shirmy

Trying to plan a girls trip in November and finally decided on Dreams. It is unavailable the week we're going. Am nervous to try Barcelo de Mismolaya due to reviews. Thought this was best location. We want good beach and pool and will go into town a couple times. Any suggestions?

suze

I also would be nervous about Mismaloya because of bad reviews over the years.

I'm not aware of any other all-inclusives that areon the beach to the south of town, similar to Dreams, though. The others I'd typically recommend are in the Zona Romantica or Hotel Zone actually in the town of Puerto Vallarta.

If you are willing to look at places in town, that opens up possibilities of many more.

If you want to stay outside of town, then I think you need to look north instead, out into the resort zone called "Nuevo Vallarta" in the state of Nayarit. There's loads of nice, new, large resorts out that way (30-40 mins. drive from PV) and the beaches are better than in town.

shirmy

Thanks Suze. We know we don't want to be all the way up in Nuevo Vallarta. But are willing to consider Hotel Zone or Marina? Where is Zona Romantica? And which of these have the nicer beaches? Thanks.

suze

That's a new name the tourist folks are trying to get going (lol) for the neighborhood "south of the river". If you're looking at a PV map, south of El Centro & south of the Rio Cuale, inland from the beach called Playa Los Muertos.

These two are not my own "recommendations" because I don't stay at AI's. But these are popular mid-level all-inclusives in decent locations walking distance to everything:
Hotel Playa Los Arcos (southside)
Buenaventura (hotel zone)

There is a very active forum at Trip Advisor for Puerto Vallarta. You might want to check over there too for more details.

I love Fodor's but there are only a few posters here who answer for PV.

Little_Man

There looks to be a brand new hotel, the Riu Palace Vallarta opening at the end of October, and it has some great specials, I rec'd an email on it yesterday.
I don't like the location of Mismaloya, or the whole setup. It seemed cramped, no beach.
Agree w/ Suze that PV is such a great place for restaurants and ambiance that I wouldn't stay at an AI.
Check out the Villa Premiere or Casa Isabel, too.

suze

Good suggestion. I think Villa Premiere is the nicest all-inclusive (their plan is optional) within Puerto Vallarta. Also it's adults only. It's a bit more money than the two I suggested but I believe similar priced to the two mentioned in the original post.

suze

The maps at www.vallarta-info.com are very good for you to get a feel for how things are laid out around the Bay.