MFtraveler
just returned from a stay over Dia de los Muertos / Halloween weekend. . .
Here's a quick summary/review, but tl;dr "This thread is mostly accurate".
Me: solo traveler, non-elite Bonvoy, booked Prepaid via the Bonvoy Escapes sale earlier in October. took advantage of Amex Offer of $50 off $200 for Marriott purchases (main motivation)
Room: Ocean View with Terrace. While on floor "14", it's actually the 3rd floor of the building. Pics on website are accurate. Terrace roughly measures 15x15' with a 3x3' table, 2 chairs, and 2 lounging chairs. Good for private sunning/tanning in the afternoon once the sun hits the area. 2 small (~12oz) bottles of water refreshed daily. Minibar is sparsely stocked. I suggest the OXXO across the street to stock up on water/drinks/snacks. The coffee maker is a Nespresso-type machine. Truly horrible.
Location: 15-20 min walk to center of Malecon. maybe 5-7 minutes to the colonia 5 de diciembre neighborhood. (if you're looking for a food tour, I recommend the "Untouristed" tour from Vallarta Eats vallartaeats.com which covers the neighborhood eateries.)
Pool: it's definitely a family affair at the pool. kids everywhere. standard annoying practice of leaving towels on chairs at 8am and not actually using it until after lunch. Kind of tucked away to the far left is another pool (next to the timeshare). Service is pretty good. You might have to actively flag down a server initially, but once you have one's attention, they come back frequently.
Beach: it really is as terrible as people have described. Nothing to write home about.
Restaurants/Gym/Spa: didn't try any of them. but the coffee stand proved useful.
Service: very good overall. no language issues (English), staff is attentive.
Random/other: - the in-between-rooms-and-hallway noise is a real thing.
- TripAdvisor reviews complain about weddings. Indeed, there was one that weekend, but the noise died down by 11pm.
- Air conditioning was fine.
- the humidity was oppressive, so walking around was a really sweaty affair.
- did not use any COVID testing they had to offer. (brought my own BinaxNow test)
I treated it as a base of operations as I was mostly walking around and eating my entire time in PVR. I'm typically no-frills/ala-carte when I travel. No regrets since I didn't really set myself up to be disappointed.