Tanic

Los topes de velocidad.

david55

You are brave soul....I have driven many times in Mexico from the US border down to PV and then on to San Miguel. The last time was about 10 years ago....the dangers of driving in mexico are numerous.... bandits, corrupt cops, or worse. Even the tool roads are not exempt. Most gringos living in SMA who use to drive to the beach at Zihu (the closest) now fly. The roads are just not worth the risk.

raunow

Let's limit the discussion to driving in Nayarit, not Mexico in general. To my knowledge road crime is not a risk on the roads in Puerto Vallarta/PuntaMita/Sayulita. Bumpy roads, reckless drivers and a risk of break-in in parked vehicles, yes - but not worse than many places in US/Europe. And a car does give you a lot of freedom if you stay in PuntaMita and want to spend time in Sayulita/SanPancho.

Also a little trick to renting cars while at StRegis. National has rental offices in both PVR and "downtown" Punta Mita (3 miles from StRegis). So if you can secure good one-way deals and don't intend to drive while at the StRegis, you can maybe optimize cost by doing one-ways from/to the airport and returning the car in between.

PrivatePilotDR40

I have insurance for my Car Hire from my Curve Card and checked and it is world wide with no exclusions. Only limit is the car has to be worth less than $35,000.
rental will be Ł100 due to my age (24). Still cheaper than the transfer. Also I’m fully insured for both health and life insurance. I don’t worry about where and how I travel. I have the mentality what will be will be.

jdrtravel

But this is not liability insurance, right? Credit cards usually offer a loss/damage waiver for the rental vehicle, not liability. I believe in Mexico they will require you to purchase a basic liability coverage plan, but this won't cover much.

Here is a possible scenario that would concern me: You hit another car and damage that car and injure a passenger. You have no insurance to cover your liability. You are placed in a Mexican jail until you are able to make arrangements to pay for the damage and injury you caused.

Do not be foolhardy about this, there are very serious risks. You very likely need to include the cost of purchasing liability insurance from the rental company. I would not be concerned about renting a car in this region for security reasons; it is generally very safe IME. However, I don't think it will be as inexpensive as you predict.

JohnnyP

We stayed at the St Regis Punta Mita a few years ago. Fantastic stay. And for the last few days we booked a car from National Car Rental in town, mainly to visit Sayulita and then drive back to PVR for departure.

We have full car insurance on our UK Centurion card, including liability insurance. By taking insurance out, the underlying car rental was something like $10/day (don’t remember exactly, but REALLY cheap).

You should have seen the stink they put up at the little agency downtown about removing the insurance. The woman didn’t speak English well and clearly this had never happened before. (To empathize, I’m sure many tourists come in claiming they have insurance on their credit card, when in fact they don’t have full coverage including liability.) It took us nearly 2 hours to get the car, with many phone calls, faxes to/from American Express in the UK (including a letter they had to write and fax stating that we did in fact have liability insurance for Mexico). It was a nightmare and they treated us very poorly and begrudgingly.

If your card or travel insurance does indeed provide full coverage, definitely come prepared with documentation. We had the official insurance documents from the Centurion Card with us — I thought this would be sufficient. But if I do this again, I will come with a letter on Amex letterhead, specifically addressing validity in Mexico.

Josh15

I'm taking my wife and 2.5 year old to the St. Regis in February to celebrate her birthday. Would love this communities advice/wisdom on any of the following:
1.) Recommendations on airport transfer companies anyone has used that had good car seats for toddlers. We had a less than ideal experience with a company in Cabo.
2.) Does anyone have information on the person who runs the Kids Club? I've read that person also offers childcare after hours and I'd love to see if she's available.

We plan on staying at the hotel the entire time so any tips on enjoyable things to do with a toddler are also appreciated.

jdrtravel

While not cheap, the hotel contracts with a luxury SUV operator that provides excellent service. Book directly with the hotel. They will meet you at PVR with a very nice car, with signs that say St. Regis, held by staff in hotel uniform. They will have water and sometimes chilled damp towels to help you cool off. Drivers are extremely professional and kind, and they will also stop along the way if you'd like to get anything. I think it's about $100 each way, and it is a very nice way to start a nice trip.

duhe

I second this recommendation.

Mr. Vker

Hello! Does anyone have current info on breakfast offerings? My wife was reading that the Titanium benefit was reduced to continental only recently. Thanks

SeeTheLights

yes. It used to be full buffet and now only a small continental buffet which is a different section of buffet. Includes a few pastries and coffee

jrb CO

You can get the full buffet for a significant $$ discount with platinum or greater status. Not free, but we’ll worth it IMO

boolean64

We were there over Thanksgiving and it is indeed cold portion of the buffet only. A material devaluation vs pre-Bonvoy full buffet. I fully get that the hotel is within its right, both pre- and post-Bonvoy to only offer the continental, and had it always been this way, i probably wouldn't be annoyed. But the change did leave a bad taste in my mouth vs prior stay.

You receive a "Bonvoy elite" menu when you sit down that informs you what parts of the buffet are complimentary. Basically all the cold items except for the cold cuts. Much more substantial than "a few pastries and coffee" as there was plenty of fresh fruit, yoghurts, and breads as well as pastries (the tomato focaccia was outstanding). Also your choice of juice as well as the coffee. The hot portion of the buffet includes a variety of US and mexican dishes for self serve as well as an omlette and waffle station and another station that runs specials such as breakfast tacos, chilaquiles, etc. The buyup to the full buffet was $15 per person.

Mr. Vker

Thanks, The buy up info is helpful. We were at the StR Maldives over the Summer-they are still full breakfast.

PrivatePilotDR40

I was here first week of December. And the free breakfast was the FULL breakfast buffet. Not just the continental breakfast