TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I shouldn’t complain, but…. I will even though I pretty much brought this upon myself. I’m done with cheap all inclusive finds on booking.com. This is driven by a combination of what you get and by the people that holiday there. I know, I know - and I include myself in there - but we’ll cover that a little later and elsewhere. £1400 for 9 nights at a beachfront All Inclusive hotel in central Puerto Vallarta - cheap all-inclusive sounded brilliant… until living it. It requires some effort between meals, drinks and dozes to ensure that you get the best from it. What You Actually Get At the Buenaventura Hotel and Great Moments. Yes that's its name. You will get... Fridge in room with water, fizzy drinks and beer - which didn’t match our preferences. The loading algorithm assumes every guest prefers sugary orange sodas and lager. Luke warm food from the standard buffet presentation and basic snack food options by the pool. Tight booking system for à la carte restaurants suggests that you need to book early and quick to secure your place. Many of the cocktails were quickly made with sugar fruit juices and generic alcohol, served in plastic reuse glasses. They had all the options - Tequila Sunrise, Margaritas etc etc Not enough beds around the pools. Whilst the hotel do do some policing of the beds it’s not sufficient and there are regularly beds with just a towel (no person) on them for a few hours. A timeshare talk Navigating the best outcome Tip barmen, waiters and housekeeping. Housekeeping were quite happy to provide additional water and swap out the sugary fizzy drinks for diet equivalents. Catering for the masses - a large number of people with a variety of tastes is difficult. Avoid the buffet food and junk food by the pool by booking at the à la carte restaurants. If you do happen to do the buffet - the best approach is to eat the food that had just been put out. Hot food tastes so much better than warm food that has been sitting awhile. And avoid anything that kids can touch with their sticky fingers. We managed to book via the restaurant booking portal each night that we wanted, only eating dinner at the buffet once to ensure that we weren’t missing anything. We weren't. We did this by checking on availability during the day - grabbing it when it came up. The à la carte restaurants were never full. We also ate at the 18:30 as opposed to the 20:30 sitting which may have made a difference. The food was good and service was great. The offerings from the pool bar suits sitting and sipping in the sun, if you don’t want to get hammered. The lobby bar served better drinks at night, and it helped if the barman recognised you as someone that had tipped him earlier. Also beer is consistent and hard to screw up - that was my drink of choice. Work as a team to secure sun beds. Go on a reconnaissance lap for tactical towel deployment. Ensure that you have towels, hats or bags to secure the beds as soon as you find them. There is enough turnover that you’ll find something but will probably lose it if you then go finding your partner. We would then go for a walk around a couple of hours later until we found our perfect spot for the day. Say a firm 'no' to the timeshare talk. Whilst they promise it’s a breakfast and a tour - too many people were sitting talking the deals through. For someone living in the UK, having a timeshare in the west coast of Mexico has zero interest to us. The location is great, the service is great, the room was fine, the food could be better. Would I do it again? Of course I would - I can’t refuse a bargain.

Arrived by taxi, greeted with “Welcome Home” by Bell boy. Quickly looked after Julio at check-in. Got our favourite room with Oceanview. Just wanted to mention warm welcome from all of our old friends, Fausto, Gustavo, Eduardo, Rudy, Jorge, Oscar, Miguel, Leonardo, Francia as well as Jorge,Omar and Diana at Sunset. Brekky and lunch always good, alternate between poolside, and sitting in Sunset. We did both à la cartes, as well as the buffet twice. Our favourite is to go out for dinner, to try the local dining. Enjoyed a cocktail or two at Skybar before heading to room. This was our seventh time staying here, and have rebooked for Xmas and New Years. Can’t wait to see you again friends!

My husband and I stayed at the Buenaventura in late April and had a good trip. For the price point I knew what to expect size and food wise. Pros: Location is amazing if you want to be able to walk around the Malecon and Romantic Zone. Service was hit or miss, if you tip well you will be recognized and will notice a shift in the service. Most days around the pool they had their A Team on deck and they hustled. The sunset restaurant was excellent for breakfast and lunch. The elevators were very fast and you never spent much time at all waiting. We didn't bother attempting to use the TV because the WIFI was amazing so we could just watch Netflix or Prime on our devices at night. I have never stayed at a resort before that had amazing WIFI. The facilities are very clean and well maintained. I stayed here 15 years ago and the rooms are completely upgraded and renovated. Your key card is on your wristband which is so convenient and we never had an issue accessing our room with it. There were always plenty of towels at the pool. Checking in and out was very easy. They have good app that you can use to make reservations and find out hotel information. QR code to access the site is on your night table. Cons: They really try to get you to attend a time share presentation by claiming they want to tour you around the resort. The beach is so rocky. No access to the sky lounge without an orange or black wrist band (privileged members only) Wait time at the buffet can be long. It is not really first come first serve in line up, they will seat you at a table with the exact amount of chairs that you need. Although we were just two people looking for a table, if a four seater table became available they would jump past us to get a group of 4 seated. The buffet has a variety, there was always something to eat but it was a typical buffet, nothing special. They had instrumental Christmas Music playing one evening which was pretty funny. The sunset restaurant dinner was not the greatest. They try really hard to get you to purchase steak, lobster and wine. A simple no should have ended the sales pitch but we had to refuse multiple times. Loungers are hard to get around the pool. People save the loungers with a towel or a pool noodle and most loungers are never occupied by a person for most of the day. Room Service has limited options and you have to pay 150 pesos if you order it, which isn't a lot, but most resorts include this. After you have a few drinks some of the servers will approach you with a list of names and ask you to write a review and mention them in it. Omar gave me a list with his name and Caesar and Diana and was a little pushy that I write a review while sitting and eating. Up until this point Omar was a great server, but this kind of spoiled it for me. Overall I would recommend this place for people who want to leave the resort to explore Puerto Vallarta and enjoy food in the city. I would not come back.

Had a wonderful and relaxing vacation at the Buenaventura Grand. Stayed for 12 day and didn't want to go home. We chose this hotel based on repeat client reviews and the proximity to the Malecon. So many friendly smiling faces all over the hotel; the staff were always warm and welcoming. The room was very clean and the beds very comfortable. Buffet food was always fresh and delicious and the restaurant by the beach was fabulous. There were usually enough beds by the pool for everyone but we generally stayed away from the family pool area. There were a lot of kids! All the staff worked so hard to make everyone happy and the Mexican Fiesta nights were wonderful and lots of fun! Will definately return again!

Absolutely loved the hotel itself! The property is beautiful, clean, and well maintained. My ocean view room was incredibly relaxing and being able to hear the waves all night was a highlight. Staff were so kind and friendly and a huge thank you to my housekeeper Arcelia, who made my stay even better. ?On the downside, the buffet options were not the best and I ended up eating elsewhere for almost every meal during my stay. However my biggest disappointment was the lack of consideration from other guests there were people walking with loud speakers in the hallways, slamming doors, and kids running around screaming. It’s such a lovely hotel, it’s just a shame the environment was disrupted by noisy neighbors.