We stayed at this resort for 5 days and 4 nights. The first night the front desk told us we would recieve a "suite". This turned out to be an icky room with a kitchenette. The bedroom had a teeny window and looked out over the pool area. Other reviewers were right about the music being annoying in the pool area. Luckily we had taken advantage of the unlimited drinks included in our all-inclusive deal and slept through it, however, the next morning at 7 it was super annoying! We asked to be moved and paid an additional $ 20.00 per night (cash - did it really go to the hotel?) and received an awesome beach front room. BUT, the mattresses are sooooo hard and the pillows equally. It is difficult to get a good night's sleep if you have any back problems whatsoever. The food at the pool snack bar was quite good. The vegetarian selections from the restaurant were also good. We had it together enough to eat one night at one of the reservation only restaurants and it was also very good. You can go to the family part of the resort to eat as well and we got desperate enough a couple of nights to go to the buffet which is open the latest - yuck - unidentifiable food. Tip the bartenders $ 1.00 a drink to get the best available tequila/rum or whatever and also you are treated royally. We are continually amazed at all-inclusives when people don't tip and then laugh our heads off as the bartenders pour them the cheapest possible brands.

I used tripadvisor before booking and i guess my expectations was a bit high, the hotel is rated as the best hotell for kids in Puerto Vallarta...

First, overall the hotell gives good value for the money. We were 4 persons in 1 familyroom and payed around 150 dls a day all inclusive. We travelled from Norway, so when we first travelled that fare (20 hours) we stayed for 3 weeks. Thats far to many days at this hotel, i guess 4-5 days would be enough.

Most has been mentioned before, i will just comment on some details.

Weather: I was abit concerned before going cuz the weatherforecast said heavy rain and lightning/thunder everyday.
This was ONLY in the night time and all days were sunny from morning to evening.

Avvoid the sales personel for the timeshare, we did the first days and then they left us alone. They tried hard the first days to get in contact but i already read here, so i knew and kept away.

We booked all our trips on the beach and in general was around 25% cheaper than at the hotel for the same trips.
We went fishing twice was nice and can be recomnded.
We went with the pirateship and it was far the best experience there. Very profesional, agreat show and 5 stars service.

The Hotel in general is getting old and needs a major upgrade, this includes the rooms.

The pools are ok, and the childs pool will be great for kids from 3 to 5. Mine are 7 and 9 so was nothing for them.

The beach was nice, but the amont of sellers were incredibel.
The beach bar serves you to your chair at the beach and the snackbar has maybe the best food at the hotel.

The personell does a great job and you never have to wait for everything. After some days i found that if i gave the waitress at the beach or by the pool 2-5 dls in the start of the day they provided drinks for all the family all day. Same goes in the bars. (most people gives 1 dls so just a bit more makes the look after YOU...)

The food was ok, but not impressive in any ways.
In the 3 weeks the Italian resturant was always fully booked when we tryed to book in the morning.

We spendt most evenings at resturants in downtown. 6 dls by taxi.

Some days we went to Chillis or resturants at the mall (Gallerias Vallarta, is close)

Our room was facing the street with a 1 person balcony.
It had a bunkbed for the kids (can be 3 kids) and a seperate tv for the kids in the "room" for the them. The "room" was half a wall and did not provide any means of privacy towards the adult bed.
The Kingsize bed was hard like concrete and we both had bad backs after a few days. Mind that the hotel does not provide minibars and roomservice takes 45 minutes fro you order. Stated in the roomservice folder.

Reading this I realize is mostly negative. Overall we had a good time there and the personell was very nice. But as i started we had to high expactations before arriving. Others said like a 3 stars hotel. I would say 2+ by europeen standard.

Last time in Puerto Vallarta we stayed at Westin. Was 3 times the price, but next time we go back there. Im willing to pay more for the quality.

Enjoy your vacation.

Truls
Norway

We returned last night after a week in P.V. for my wife's birthday. We have been to many all inclusive resorts in the past, and this is the first time we have been compelled to write a review.
There were good aspects to our visit. The staff is friendly, and the hotel is clean. The water park was a big hit with the kids.
The food was aweful! There were always dozens of flies buzzing the food. One cook handeled raw pork and then handed me a tortilla. It got so bad, one evening we ate saltine crackers and breakfast cereal for dinner. We are not snobs, but this food was gross.
The hotel gets commisions from timeshare companies. We were asked over and over to attend the ninety minute presentation. It became tiresome to constantly turn down their invitations for the free breakfast. One morning, as we sat to have breakfast cereal, we were asked to not sit here because it was a reserved table. We had to get up so the timeshare guy could give his pitch to someone. If you like the idea of dealing with timeshare salespeople, then this is your place.
It was impossible to find a seat anywhere that had shade, except at the beach. This was great except for the never ending procession of trinket and timeshare salespeople. It was impossible to have a conversation, read, or relax without being constantly interrupted. A simple "no gracias" was enough, but became annoying.

I booked a few weeks ahead through Skoosh for about $150 a night for 2 adults/ 2 kids (8 and 6). After perusing all the reviews, I was a bit apprehensive and almost canceled but decided to go ahead with our plans. This was the last leg of our three week trip traveling through various states in Mexico.

Yes, this is a three star hotel and it is MEXICO, people. A third world country with some beautiful, tropical locations, but nonetheless, still third world. It rains and there are flies, ants, bugs, and yes, MEXICAN food in Puerto Vallarta's CP. American food attempted by Mexicans will not be American as you know it. The food is actually good if you give it a chance. You're in another country, try it! Granted, the snack bar food was gross so I would avoid that but there is a Soriana grocery store very close by you can go to for some snacks.

Bearing all this in mind, we had a very pleasant and inexpensive stay. We tipped most of the time a dollar or two because the workers work very hard, long hours, 6 to 7 days a week. Everyone was pleasant, friendly, and helpful.

Our kids LOVED the water park. They begged to stay longer every time. We left them there while we went to the quieter pool on the north side of the property. They have a small wading area on one side which we sat in to read as we sipped unlimited Pina Coladas. Yes, bring an insulated mug as another reviewer recommended.

The room was adequate and clean, we had an ocean/pool view which I got with a simple email request before we arrived. There is no A/C in many of the hotel's locations but this is standard for many tropical hotels we've stayed at. The A/C in our room and in the French restaurant worked great though and the food was good along with attentive service. TIP: ask for a fruit punch with rum. Yummy!

For the price, we thought it was an excellent value. My hubby and I relaxed while our kids had fun. What more can you ask for ?!