Dudemon

I just returned from the Westin PVR. It was a very nice hotel and the staff was notable. I had booked a prepaid discount rate of $71.50 / night in a standard room. Here are a few of my observations;

A day before I was to check in I called the Plt desk to tell them that I would need to add a 3rd person to the room and to add the appropriate charge for this. I was told that I had already been UG'd to a suite and that it would be better if I did this at the hotel since they didn't want to mess up my UG. When we showed up at the hotel and learned of the third person they down graded me to a view room with a jacuzzi on the deck on the SPG floor with two double beds. This was a bit of a bummer but it did work out for us better then one king bed. The nice thing was they didn't charge of for the 3rd person!

The room was very clean with the standard tiles floors found all over Mexico. Heavenly products abound and the air conditioning was strong! We were supposed to receive a turn down service but it never materialized, not a big deal to me. We also received the standard Plt key folder, which said we would receive two free continental breakfasts each day at the main restaurant. My rate didn't include any food so I didn't try to get the breakfasts though I think they would have provided them happily.

The pools were nice and clean but they aren't very good for swimming. Their shape lends them more to playing. The pool area has lots of activities and there was a board that listed all the daily activities. We had a good time playing ping-pong in the sun!

The pool and the mini bar were as others have mentioned, very expensive. I think the costs may have come down on some things though. The in room coffee was about $3.50 and not the $9.00 others have mentioned. I would still like to have received the coffee for free. The "Super Deli" across the street does have a nice quick breakfast on the cheap that we used a few days.

I found the concierge service to be lacking. I suspect this was mainly due to lack of training. They seemed to fear telling me "no" or that they couldn't find anyone to fill my request and so just seemed to avoid me (I collect license plates).

The local town is very beautiful and I would rate it as one of the nicest places in Mexico, better then Cancun, Cabo, D.F. and Tijuana/Ensenada. The area is very green and humid in July, August, and September. The diving is great but not as good as near Cancun. I learned how to catch puffer fish and this was great. If you hire a fishing boat they will make sure you catch something even if it is just barracuda.

The Sheraton is right down town and you pass it each time you take a cab ($5) or bus (4 pesos) to the center. Cabs invariably will let you off right in front of Carlos O'Brians which is fine but a bit obvious as a way of earning a few extra pesos in the form of a kick back.

Basic English is spoken by most services but you'll find that most others don't speak it. This was a noticeable difference between Cancun and Tijuana/Ensenada where everyone seems to speak English.

bseller

Dudemon- Thanks much for the update.....I'm going to be at the Westin PVR in mid November, so the information was helpful and much apprreciated! Assuming you were on MX metal, did everything work out well with flights?
I have had one of my direct ORD-PVR flights cancelled, but the replacement is not "significantly" different. Best wishes.

flyme2

Brigitte and I just came back from our "Orbitz Special" MX PVR trip where we split our stay between the Sheraton and the Westin. These are our observations:

Sheraton Buganvillias

• Smooth check-in with both paid and award nights seamlessly linked
• Automatic upgrade to suite on Towers Floor with access to Lounge and Butler service
• Welcomed by our Butler (whose name may seem somewhat familiar: Fidel Castro) with a couple of glasses of champagne and a couple of Spa passes
• The suite covers the same area as 2 rooms, but a good chunk of it is the outdoor ocean front terrace
• Typical Mexican decor...tiles, wicker and pine...no oppulence here
• Unique bathtub/shower with large window that overlooks the terrace/ocean (could prove quite interesting...depending on your travel/shower mate)
• Small, intimate and cozy lounge...the size of 2 rooms with overflow in the hallway (only required during busy periods)...nice ocean views, good assortment for continental breakfast until noon and free wine and champagne (no mixed drinks or beer) plus great chips/salsa and either hot or cold hors d'oeuvres and dessert in the evenings
• Turndown service with chocolate
• 2 nice large and well kept pools
• Wide beach, probably the cleanest sand in the area, but the ocean around Bandaras Bay is best suited for gazing and not swimming
• Nice landscaping
• Close proximity to town...a 10-15 minute walk
• Even closer to the new Mega Store (food & discount...a Mexican Wal-Mart)...a 5 minute walk and they have some of the cheapest prices in town for beer & liquor and snack fixings
• Staff was friendly and cordial, Butler staff exemplary

Westin Regina

• Check in confused by paid/award stay and ultimately not linked throughout our stay resulting in room lockout and maid skipping our room until resolution
• Automatic upgrade to suite on Royal Beach Club floor
• Upon entering, we found a broken light fixture in the bathroom with glass shards on the floor and counter...a simple request for a cleanup and a new fixture (bulb) resulted in a very convoluted resolution that took the better part of a day
• The suite covers the same area as 2 rooms, but a good chunk of it is the outdoor ocean front terrace with step up sunken jacuzzi
• Typical Mexican decor...tiles, wicker and pine...no oppulence here with a very strange exposed concrete floor in the main room that was something you'd expect to find as a driveway and not a bedroom floor
• Nice large bathroom with separate shower/bath and a large 2 sink vanity...exposed beams and skylights added a very nice effect
• Outstanding terrace views of the ocean and back onto PVR with it's mountain backdrop
• There is no Executive Lounge, but you are served continental breakfast and evening hors d'oevres in the restaurant adjacent to the pools...b/f is not as extensive as that at the Sheraton, but can be upgraded to full b/f for 45 pesos (p/p)...evening snacks are served tableside and the portions are quite generous and varied...no complimentary alcohol, but happy hour prices were applied...soft drinks and non-alcoholic mixed drinks were complimentary
• Turndown service consisted of drawn curtains, towel check and lighting adjustments
• Large free-form pool complex with 600 palm trees interspersed between and within each pool
• Small beach area with rock jetty outcrops...again, nice to look at but...
• Nice landscaping
• Location is not as good as Sheraton's...basically you're in the 'burbs, but easy and cheap buses and taxis at the door
• Not much shopping nearby...convenience deli store had prices over double and sometimes quadruple the Mega Store's
• Staff performance was weak and disjointed yet friendly...a good management team should be able to whip them into shape

In conclusion, our preferrence leaned towards the Sheraton. Good location, top notch staff, well run property. There was nothing really wrong with the Westin, it just lacked a sense of professionalism.

Starwood Lurker

So Fidel is moonlighting at the Sheraton. I guess the despot business must be in a recession as well.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

PremEx

flyme2, almost exactly the same room types and services that we had, but I'll add:

At the Sheraton we also received 2 free cocktail coupons upon check-in (along with the champagne and spa passes you mentioned).

At the Westin, our service experiences were much worse than yours and we really hated having to cab/bus into town all the time.

I also would pick the Sheraton over the Westin here. The Sheraton butlers and lounge staff were exceptional and very warm and sincere.

ozstamps

Great info. We are there un a week or so. Sounds like the Sheraton is the most central, and right now the 50% off web rate is $77 for balcony room.

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~ Glen ~ Calling all United 1K Members - please join .. www.1Kflyers.com

edg1

I am looking into booking the Sheraton for a trip next May. The best rate that I can get on the web is $81.50 which is a "Visa Lad Promotion" rate. The rate plan description is as follows:
Does this mean that the rate applies only to Visa cardholders from Latin America or that it applies to all Visa cardholders but the promotion is only valid in Latin America?

Also, ozstamps, what is the 50% web rate you mention?

Thanks.

ozstamps

It is a highlight promo on the Stawood website. 50% off all Latin America Hotels until October 15. We ARRIVE October 15 for 3 night stay, and I sweated on them not honouring it for other days, but they did.

There is also double or triple points or something too for that promo.



------------------
~ Glen ~ Calling all United 1K Members - please join .. www.1Kflyers.com

edg1

~bump~

William,

Do you have any info about the Visa Lad Promotion? Is it only for Visa cardholders who reside in Latin America, or is available for all Visa cardholders but the rate is only good at properties in Latin America?

Thanks

Starwood Lurker

I don't see anything listed in the promotion Terms and Conditions about residency in any specific region, but it is definitely at "participating" properties in Latin America.

Terms & Conditions

Offer is valid at participating hotels only.
When making a reservation, you must request promotion code SPGTRAV.

Offer is valid 7/15/02 through 10/15/02.
Rates quoted will reflect stated discount off regular (Rack) rates.

Offer is subject to availability, is not combinable with other offers and is not available to groups of more than 10 rooms.
Advance reservations required.

Participating properties?

http://promo.starwood.com/50offlatin...s.asp?region=1

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]


[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 10-09-2002).]

edg1

William,

I think the Visa Lad Promotion is different than the 50% off promotion. This is for a reservation that I want to make for next May at the Sheraton Buganvilias in Puerto Vallarta. The rate is called "Visa Lad" and under rate details, it says the following:

Thanks

Starwood Lurker

Well, obviously I don't have anything on the Visa LAD Promotion.

Thanks for the scoop, edg1.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

ozstamps

Typing this from PVR Sheraton Towers lounge. got upgraded to superb top floor ocean view room. The lounge up here has evening drinks and food and breakfast. And a working computer.

Really is worth sitting thru the hour or so time share spiel the MOMENT you arrive. We saved $125 in 2 days on tours we WANTED to book via the discounts that plan offers. Have a breakfast, shoot the breeze with the agent, tell them you earn $10,000 a year combined, and stay mostly in backpacker places and camping grounds, and they politely get rid of you fast. They are VERY low key, and seem not to hassle anyone from reports we got from lots of others. (And yoyu get a very nice breakfast thrown in!)

You then get 25% off ALL food and booze charged to your room, and mostly HALF price tourist trips. And that is off REAL prices as I checked it out. DOZENS to choose from. Sailing, fishing, scuba, heaps of day tours etc. We took a San Sebastian fly into the mountains deal day trip to visit an old silver town unchanged for 100 years, that ran $90 each versus the $130 the tour operator asked and would not budge from. (Saved $80 right there.)

That is a A SUPERB tour to take by the way .. in effect a low altitude aeriel tour of the city, beaches, Sierra Madres and the old town is a bonus. Guys ambling down the one street on Donkeys etc. No Hotels, pizza joints, discos, fast food chains etc.

Half price Sheraton restaurant meal voucher (that saves you another $50 typically) and best of all a 3 night Hotel stay voucher useable in the next year for a flat useage fee of $70 the entire stay. If anyone wants to email me about that 3 night voucher, lets talk. We sure as eggs will NOT be using it.

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~ Glen ~ Calling all United 1K Members - please join .. www.1Kflyers.com

[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited 10-18-2002).]

Brendan

I am looking at using *points in PVR for New Year's or more likely waiting till March so I can do St. Pat's Day in Boston as a postlude.
Since both hotels are Level 2 for points, (What a bargain in high season! ) I think I'll choose the convenience of the Sheraton over the luxury of the Westin.

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Play the travel game 3 vacations into the future!

PremEx

Bendan...I've stayed at 'em both many times and I don't consider the Sheraton to be that much less "luxury" than the Westin, IMHO. Property wide and even in a standard room.

As I wrote in my trip report on July 10 in the Westin PV/Ixtapa thread mentioned in the first post here, you have a chance for an upgrade (if you are statused) that is extremely nice.

[This message has been edited by PremEx (edited 10-19-2002).]