Playa Esmerelda Condos in Puerto Vallarta
 

I am considering renting a 3BR condo in this complex. It appears to be between Conchas Chinas and Dreams/Camino Real. Can anyone give me some information about the condo complex,i.e. quality, neightborhood,etc? I plan to ask the owner many questions, and to ask for references,but I was hoping someone on this forum could give me some insight also.

Suze....do you know anything about this condo building? Do you know anyone I could contact who might? I truly appreciate all your advice on this forum about Puerto Vallarta.

hi martha, I read your post this morning and even consulted my PV map (kept handy on my home desk!) but didn't see a Playa (as you probably know means 'beach') Esmerelda shown.

obviously it is not walking distance to town, from the location you mention, so you'd need to go by local bus or taxi when you want to go shopping from the condo. not sure if that is a consideration to you in choosing a place.

i always stay at a couple hotels or apartments (the same ones over and over) so am not really familiar with things outside of El Centro and the Old Town part of PV.

you might try over at www.allvallarta.com they have a very active message board with a number of posters living in PV.

if you have a website for the condo i might be able to tell you a little bit more from looking at it.

shopping... or to restaurants or other El Centro activities I should have said.

i always am walking distance to everything and LOVE that about PV, is what i meant but did not say very clearly above.

Hi Suze...thanks so much for your reply. The website for the condo unit is: www.pvcasabonita.com I'd sure appreciate your assessment of the condo and of the complex it is in. We're thinking of taking our adult children and families there for my husband's 60th birthday in late January. We all live in Phoenix, so it is a quick 2.5 hour flight via America West. We'd be there for 5 nights. Thanks again for your help.

Beautiful pictures... I can't tell you how bad that makes me want to RUN to the nearest airport and catch a plane to PV!

Anyway while I am not familiar with that particular condo I recognize that part of the beach. It's an upscale stretch of high-end looking complexes. You can get to it from old town/southside walking all the way along the beach (because I've done it - but probably takes 45 mins. or so and you have to climb over rocks & stuff to do it).

Anyway it looks charming to me. But is hard to tell everything from photos so I really hestitate to give a glowing review for a place I've never seen in myself person.

For transportation, you should be able to get back & forth to town easy enough using either local bus or taxi. It's not far and shouldn't cost much like 50 cents for the bus and >$5 for a taxi I'm guessing.

Here's another PV specific website that you can check to see if anyone has first hand experience with Casa Bonita. www.puertovallarta.net and go to the Bulletin Boards

Suze....thanks for checking this out and for your comments and suggestions. I'll get on both the websites you listed and I'll also call some prior renters for references. This will be our first visit to Puerto Vallarta and we're very excited. I really appreciate your help.

This may be your first trip to Puerto Vallarta but hopefully not your last! Have a fantastic trip.