Feedback on FS Punta Mita
 

Would love some feedback from someone who has been there recently?<BR><BR>Thanks

Sounds like a great place, I would love some feedback to!

Would you suggest that staying at the FS PM is a good place from which to see the "real" Mexico?

Those of us who have really traveled don't need to see another taco stand or homeless dog infested crappy mex town. Four Seasons culture is more appealing

Over priced and about as far away from a "Real Mexican Experience" as one can get!

Luxtravel... I must take exception. If you have "really traveled" why do you have such a problem with seeing reality in the world? And to generalize about dogs, taco stands, and worst of all use the phrase "crappy mex town" - you are an ugly person and one i would hope never to meet in my travels (which i probably won't because i would never pay $400/night for a resort like 4 Seasons Punta Mita).

I certainly won't see you or the taco stands and I am glad.<BR><BR>By the way the rate is $800 a night so keep saving money at the budget joints...

Back to the OP's question... has anyone ACTUALLY "been there recently?"<BR>

Is this the Punta Mita outside of Puerto Vallarta? If it is I was there in May with my moms and we liked it alot. We didn't stay there but hung out for a day and would go back there next time we go to PV. It's old mexico with some tourist but it was fun. The 4-seasons is way out of reach for the average and above average tourist. People that stay there are either on the company credit card or guest of companys. High rollers.

To luxtravel... funny Mr/Ms "the rate is $800"... their website says rooms are $410-600USD.<BR>

Maybe for a standard room, who stays there?

For Luxtravel... No judgement just facts. I looked at their website today. There were 3 types of rooms listed and those were the prices quoted.

The 3 types of rooms listed are their least expensive. They don't even post the rates for the suites. We were quoted $12,000.00 for 7 nights in a 1 bedroom beachfront suite. We visited the resort & saw the rooms. No way is beachfront worth it. The patios are one next to another. Money is better spent with all meals & drinks included at some really fantastic private island resorts in Fiji. It may satisfy people who like big resorts but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Just my opinion but it is beautiful & excellent service.

When my mom and I went to Punta Mita in may. We got a ride up with a tour operator that told us we could not even get into the Four Seasons resort to check it out. He said that security would not let in anyone in unless they were already guest.

Maybe you should have tried. We went to the gate (this was last October)& they did make a big deal about letting us in for lunch & had to call ahead & get permission. But once inside they gave us a tour, escorted us to lunch & really pushed the resort, almost felt like a timeshare pitch. It was pretty empty except for around the pool. A bit too sedate, with flute music over the speakers during lunch. A $65.00 lunch for a salad & sandwich & one glass of wine. But again the service & food was very good.

To get this thread back on track, does anyone know what the snorkelling is like off the punta mita resort?

When we were there in may. we were at a little place that had beach shack type resaurants-really fun- and there were people snorkling and said it was beautiful. The water was wonderful and the beach was nice sand and it was not crowded but it was a week day. Where is this resort you were talking about? I know there were some Codo's for rent but just one set of them.

The resort is at the end of the road past El Anclote beach, BEHIND the gated entrance and past where they SHOVED all the village people back into constructed housing when they TOOK their land.

THANK YOU 'Punta Mita'... i've been arguing on this thread but no one else seems to find the slightest problem with an $800 room or a $65 lunch (with flute music? just shoot me now!) in an 'exclusive' resort that displaced a local village.<BR><BR>Again, thank you for a truthful and sane posting. At last.

I said I did not care for it & was glad we stopped so I knew not to waste my time thinking about booking it. We had stayed in Sayulita for an entire week for less than 1 night at PM & loved the small Mexican town & its people. But there are people that like that big resort atmosphere. Paying $800.00 a night for a resort & the displacing of the village are two different issues. Most people don't even know that. Listen before you jump all over someone.

For Peggy I did not mean to 'jump all over' you for an honest report of what you saw (note, as did Luxtravel to me above regarding budget hotels and taco stands!)<BR><BR>But I do disagree that exclusive resorts and prices they charge & the displacing of local people are separate issues. I think they are intimately connected. And if 'most people' are not aware of the situation that created the Four Seasons Punta Mita, maybe they should/could be. It is not a secret if you research the area a bit.

Hey lo siento,<BR><BR>I know you are trying hard to be some sort of activist, but have you considered that the locals may be better off now? Have employment opportunities increased from the presence of FS? Yes! Do they really care if their town was moved a few yards, I am sure FS paid! Don't be so narrow minded, just because you cant afford $800 night.

For mr/ms Logic~ "trying hard to be some kind of activist"? No, but the locals did NOT happily move their village a few yards. "Narrow minded"? No, but spending time in the area i clearly have a greater depth of information concerning how this resort property was developed than you do.<BR><BR>"Can't afford $800 a night"... Oh please, you have no idea of my travel budget or destinations.

O.K. PV mex, I apologize if I offended. I would seriously be interested in hearing an unbiased description of how this hotel was developed. Can you add more detail?

"TROUBLE AT PUNTA MITA<BR>In the early 1990s, the Mexican government concluded a deal with private interests to build the Four Seasons resort development at Corral de Riscos, at the end of the Punta Mita highway. The idyllic Corral de Riscos inlet, however, was ejido (communally owned) land and base of operations for the local fishing and boating cooperative, cooperativa Corral de Riscos. In 1995 the government moved the people, under protest, into modern housing beside a new anchorage at nearby Playa Anclote. Now that the ejido people seem to have grudgingly accepted their new housing and harbor - they've even named their new settlement "Nuevo Corral de Riscos" - the old Corral de Riscos road has been reopened. At the highway's end, a private driveway on the right continues to the super-exclusive 18-hole golf course and 100-room Four Seasons Hotel."<BR><BR>From: Moon Handbooks, Puerto Vallarta, Bruce Whipperman, 2001<BR><BR>

topping for Logic & OP