TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

My wife and I recently spent 10 wonderful days at this hotel, and our experience was really memorable. The service always was excellent. A special thank you to Leonor, our housekeeper, whose service was excellent. The reception staff, led by Carmen, were always attentive and ready to help with anything we needed. We also greatly appreciated Juan at the Mexican restaurant, whose hospitality and friendly personality added a special touch to our dining experiences. Too many to remember and to mention, many thanks to the great and friendly staff at the restaurants. The food was another highlight, there was always a great variety and the quality was consistently very good. We also enjoyed how clean and well-maintained everything was, from the common areas to the beautiful gardens. What made this stay very especial was the welcoming atmosphere, where local culture blends naturally with that of Canadian guests, creating a friendly environment. We truly enjoyed our time here and will definitely be returning.

Our 13th trip back to the Samba, we just love our home away from home holiday. There was a few hiccups this trip with getting into a decent room, the rooms really really need renovating !!!!!!!!!!!!! Other than that our trip was fantastic. We were there for 2 weeks and the first week and a half were very quiet !! ( was the weekend after the gang war in PV ) We could go to the beach at 10 or 11 am and find a palapa , loungers always available around the pool. it was so quiet !!!! But we did hear the weekend we left it picked up and got very busy again. The workers at this resort are what makes it a fabulous holiday, they go above and beyond to make sure you are happy, have drinks and have great dinner service. The food is always good at the Samba, we never have had a problem finding something we like to eat ( do wish they would do more Mexican dishes though) Both specialty restaurants were good, we enjoyed our meals at both. A very nice touch this year was snacks provided in your room ( chips, snack type bar ). A shout out to our Palapa friends, Gerti & Laurie, Mike & Louise, and Brent and Darlene, was fun hanging out with you all :) And a special hello to Chris and Jim !! Hello to Ron and Lisa !! ( we are so lucky to meet up with other returning guests year after year ) I really wish the Samba would do something to acknowledge returning guests!!! We have been here 13 times and it has never been acknowledged that we spend our hard earned holiday money at the same hotel year after year. Will we be back ??? We would have a hard time staying away, but will all come down to pricing for next years trip. For anyone thinking of spending your holiday at the Samba, if you are okay with the out dated rooms, you will have a wonderful time, as the staff are what makes this hotel. The pool is warm and large, and the beach is so beautiful in front of the Samba, and you can walk for miles on nice sand in either direction!! Thank you Samba family for hosting us yet again, you are all very wonderful kind people, and we miss you !!

Our three generations wound up preferring the ‘humble’ Samba Vallarta in many ways over fancier all inclusive hotels! We weren’t sure at first, but the Samba grew on us. The Samba does not have an impressive lobby, attractive bar areas, and pretty decor of other all inclusive resorts. However, by the end of our Spring Break week, we felt so relaxed and happy at the Samba that we would like to return next year. There is the convenience of getting around a smaller resort. We were able to easily secure chairs and cabana beds with both sun and shade. The mostly Mexican and Canadian families were pleasant to be around. Our five year old and two year old had a ball in the children’s pools and at the beach. The kids loved hunting for iguanas around the spacious grounds. We enjoyed the family friendly outdoor shows that started early enough at 8pm for kids to attend. We heard the rooms wouldn’t be fancy, but they were fine. There were comfortable beds, black out curtains, AC, large dressers, marble floors, and hot water in the shower. I recommend paying the extra fee for a balcony room that looks out over the pool side. Finally, the food was way better than it we expected at this lower priced resort. We always found delicious things to eat at the buffet and we enjoyed the two bookable restaurants. As for the staff, the Samba is known for the caring hard working staff. We appreciated the attentive waiters, room cleaners, activity and bar staff. Thanks, Samba Vallarta, for a great relaxing vacation.

Africa & Esme's exercise classes were terrific.

We booked this for a family vacation (all adults). The rooms were clean and the beds comfy. The hotel itself very dated and you can see that throughout the resort. The pool was great, quite clean and lot of chairs to pick from. The food was alright, some of it quite salty but a fair bit of variety to choose from. The snack at the place by the pool was ok, hot dogs, chips, and hamburgers, once there were wings set out. One of the things about the dining experience was that no matter where you were placed to sit, often the cushions were dirty, so you flip them over to see if the other side was cleaner, or the chairs had lots of bird poop on them. Multiple times I used napkins and wipes to wipe things off of the chairs. The a La carte restaurants, the service was great. The food was tasty. We had a hard time with service throughout our meals at the buffet though. It took some time or sometimes not at all, for a server to come to our table to see what we wanted for drinks. Jesus at the pool was phenomenal and we had the greatest experience with him. He is so friendly and took the time to know our names. He would joke and laugh with us, honestly we would look forward to seeing him everyday. Have to also give a shout out to Luis, he was sometimes at the pool bar or at the restaurant bar. He always had a smile on his face and was also very friendly. Overall it was an ok experience.