TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Our check in was quick. All of the restaurants had great breakfast lunch and dinners. Staff was very helpful. September was a beautiful time to go as it was very quiet at the hotel. We loved the swimming pool. The grounds are beautiful and I can’t wait to return.

Velas Vallarta is our better home away from home. First off, the resort is 8 minutes away from the airport, this is so convenient, on e can begin your vacation immediately! We were greeted with ice cold margaritas or whatever we wanted when we walked inside the reception area to checkin. We are owners since 2016 so seeing familiar faces is like going to a family reunion. We always see Rafael first. Rafael is the best, he always greets us with a hug when we arrive and whenever he see's us passing by. He always gives us the best descriptions on excursions and where to go and what to experience on the resort.He is our go to guy for scheduling massages as well. Massages are a must by the beach, I recommend two massages, one at the beginning of your stay and one at the end of your stay, you will not regret this. The rooms are very very clean, nice and cool and fully stocked with snacks and cold drinks in the fridge everyday. The resort even stocked the rooms with L'Occitane products! We are big time users of these products at home and when we come we don't have to bring ours with us. These products are perfect on the skin after being in the pool all day! Thank you so much! For your dining experience, we ate at the Andrea every night and we highly recommend Heriberto and Raul. They were the absolute best at the Andrea. We always requested them when we go there and they are the best team. When you set your reservation, you can request their service for dinner. You can request just about anything through them a day prior and they will ensure that you have what you want for dinner. This also applies for the other restaurant by the beach, La Ribera. We always had breakfast at La Ribera because it's on the beach, why not? Our daughter loved this, it was her first trip to Mexico and she got to have breakfast at a beach restaurant and hear the waves crash at breakfast, what could be better? At La Ribera, Christina and all staff were also very friendly, and just beautiful. We only ate at La Ribera one night on Mexican food night because the all female Mariachi band was playing and they are awesome! They also play on the fiesta night on Sundays in the conference room and play by request . This is a must for adults and kids, so much food and so much fun! Christian is in charge of that show and the poolside entertainment, he will make you laugh, we love this guy! While you're dining, you can shop ate the tables located outside of the fiesta conference room and purchase homemade crafts. I highly recommend the paintings made by Ulysses. He makes these beautiful paintings on tiles for $40.00 US. He even made us a special painting for our daughter for Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos, a celebration of life and death). She loves the painting and it's an original! Did I mention that this resort is kid friendly? Mom and Dad, do you need a break from the kids while floating in the pool enjoying some adult beverages? Well there are kids activities with Christian and his staff for you kids. Ah, the pools. There are three (3) pools on the resort to include an infant pool. The pool bar is located closer to the beach and the view is awesome. The other pool is connected to the pool bar pool and is a bit quieter and has a rock waterfall. We love the pool bar pool, it has water loungers and our favorite person Marcelino. Marcelino is our go to guy! Since 2016 I only order from Marcelino, he is kind, friendly and just full of heart. He always has a smile and he's like my brother. Marcelino will order you lunch, crack jokes and make you smile. I wanted to post pictures but my pic resolution was too large. The pics that the resort posts are in fact genuine. It's even more amazing to see in person. The posted pics are nice but seeing this place in person is even better! I have talked to people that have memberships at adult all-inclusive resorts do not possess the same food quality, drink quality or hospitable environment that Velas has. I brag about this place as if it were my home. I can't take credit, it's just beautiful. We are not large crowd people so September is perfect for us and the weather is perfect for us. The landscape is beautiful! We try our best to emulate what you all have done on the Velas property! We live in Colorado, so palm trees don't grow very well :-). The gardeners are excellent, I would just watch and learn. Take lots of pictures, they make great screen savers and backgrounds for your computer. Even if you're all-inclusive, tip your servers. They will always take care of you, it's just the right thing to do and people always remember that, enjoy yourself and show gratitude. I don't know the salary is for the employees, but they go above and beyond the call of duty. I would give all of them a raise, free lunches if they don't receive one now. Everyone was just kind and beautiful on and off the resort! Puerto Vallarta is just a happy place. Everyone always makes us feel like we just came home. Velas Vallarta is our better home away from home!

An employee of Velas approached us at the airport. He told us if we visit the resort he would provide us some free stuff and also discounts for various things to do. He said he would give us a free cab ride to our condo. We asked how much a cab ride was and he said 600 pesos ($34 US) but the ride back is cheaper and he told us not to pay more than 450 pesos ($25 US). The rides actually were about 150 pesos ($8.5 Us) each way. He, and other people at the resort, also said that we could buy tickets to a Cirque de Soleil for $110 US and they normally sell for $160 US. We did buy the tickets from them and then found out that we could have bought them directly from Cirque de Soleil for the same price. They did provide us with breakfast which if that was an example of the food they serve at the resort we definitely would not stay there. On the positive side they gave us a free bottle of tequila and 2 one hour massages. The massages were great, the tequila not. The 90 minute sales pitch for their vacation club was fairly intense and we weren’t interested. It seemed more like a type of timeshare even though they said it wasn’t. After we found out that they lied about the values of some of the things they gave us I would never trust them. I just can’t stomach starting a business relationship based on lies. If we had a do over we would have declined their offer and paid for our own massages and bought a better bottle of tequila. It wasn’t worth the 90 minute sales pitch we had to endure.

Velas Vallarta is a fabulous place. The grounds are magnificent and the staff as friendly and accommodating as you can find. This place is very family friendly; I would highly recommend this place for a great vacation.

From start to finish it was amazing!!!! Highly recommend for families! Was better then any expectations! Staff was incredible. I can’t wait to go back and also visit the sister properties! Truly a great vacation