Quoting this part with a bit of a strange question I'm hoping you can assist with.

We stayed at the Vallarta Riviera last trip and had a blast -- my only complaints being really that the pool area was pretty dead (could use some music, and when music was present, could use some louder music) and a bit dated. We drink most of our meals on vacation at the pool and aren't huge foodies, I think we only made it to the breakfast buffet each morning and the Italian place one night, the rest was room service. We were looking to step it up a notch and check out the Conrad this time, and got what I feel is a decent deal on it via AmEx FHR and being Diamond (about $450/nt plus food/drinks). That's still going to put it at more than double the price of the Vallarta Riviera when you factor in food and drink cost at the Conrad.

You mentioned the rooms were bigger at the Conrad and I'm guessing it was less busy there too. Any other comments based on your experience at both properties to compare them? We can afford either property, but I'm worried we'll be disappointed with the same overall experience for 2.5x the cost if we aren't taking advantage of other services (golf, etc) that Conrad offers.