Suggestions on AI resorts

[amyh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CODestBride2009 Oh cool thanks...that is a really handy little map!

No problem I have many more if you need any.

[Celina]

We are getting married at RIU Vallarta which is an AI. We were in PV in November and I have heard so many people say "Oh - Nuevo Vallarta is so far from Puerto Vallarta - the Marina area is so far from downtown". Honestly its not. We were there a week and stood at both Paradise Village, and Mayan Palace and toured RIU Vallarta, RIU Jalisco and walked through the Grand Mayan.

 

All of these hotels are in Nuevo Vallarta and none are what I would consider that far from downtown PV. The RIU hotels are about 30 minutes from downtown. As far as the others, they are like a 20 minute cab ride. Mayan Palace was like 10 minutes from the RIU hotels. It cost us $5 to get from the Grand Mayan to RIU Vallarta. I guess I was just too busy taking in the sights while riding in the cabs to even notice the amount of time we were in the cab. We were on Mexico time and I wasn't concerned about time!!

 

All four of these properties are nice. I would rate them by niceness in this order: #1-Grand Mayan, #2-Mayan Palace, #3-Paradise Village, #3-RIU Vallarta and#4-RIU Jalisco

 

I was not impressed by the food at Paradise Village. We didn't go AI at Paradise Village and paid $50 for a hot dog, chicken sandwich, fries, a diet coke a water and a virgin pina colada while we were waiting to check into our room. We ate dinner there once and it was nothing to rave about. The food at Mayan Palace was good and they had room service. The 2 for 1 mango margaritas were delicioso!

 

We didn't eat at the RIU's but we were told they did not have room service. We chose the RIU Vallarta because it was newer than the RIU Jalisco and it fit in with our budget.

 

I can only tell you about our experience. I truly LOVED Mayan Palace. The staff was first class all the way. I would not recommend Paradise Village - we stood in a jr suite and it was nice, I just didn't like the rest of the hotel. I guess it was the staff. They really didn't seem to care. Service was always bad. You can PM me if you have any questions about the hotels we stood at.

[Andi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amyh No problem I have many more if you need any.

Awesome thanks! I will let you know, I am early in this whole planning thing so I am not quite sure what or when I will need all of these handy tidbits...but when I do, I will come knocking!

[Pazoop]

I thought I might add my two cents about the Dreams and being a larger hotel -- my FI and I were just in PV a little over a week ago and we went to check out the Dreams while we were there. We spent the day on the hotel grounds while it was booked to capacity and I'll tell you that it did not feel like a mega resort at all -- and that was definitely one of my main concerns. In fact, we really liked how intimate it felt when we were in the different areas (whether by the pool or at the buffet). The service was fantastic and so was the food. We got a chance to see the rooms and they were also lovely. And I have to say the beach was the nicest we saw close to downtown.

 

We also checked out the RIU properties in Nuevo Vallarta. The RIU Vallarta and the RIU Jalisco have very different vibes on the two properties -- with the RIU Vallarta (the newer hotel) having more of a European, art deco decor and the RIU Jalisco more Mexican influence. They were both nice, the staff there was certainly more helpful than the groups department at the Dream, and as someone else mentioned, they are only a 20 minute cab ride from downtown. However, since we really do plan to go downtown almost every night and see the city, the 40 minute roundtrip travel time was enough to dissuade us.

[Mrs D To Be!]

le blanc is gorgeous and over 18's so pretty exclusive - however they're prices are pretty high but you pay for what you get really. We are going to go there for the 2nd week of our holiday - ie our "honeymoon"

 

xx

[amyh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blinkgrl119 le blanc is gorgeous and over 18's so pretty exclusive - however they're prices are pretty high but you pay for what you get really. We are going to go there for the 2nd week of our holiday - ie our "honeymoon" xx

I don't think there is a "Le Blanc" resort in PV.

[jajajaja]

We stayed at Barcelo La Jolla De Mismaloya which is south of Dreams. I'm not sure if you are looking for a wedding to take place on the beach. If so, this is probably not a good resort for that. We were married at Las Caletas so we didn't get married at the resort. If you plan on having a wedding off resort grounds, this would be a good hotel. It is far from PV, but it is easy enough to ride the public bus into town for 6 pesos (roughly, 60 cents.) We did this for two weeks and it was easy and convenient (the pick up is across the street from the resort.) I liked how far we were from PV too since it seemed to keep the group together more. We did many group trips into town and we all enjoyed each others company.

 

The grounds at the hotel are AMAZING! It was so beautiful. The recently remodeled every room in the resort and they were fabulous. One of my guests received a room that was not quite up to par though (their door was cracked and wires hanging from the wall) and the front desk promptly relocated them to a beautiful room. All 22 guests stayed at the resort and all loved it.

 

The food is good, but it does get monotonous after awhile. We did dinner a few nights in town during our two week stay.

 

I plan on doing a full review of the resort and include some pictures soon. I'm still trying to catch up my laundry. If you have questions about the resort, just let me know.