Puerto Vallarta Hotels
 

We are looking for a hotel with a nice beach within walking distance to town.
Also, are there any good snorkeling sites in Puerto Vallarta?

Snorkeling is not generally too great in PV but you can take a boat out to places where it is somewhat better.

Hotels on the beach in Old Town (Playa Los Muertos) include Molina de Agua, Tropicana, Playa Los Arcos.

The more high-end hotels like Westin, Marriott, etc. are out in the hotel zone or the marina and not walking distance to town (but a short bus or taxi ride).

If you have anything more specific to request about a hotel, please post again, I'm happy to help if I can.

Here are the top rated hotels in P.V.
Sheraton which is in walking distance to
town but a nice walk has a nice beach just cleaned it up, Fiesta Americana has a nice location close to supermarket and other shops but need a cab to town, Marriott & Westin which are located in the Marina can walk to restaurants at the Marina and shops but need to take a cab into town but not every night there is enough to do in that area. Dreams is all inclusive has the best beach but need to take a cab, none of these hotels are that far away from town but too far to walkexcept the Sheraton. LaJolla is another hotel but way totallt too far away from town. Go to trip advisor and check these hotels out. Good Luck

Thank you all for your help.
Our priorities in order are, clean (more upscale type hotel, roomy beach (close to hotel rooms), and hotel not too far from area with shops and restaurants (cab/bus ride ok).
Also, can someone explain these different areas, ex. "marina". "old town", etc.

Here's a series of maps, not to scale.
http://vallartainfo.com/outerlimits.html
Note 'old town' is used my some to describe the south side of town, although the north side (of the river) is a lot older. The south side of town is also named by some as Zona Romantica - yuck.

The hotels I have given are all the top hotels and are all on the beach. The difference between the Marina and Old Town is the distance. The Marina is about 15 yrs old has all hotels shops condos and restaurants, it is about 10 minutes from the airport. I stayed at the Marriott at the Marina in April with 2 other couples and we only went intot own 2x to go to restaurants there. It is about a 15 minute cab ride into town depending on traffic. The only hotel close to town is the Sheraton which I stayed at 2 weeks ago. The town is ver y large and has many many restaurants, shops, cobblestone streets and also a Malecon that you can stroll along. It's all a matter of what you are looking for. I personally prefer the Marriott for the amenities it is worth taking the cab ride into town a few nights but staying at the Marina you can stroll along their Malecon and try the restaurants there. Any more questions just ask.

You need a map ;-) Seriously pull up any PV tourist website and you'll see a general layout of town.

Basicaly starting from the north and coming south around the curve of the Bay of Banderas:

Nuevo Vallarta (cancunish-new resort district, 30 mins to 1 hr from town)

Airport

The Marina (Marriott, etc. with restaurants, 10 mins. to downtown)

Hotel Zone (hotel strip heading towards downtown, Sheraton, Buenaventura, Rosita, 3 mins. to downtown)

El Centro (is central downtown where the Malecon seawall promonade is located, the cathedral with the town on the top, the main zocolo/town square next to the tourist office)

Rio Cuale (the river cutting town in two) two bridges one south and one northbound are landmarks

Old Town (as noted above it's not so old but a better name Zona Romantica as the tourist brochures keep trying to call it) or 'the southside' includes Playa Los Muertos the main local public beach

Just a comment on the snorkling issue...

The most popular spot is probably the series of big rocks, honeycombed by tunnel channels, etc. out at Los Arcos.

Have fun!
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

Hola: I just got back from PV last night. I think your best bet is the Sheraton because its not just the restaurants that are great in old town and the Zona Romantica, it is the activity on the Malecon and the galleries. If you are interested in these things you won't want to have to take a cab all the time. You can walk from the Sheraton and its nice. The Marina is very nice but it requires a cab to the Malecon or the Central Zone. Right now a lot of parades are going on for the Advent - 21 days before Christmas (or something like that). All for free we experienced a lovely ballet and a toe dancer at the outdoor theatre. A chamber music group at the "backward" bench and the bronze statues (I call the ladies), a group in costume that climbed a 150 ft. pole and came swinging down on ropes (upside down), a mime, a comic that played the trumpet, -- all excellent entertainment on one night. We took our family on a tour boat to Las Caletas, the snorkeling was OK. If this sounds like something you would like choose the Sheraton only because it is within walking distance

We have been to PV twice and cannot bear the thought of staying in the newer area near the airport. The atmosphere of the old town and around the beaches is so much more authentic (as far as you can get in PV these days). We also stayed out in Mismaloya. This is good if you want peace and quiet and it is very pretty. It is only a 15 min ($10 APPROX) taxi ride to town.
There are also lots of lovely villas and condos for rent in the town and just a short walk to the beach if you visit one of those websites you get a fairly good idea.

Just a little addition , since I am sure you are looking at a (some) map.

If you see the region called Nuevo Vallarta and Vallarta Nayarit.....these are the same places.

The name has been changed from Nuevo Vallarta to Nayarit Vallarta.


suze

Which hotels in the downtown area have you stayed at(if any)., and which did you like best.!?

I like being in the downtown area more so than the Marina and Nayarit.

Thanks
Percy

Percy,

The hotels I like best for myself are Posada de Roger (budget) and Casa Andrea (moderate). I have also rented an apartment, one in Remance district and one on Olas Altas.

Thanks suze.

I will keep those places in mine.

Percy

Percy, You are most welcome.

If I tried someplace new next time in PV, I would go to Hotel Eloisa or Hotel Rio as my next favorite choices (I have visited both and looked around several times). They are also moderate 3-star hotels with pool near downtown and the beach.