Hi,
We are thinking of vacationing to Puerto Vallarta in late November, early December and wondering what are some of good family friendly resorts.
We are in our 30s and have 4 and 2 year old kids. Being in a 4.5-5 star family friendly resort with nice beach for swimming, good food and customer service is important to us.
It would be a plus if the resort has amenities for kids such as kids club, water parks, kids pool,... and also good night life.
From my research Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta and Iberostar Playa Mita seem like good options.
Any experience with these resorts? Any other resorts that you recommend?
Thanks!

I cannot give any specific recs for kid ammenities. Resorts in PV are located near PV proper or north, about an hour, in what is called Nayarit (technically another state). We have stayed in both areas and liked both. It just depends if you want to be close to PV and visit restaurants and shopping often or like being near some beach towns and enjoying your resort. We stayed once out in Nayarit at the Grand Mayan. It had the lazy river, water slides etc. We were also in PV for the Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration. Parades, food, very fun. It is around December 12.

Hyatt Ziva is just south of the city, so easy to get into town for sight-seeing (if that is of interest to you.

Iberostar is WAY out at Punta de Mita so about 1 hour north of the city.

Michelle describes it well above. Just depends your interests (if any) of what you want to do when you're not at the resort.

Definitely keep the Festival of the Virgin of Guadalupe on your radar, well worth the trip into town one evening (it happens Dec 1st thru Dec 12th).

For really good kids club and better beaches, I would suggest Nuevo Vallarta (Nayarit). Either the Riu Jalisco or Riu Vallarta ( as they have exchange privileges with eachother) or the Grand Marival (make sure you are on the Grand side, not the Club, it's nicer. They are both great for kids and are on great beaches. You can get to Bucerias in about 10 mins. by taxi and it is a nice little village or about 45mins. by bus to Puerto Vallarta. It is only about 25 mins. from the airport.
If you want to stay right in PV, the Crown Paradise has a great little waterpark for little kids on an OK beach (beaches aren't great right in town). The Melia also has a good kids club.
For kids clubs though, only the Crown Paradise will take a 2 year old, most resorts start at 4 and they are strict about age. We've been to all of these with our kids except the Melia.

Thank you all for your replies.
maried11, Riu looks like a good option for us. Is the beach good for swimming? How do the Riu Jalisco and Riu Vallarta compare? Do they share a Kids club? Trying to decide which one to choose.
It seems that Riu is a better resort than Melia. Can anyone confirm that?
Thanks!

Any thoughts on Fiesta Americana Puerto Vallarta? I wonder how it compares to Riu. Thanks!

Well personally I would pick Melia or FA, but that's because I like to be right in town.

For what you request, I think being out in Nuevo Vallarta might better fit your family's requests.

If it were me, I would choose the Riu Jalisco. It has just been fully renovated (last October) and they have 2 kids stay free under 12. IT is a great resort with small slides, kids club is there and just more of a family feel. If you want a change of pace, then go over to Riu Vallarta. I'm not a fan of the Melia, but I don't like the beaches in town for kids. For myself, I choose other things, but when with kids, what makes them happy makes everyone happy