Hi all, I just joined this amazing site from a friend's recommendation! And I hope to benefit from the wealth of experience on here. I am planning a trip to PV in June for 2 weeks, possibly 3. Bringing my mother down (from New York) for surgery, y'know, the whole medical tourism bit! We actually found a good deal at supposedly one of the best hospitals in Mexico, and the travel agency for the hospital group found us a couple of hotels there for both what they call EP (European Plan) and AI (All-inclusive) plans. EP = no meals whatsoever, and AI = all meals provided. In some cases, the AI plans are way way way more $ than we could imagine. And I'm just wondering if anyone here could give me ideas, suggestions, recommendations, opinions on the best/most reasonable way to stay and enjoy PV by the ocean for 2 -3 weeks?! Given that my mom would be quite limited in mobility, I was leaning towards taking the AI plan, but then just wondering how easy it is to buy and prepare our own meals? A friend even suggested looking into renting a house/condo instead of staying in a hotel. Any insights on these will be greatly appreciated.

Most AI places are out of town, you could rent a condo in town with a full kitchen, pity your mum will not be too mobile, as we have wonderful restaurants here.
This list will give you an idea of prices. http://vallartainfo.com/rent.html
BTW European Plan usually includes breakfast, at least it does in Europe
Which hospital, it would help if we knew the location. ?

Thanks so much for the information. I checked out the link and I would definitely go the condo way if it works out!! The hospital is called "Hospital CMQ Premier", which I understand, is part of a chain of hospitals in PV. This one is located on Av. Francisco Villa, between Agustin Flores and C.J. Barrios (according to the map we are given). We found this place through a doctor's group in the US that sends patients with no insurance down there for expensive procedures. The group also works through a travel coordinator/agency to book flights and accommodations for patients, especially first timers. And so the travel agency found us a couple of hotel options (Krystal Puerto Vallarta (on Av. Las Garzas) and Sheraton Buganvilias (on Blvd Fcl Medina Ascenio).

I have NO idea where these places are with respect to the hospital, except to say that I'm guessing not terribly too far away?!? Will these hotels then be in the so-called "hotel zone", and thus out of town? How far away from the hospital would most (if not all) of the condos/apts from your link be situated? Again, muchas gracias for all your help.

There are really good maps on the website mentioned in the first post, so you can get an idea of the 'lay of the land'.

Yes Krystal and Sheraton are in the Hotel Zone. Sheraton being closer into the downtown area. It's easy to use taxis to get around.

I also would recommend looking into renting an apartment or condo. Often you can get them for the same price as a hotel. I've never done an AI so can't comment on that. But yes absolutely it is easy to shop and prepare your own meals. Or get great things to take-out from restaurants, delis, the roast chicken stands, etc.

suze, i suppose you (and the other ol' timers on here) have NO idea how much of a help you r to the rest of us, especially newbies! In the last few days since i've joined Fodors, i've learned so much about PV. So, sincerely thank you.

I have decided to rent a place in the southside, and now wondering what's the best way to go about doing this? I will use the link http://vallartainfo.com/rent.html, and should i call the owners directly from here? Might there be any possibility of 'disadvantage' for someone taking care of all this arangement from here or is it better to go through locals (if one has any) to do the booking for you? I am asking these questions because, being originally from West Africa myself and having travelled a bit in Africa, sometimes there appears to be a "premium" on rentals only when they are booked from overseas, especially when they know that the visitors are from the US or Europe! From what I read so far about PV, I doubt this would the case, but still want to run it by you folks that know the area quite well...

Happy to help. I love to share my PV-love with new visitors.

I'm not sure exactly the answer to your questions. vallartainfo is definitely a reliable website. personally I've use the local agency www.vallarta-getaways.com which worked like a charm (they have units in various buildings on the hillside overlooking the southside beach and in downtown).

muchas gracias!

The hospital, Premier Hospital, is on the left of this map, http://vallartainfo.com/hotelzone.html
The Krystal is on the left, the Sheraton is on the map below.

Thank you very much, cabron! Very helpful map.
Just a side question: do you folks live in the US and visit PV regularly, or you live there? (I think suze does not live there as you've mentioned numerous times in your posts that you've visited PV several times). Just curious, that's all.

cabron lives in Vallarta permanent fulltime.

i live in Seattle and visit once, sometimes twice, a year (~20 trips total to date).