [... read more]ny, Julio and of course my boy Cheke. 🙂. Oh, and of course the front desk and bellboys. 👌🏼 The food is great, (especially the chicken). Wish there was mole de pollo. The a la cartes were also fantastic. Make sure you do the bike tours.

Not totally satisfied

The resort was ok but a bit dated. The staff were very good in providing the service you would expect from a all inclusive resort. For the cost we found the liquor was not top shelf as we had encountered at other resorts for the same cost. The rooms has a strong odour and the beds were extremely hard and uncomfortable. I don't think we would stay here again. Food was ok but repetitive as it is hard to please all palates. If you like a small resort you may like this one.

Nice, laid back resort.

Comfortable surroundings, very friendly staff. An altogether great atmosphere. Great food, good variety. Good beach with palapas for shade. Great pool for kids. Good entertainment in the evening. Rooms need updating.

3.5 star hotel

You get what you paid. Limited food selection Dirty room Smelly hotel entire Service was ok Beach is close to the hotel 90% is local people Location is ok, you can take buses to go to downtown Not many activities to do

Wonderful place

I like that Samba is a smaller resort. It has a more family feel to it. The grounds & pool area are very well maintained. All the staff go out of their way to accommodate you. There was always a great variety of good food at each meal. You must try the specialty restaurants at least once

My favourite Mexican resort

This was my 4th visit to Samba Vallarta and after 7 days/nights I left knowing I would return next year. The grounds/public areas/rooms are always spotless and tidy. The dining area is also always clean. The presentation and options of the food is very good. Both Ala Carte restaurants are superb. The serving staff are amazing, very friendly and extremely efficient. All staff throughout the resort offer amazing service.

Great Small Resort

Samba Vallarta is a great small resort located directly on a lovely large beach. Loads of cabanas for shade, drink service and very friendly vendors....For a 3 1/2 star rating the buffet was amazing, always HOT and good variety to choose from. Only complaint was there was absolutely NO guacamole to be found which was very disappointing and they only supplied 1 coffee kit for your first morning....you had to buy any additional kits which I found very cheap.....although you could obtain coffee clo [... read more]se to the restaurant early in the morning but that meant you had to get dressed.....nightly shows were pretty cheesy and there was no lounge with music, etc. after so you pretty well called it a night. The week I was there the resort was filled with Mexican families....they were very polite and all the kids were well behaved. For a restful vacation it was a great get away....

Family hotel, family activities, family meals...what a nice change of pace.

We chose Samba Vallarta for the hotel's small size and excellent reviews. After check-in we went straight to the beach, amazingly, we saw a turtle make her way up to nest...about a 90 minute process of digging a hole in the sand, laying her eggs, covering the nest up and then heading back into the waves. On our second day we moved to the 4th floor and loved our room with a balcony view...Jose at the front desk was so accommodating...thanks Jose. I also asked for a bed topper which made me qui [... read more]te comfy. The blackout curtains allowed us to sleep in until 8:30 every morning. We brought our own tea bags for the morning as some of the extras are not available here. Next time I'll bring some of my favourite coffee as well. The room coffee machine worked perfectly. Shampoo (excellent honey shampoo that we've had in other Mexican resorts) is supplied but bring everything else you need. We bought large bottles of water from the little store to add to the 2 smaller bottles that were supplied each day. Not expensive, and there are other things available like pool floats for kids, sunscreen, etc. This hotel for us is reminiscent of old beach vacations...family oriented, horses to ride on the miles-long beach, vendors selling everything from toys, dresses, mangos, coconut drinks, candy and other snacks to silver jewelry...helpful vendors, not pushy, providing a welcome service. At the Samba we had some of the best restaurant service I've ever had at a hotel. Professional, cheerful servers...kind to every age group and hard working to say the least. We were never disappointed by the food choices in the buffet...I give credit to the head chef for keeping the food fresh and plentiful. Tortillas, papaya, melons, salads, fish, pasta...something for everyone. We also tried the Italian a la carte which was excellent. The Mexican night was dinner outside with a show, set up specially, like a wedding might be. What an effort by the staff to prepare for, and so successful. We tip often and apparently they all share in the tips, so as usual, they are appreciated. The nightly entertainment was fun, especially for the kids...always including a game on stage to participate in. Early nights at this hotel...not a night life kind of place which suited us since we put in full days of wave watching, swimming and buying a few things from the beach vendors. I also had a great massage on the beach for $25 US. I know I could be critical of what might need fixing at the Samba Vallarta but I prefer a simpler place so I'm ok that it's clean and constantly being cleaned and cared for. I put emphasis on the family aspect because if you want a party this might not be the place. (Although... the drinks were very good...great bartenders at each bar including the beach...and again, great servers...Salvador and Alexander to name two we had a few times but I think they have high standards for hiring.) The first floor room we started with was a bit damp so we moved to the 4th floor and were more than happy after that. Sure they could use a bit of renovating but there's great water pressure in the shower, nice and hot... and the rooms were well kept daily.