Riu Vallarta: excellent resort

the upgrades over the past year and a half have improved the esthetics of the resort. staff are very friendly and helpful. from the moment you walk in the door, marco polo, was as friendly as ive ever had in PV to Eli and Karen in the buffet restaurant were exceptional. it was a pleasure not having to book a reservation for the a la carte four restaurants.

Crown Paradise Golden: Great beach & Hotel

We really enjoyed the Crown Paradise Golden - this resort has 2 sides, one for families and an adult section - you have access to both areas. The family side looked like great fun for the kids and parents - the buffet was large and they took into consideration the appetites of kids as well there seemed to be a great selection for their parents also. The adult side was also very nice - clean, great service, friendly staff and really good food, the rooms had air conditioning and ceiling fans an [... read more]d were nice and cool. What we really enjoyed at this resort was the beach. Puerto Vallarta's beaches can be quite turbulent - however this hotel is right in the green zone - so quite safe and it was fabulous. When you first look at the pool area and the beach you will notice that a lot of chairs have been claimed by early risers who have put their towels on them but they don't use them till quite late in the day which is a bit disappointing, however when ever we went to the beach we never had a problem getting chairs. The only things that I could suggest for this hotel would be a coffee maker in the room and perhaps more lounge chairs for the pool and beach areas - or that they don't allow people to claim them for the day ( I have seen other resorts that do not allow holding chairs). Would I recommend this resort Yes definitely!

Iberostar Selection Playa Mita: Great vacation

The resort is less than 10 years old so it has all the modern amenities including good wi-fi throughout. Rooms and common areas very clean. Beach very nice with no seaweed...water warm and clear...waves so boogie boards popular...staff at the ready with chairs, umbrellas and bar service. Pool area very large, lot's of chairs and palapas. Found food very good and varied but burgers, fries and pizza always available for the Domino's / MacDonald's crowd. Staff friendly and most speak Eng [... read more]lish and wear masks at all times. Our first trip since Covid and we felt comfortable. Guests do not need to wear masks on beach or common areas but must wear masks when interacting with staff and at restaurants (except while seated). Covid testing available on site for $. Golf course on site and is a nice layout which includes some ocean views (+/- $100.00 USD per round with cart and a bucket of balls). It has been sold recently and transitioning to new ownership which may explain why greens were very nice but traps were not maintained.

Buenaventura Grand Hotel and Great Moments: Great all-inclusive resort close to town.

Everything was kept spotless and all staff were masked at all times. Too bad many of the guests were not as considerate. Room was renovated and very nice. I was on the 4th floor and some intermittent HVAC noises but I think they were working on that. Food and beverage service was great and the wait staff were fantastic. Our only complaint was the fee charged gor the PCR test. Their website advertises 2500 pesos but they were charging 3000 pesos cash or 3150 pesos on credit card. Quite $$  [... read more]for the convenience. Next time we will go to the airport and pay $1500 pesos. Other than that the Buenaventura is awesome and we are going back in Feb 2022.

Riu Flamingos: First solo trip ever!

This resort was beautiful. The staff fantastic. It was very clean and their Covid protocols were great. Only bad part was being locked out of my room followed immediately by being trapped in the million degree elevator for over 30 minutes. No way to call for help except an alarm I was beginning to think nobody heard....and I was late for an excursion.

Riu Vallarta: Beautiful resort!

The hotel was modern, well kept, clean. Staff was friendly and excellent. The grounds were nice and there were nice pools as well. It was a wonderful beach to walk on and to float in the ocean. Showers were not hot though only lukewarm barely. The PCR test was booked at noon and we waited in line 1.5 hours which was a long prime to stand around at noon. That is not really their fault except they had 1 nurse for a planeful of people. Still a fantastic holiday!

Crown Paradise Golden: Disappointing resort!

Public areas were not kept up. Chairs had holes and cushions were ripped and dirty. Staff did not want to interact with you and were rather unfriendly. Pool areas needed repair, our room phone didn’t work and our lock fell off the door.

Plaza Pelicanos Grand: Decent resort for the money.

This is an older, smaller resort that is well kept. Clean. Very friendly helpful staff. Surprisingly good buffet and snacks. Alcohol was fine with regular service from waiters especially Pedro and Victor. The one a la carte restaurant was excellent with a good menu and very accomodating chef who prepared our fish we caught. Really like the small size as close to amenities and beach. Had a few issues with the hot water as would come and go but staff tried their best. As I said this is an  [... read more]older basic resort so don’t go here expecting 5 star accommodations and fancy finishing but if these are not important and you like the small close friendly environment you will enjoy this place. Would probably stay here again.

Krystal Grand Nuevo Vallarta: Well run resort

The concierge (Gilberto) was an exceptional problem solver. He provided several options for the ArriveCAN mandated PCR test. We opted for the “in room” test ($145 USD per person) with a 12 hour e-mailed result. The test took 10 min. Costs for the tests varied from $100 USD to $200 USD per person, depending upon who provided the test and where the test was performed. All staff we’re wearing masks and they politely reminded guests to wear theirs in all appropriate areas. The rules are i [... read more]dentical to Canadian rules.

Grand Decameron Complex Bucerias Trademark: Wrong Season

The resort was in good repair and ongoing upgrades. Missed the small fridges that were being removed. The staff were very good. However, 90 % of the quests were locals so it was hard to socialize. It appeared that the buffet was adapted to Mexico clients, chicken,chicken, chicken. Not the the level as my previous visit. There was constant changes to the WestJet flight times and no recognition of the Mexico daylight saving time change.

Krystal Grand Puerto Vallarta: Average resort

Hi Jenn, Just to respond to your inquiry regarding my recent visit to The Hilton Puerto Vallarta. I was a little surprised quite frankly upon arrival. The online photos are very flattering. The Resort was very clean and well staffed.The food was what I expected and plenty of it. Upon our arrival they took us to our room which was not even close to what I had booked. I called the front desk, they asked me to bring the documented proof of the the room I booked, I did just that. As 4 reservation [... read more] staff crowded around 1 computer to rectify the situation we waited until they finally said sorry we don't have one and proceeded to move us to the Hacienda which was ok but still not what I booked 3 months prior. Overall, a little disappointed but after all its Mexico at the end of the day! I look forward to booking my next vacation with you soon Jenn. Hope all is well. Mike Blackburn 825 994-8827

Hacienda Buenaventura Hotel and Mexican Charm: Really Nice Authentic Mexican Hotel

This was a little older but well maintained hotel. The name "Mexican Charm" is quite fitting because it was charming! Great staff, clean rooms, tasty food. We are a family traveling with a 6 year old. We all loved this hotel. Close to the beach (5 minute walk) and nice beach club. Would definitely go back.

Samba Vallarta: 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.

Grand Decameron Complex Bucerias Trademark: Nothing special.

This resort is not a 4*. More like a good 3*. Too many people arriving at the same time. Rooms not available until 3pm. Had to wait. Given the wrong room & bed requirements. The grounds were well kept. We found out after a week where they had the nightly entertainment. Lobby bar small with people watching hockey on one screen and curling on another. No music. They did not have much of any so-called international alcohol. Their house wine was decent. Food was decent too. Too much mex [... read more]ican type of food although food was abundant enough. You had to ask for bacon in the morning. They kept it hidden behind the fresh omelette station. The a la cartes were okay. Nothing authentic and most of the meat as overcooked. But one did have the option of 5 a la cartes per week. The cleaning staff were friendly but I wasn't happy that they still entered the room even though I had the "do not enter" sign on the door. If you are looking for a vacation that is very reasonable and pretty good value for your money... you will be overall satisfied as long as you have no expectations. There is no fridge or coffee machine in the rooms and you have to pay 50 pesos per day for the key safe. The lounge chairs on the beach are hard plastic, like the plastic stackable summer chairs so extremely hard to lie on so you'll need a floatie. All in all you are still getting good value as we probably saved upwards of 500-700 dollars for the 9 day vacation.

Grand Decameron Complex Bucerias Trademark: Beautiful, Relaxing and Fun Resort

This was a very relaxing resort. Loved the room, the adult only pool, the beach, the food, the shows, the snack bar, the bartenders and all of the service staff. Enjoyed all of it and had an amazing time!

Paradise Village Puerto Vallarta: Beautiful Clean Resort

We picked this resort because we liked the idea of being able to watch boats on the marina as well as be on a lovely beach and it really was a beautiful location. This was, by far, one of the cleanest resorts that we have ever stayed at in Mexico. Our studio room was large and comfortable. Unfortunately our room was right by an elevator so it was a little noisy at times but not too bad.That said, I am not certain that we would go back to this resort. We went with an all-inclusive package and f [... read more]elt that it did not offer us the same level of service that other resorts have offered us. The buffet, while good, lacked selection that other buffets have afforded us. They only offer one a la carte restaurant reservation per week with the all-inclusive package. We chose Mayapan, and were very happy with our choice as the food was beautifully presented and delicious. We had asked for a glass of house wine with our meal, which was great, but we could not get service to get a second glass. We also found that the indoor bar service was extremely slow. It often took 20-30 minutes for a server to take our order and often had to wait another 20 minutes for the drink to arrive. The servers were very polite but run off their feet as there were never enough servers on the floor. The food at the beach bar was excellent and we thorough enjoyed the shrimp quesadillas. We were always able to find a palapa with comfortable clean chairs and the servers on the beach were super nice but again drink service was very slow as there seemed to be one server to every 18-20 palapas. Again, we had to wait up to 40 minutes for a drink to arrive. The beach was a lovely clean beach. For entertainment one evening, they hosted a Mexican Fiesta by the pool, which was so much fun. My only other disappointment was that our maid would not be able to get to our room to clean until later in the day, usually between 3:30- 4:30pm. Most days, after being on a tour and returning so our room hot, tired and sweaty and hoping to have a shower before a pre-dinner cocktail, we would have to wait another hour for our room to be finished getting cleaned. We didn’t use the spa and we didn’t use the pools as we are beach people but pools looked clean as we walked by. Staff seemed quite pleasant.

Grand Palladium Vallarta: Dream Vacation for Families

If you have kids over 1 year old, there's free daytime daycare available. Restaurants are amazing. Service is outstanding. Highly recommended this resort. 5/5 Star. Don't forget to try the Cinnabon rolls for breakfast.

Iberostar Selection Playa Mita: Environmentally Focused Resort

Check in at the Iberostar Playa Mita was quick and efficient. We were quite impressed by the service and almost everyone we came across spoke English which made it easier. We were very impressed on how Environmentally focused the resort was. Bravo on that ! Not impressed by the Beach, resort should put more emphasis there, mind you it's great if you like to walk the beach which extends for quit a distance.The pool was great and the pool drink service was excellent ! The resort was extremely  [... read more]well up-kept, very clean .. Buffet was always good, not so much on the A La Carte restaurants. One night we even canceled our reservation to go back to the Buffet.. Entertainment was good, the dancers and singers worked hard and that should be recognized and appreciated. Overall we had a great week, I give it a 4 star rating..

Grand Decameron Complex Bucerias Trademark: Totalling uncaring

I asked for a quote for a two-week extension and was quoted 1330 US dollars. I wanted to pay it then and there but they said I have to wait until the last day of my current stay. When that date arrived I went to pay and found that the price had doubled. Nothing I could do or say would dissuade them from changing their mind. Also originally I asked if I would stay in the same room and she had said yes but that evening I got a call and was told I would have to move. There was absolutely no c [... read more]onsideration for the client. If anyone ever asks me for a recommendation for stay at the Decameron I would tell them to never never go there.

Grand Decameron Complex Bucerias Trademark: OK Resort

Overall, an ok resort. Nothing special. Was somewhat disappointed with the room. No kleenex tissue, no coffee maker, no cream rinse, no fridge, you had to pay daily for the safe. I would not classify this as a 4 star hotel, but a 3 1/2. Beach was beautiful. Grounds beautiful.Way TOO MANY vendors on the beach bugging you every 30 seconds literally. Beach chairs hard as rock. You had to buy an air mattress in order to sit on them for more than a half hour. The food was ok. The ala cartes not authe [... read more]ntic in the least. They could put in more effort in the kitchen to make them so. No visible precautions taken for covid 19. Also Do Not Disturb sign on the door, but the maid ignored it and came in anyway and cleaned twice. That was quite disturbing. I had to tell her directly not to enter when she saw the sign. 1/2 of the wait staff seemed happy to be doing their job, but the other 1/2 seemed miserable. Of course we tipped, but didn't feel we had to. Afterall, we are Canadians. Booking ala cartes was not fun either. You waste about 2 hours of your day every second day. You have to line up (sitting on chairs) at about 7.15 am. They don't start booking until 8.30 sharp! Then you wait your turn. They have 1-3 bookers and about 70 on average trying to book a restaurant for either that night or the following. No shortage of T.P., so that's good. Wifi only in the lobby or lobby bar. Not good. Specialty coffee was only at lobby bar, or ala cartes. Not in buffet dining rooms.