Road warrior every 4 years

A friend and I will be in PVR for a 6 day-5 night vacay in early March. I'm trying to economize cash & points, and am wondering if the Sheraton is a "better bang for the buck?"

We are 20-something & well traveled; generally preferring to stay at a W or Westin over a Sheraton, but since the Sheraton is newly renovated.....

We'd prefer not to be surrounded by screaming children, and would like to be able to enjoy both a tranquil beach (and activities like snorkeling) as well as a night or 2 out.

All of the threads I have found comparing the two were old & before the Sheraton was renovated.

Thoughts on which would better suit our needs?

Thanks!!

abk

i have spent two separate weeks at the westin and liked it both times. it is a much nicer property and is situated a little bit further out but at the marina vallarta which is a nice area. plenty of places to walk to if you don't want to eat in the hotel and a short ride to downtown. the sheraton is also a ride to downtown so you are only a little bit closer.

if you are going during spring break you will get a crowd of parents with younger children but not the high school/college crowd which i would guess is more what you would find at the sheraton. there are three or four pools so there is plenty of space for everyone. if you are a platinum they will give you beach club access which means free breakfast and cocktails at night.

CKL

My GFs and I just stayed at the Westin in October on a points stay for 1 room (booked at 3* rate of 28k/5nights) and a C&P for the other.

We loved it there. There are a few pools, one is obviously a kids pool and it is easy to stay away from it. There is 'Nikki Beach' which is a bunch of beds set up on the beach, you can lay out there during the day. We didn't go there at night, so I have no idea what happens. We found that the music played during the day at Nikki beach gets to be obnoxious (IMO). It is 'clubby' and girls can only take so much 'clubby' when trying to get a tan. The music by the pools is different & better I suppose, but the Ipod is where it's at. I think that the amigos in charge of the music must think that we all just love the disco or something.

We got a Plat upgrade to a king suite with a big bathroom ,huge balcony, ocean/pool views, jacuzzi on the balcony and it was VERY nice having that kind of room. The other girls just got a double room with the same view, they were happy.

We did all have access to the club (thanks to the nice gal at the front desk) and we put it to good use. We met there each morning for our coffee & breakfast, as well as each evening for snacks before going out for the night. Once the snacks were delicious and that was all we had to eat that night. Other nights, the food was just OK. Regardless, it was nice to have the club to meet, get a drink(s), & some snacks!

We did have to take a Taxi into town, but it wasn't expensive at all, like $5-6. Once we tried the bus, which was maybe 5pesos (50c) and it was fine to get to town, but I wouldn't take it back.

There is a wellness center a block away from the hotel that we all got massages at a couple of times and the price was CHEAP compared to what we usually pay here in Chicago, but I don't recall exactly.

I should also mention that the gym at the Westin was awesome!

Have fun whichever you choose!

DrMaturin

My family had a great stay at the Sheraton last year. We stayed on the Club floor and our butler, Fidel Castro (yep, that was his real name) was wonderful. Also, if you stay on the club you don't have to eat their meager breakfast. You can get breakfast at their big restaurant on the ground floor (can't remember the name). Technically it's continental only but the choices there are enormous and you won't leave hungry. Our rooms were very comfortable and all rooms face the ocean and the view was beautiful. The view from the Club itself was stunning.

The gym isn't too big but there's an interesting feature of the area. Diagonally across the street there is a large sports facility open to the public and free. It has a 400 meter track, places to practice boxing and other sports and aerobics classes. Lots of people use it, a mix of locals and tourists. It was great for my daily run, since road running in Mexico is a bit too adventurous for me and I prefer to avoid treadmills. It was fun to run while watching the sun rise.

Location was also good. It was easy to walk to all the local restaurants we wanted to visit. Of course, for some the central location might be a drawback but we appreciated it. The only possible negative is that the pool, while large, is shallow. Probably due to the fact that lots of families with kids stay there.

Anyway, next time we go to PV we'll be back at the Sheraton to say "ola" to Fidel.

No experience with the Westin.

stevelb

I just returned from the Sheraton 3 days ago. I have also stayed at the Westin in the past. Hands down-stay at the Sheraton. Pay the 1000 points a day extra to upgrade to the club floors. Rooms are very well appointed. Wonderful ocean views. Access to the club lounge for breakfast and evening cocktails. Free internet. Staff is quite friendly, professional and accomodating. The hotel facility is clean and very nice. Sheraton is much closer to downtown where all the good restaurants and fun is at. Can walk it, bus it, or cab it easily. Westin is far out in the Marinal area. No walking, long cab or bus ride. Restaurants in that area used to be good, but now they suck and don't seem very clean. PM me if you want more info.

pinniped

I've done one 5-nighter at the Westin. We upgraded to the club floor - totally worth it. Big breakfast, free booze, and an fairly extensive evening spread of hot food that could (if you wanted it to) pretty much cover dinner. I mean, I'm not talking gourmet or anything here, but it was a pretty significant evening spread for a concierge lounge. IMHO, it'd be perfect for nights where you want to go out and party - but not do a sit-down restaurant dinner.

We encountered no issues with unruly kids. The place is sort of kid-friendly but not excessively Disneyish like some big beach resorts are. It wears the Westin brand well, if that makes any sense at all... You could enjoy the Westin with small children but you can also enjoy it as a couple with no kids.

We had dinner at Nikki Beach one night and enjoyed it. A little pricey, but a perfect place to watch the sunset. If the sit-down dinner isn't your gig, have a cocktail there at sunset. Nice place...

Short cab ride to Puerto Vallarta. A little farther out than the Sheraton, but not enough for it to really matter to us. We ended up doing a couple of nice dinners out south of town so we would have definitely had to cab it either way. (I think you can walk from Sheraton into the main part of PV...)

At the time, the general consensus here was that Westin was a more upscale resort than the Sheraton. But if the Sheraton has just undergone a renovation, perhaps that has changed...

In any case, for 28k points I thought Westin PVR was very well worth it.

sc flier

Apparently, SPG and others thought the same thing. The Westin PVR went up to Cat4 last year, so 5 nights there now cost 40K points.

Both of these properties are mapped precisely in my Google Earth mapping files. Nice aerial views.

The St Regis Punta Mita is about 25 miles away and is scheduled to open in July. It's also in my map files, but GE doesn't have any good aerial shots of it yet.

pinniped

I forget the exact thread, but I remember discussing the category jump on this one before. Although we never like to see our favorite properties jump a category, I actually believe Westin PVR stacks up favorably against other Cat 4's I've visited. At 28k it was an awesome value. At 40k, it's still reasonable.

sc flier

Unless there's a special exception or unless it's offered as something like an Instant Reward from the hotel, this probably isn't an option for the OP if he books as a C&P award.

schriste

Since no one has mentioned the architecture� I think the Westin is the clear winner on this front. The Sheraton is just generic large beach hotel architecture whereas the Westin is vibrant modern Mexican architecture with dramatic use of concrete and vivid Mexican colors. Their collection of humongous Oaxacan wood carvings is also most impressive.

pinniped

One option would be emailing the hotel directly - that's how I set up my upgrade. I did it as a paid $40/nt. upgrade. I'd probably just set up the email that way - "I'd like to request the $40/nt. RBC upgrade offer." If there is availability, I think they'll gladly sell this upgrade.

stevelb

As I said, I just returned from there and made the booking only about 2 weeks prior to departure. I don't think that the OP will find that C & P is available for either hotel at this time of the year. I booked all points and requested the upgrade at the time of booking. Hope this helps.

stevens397

Booked and had to cancel the PV Westin for last Christmas (good reason - the birth of twin grandchildren!). We had a points-based stay where we had upgraded to a suite and it was at the old 7,000 points per night rate (or 14,000 for the suite).

Westin is not yet posted for next Christmas but the Sheraton is. The Plat concierge said that there are no suites listed yet at the Sheraton. Has anyone been able to get a suite upgrade on points at the Sheraton and, if so, how was it? Thanks.

ijgordon

I disagree with those who say it is a "short" drive from the Westin to downtown. I was there for New Year's last year, and maybe traffic was worse than normal, but it was always at least 20 minutes in to town (on top of a potentially long wait for a taxi at the hotel depending on time of evening). That's 40 minutes in a tiny taxi every night you want to go and take advantage of the PV nightlife.

My best guess is that the Sheraton is only 10 minutes from town, it always felt like it was about halfway.

Just something to be aware of.

stevens397

One more question. As a Platinum Elite, would I be automatically upgraded to Club Level at the Sheraton and Westin?