Just concluded my stay at the Hilton Puerto Vallarta and it was great!

My partner and I arrived on Thursday around 3 pm. (Taxi cost from airport was $13). At check in I presented my Hilton Free Night Certificate. The way they booked the room is, they booked 1 night for $309, with a note that I would be providing the certificate. The 2nd reservation was for 2 nights and on points (60K). The front desk rep did not know what the certificate was, or how to use it but she assured me that she would find out and let me know if there was any problems. Also, at checkin, we were presented with our first drink, a vodka lemonade with some hibiscus tea.

As a Diamond member, we were upgraded to one of the swim out pool junior suites. Incredible room, incredible pool! About 10 minutes after we got to the room a plate of fresh fruit was delivered to our room with a card reading 'Welcome to Paradise'.

The grounds are great. The 2 pools are large, and include some clever little coves. The pool chairs/loungers were in good shape, and the umbrellas were not only everywhere, but very modern and cool. There were 3 or 4 bathrooms at the pool that were a very cool setup. They are enclosed but on the top have vines/open areas to them (they do need to be cleaned for spiderwebs and such). Made it very convenient and pool friendly.

I really enjoyed all of the subtle colors at the resort. From the green painted walls, to the bright green pool towels. The beach was great and there was lots of furniture on the beach.

The service at the restaurants and the pool were fantastic. Everyone is very accommodating and they even remembered my last name everywhere we went (I think it was because I have a Spanish last name and I dont speak Spanish). The reviews are right, if you tip the pool servers from the get go, they will remember you and your drink order, and will automatically bring you drinks when they see you.

The food at the hotel was just ok. Not spectacular and not horrible. We ate at the buffet everyday for breakfast and one night for dinner. We also ate at Fogo, which was very good, but not necessarily compared to a Brazilian steakhouse (though I must admit, the Chorizo was great!)

Minimal Complaints: Our toiletries were not refreshed once in our 3 night stay. No turn down service (which ordinarily is not that big of a deal, however, on vacation you shower at weird times and would have been nice to have refresher towels). Drink service at the pool did not start until 11 am (you could walk to the lobby bar to get drinks, but then you are walking wet into the lobby). The Adult Pool O'West coudlve been open at least 1 more hour (currently closes at 10). The food was just.... so so...

Overall, I liked the hotel and I will definitely return.