Debtie

I was thinking of honeymooning at the Westin Regina Resort in Puerto Vallarta. The hotel looks wonderful but I have heard mixed reviews regarding this part of Mexico - that it is no longer considered an elegant part of the country, the the beach and ocean is often rocky and rough. If you have visited this area or stayed at this hotel can you please offer some adise. Is the area safe to explore outside of the hotel property, are there nice places to dine...anything you can share would be very much appreciated.

dp

I have only seen the Westin from the outside, but the grounds and pool area are beautiful, and I believe they were in process of reconstructing a small beach area after Hurricane Kenna last Oct. I have only seen good reviews of the hotel itself. As you go further north around the bay, the beaches get wider and whiter and the water is certainly swimmable. I'm not sure what you mean by this area (PV) no longer being considered an elegant part of the country. Perhaps you can elaborate on that? PV itself is one of the safest places I've ever been to. Having traveled there solo (female) and walked around town at all hours of the day and night, I feel safer there than in my own large city in the US. I've also explored some of the outer areas of PV and further north and never felt one bit of apprehension. I think I read that PV has somewhere around 900 restaurants. There are unlimited numbers of fabulous restaurants of all cuisines and price ranges. Check out www.vallarta-info.com and www.todopv.com for more specific info about PV. The 2nd site has a very active message board if you'd like to post there also. Good luck.

suze

Another single female, having spent 15 vacations in Puerto Vallarta in the past 10 years.<BR><BR>I too am curious what you mean about that part of the country being considered no longer elegant? First off... I didn't know it ever was! But secondly, who says that? Puerto Vallarta is a normal Mexican town/city population approx 250,000 with a tourist industry that has developed since the 1960's.<BR><BR>It IS the Pacific ocean so the beaches and water are more rough (not calm turquoise water with fine white sand, like on the Caribbean side) but still very very beautiful. The local people in PV are extremely friendly, genuine, and accomodating. I have never had one single safety issue and I walk ALL parts of town, alone, at ALL times of day or night, take cabs and local busses by myself, etc. There are more fantastic restaurants that you will ever be able to visit. From simple family style places to very fine dining and everything in between.

gyfted1

Some of us PV fans get a feathers a little ruffled when you anyone says any disparing remarkes about our favorite city. I usually stay on the Marina in a condo but whenever we go to PV,we visit the Westin. We usually go to the restaurant outdoors, have a few drinks and snacks and chill out as we watch the beautiful ocean waves just a few feet away. I agree with the others. I have always felt safe there. The inside of the hotel is lovely. Well appointed public area.

sweetsue

We just spent two weeks in Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta, and although the Mayan Palace in NV was nice, the town is pretty nasty. The water is polluted.....read this post<BR><BR>http://www.planetsave.com/ViewStory.asp?ID=3620<BR><BR>I doubt if I would ever go back to PV again. It isn't a &quot;quaint&quot; Mexican town.

suze

To gyfted1: you are so right about PV-fans getting defensive BUT in this OP, I really am curious, because as crazy as I am about the area, I certainly never considered it &quot;elegant&quot; or knew of others who loved it for that reason.<BR><BR>To sweetsue: I don't think you can judge PV by staying at the Mayan Palace. If you think the town was &quot;nasty&quot; you certainly weren't visiting the right neighborhoods. Not that I am trying to convince you to return to PV, there are plenty of tourists already! If you know where to go Puerto Vallarta IS quaint, charming, authentic, friendly, and welcoming. BUT I'm glad for your post, because your viewpoint might be absolutely the most accurate for Debtie concerning her honeymoon.

sweetsue

We stayed at three different five star hotels. We went downtown twice, and it was in my opinion a dirty tourist trap.<BR>The sewage in the ocean was the worst part.

JRinPV

All I can say, sweetsue, is that ignorance is bliss in your case. You didn't see any sewage in the ocean, you're just too dumb to know it.<BR>How about some facts? A post from another forum.<BR>&quot; I am the manager of the sewage treatment plant in Puerto Vallarta. The plant is a privately owned, built and operated (by a British/Dutch company) state of the art sewage works. It is the equal of any plant in the US, Canada or Britain and is widely accepted to be the best plant in the whole of Latin America. We have been operating since February 1995 and in more than 3,000 samples the plant has never failed to meet its discharge standard. This standard is the same as required in Britain and the US. I personally have 35 years experience in the operation of sewage works and the effluent from the Puerto Vallarta plant is the best I have ever seen anywhere in the world.<BR><BR>I have just read this forum for the first time and I am amazed at the enormous amount of misinformation which people are posting. About 90% of the city is connected to our plant. The treated effluent leaves with about 3 BOD (limit 20), 3 suspended solids (limit 30), 1 ammonia (not limited) and less than 50 faecal coliform bacteria (limit 1,000). The remaining 10% is mainly in the south after the Camino Real. Nearly all the condominiums and hotels have their own private treatment plants. I have to admit that not all work very well but the volumes concerned are so small when compared with the size of the bay that the pollutional effect is minimal. Banderas Bay is the second biggest bay in the Americas after Hudson Bay.<BR>I have lived in Puerto Vallarta for 9 years and as far as I know there are no sewer outfalls entering the ocean between Conchas Chinas and the Rio Ameca (border with Nayarit). I think people are assuming surface water drains are foul sewers.<BR><BR>The other half of the Bay in Nayarit is not so well off for sewage treatment although it is improving slowly.<BR><BR>In conclusion I have spent my life working in the control of water pollution. I am a qualified chemist and I have no fears of swimming in the ocean at Puerto Vallarta.&quot;<BR><BR>I'm not giving a link to the forum, because we don't suffer idiots and don't want you over there.<BR>

sweetsue

JR.......other than your rude comments....read this<BR><BR>http://www.planetsave.com/ViewStory.asp?ID=3620<BR><BR>Which says:<BR><BR>Report finds dirty beaches at 16 Mexican resorts <BR>2/4/03 <BR><BR><BR>MEXICO CITY (AP) _ A government study published Monday detected water pollution at 16 Mexican beach resorts and said the situation has already caused some health problems. <BR><BR>While the levels of pollution due to garbage, sewage or industrial emissions varied from beach to beach, the waters of the heavily visited Zihuatanejo bay on the Pacific coast were listed as among the worst. <BR><BR>``Zihuatanejo bay has problems because its wastewater treatment plant doesn't have sufficient capacity, and part of its discharges don't meet standards for recreational use,'' Jose Iturriaga of Mexico's environmental protection agency told the newspaper Reforma. <BR><BR>Because enclosed bays tend to accumulate more pollution, some of Mexico's top tourist destinations _ like the open-water resort of Cancun _ were not mentioned in the report. <BR><BR>However, pollution was detected at Mexico's best-known bay, Acapulco. Other beachfront destinations popular with foreign tourists, such as Ensenada, Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Escondido and Huatulco were also listed as having polluted waters. All of those resorts are located on the Pacific coast. <BR><BR>In all, significant levels of pollution were found at 16 major beaches and bays. <BR><BR>The most common health problems were gastrointestinal ailments caused by swimmers accidentally ingesting polluted sea water, Iturriaga said. <BR><BR> <BR>

JRinPV

I trust my source more. I've lived here for over 10 years and know what I'm talking about. When I lived in S. Cal the Hyperion Plant just south of Marina del Rey, would overflow and pump millions of gallons of raw sewage into Santa Monica bay every time we had a major rainfall.<BR>It rains 5 times more in volume here but we never have had a problem.<BR>Sorry for my rant, it's just people see some brown foam on the water (a very natural phenonenon and a sign of a good enviroment), and asume it is something else.

pattysuericia

FOR GYFTED1<BR>I read your post with interest. Would you mind telling me the name of the condo you rent in PV? I hope to spend a month in PV next winter(if there's still a world left). Patricia

smith111

try puertovallarta.com , vallartatoday.com<BR> If you prefer a more secluded area for your honeymoon, try the hotels in the Conchas Chinas district South of Vallarta. http://www.conchaschinas.com/

gyfted1

Pattysuericia,<BR>The condo is the Bayview Grand. It is located across the Marina between the Marriott and Velas Vallarta. I have an oceanview. I went through Bill Taylor's TriStar Rentals. They have a web site and they are located on the Marina. The year before last, we rented a 3 bedroom house on across from the Marina. It had 3 floors, 3 and half baths. I through Michael Holland Cruise Travel located out of San Francisco. He is a great guy.

pattysuericia

Hello Gyfted1<BR><BR> I am going to go on that website for the Bayview Grand-thanks. Do you rent a one bedroom or a two bdrm? Can I ask how much it is?<BR>Kind regards