nyllrap

My husband and I are strongly considering Puerto Vallarto for a summer vacation. I am 50 and he is 55. We went to Cancun last summer, stayed at the Cancun Palace, and had a blast. We would like to try the more Mexican flavor of Puerto Vallarta. I need suggestions for a hotel. What do you consider to be the best "well rounded" hotel - good service, nice rooms, nice pool, decent beach, etc. I do not want all-inclusive, and would like a 4 or 5 star hotel. Thanks for any suggestions.

mjz

I enjoyed the Club Level at the Westin Regina. Nice rooms, good service, great pools, lacking beach, open-air type hotel with Mexican charm and beautiful grounds, nice spa, good breakfast buffet. PV has some great restaurants and I recommend skipping dinners at the hotel and opting for the local establishments. For beaches, we went a little N. of PV per concierge's advice and spent the day....great beach, but can't remember the name...something like Des Lasderas. We also took a daytrip to Yelapa....stunning boat ride, nice beach, great hiking.

Have fun.

loangalsal

The Westin is a very nice hotel, but it is of contemporary design. Doesn't have much of a Mexican feel in my opinion. If you want a Mexican flavor to your hotel, check out the Krystal Vallarta. It has more land than any downtown hotel and has lush tropical landscaping over many acres. All buildings are low rise. They have many different types of rooms, but all the ones I stayed in have red tile floors and a very Mexican feel. There is one brand new building there and I can't tell you if those rooms have Mexican feel to it or not, but when you say "more Mexican flavor", that is the hotel I think of. However, IF you can get to the Camino Real before it changes to all inclusive later this summer, that is an awesome hotel on the best beach in Vallarta. Just outside of downtown, but close enough to be convenient. You will have fun either way!

JRinPV

Camino Real, Camino Real, Camino Real.

suze

Camino Real, on its own beach to the south of town. Or the Krystal, Casa Magna Marriott, or Westin in the Marina/Hotel Zone.

Destiladeras (is the name of the beach mentioned above) also El Ancote are lovely beaches between Bucerias and Punta Mita heading north of PV.

suze

Oops, Playa Las Destiladeras and Playa Anclote (I checked a map).

Bobbie737

We have stayed in Puerto Vallarta 5 times - two times at the Westin Regina, but the best of all was the Velas Vallarta - all suites and just a beautiful resort (peacocks walking around, etc.) - the marina is very nice as it has so many restaurants and shops - bus and taxis reasonable and run all the time. The beaches really aren't that good any place as compared to the Caribbean.

nyllrap

Thanks for the suggestions. Regarding the "Mexican flavor," it is not a requirement that the hotel be that way. I just want to visit Puerto Vallarta for that reason. As far as a hotel, I just want to stay in a nice place 4-5 stars fairly close to things. A nice beach would be good, although I know the beaches are not like those in Cancun. Overall, just want a great vacation!

butsey

Have been to Krystal, Marriott, Fiesta Americana, Sheraton and Camino Real the only two I would go to are Camino Real and Sheraton they are both close to town however they are 6 stars, there is a big difference between 5 & 6 stars try trip advisor.com and read the reviews of the hotles in P. Vallarta. Good Luck

Little_Man

I LOVED the Camino Real. It has the best, prettiest location of all PV hotels, IMHO. The service is good, views are wonderful, great beach, rooms are nice. I hope to go back someday, although I hear it's going to become an AI? Don't like the sound of that...! Too many good restaurants in Puerto Vallarta! Plus, that may mean the quality of their margaritas will go down! And they were darn good

TioGringo

Sounds like you're not really into the cool, small hotels, but rather just want a good, general hotel.

My recommendations in that area would be the Marriott Casamagna in the Marina area, or the Sheraton Bouganvillea along the downtown strip. If you're doing a timeshare exchange, one of the best timeshare properties is Velas Vallarta.

Hope this helps!
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

arriba

We stayed at Posadas Claudia several years ago and LOVED it! It is an old villa converted into a hotel, gorgeous garden area around the pool--all immaculately kept. The owners are always there and are very accomodating. The decor is "typico" and nicely done. Probably not as "luxe" as Westin or other large places, but we love the quiet atomsphere and personal feel of the place.

cswmpg

Loved the Westin. Don't get sucked into the timeshare "presentation".

LA_FadeAway

My personal favorite is the Presidente Intercontinental. It's a little ways south of town, but they have the prettiest beach in my opinion. It's small but the water is beautiful and the jungle comes right down to it. We paid the extra for the AI plan and felt it was well worth it. The staff took excellent care of us. The buffets weren't that good, except breakfast, but the Italian restaurant upstairs was excellent and the pool snack bar was good too.

Travelnick

Agree with LAFadeaway on Intercon's beach and strongly recommend it - it is very secluded so no hawkers and very few people, but you can get access to it by walking through the ground level of the condo block next door without staying in the Interco. I was not impressed by the room I was shown at the Intercon a couple of years ago - the multiple light burns in the lamp shade I thought was a bit shoddy for the price of room especially given their pool was out of order and restaurant closed due to hurricane damage.

LA_FadeAway

I had heard about the hurricane damage too, but it was all fixed by last August. You couldn't tell it even happened. They upgraded us to a room on the top floor with a hot tub and awesome view. Everything in our room was in great shape, nothing burnt or damaged that I remember. Maybe they've done some upgrading since the hurricane.

jreed

Just got back from PV yesterday.As always had a good time.We tried something different this time and stayed in a private villa.I highly reccommend it.It doesnt cost much more than a hotel and we had our own private pool and private cook.It was in the Conchas Chinas area just South of town.Google "casa rentals in puerto vallarta",theres tons of choices.If a casa is not your thing,Id choose Camino Real over Westin,we like it better,sorry to hear that its changing to an AI.

nyllrap

Last night we made a hotel decision and booked hotel and flight. We will be staying at the Sheraton Buganvilia, mainly for its location.

We love to snorkle. Any suggestions as to where to go to snorkle in Puerto Vallarta or nearby areas?

butsey

Sorry can't help with the snorkeling however you made a good choice w/this hotel have been going for many years it's one of the best locations. If you need some help w/restaurants just email me at [email protected] I will be glad to help w/ any thing. Have a great trip!

loangalsal

Tango tours is a great recommendation. My last trip to PV 4 of us went on a private tour with Tango Tours. Great alternative to the big tour boats. Augustine, the private tour guide, is very knowledgeable about the area and will customize the day to your liking. We went to the falls at Quimoxto (sp?) and was glad he took us there because he knew to go early and we had the place completely to ourselves. Tons of people coming in as we were leaving. Snorkeling isn't as good in PV as in some other parts of the world, but we still enjoyed it. Maybe the best part of Tango Tours was that Augustine made you feel like you were the only people in the world that day and he was there only to make your day a wonderful one. Hopefully he is doing tours in the summer months, you would love it! Enjoy.